HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

Curtiss Racer in 1/48 scale.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I bought the Wright Flier in order to use the ribs which are laser cut from 1/32 basswood(not plywood)Having no access to a laser cutter other than contracting it out at prohibitive cost and not wanting to hand cut them at the cost of my sanity, this seems like a good compromise.The plans can be adapted for my purposes which is also a plus.
My racer will not be exactly like the Curtiss aircraft but pretty close.I like the inter-plane aileron set up which is a very interesting in design.From aileron tip to aileron tip ,the span is 26 feet and the wing chord four feet 8inches at 1:1 scale.

[JohnReid]

It is interesting that the first racer aircraft were not meant to race against each other but against the souped up cars of the day.Prior to WW1 was the man of the hour .airshows,racing,aerobatics,record setting he did it all.Is it any wonder that my backyard airman may have wanted to mmulate the the man of the huor and build a racer?
On another forum a modeling bud suggested that I put a bird's nest in the rigging and a clothes line strung to a wing to represent the passage of time.Excellent idea!

[JohnReid]

My computer crashed while I was trying to edit the above!!!!!
Our course you know that I was talking about Lincoln Beachey.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The heavy black lines are the wingspan and trailing edge for the backyard flier.(which is slightly large than the Curtiss Racer airplane,flown by Lincoln Beachey)
This airplane will be of my own design and built using the knowledge of the era.
I am using the Wright bros wings plan and jig which will be modified for my purposes.The ribs will be placed at the intervals shown and the trailing edge cut back upon completion. The wingtips are square.The wood as supplied is of super quality, thank goodness,as the wing jig and ribs are the only parts I am using.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Modifying the Wright wing.
Using the same plans and jig,I am modifying the Wright's wings width and length to look more like the Curtiss Racer.The length is easy as I just stop building at the closest rib position but for the width I used the same jig and repositioned the trailing edge using a blackened brass rod super glued to the rib.After removing the wing from the jig, the old trailing edge portion will be simply cut off.Remember this is my backyard version of the racer so artistic license rules.This airplane is only meant to be a another prop for the storyline,my version of the racer using the knowledge of the day.No rules and regs which suits me just fine.
To give you an idea of just how lax things were in those days ,the story of how the Custiss Pusher became "headless" is a wonderful example.It seems that one day Lincoln Beachey was to give a live flying exhibition before a large ,all ready gathered crowd.Somehow the head assembly got damaged and had to be removed.Not wanting to disappoint the crowd and the promoter by having to return the gate fees,Beachey decided to fly anyway.He found that the airplane actually flew better like this and so was born the "headless" pusher.

[JohnReid]