Goodyear Inflatoplane The Goodyear Inflatoplane was an experimental aircraft made by the Goodyear Aircraft Company , a subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company , well known for the Goodyear blimp . Although it seemed an improbable project , the finished aircraft proved to be capable of meeting its design objectives although its sponsor , the United States Army , ultimately cancelled the project when it could not find a " valid military use for an aircraft that could be brought down by a well - aimed bow and arrow . " Design and development . The original concept of an all - fabric inflatable aircraft was based on Taylor McDaniel inflatable rubber glider experiments in 1931 . Designed and built in only 12 weeks , the Goodyear Inflatoplane was built in 1956 , with the idea that it could be used by the military as a rescue plane to be dropped in a hardened container behind enemy lines . The 44 cubic ft ( 1 . 25 cubic meter ) container could also be transported by truck , jeep trailer or aircraft . The inflatable surface of this aircraft was actually a sandwich of two rubber - type materials connected by a mesh of nylon threads , forming an I - beam . When the nylon was exposed to air , it absorbed and repelled water as it stiffened , giving the aircraft its shape and rigidity . Structural integrity was retained in flight with forced air being continually circulated by the aircraft ' s motor . There were at least two versions : The GA - 468 was a single - seater . It took about five minutes to inflate to about ; at full size , it was long , with a wingspan . A pilot would then hand - start the two - stroke cycle , Nelson engine , and takeoff with a maximum load of . On 20 US gallon s ( 76 L ) of fuel , the aircraft could fly , with an endurance of 6 . 5 hours . Maximum speed was , with a cruise speed of 60 mph . Later , a engine was used in the aircraft . Takeoff from turf was in 250 feet with 575 feet needed to clear a 50 foot obstacle . It landed in 350 feet . Rate of climb was 550 feet per minute . Its service ceiling was estimated at 10 , 000 ft . The GA - 466 was the two - seater version , shorter , but with a longer wingspan than the GA - 468 . A more powerful McCulloch 4318 engine could power the of plane and passenger to , although the range of the plane was limited to . Operational history . The test program at Goodyear ' s facilities near Wingfoot Lake , Akron , Ohio showed that the inflation could be accomplished with as little as 8 psi ( 544 mbar ) , less than a car tire . The flight test program had a fatal crash when Army aviator Lt . " Pug " Wallace was killed . The aircraft was in a descending turn when one of the control cables under the wing came off the pulley and was wedged in the pulley bracket , locking the stick . The turn tightened until one of the wings folded up over the prop and was chopped up . With the wings flapping because of loss of air , one of the aluminum wing tip skids hit the pilot alongside the head , as was clear from marks on his helmet . Wallace was pitched out over the nose of the aircraft and fell into the shallow lake . His chute never opened . He may have been knocked unconscious and rendered unable to open it . Only 12 Goodyear Inflatoplanes were built , but development continued until the project was cancelled in 1973 . Survivors . Goodyear donated two Inflatoplanes for museum display at the end of the project , one to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and one to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington , D . C .