A simpler plane to build...

I lurk here off and on, but I found something the other day that I thought
you builders might get a chuckle from.

Many of you are probably familiar with Lindsay Press. They dredge up old
how-to books from the early days and reprint them. I was at a local
technical bookstore today, and found a little 5 1/2 x 8 1/2", 62-page book
called "How To Build Midget Racers". It was first published in 1936, and
deals mostly with the old-time versions of today's go-carts. But the last 5
pages are another thing altogether--Building a midget one-passenger plane.
The plans show a little bi-plane with a 240" wingspan and a finished weight
of 400 pounds. Obviously, with just five pages devoted to the plans and
construction text, a few details are left to the devices of the builder, but
the basic layout is all there. The text declares that the plane is "stout
as a church", and that "she'll take off like a sore stomach". I loved the
part where it talks about welding the steel fuselage frame. It describes
tackwelding and truing everything, then starting at the front and fully
welding in revolutions towards the back: "That way you will run the warp
right out the tail into space."

After reading this tome of 68 year-old aviation wisdom, I can only conclude
that some of you are being way too persnickety about building your aircraft.
It's obviously not as hard as all that g. Anyway, I'll go back to
lurking. The book was only $9, and is a lot of fun as a curiosity. I
wonder if anyone actually built and flew one of those things.

Cheers,
Walt

WJ wrote:

I lurk here off and on, but I found something the other day that I thought
you builders might get a chuckle from.

Many of you are probably familiar with Lindsay Press. They dredge up old
how-to books from the early days and reprint them. I was at a local
technical bookstore today, and found a little 5 1/2 x 8 1/2", 62-page book
called "How To Build Midget Racers". It was first published in 1936, and
deals mostly with the old-time versions of today's go-carts. But the last 5
pages are another thing altogether--Building a midget one-passenger plane.
The plans show a little bi-plane with a 240" wingspan and a finished weight
of 400 pounds. Obviously, with just five pages devoted to the plans and
construction text, a few details are left to the devices of the builder, but
the basic layout is all there. The text declares that the plane is "stout
as a church", and that "she'll take off like a sore stomach". I loved the
part where it talks about welding the steel fuselage frame. It describes
tackwelding and truing everything, then starting at the front and fully
welding in revolutions towards the back: "That way you will run the warp
right out the tail into space."

After reading this tome of 68 year-old aviation wisdom, I can only conclude
that some of you are being way too persnickety about building your aircraft.
It's obviously not as hard as all that g. Anyway, I'll go back to
lurking. The book was only $9, and is a lot of fun as a curiosity. I
wonder if anyone actually built and flew one of those things.

Cheers,
Walt

In the olde days, there weren't a lot of sucessful designs to pick
from. Most guys rolled their own.

Guys like Steve Wittman could build a racer in the garage and blow
the wings off of anything in the sky including military planse(!).

After WW-II, there were cheap fighters for racing, and the DIY guys
were left in the dust.

Today, for some of us, the idea is to keep it simple,
keep it light, and keep it (well, ain't no such thing as a cheap
airplane, but cheapER anyway).

My project is documented at:
http://www.flash.net/~lamb01

Note: that site has been close for months,
but it keeps on being there. Dunno.
Maybe I should complain?

Don't panic if it disappears suddenly...


Richard