What is an
Archaeopteryx, besides a very good Scrabble word? Literally, an “ancient
wing”.
And you know that with that kind of name…err, it will look…well, you get
the idea.
Granger brothers started to build a plane upon a design of their own
-refined by Latimer Needbam- that flew in the very early 30’s. It was
influenced by the equally bizarre –read “beautiful”- Pterodactyls
built by Capt. Hill.
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images below to see larger images
Although
unusual, it has a pinch of elegance, and makes one think about a modern
hang glider allotted with a fuselage. The engine used, a two cylinder 32
hp Cherub of very limited power, made take offs very…interesting.
Being a small plane of course it renders an equally small model, as you
can see in the image with the quarter –which, as some of you well know,
is for paying the wages of the real builders, the Modeling Brownies-.
The
Archaeopteryx –sorry to make you read this word again- is a fairly simple
scratch project, no doubt helped by the use of tiny brass “Strutz” for all
of the –many- required homonyms.
The photo sequence as usual will provide you with a general idea regarding
materials and construction steps, leaving out all the annoying screaming,
cursing and blasphemy spent in the building process.
As
this little moth-like bug flies off your book case into the eerie atmosphere of
the room, it will remind you of Tinkerbell, leaving a sparky trail as it lands,
with a subtle shudder, in your building board.
Gabriel
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