From The Archives: Hytrol Advertisement From 1947

The Aviation Week & Space Technology archive has many vintage gems including this one highlighting an advertisement for brake systems by the company Hytrol. 

This is a fun advertisement found on page 21 of the Jan. 24, 1955, issue of Aviation Week. It shows cartoon drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, the painter, scientist, and engineer, among other talents, and Icarus, a character in Greek mythology who flew too close to the sun and fell to his death. The ad also depicts a "cadet before first jet solo" and "any pilot who's tried Hytrol".

In the case of Icarus, Hytrol would have come in handy. "Daedalus was the "do-it-yourself" type. He fixed up a couple of sets of homemade wings out of wax and took son Icky out for a short hop." 

But, Hytrol's ad suggests, "there's nothing homemade about the modern pilot's equipment. To ease the strain in the air he has his auto pilot. And to ease the strain of landing he has HYTROL, the anti-skid braking system".

Hytrol suggests da Vinci "would have been impressed by the figures on the stopping power of HYTROL. Required landing is reduced ... to 50%. In other words, HYTROL virtually makes short runways longer."

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