Wright Brothers Flyer by Richard 44 - FINISHED - Aerobase - 1:72 - BRASS

[Richard44]

Many, many years ago I was an avid builder of plastic aircraft kits. One of them was the Monogram model of the Wright Brothers Flyer (scale was about 1:40). This didn’t survive a house move so I made a second. This too did not survive, so number three was built, and I still have it. Slightly the worse after a couple of house moves.

I was idly browsing the net when I saw an ad for a 1:72 brass model of the Flyer, so I thought why not. The model is produced by a Japanese company called Aerobase (aerobase.jp), and comes in a stout box with two sheets of PE, three A4 pages of diagrams and a black acrylic display base. A cast (?resin) engine and figure representing Orville are included. The diagrams are annotated with instructions, unfortunately these are in Japanese, though they seem to be adequate - but we’ll see. The model is interesting in that most of the pieces are attached to each other with tiny tags, with the diagrams showing glue being used only occasionally. There are only 21 pieces plus the ribs, so this will not be a long build log.

The first step is to form the forward framework that holds the two elevators. This framework is in one piece and only needs simple bending to form the correct shape. Visible in the photo are the tags used to attach parts to each other (one next to the point of the knife blade), these are vertical (in the photo) here, while other tags, at angles, will be used when rigging the plane.

The framework with the lower elevator in place.

Both elevators in place.

The ribs for the wing are to be fitted into tiny slots, and the diagram shows that these slots then need to be squeezed tight. I tried this but didn’t have suitable pliers so I used drops of gel CA instead. The lower wing partly complete with a rib ready to be fixed.

The lower wing complete.

Both wings complete with the interplane struts ready to be glued in place. The struts have locating pins top and bottom which make assembly relatively easy.

The two wings assembled together, with some “authentic” wing warping visible in places. I tried to remove the warping, but there was a limit as to how much pressure I was willing to apply to the wing.

The rudders that needed only a few bends to be formed.

The assembled plane, though without rigging.

The plane rigged, but no pilot yet. The kit came with some normal thread for the rigging, but I chose to use one of the fine, elastic-type threads, not EZ-Line but something similar (AK Thin). Rigging was a real exercise in patience. There was not a lot of room to get thread, tweezers and fingers in simultaneously. Several breaks were required to allow stress levels to drop.

Mounted on the display base.

Some of the diagrams weren’t as clear as they could have been, and the order of assembly appeared to be decidedly odd with the ribs apparently being added (Step 5) after the plane was assembled (Steps 2,3,4). Not what I did, as this would have been near impossible.

 

Anyway, a neat little model.

 

Cheers

Edited September 4, 2023 by Richard44

[Landlubber Mike]

Nicely done!  Not easy to do all that framing in PE, but you make it look easy.  Great job!

[mtaylor]

Oliver?  You mean Orville, I hope.  Good looking model the Flyer.  I have a memory of seeing a full size one at the Air Force Museum as a kid that didn't have any coverings.   I wonder if it's still there?

[Richard44]

13 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Oliver?  You mean Orville, I hope. 

Duh, stupid autocorrect. And I didn't see it even when proofreading! I'll correct it.

 

Cheers

[mtaylor]

1 minute ago, Richard44 said:

Duh, stupid autocorrect. And I didn't see it even when proofreading! I'll correct it.

 

Cheers

No worries as it happens to the best of us.

[Jack12477]

From Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Jack12477

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

From Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum 

 

 

Yep, the 1902 Glider, Glider #2 the first workable control system... A brilliant achievement, it was after their successful experiments with this glider that they realized all they now needed was a reliable power source...

 

As an added treat, in pic #3, don't fail to peruse the reproduction hang glider hanging from the ceiling above Glider #2, that is Octave Chanute's 1896 hang glider... (made over 200 flights itself) Octave Chanute was a pioneer aviator and engineer... He also acted as a consultant to the brothers while they were perfecting their wing designs...  (as well as being a witness to the Brothers first flight)

Edited September 5, 2023 by Egilman

[Jack12477]

 

Chanute's Glider

[Javlin]

That is super cool and so small!You did a great job with that one!

[Canute]

Was it Chanute who turned a houseboat into a catapult launch rail for hos powered effort?

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, Canute said:

Was it Chanute who turned a houseboat into a catapult launch rail for hos powered effort?

Nope, That was Samuel Langley from the Smithsonian and his Aerodrome....

 

His scale model flew successfully, but his full sized machine nosedived into the river.... I believe an engineering examination of the plans done sometime in the '70's decided that it couldn't fly as designed... It had no controls that would work anyway, and Langley missed the point completely, getting into the air had already been done in Europe, it was control that everyone was looking for... And the brothers were the first...

 

Chanute never built a powered machine, he was getting old and felt it was going to take a younger man... But he actively supported the Brothers who consulted with him almost constantly... In fact the wired Pratt truss design of their wings is directly attributed to Chanute's guidance....

[Richard44]

Thanks for your comments Egilman. My short build log has turned into a very interesting history lesson. 😁

[Egilman]

My pleasure Brother... There's a lot out there over the Wright Brothers/Smithsonian Langley controversy... Law, politics and personalities.... 

 

Here's a synopsis about it...

 

https://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/History_of_the_Airplane/Doers_and_Dreamers/Wright_Smithsonian_Controversy/00_Wright_Smithsonian_Controversy_Intro.htm

 

No less than Glenn Curtiss was involved and several directors of the Smithsonian as well... Eventually it Involved FDR too...  Since the Smithsonian refused to admit their clams over the Aerodrome were false the Brothers sent their Flyer to be displayed in London... Rather than at the Smithsonian where it belonged...

 

Lots of interesting history in that period... (and after the war the Wright Flyer was returned to the USA for display)

[Canute]

Good stuff, EG. Curtiss was a busy man. He worked with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell up in Baddeck, NS on some of the Doctor's forays in aviation. Baddeck is akin to Kitty Hawk for our Canadian folks.

[Jack12477]

Glenn Curtis Trivia: "Although his formal education extended only to eighth grade, his early interest in mechanics and inventions was evident at his first job at the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company (later Eastman Kodak Company) in Rochester, New York.^[3] He invented a stencil machine adopted at the plant and later built a rudimentary camera to study photography.^{[3]"   wikipedia}

 

Later known as the mimeograph machine

Edited September 7, 2023 by Jack12477