Saturday, June 18, 2016

First Scissor Wing Transport?




A comment from Naoto Kimura -  
"On yet another tangent relating to the Estes 1974 catalog -- Popular Science magazine, October 1972 issue - "  
CLICK HERE to see the cover and go to page 66 for the article.
Doesn't this cover art look familiar?


The Estes Scissor Wing Transport was introduced two years later in the 1974 catalog. Both designs are very similar! And some of us wonder where they come up with the new concepts!

I had an original Scissor Wing and was very surprised at how well it did glide after the internal pop pod was ejected.
On the original kit the center pivot hub wheel was light plywood. The reissued kit had a plastic hub. I have heard the reissue kit didn't glide as well as the original.

Check out the inspiration behind the Centuri Mach 10 - CLICK HERE

7 comments:

  1. You say yours glided pretty well back when you built it, how did you finish it to keep it light?

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    1. Hi David,
      I didn't! I spray painted as I normally would, back then it was Krylon (when it was a better paint) It glided about as well as the (first) pop-pod Citation Bomarc.
      I think if there is balance and enough up elevator, almost any winged thing could glide.

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    2. I ended up papering the balsawood with model aeroplane tissue -- it not only added strength, but it also essentially eliminated the need for fillercoat to deal with the wood grain. It still required a bit of prep work however (e.g. a couple coats of thinned clear dope with sanding in between prior to applying the tissue).

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  2. May 1977 Mechanix Illustrated also had a cover with the "Scissor Wing Airliner".

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    1. Thanks Scott,
      I found the image online: http://backissues.com/issue/Mechanix-Illustrated-May-1977

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  3. FYI: Reading the month in the Popular Science image above, looks to be the October 1972 issue not November.

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