National Geographic: Confederate Flying Machine
Engineering and fabrication for a National Geographic documentary investigating a proposed steam-powered aircraft from the 1860s.
Reconstructing a historical proposal
National Geographic commissioned Mad to build a reconstruction of a flying-machine design associated with Dr. Roderick O. Davidson. The documentary revisited the question of whether an aircraft conceived during the American Civil War could be realized.
A physical engineering commission
The brief set a three-month construction period and called for materials as close as practical to the historical proposal. Mad’s contribution was the physical reconstruction for the program.
The project demonstrates the breadth of work that can sit within a design and engineering commission: interpreting an unfamiliar idea and turning it into a substantial physical object for investigation and explanation.
Explore the work behind the experience
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