Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference. - Page 45

**Bunkerbarge** · 15-06-2006

I think my days working in a model shop as a teenager were some of the happiest of my life.

Airfix Series one kits in a bag for 2/6, I used to make at least one a week in those days as well as working on a railway layout, building pushbikes out of scrap bits, not to mention going to school!

**wonwinglo** · 16-06-2006

Buy only the parts you need for a given project through the mail-order dealers,That’s what I do.Which motors are available for Meccano work? Motors can be a sticking point; the motors available from the set and parts manufacturers seem awfully small and weak for their price and I have not used them in large models.Meccano made a number of fairly gutsy motors in the past, but they are no longer made and collectors prize them. The solution I’ve found is to scour the surplus market for DC or stepper motors having a 3/16" shaft. Meccano gears and couplings are bored for a 4mm shaft, but that’s a close undersize to 3/16", and you can drill and/or ream a 3/16" bore in any of the standard Meccano parts. (Obviously, if you can find European-build motors with 4mm shafts on the surplus market, you’re in heaven.) Keep in mind that drilling out the parts makes them useless on Meccano shafts, so you’ll want to choose one gear or coupling (a universal coupling is available, albeit somewhat pricey) and make that the standard power takeoff from the motor in question. I’ve bought a couple of motors at surplus for a few pounds that run at about 250-300 RPM and have loads of torque. Their mounting holes were weirdly spaced, so I had to modify a standard 1 1/2" X 3" Exacto flat plate with additional holes, but that done, the motor bolts to assemblies through the flat plate and works very well in a Meccano context. I’m still tinkering with stepper motors in a Meccano context, but there’s no reason not to use them if you have the controller. In the meantime, one of the very best sources for all manner of stuff is Herbach and Rademan, and a quick scan of their current catalog shows a number of compact motors with 3/16" shafts. No Meccano enthusiast should be without this catalog: Herbach & Rademan 18 Canal Street PO Box 122 Bristol PA 19007-0122 800-848-8001 (orders only) What is MECCANO MAGAZINE? A publisher in England produced a boys’ hobby magazine under license to Meccano Limited for many years--something like 1916 to 1981. I’ve only seen the publication through five years of its life: 1960-1965. It covered lots more than Meccano construction; in fact, Meccano construction was a pretty small part of it. The rest was coverage of other Meccano Limited toy products, which in the Sixties was quite a lineup and included model trains, an architectural model building set called Bayko, diecast car/truck models called Dinky Toys, and gasp! Play Dough. The balance was material of general interest to preteen boys: Trains/trucks/ships/aircraft, space travel, electronics, stamp collecting, photography, and so on. Because there was typically only two or three short construction articles on Meccano in each issue, I consider them of mostly historical interest today. Meccano Special Model Leaflets were produced in booklet form,these came in the number 10 set in a plastic wallet,even if you are not taken by producing someone elses design they are worthy of study and even building up,but expect problems for example the Combine Harvestor needs tidying up especially making sure that the linkages work properly,but it is a challenge and makes up into an impressive subject.

**wonwinglo** · 17-06-2006

What do Meccano parts cost? there’s the rub. This stuff is pretty expensive. In reality, these prices aren’t bad if you compare the gear prices to stock gear catalogs; The girders seem expensive, but you have to factor in the cost of your own time and effort drilling accurate holes in similar stock. There is a tremendous advantage in having standardized parts, besides. If a chassis prototype you spent 50 hours fabricating just doesn’t pan out, you dismantle it and re-use the parts, rather than toss the whole mess in the corner for spiders to live in. Assuming you don’t butcher a part customizing it somehow, the parts last forever; I still use the girders my father played with as a boy in the early 1930’s, rust or no rust. Where may Meccano sets and parts be bought? Sets could be had in most large hobby shops, especially right before Christmas but things have changed a bit these days and you need to keep your eyes peeled,the problem lies between the collector and the builder. Spare parts must be ordered through the mail. I have dealt with two different mail-order dealers, The real World General Headquarters for Meccano nuts was in England, near London, where Geoffrey Maxwell-Wright ran M. W. Models. Mr.Wright had an astonishing collection of old and new Meccano stuff, including back issues of Meccano Magazine going back fifty years. his shop was a must-see.
I am told that he only deals in literature these days having shut up shop and retired.
There are smaller dealers on the internet some of which have sales lits for Meccano,if you are fortunate there are still bargains to be had if you keep your eyes open,a dusty bag of parts was yielded from an antiques emporium and sometimes the toy and model fairs have a few parts for sale.

**wonwinglo** · 18-06-2006

There was a film shown yesterday on the television that I had not seen before with quite a bit of flying in it ?,it was called 'Six Days Seven Nights' starring the lovely Anne Heche and Harrison Ford,made in 1998 the film centred around the Hawaii islands,Ford is the pilot for a one man tin-pot operation flying a vintage workhorse De Havilland Canada Beaver ( strange registration F-0318 ) between the islands,Heche is on vacation with her husband to be and needs to get back home quickly to clinch a deal,she contracts Ford to fly her home,the outcome is they take off into a nasty thunderstorm and he is forced to turn back,a lightning strike puts the radio out and after loosing altitude he puts the Beaver down onto a small beach on an unknown island,striking a tree this wipes the undercarriage clean off and the Beaver looks a sorry sight keeled over onto one wing.
After falling down into a crater amongst other things,cooking peacocks on a camp fire to survive they then witness modern day pirates taking over a luxury boat,the pirates come in quick pursuit after them,the two manage to escape and are forced to exit over a cliff into the sea whilst the nasties give up and return to their gunship ! at nightfall they discover an old Jap Rufe floatplane ( actually a North American Harvard done up to look like one ) and Ford eyeballs the floats ! the next morning his passenger is awakened to the sight of him hack sawing off the said floats,they drag them down a stream and over some cliffs pulling them onto the beach where the Beaver is looking sorry for itself,after some clever levering and positioning the landplane is converted into a floatplane lashing bamboo rods between the undercarriage with lots of rope,a sort of 'Flight of the Phoenix affair',as they complete the conversion the pirates appear again on the horizon firing cannon shells at the beach,as things start to blow up they get quickly into the Beaver and fire her up,a spectacular take off ensues towards the gunship with the floats holding enough to get them off the water,they head home towards the island they first set off from, and injured Ford shows Heche how to fly the old girl as he does not have the strength to hold the controls,she manages to put her down in front of the beach and some spectacular filming takes place as the floats give way on landing and the Beaver slumps onto its side,they made it ! all in all,not a bad film with some spectacular scenery,they must have used a few Beavers to get the flying and crash shots needed.

**wonwinglo** · 19-06-2006

A few years ago on the 'Waterworld' television programme, appeared a young lad who just loved building small scale models of narrowboats,his mother said that there was always balsa dust everywhere but put up with her sons passion for the waterways,he could be seen measuring up narrowboats as potential subjects for his growing collection which then stood at around 60 'OO' scale models.
A new series of the programme shows the very same young lad albeit a bit older,but still building,he has now progressed to larger scales and even radio control,with a working model of a crane equipped commercial narrowboat,his collection now stands at 100 and he has even laid them out neatly onto shelves with full descriptions of the models.
His next project ? well in his own words he would like to build a small boat capable of taking him down the canal,and you know something ? I think he will go ahead and build one.
I am not sure of his name but if you just happen to be reading this then well done,and the best of luck for the future,you are on the right track young man.
Better still send us some pictures of your collection of models they will be well received here.

**Bunkerbarge** · 19-06-2006

Barry,

I caught the last half of the Harrison Ford movie and quite enjoyed it. I coulkdn't help thinking quite regularly of "Flight of the Phoenix" though.

As for an aircraft in that condition firing up first time and having enough power to drag two well sunken floats off a beach requires a certain degree of poetic license but enjoyable nevertheless. The guys on that boat must have been bloody lousy shots as well, thay could have almost thrown the dam shell at the plane!!

As for canal narrowboats, they seem to be increasing in popularity at quite a rate. There are now a number of manufacturers making kits with fibre glass hulls that can basically be decorated however you want. Some of the radio controlled ones appearing are quite interesting models but I haven't seen any yet sailing on a scale canal!!

**wonwinglo** · 20-06-2006

The great thing about the internet, is that once a name is placed within cyberspace then there is a very good chance that some family member will one day put in a search and find something ? that is one of the reasons that I like to dwell on what are perhaps obscure subjects from our past,here is but one example,a tiny shop just on the outskirts of the town at Coventry which was an haven for model builders just before World War two and running right up until the early sixties.
There are now no signs of the shop which is now incidently a store for the beer at the working mens club alongside,in fact the business was forced to close because the club wanted the property back for just that purpose,storage.
The shop was started as a model shop by Claude Beesley,a likeable chap who started selling balsawood,balsa cement,model aeroplane rubber and kits in the heyday of rubber powered model aeroplanes,to say the shop was small is an under-statement,narrow and long,but every bit of space was utilised,the balsa rack was to the left at the end of the queue ( yes there was always a queue in shops in those days ) together with the wire,dowel etc,then kits were placed end on at eye level at the back,it was a chummy but very attractive and compact arrangement,the most important thing was the shop always had what you wanted,which is more than can be said of some of todays businesses with bread and butter lines out of stock.
After the second world war Claude returned from his naval service and the modelling business declined a bit,making a need to introduce other lucrative lines,for these Claude saw the development of the DIY enthusiast,and despite the shops small size filled the back yard with timber,plywood and hardboard supplies,you could go in and buy any size that you wanted,he would cut it for you and charge accordingly,the DIY move was a good one for the modeller also who always needed the occasional piece of plywood or softwood to make up jigs etc,the blend of modelling items and DIY worked hand in hand,however the next move towards expansion was an unusual one,the popularity of fishing was tapped into and he started to sell fishing licences and maggots,plus all of the other things associated with fishing,this really pushed the size of the shop to its limits as people holding sheets of balsa wood rubbed shoulders with people holding tins of 'pinkies' a dyed maggot said to attract the fish ! as time went on Claude was forced to set on an assistant,his name was George Baker who worked for Beesleys for many years right up until the end.
Whilst the propieters ill health was a factor,as mentioned previously the business was in jeopardy when the lease expired,and the working mens club wanted the premises back,this sadly happened and Beesleys closed its doors for good,so another chapter ended.

**wonwinglo** · 21-06-2006

Another shop which came about due to the immense modelling supply demands of the period just after World War 2,right up until the sixties was the Experimental & Model Company,Lower Ford Street,Coventry,the name is interesting and originated from the owners first business a draughting company at the same premises,the model shop side expanded into another shop at Hales street near the old Opera cinema,this became a first class toy shop selling quality toys and also some modelling supplies as well,one feature was a model railway layout in the window,this functioned by placing coins into a slot by the window ledge,can you imagine the vandals of today having a field day with that one ? but what a novel attraction to passers by.
In comparison with Beesleys which was a tiny shop,the Experimental shop had a large customer area with extensive cabinets all around,the large counter was at the very back of the shop together with a workshop as well,there was also at least three staff,perhaps more on a Saturday to serve the needs of the public.
Around the time of the popularity of single channel radio models they built their own radio set,this was called the 'Emco Ace' a simple button press system either bang-bang,or sequential depending which rubber driven escapement was used ? if anyone still has one of these then it must be a collectors piece,the test aeroplane used an Auster type can still be seen in the Coventry Toy museum run by Ron Morgan in Much Park street.
So what happened to this shop ? well like a lot of others which were run by keen individuals they started to go into decline, as the owners became older and unable to manage the day to day running of the business,in this case most of the stock was sold out to one of the assistants Ray Beesley,Ray set up his own shop utilising the stock at Crampers fields,Coventry,this too sadly closed for business a few years later.

**wonwinglo** · 22-06-2006

Federal Aviation Authority investigators say they are deeply concerned about an engine break-up that nearly destroyed a Boeing 767 on the ground in Los Angeles this month,because the failure may indicate a recurrence of a problem they thought they had eliminated in 2003. American Airlines mechanics were testing the engine on June 2 , after the crew of an earlier flight had reported it was not performing properly. During the test, an internal disk came apart, slicing open a fuel tank in the left wing; the fuel spilled onto the ground, where it caught fire. One piece of metal was thrown more than half a mile from the aircraft.
There were no injuries, and under the rules of the National Transportation and safey board the event might not even qualify as an accident because there was no intention to fly the aircraft. But experts say that such uncontained failures, so called because the engine cowling does not hold in the debris, resemble a roulette game.
There's 360 degrees around, and it's really the luck of the draw which way the pieces come out, said John Goglia, a former member of the board and an aircraft maintenance expert. If the parts fly off in flight and hit the wing, where fuel is stored, or the fuselage, he said, the results could be pretty devastating.
The first such engine explosion occurred in July 1989, during a flight of a United Airlines DC-10. That engine was mounted in the tail, and the debris disabled the plane's hydraulic system. The crew brought the aircraft down in a field at the airport in Sioux City, Iowa, maneuvering only by varying the thrust on the two surviving engines; 111 people were killed.
The explosion in Los Angeles is similar to one in September 2000 involving another Boeing 767, this one owned by US Airways, in Philadelphia. In both cases, mechanics were testing the engines by revving them toward full power when they broke up, leading to catastrophic fires.
In addition, an Air New Zealand 767 suffered an uncontained failure at 11,000 feet on a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to Brisbane, Australia, in December 2002. That plane landed safely. But as a result, in March 2003, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of the part involved. The agency believed that would solve the problem.
The engine in all the cases was a variation of the popular General Electric CF6.
Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for General Electric, said that about 3,400 of the engines were in service and that two-thirds of them had been inspected, with no problems found. The engine involved in Los Angeles was not due for inspection, according to investigators.
The inspection interval is usually set at half the number of flights at which engineers think a problem will develop. The inspection limit now is 11,000 cycles, or engine start-ups and shutdowns. Aviation experts said that one likely outcome was that the government would require inspections at shorter intervals.
Mr. Kennedy said the engines involved were built between 1982 and 2001; in 2001, the company switched to a stronger disk, he said. The engines are used on a variety of large airliners.
The FAA is investigating the failure in Los Angeles, said a spokeswoman, Laura J. Brown.
A spokesman for American, Tim Smith, said the airline's insurance company had not yet determined whether the aircraft in Los Angeles had been damaged beyond repair. It suffered damage to both engines and the fuselage, he said.
Of greater concern, though, is how to prevent the problem altogether.
Mr. Goglia said, I view these as warning shots. If we don't pay attention and figure out what went wrong, we're going to repeat it.
The integrity and condition of fan blades in aircraft engines,is something that the certification authorities and manufacturers are always working on.

**Bunkerbarge** · 22-06-2006

Marine engines have had turbo-chargers fitted for many many years and are always a cause for concern.

Ours spin at around 16,000 rpm at full load which is nealy half a ton of metal. At these speeds the axial clearance actually reduces due to the centrifugal forces on the blades! We remove them every 12,000 hours of service for balancing, cleaning and testing but still there are occasional failures.

It must also be remembered that external forces can have an effect on these units with catastrophic effects. In the marine engine a failing of any component in any of the cylinders can send peices of metal into the turbo-charger, with obvious results and in the case of aircraft engines anything drawn into the turbine, birds, debris, rubbish etc., can have a similar effect.

The last time I came across it was only about a year ago when an exhaust valve failed and some peices of metal went through the turbo-charger. Luckily we stopped the engine as soon as we noticed the unit was not firing and prevented the turbine destroying itself. The blades were badly damaged though when we took it all apart but we could have been looking at seconds before it all came out of the casing.