Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 2, 2021 20:39:47 GMT 12
BUILDING OWN AIRCRAFT
Plan Of Auckland Schlooboy
"The Press” Special Service AUCKLAND, Feb. 1.
A 16-year-old Auckland Grammar School boy wants to build his own aeroplane and to get others interested in home construction of light aircraft. He is David McDonald, of 9 Ponsonby road, who has joined the Experimental Aircraft Association of America in his search for information and guidance in building “backyard” planes.
He has applied for a flying scholarship, and intends to study engineering at the university, but in the meantime has written to France for the plans to build a little plane called a Jodel Bebe. He says it can be built in a room 16ft x 5ft—fuselage first, wings second — at a cost of about £350.
David thinks that he can get the wood from the de Havilland Company in Wellington, and that the engine would be the same as one used in a popular small car, producing 40 horse-power.
He says that in America, where many planes of all sizes and shapes are home-built, the makers can buy their bits and pieces for a comparative song. For example, one man bought a whole Piper aircraft fuselage and a Lycoming 55 horse-power engine for about £27. There, makers can pick up much surplus equipment, including Air Force items. Anyway, David hopes that other youngsters will join him in forming an active New Zealand association devoted to building members’ own planes and flying them.
PRESS, 2 FEBRUARY 1957
Plan Of Auckland Schlooboy
"The Press” Special Service AUCKLAND, Feb. 1.
A 16-year-old Auckland Grammar School boy wants to build his own aeroplane and to get others interested in home construction of light aircraft. He is David McDonald, of 9 Ponsonby road, who has joined the Experimental Aircraft Association of America in his search for information and guidance in building “backyard” planes.
He has applied for a flying scholarship, and intends to study engineering at the university, but in the meantime has written to France for the plans to build a little plane called a Jodel Bebe. He says it can be built in a room 16ft x 5ft—fuselage first, wings second — at a cost of about £350.
David thinks that he can get the wood from the de Havilland Company in Wellington, and that the engine would be the same as one used in a popular small car, producing 40 horse-power.
He says that in America, where many planes of all sizes and shapes are home-built, the makers can buy their bits and pieces for a comparative song. For example, one man bought a whole Piper aircraft fuselage and a Lycoming 55 horse-power engine for about £27. There, makers can pick up much surplus equipment, including Air Force items. Anyway, David hopes that other youngsters will join him in forming an active New Zealand association devoted to building members’ own planes and flying them.
PRESS, 2 FEBRUARY 1957
