Between 1929 and 1931, Mr. McClary developed a series of prototypes of which not much photographic evidence remains. The Model A is what you see here, according to Aerofiles. It seems that it was considered a motorglider. Hum.
Unfortunately there is no record of it ever flying, but I am
an optimist.
Control was obtained mainly by fervent praying, but also through
elevators and rudder, and some sort of ailerons protruding from the…-I guess I
should say wing, although I am not totally certain.
This sort of flattened zeppelin ,although simple in
appearance, offers certain challenges, not being the lesser one the absence of
3 views. I concocted one in my periods of lucidity.
Areas that will need attention are the engine (55 parts) the
wheels (of the spoke type) and the various struts and protrusions. On the
engine and its cowling aluminum sheet, styrene, solder and a home-made
metalized vacuformed part were all used. Some generic interior was built into
the pilot gondola too.
It looked simple enough at the beginning, but after all the dust
settled down the count of parts surpassed the 140 mark. Nothing a normal
modeler can’t deal with. If we could only find a normal modeler.
In 1/72 the model has a reasonable size, not too small, not
too big, which makes handling easier. Nevertheless, a number of parts had to be
made twice or three times in order to get a reasonable result.
The unusual shape dictated equally unusual production of
parts and assembly procedures, not to mention that you normally make the
fuselage and then glue the wings to it, but in this case you make the (only)
wing and glue the fuselage to it. Then you glue the tail surfaces to the wing too.
Feels strange, but the same can be said of the plane, isn’t it?
Is contemplating these kind of designs when I start to see fine
art in aviation.
With its startling appearance the McClary is bound to raise
some eyebrows, but its unusual shape is to me heaven, where surely now it
certainly is.
No comments:
Post a Comment