From the archive (2009):
What could be more appropriate than to fly in than a bathtub?
Especially if you learn how to scrub yourself while making "s"
turns, leaving a trail of bubbly foam.
With a span of 24’ and powered by a Henderson four-cylinder in-line engine it
looks like the ultralight take for 1924. It was replicated a number of times more recentlyby aficionados, either because they wanted a simple
plane or because they needed a bath.
The main parts (flying surfaces, engine and tub) for this
project were made in about three hours on a Saturday. The photos describe the building
steps.
Would you believe me if I tell you that the real plane won a
trophy?
And so finishes this article, as small as the model it
describes. But to make up for it, here are some
Things to Amuse Yourself While Building
Or
The Exciting Life of a Modeler
- Make a puddle of superglue to dip-in the needle used to
attach a part. Immediately forget that you did that and, while holding some
delicate assembly, put you hand on the puddle.
- Variation of the precedent: use the top of a container to
put some glue there. Forget about everything as previously described. Then
place the model to rest exactly on that glue spot. Go and have a sandwich. Come
back and lift the model, now with the attached container. Cry. Desperately try
to figure out a way to make a diorama that will include, for some obscure
reason, that container attached to the model. Cry again.
- Finish the most delicate part of a model; let’s say a very
tiny scratch-built engine. Contemplate it and congratulate yourself. Make a
phone call, probably to a fellow modeler to brag about it; discretely, of
course. When the moment arrives to install the engine look up for it in the
finished parts’ container. Oh, that’s true, you left it somewhere else to make
the call. Start to look in all the other containers. Then on the floor,
then, cringing, look under heavy objects. In despair, go and look in the fridge, because you went
there at some point too, remember? When midnight arrives and you have already
dismantled your workshop looking for that tiny engine, give up and take a seat.
Oops, what was that noise underneath your butt?
- Build several models at the same time. Ha!, this time you
finished them all. Start to take those pictures. While loading the images on
your computer, suddenly notice the strange size of the wheels, propellers and
the like on ALL the models. Scramble to detach the parts, swap them, and put
them in their correct models; after all, you were struggling to glue them in
the first place, remember? They kept falling off again and again. They may even
be loose. Well, guess what, now they are firmly glued. As you pull off that
prop, all the entrails of the model will come out attached to it.
- Your building space is a mess. You decide to clean up. Ah,
satisfaction; finally a clean and neat working surface. Now, where were those
parts? Oh, they were there, where now there is nothing! Run desperately to
rummage the trash can. AFTER you are done with your rummaging, somebody will
tell you that the trash was already taken out. Run again outside your house,
only to hear the sound of the garbage truck as it meanders down the street,
blending with the crepuscular light that now sets on the scene.
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