Abstract:

The Bennie Railplane presents an intriguing combination of an apparent successful technological innovation developed by a popular and persuasive entrepreneur that had attracted significant engagement with a major organization potentially capable of implementing the system. Yet, Bennie’s Railplane never went beyond a full-sized working prototype implemented only over a very short distance. The conundrum is that as an entrepreneurial inventor Bennie appears to have satisfied all the requirements usually associated with business success:

This stage in developing our research will focus upon Bennie's interactions with the LNER railway, who participated in his small-scale prototype. The questions hopefully may be resolved through archival investigation of their materials on it. Were there technical problems with either the prototype, or with scaling its operations up in terms of distance or passengers? Were there internal financial constraints limiting LNER's investments? Were the depression economics unfavourable for implementing a high-speed, low volume luxury service? Hopefully these issues may be answered within the LNER corporate archives.

Authors Details: Yes

Acting as a session chair: If your paper is accepted, would you agree to serve as a session chair for the Track you submitted to?: Yes

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Dr. James Wilson