At some point the science of flight became a reality. At the time, it seemed like such a futuristic shift, however, that imaginations continued to soar forward into the future, thinking about what was to come. With this vision of future flight came some wild concepts for gigantic blimps, personal aircraft, and everything in between.

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The current shape of aircraft are based on scientific principles that generate enough thrust to create lift, while still serving as an efficient means to transport cargo. This doesn’t mean this is the only way to get in the air. Tohoku University researchers are reaching into the past – they think biplanes may be the best shape for supersonic flight. Synergy aircraft are an attempt to make flight achievable by all; including families. A radical lightweight design may just be the ticket to making this a reality. Lockheed’s Cormorant is a plane concept in which the craft spends much of its time underwater, bringing stealth to a new dimension. The final image is a great example of our currents visions of the future of aircraft, which very well may look as ridiculous and outlandish as some retro futuristic examples look to us now.

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This experimental craft is showing its years, from when it was designed to push the limits of technology. Captain Rickenbacker’s airplane of the future was designed in 1929 and clearly never left paper, which is probably for the best. With propellers being the end all and be all of aviation, it made sense to just keep adding more. The Ekranoplan is a seaplane designed to lift off close to the surface of the water. It has a radical design and was actually used in the Russian navy for some years before being discontinued.

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The future of aviation takes many forms. Take the Sky Tug for example, a futuristic blimp model that was designed for the Navy and will be entering active service, mainly for use in carrying cargo across difficult terrain, on behalf of commercial interests. The name of the crazy looking plane is Claire, and its design is an effort to create a sustainable aircraft for future air travel. Another current concept was commissioned by NASA and also hopes to accurately reflect the shape of new planes. This blue airship is able to use the helium in its stores to land and lift off effortlessly, at least, that’s the idea. Whether this plan comes to fruition is anyone’s guess.

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Even after seeing visions of the future of flight that are crazy by today’s standards, it’s still easy to laugh at attempts of futurism in the past. Judging by old magazines, we should all be in flying cars by now. Designer Leong Huang Zi came up with this design for the Aerial Rescue Chopper that actually looks like something that could work (though it would be mighty expensive). Lastly, a vision from the past of an actually working flying car called the ConvAir Car, that was meant to bring the power of flight home. Unfortunately, the idea never got off the ground.

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Personal transport for the military and police officers have always been of interest to forward-thinkers, but it’s as yet unattainable on an inexpensive and effective basis. The De Lackner DH-4 “Aerocycle” was a prototype meant to revolutionize combat transportation, but it was deemed too impractical. Oddly enough, the final image depicts a vision of the future deemed quite practical (in the future).

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This vintage craft was envisioned by Matsujir? Murakami, while the much more intimidating craft is a 1946 vision created by artist George Shepherd. The large gray ship is more watercraft than airplane, but it holds the same slick design as many of the other visions. Some craft were designed to fly, and land on water, while others were meant to “soar across the seas.” A gigantic ekranoplan, meant to be a mix between water and aircraft, is a Russian concept from 1965. Lastly, a plane that can lift off and land vertically. For obvious reasons, this is not the best way to tackle this problem…

Vehicle cutaways are a very special kind of art that lays bare a driving machine’s inner workings for prying eyes to see… without all the messy prying with crowbars and such.

Ghosts, Phantoms and Skeletons, Oh My!

(images via: Beaudaniels.com)

Producing cutaway illustrations isn’t all fun & games – it also serves a vital need for companies trying to present their product or service in the best possible light. Automotive illustrators Beau Daniels and Alan Daniels specialize in what they call “cutaway, ghosted and phantom view illustrations, of automobiles, vehicle systems and automotive products.”

An Exotic Exposed

(images via: ExoticCarSpot)

Not many will have a chance to see a The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 up close & personal so this bold cutaway offers a rare chance to get inside the rare and beautiful exotic. The Veyron’s massive 1,001 horsepower sixteen-cylinder engine is rendered all the more intimidating by the use of cutaway effects.

Zooming In, Under the Skin

(images via: Beaudaniels.com)

Cutaways also assist in highlighting some certain system – electrical wiring, fuel lines, even the sound system’s snake-nest of wiring. In the image above, it’s GM’s OnStar system that’s put in proper perspective. With futuristic electronic systems like OnStar, seeing is believing. A nicely done cutaway brings the desired system into focus while showing how it relates to the rest of the vehicle.

Nothing Like the Real Thing

(images via: Streetfire)

There are always situations that call for a cutaway that’s literally cut away. Auto show displays, for example, are intended to get the message across to large numbers of visitors who check out the exhibit in person, not via their computer screens. It can be very effective, though no doubt very painful – not to the magnificent Audi R8 shown above, but for anyone who appreciates this stunning automobile.

X-Ray, R-Rated

(image via: Cartype 2.0)

Audi lovers who prefer their cutaways to be computer generated would much prefer the image above, a classic cutaway of the German automaker’s design and engineering tour de force.

Slow Draw Wins the Race

(images via: Forix and Arte Auto)

When creating cutaways of classic cars, sometimes the traditional method of portrayal works best. So thinks Japanese master Yoshihiro Inomoto whose technique shines in this intricately detailed drawing of a 1951 BRM Type 15 race car. The Black & white color scheme is perfectly suited to the vintage racer and Inomoto does it true justice with this undoubtedly time-consuming tribute.

Showing Tech with Technicolor

(images via: Opel.com)

On the other hand, the modern cutaways of GM’s German Opel brand practically scream with vivid color, all the better to contrast the various technical systems inside the company’s cars. Studio Parsons worked up these exquisite cutaways that, as much as Yoshihiro Inomoto’s monotone drawings, are works of art in their own right.

Mini Cuts to the Max

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The new Mini also uses color in the above cutaway, this time to highlight its safety structure (in orange). Complementary to Mini’s “fun” image, the rest of the car is depicted in rainbow hues that, while not keyed to individual components, make the composition as a whole much easier on the eyes.

Microbus Under the Microscope

(images via: McLellan’s Automotive and Cartype)

Volkswagen has often used cutaway illustrations in its ads as they show off the space-saving design of the company’s products – especially the iconic Type 2 Microbus. VW was perhaps the first foreign automaker to seriously impact the North American car market; mainly shrugged off by the Big Three then, VW today stands an excellent chance of outliving its former big brothers.

Sub Structures

(images via: Submarine Store)

Cars aren’t the only vehicles featured in cutaway drawings though they’re by far the most popular. Military vehicles on land, sea and air come in a close second. Above are cutaway framed art depicting some of the submarines of the Second World War and the years after. From the top above are a German type VII-C U-Boat, the USS Balao, the USS Lafayette (lower left) and the USS Tench (lower right).

A Titanic Loss

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The RMS Titanic is not only the most famous ship to sink, it’s also one of the most popular subjects for cutaway illustrations even going back to the 1920s. Cutaways were also used by competing shipping lines, such as the Cunard Line’s RMS Aquitania shown above right.

(images via: The Art Agency)

Part of the fascination people have always had for the Titanic involves how an “unsinkable” ship could sink, and why the loss of life was so tragically high. Cutaway drawings reveal the ship’s inner structure and showcase the advance system of waterproof bulkheads that, sadly, was not quite advanced enough.

Complex Cutaway Craftsmanship

(images via: Internet Craftsmanship Museum)

As complex and detailed cutaway designs are when viewed in book or on screen, just imagine how they’d look rendered in 3D. Young C. Park did; then he decided to make it happen.

(images via: Internet Craftsmanship Museum)

The 76-year-old former dentist from Hawaii has devoted countless hours towards recreating some of America’s best-known WW2 fighter planes in hand crafted aluminum, and as a bonus he’s designed them as full or partial cutaways! The Vought F4U Corsair fighter above (which took over 3 years to make) is cutaway on one side, accurately displaying its mechanics in miniature.

(images via: Gecko & Fly)

Park also crafted the P51-D Mustang fighter above. Cut away on one side, it features many moving parts, including the canopy, and shows off its 50-cal machine guns complete with bullets set into belts just like those in the actual warbird.

China Opens Up

(images via: Go Taikonauts!)

Space, the final frontier… and cutaways help the earthbound understand just what those billions and billions (of dollars) are paying for. Less cynically – and in the case of the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft above – they serve to show off a space-faring nation’s newfound mastery of the most complex systems known to mankind.

USA’s Uppermost Uppercut

(images via: NASA and NASA Images)

NASA‘s history is one illustrated with cutaway drawings; the topmost of which shows clearly just how small and cramped the early 1960s Mercury program space capsules were.

Inner Space in Outer Space

(images via: Corbis, Free Republic and David Kimble )

And what of the future? Cutaways then, now and in times to come will help us understand what makes our vehicles run, float, fly, and set off on five-year missions to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before… Cut!