Oh, the flair and charm of the combination of French and Brazilian blood! Monsieur Santos Dumont does not need introduction to the aviation world, and his well renowned 14 bis is a familiar –although somewhat awkward- sight.
This box kite-based pusher canard design left the earth in
1906 after some tests and adjustments, much to the delight of the crowd at
Bagatelle. Stoically standing at his piloting post with unmovable face, Santos
Dumont made a place for himself in posterity.
A relatively large model in 1/72 with some attractive
detail, this one is not a difficult one to try. As usual -much to the delight
of the scratch-builder- references differ from each other and also the plane
went trough a few modifications.
The only detail probably worth of mention is the “wicker
gondola”, made of double-sided, wicker-pattern printed paper. In the original
plane, this was a remnant of Santos-Dumont previous experiences with
dirigibles.
The plane was propelled by a Levavasseur Antoinette-type
engine.
This pusher canard had at the front end a sort of
omni-directional moving surface, in order to achieve (or attempt) control.
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