Friday, January 16, 2015

Tinker Toys

When I was a young(er) squirt, one of my favorite gadgets was a box of something called Tinker Toys. Pilagiarizing shamelessly from Wikipedia, the toy was simple, designed in 1914 by a fellow who fashioned circular blocks of wood about two inches across with holes drilled on the outside of the blocks at 45 degree angles and a transverse hole through the middle. I built all sorts of things with mine - one fellow even built a computer that played tic-tac-toe with his.


For everything you always wanted to know about Tinkertoy:


Malcolm must have had or admired a Tinkertoy set when he was growing up because he has displayed the CallAir fuselage in his maintenance hanger for all the world to see. It's resting on sawhorses now but will be "on the gear" pretty soon. First things first, there are control cables and tailwheel assemblies and main gear assemblies to - ahem - assemble, a firewall to build, attachments for things to be attached to and so on. This is when people who are restoring airplanes reach a point when they decide to sell their project as "90% done". Experienced restorers take that tongue in cheek and usually remark that "90% done" means there is only 90% to go.


The CallAir fuselage, ready for decoration. Tinkertoy experience helps.

For everything you always wanted to know about this CallAir, go to earlier posts on this blog.

Meanwhile:


Woody is in for his yearly condition inspection and so far has passed with flying colors ... he'll be back in the skies over Central Florida this weekend. 



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