Hello Friends,
Car guys are crazy. Some, like me, are crazier than others. I am
out of garage space and both of my sports cars are now restored and
running great. That means, for the time being, I have nothing to work
on. I have cleaned the garage, work area and my tools. Not a good
sign for me. It usually means I am about to buy another basket-case
sports car. Yet, this time I avoided that wonderful peril.
Over the past week I have been working with the curator of the
Tulsa Air and Space Museum to form a plan to restore the museum's
oldest airplane, although I am not licensed to do so. Yet, the plane we
are rebuilding is 92 years old and will never be flown. It will be a
working but static display in the new museum.
At the end of the following link is a page showing the plans for the
1912 White Monoplane as well as a set of plans for a flying scale model
of the same plane. http://www.theplanpage.com/things/wm/white.htm
The original design was intended as a glider. Please remember, this
plane dates to shortly after the Wright brothers first flew! Any pilot-
to-be had to build their own plane if they wanted to fly. The White
Monoplane was offered as plans in the 1912 Popular Mechanics.
This particular plane, owned by TASM, was built shortly after the
original article was published. It never flew as the builder went away
to WWI. In the war, he saw powered airplanes and fell in love.
Shortly after the war, he came home only to find that the White
Monoplane, originally designed as a glider, could be modified to be
powered by the 1918 Henderson four cylinder motorcycle engine.
http://www.hendersonmotorcycle.com/History%201911.htm
Our plane has the Henderson engine and THAT is the subject
of my next restoration project! I pick it up this week. Great fun, eh?!
Thanks for the read,
rick / tulsa
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