If these two roadable flying wings had ever been parked side by side on the same tarmac, viewed from a distance it would have been very difficult to tell them apart.

That is because Bruce K. Hallock of Fenton Michigan designed and built the "Road Wing" in the 1950's as an update of a tailless pusher and roadable created by Waldo Waterman in 1935.

Waterman is celebrated as one of the early pioneers of flight and the line drawing shown above illustrates the Aerobile.

There are several websites that review the work of Waldo Waterman.

Bruce Hallock's son Don, who lives in Smithville Texas, has provided the following photos and writes of the Road Wing -

"Yes, I believe it was evolved from the Waterman design. It was a little bigger and had more horsepower.The building of the Road Wing started some 10 years later. After14 years of construction, it first flew in Flint, Michigan in 1957."

The Road Wing in flight

"The body and wings were all built of wood. The cabin could carry four people and it had a 145 HP Continental O-300 aircraft engine. The Waterman could carry two people and had a Studebaker auto engine"

"The wings on my dads design could be folded back in about 15 minutes and then the whole unit driven down the road - - very much like Molt Taylor's Aerocar"

Bruce K. Hallock beside his Aircraft

"The Road Wing was designated the "HT-1 Road Wing" (the HT stands for Hallock Tailless). It flew very well and had about the same performance as a small Cessna 170. It would hit about 120 MPH in cruise flight. We still have good color movies of the test flights!"

The aircraft still exists and is owned by the builder.

"When the wings were folded there was not enough room to run the prop. There was no other transmission of power to the wheels on this airplane, but he never really actually ran it on the road with the wings folded behind. His plan was to make a special folding prop which would be smaller when folded, and that would allow it to run between the wings. This never developed. Only the body (fuselage) was ever driven on the streets. I believe this was the same as the Waterman aircraft."

"The Road Wing was really a better airplane than a car. My dad gave up the concept of roadable airplanes because there was too much of a trade off in weight, and there were power transmission problems. The airplane was eventually put into a garage and stored for over 40 years. A couple years ago my parents sold the house where the plane was kept in Austin, Texas and we moved the Road Wing into my hangar at the Smithville airport nearby. My plans are to restore this unique roadable aircraft to "cosmetic" condition only. It will not fly again."

Don Hallock is planning to build a small private air musuem in Smithville, Texas where the Road Wing will have a place of honor.