Sailplanes
are seldom the subject of manufacturer's releases, or even of modeling articles.
Nevertheless they are an ever-present part of the aviation realm. And, after
all, that's how everything began, remember?
The
plane:
French extravagance and flair is not just limited to fashion, as this Alérion
Peyret of 1922 demonstrates. Of tandem-wing configuration and with a fuselage in
need of a corset, it nevertheless won the soaring competition –at the hands of
Maneyrol- at Itford, England, in 1922 setting an endurance record of 3 hours 22 minutes. Some time later
Maneyrol pushed the record beyond the 8 hours mark with the same plane.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The model:
At 6.6 meters of span it is small in 1/72 scale, which facilitates
things…or not, depending upon several factors, namely: propensity of the
parts to fall and be at the mercy of the carpet monster, sight of the
builder, size of builder’s fingers, etc. In any case, the parts for this
styrene dragonfly were cut and prepared in two hours. Images will walk you
through the building process, since I have no idea or recollection
whatsoever of what I did. In sum, I deny everything.
The
tiny wheels were as usual acquired in the Distant and Foggy
Islands
from Aeroclub Models.
A succinct interior –probably one of the few cases where my ability almost
matches the requirements- was provided. Struts were from Contrail and Strutz!
But you have to eat Liverwurst as you use the latter, which guaranties success.
Thanks Rich for the info on this one!
“…There is no better model than the one you are going to build next”
Styrenides
(Greek modeler and olive farmer, 600 B.S.)
Gabriel
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