WW1 wood planes

[billb]

Remember as young kids holding a plane in your hand..I’ve made a few where I add names.birthdates etc..of my grandchildren

 

[Terry Soloman]

They look great Bill!

 

[Duckshot]

Cool, nice job BillB!

I'm picking nits, but the insignia on those planes didn't come about until WWII. Before WWII it was just a white star on a blue field with a red circle in the center. The red circle in the original U.S.A insignia was was easily confused with the Rising Sun insignia of Imperial Japan ( red circle ), so it was changed shortly after war was declared on Japan.

You made them of wood though, so that's all correct.

 

[billb]

Duckshot. Thanks for stopping and for the privilege of your time...I appreciate you telling me about the decals..it’s one thing I never never thought of ,I will correct the next time,as a young boy it was so so cool to make plane models,and fly the balsa wood planes,,take care

 

[ticndig]

nice work , someone is sure to enjoy them .

 

[billb]

Terry Soloman,,thanks for the privilege of your time again,,I always had a liking for these planes since many many years ago seeing them at the air shows ,,I have to admit
after all these years I still enjoy spinning the propeller and waving it ,,

 

[billb]

ticndig,,thanks for also stopping and for the privilege of your time,,I have to work on improving them,every one I make I try to add a few changes to.for the front nose I use a file to round off and it takes forever,,I think that I have to try a router,In the end when I give them to the grandchildren and watch them spin the propeller I realize that it was time well spent making them. Take care,,,

 

[old digger]

Those are really cool! I remember as a kid that an older friend had one of those model airplanes that had one of those little gas engines. It was neat watching him fly that thing around. He later gave me one of his small gliders, and I played with that for some time. My friend later went on to become a pilot.

 

[billb]

smokeythecat,,,Hi thanks again for stopping and for the privilege of your time,Starting to snow a little today up here.I hope the bobcat better get out before it’s too late,where you are. ,My friends brother was sitting on the ground turkey hunting with his back to a tree with a lower fork,being in full face camouflage with a turkey call in his mouth,from behind a bobcat leaped on to the back of his head knocking him to the ground,luckily he was not injured,,take care

 

[billb]

Old digger,thanks for stopping and for the privilege of your time,we will never lose interest with planes,from making models to flying the balsa wood plane kits,glad to hear your friend is a pilot as I know a family where the father taught his two sons early on how to fly remote control planes now they are both pilots also,take care

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Very cool, I enjoy woodworking also, did you find plans for those or are they of your own creation. I have been toying with the idea of doing some construction toys and WWII tanks and such, I have found plans for, in one of the books I get about woodworking (scrollsawing to be exact).

 

[billb]

Back-0f-the-boat Hi thanks for stopping again,I hope all is well in California,,I could never find plans for these so by trial and error I just kept on changing shapes and sizes,For me I try to make each one a little different and try to use a different color paint.As a young kid years ago I always loved making paper air planes,,making models and putting together the balsa planes, Now I still enjoy spinning the propeller and look for the Red Baron ,,LoL

 

[Duckshot]

Back-of-the-boat, I do a bit of carpentry. I like to make cardboard patterns of everything, what with the price of wood these days. Cut out cardboard, tape it together, and look at it. Sometimes a model looks totally different from what I thought I drew in the plans.

 

[Fat]

Those are neat. Homemade toys become heirlooms.
I have tended ag aircraft, mixed batches and refuel.
Mostly Grumman Ag-tractors/single winged. Ag-cats are the bi-winged, kind.
The sound that a prop makes when it’s under load and tip speed is around sub-sonic followed by that rotary drumming 2200 rpm is a beautiful thing. Before guidance gps a person in a pickup would park on one end of a field and help the pilot “see”where they are and dont get lost. The ground person keeps a pass ahead of plane so your about 50 feet away when its crosses the start/finish line.

 

[billb]

Fat hi thanks for stopping again and also for the privilege of your time ..we go to the air shows and I love the sound of those props and engines..at times they offer open cockpit rides in these double wingers but I have to make believe that the Red Baron maybe in the horizon.all the best...

 

[billb]

Thanks to all who stopped here and for the privilege of all your time..It’s so good to look back and recall the days of making those paper planes..models.For now I still enjoy spinning the propeller and waving the plane and perhaps get enough courage to go for a ride in one of these open cockpit treasures some day..please take care

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Cool, nice job BillB!

I'm picking nits, but the insignia on those planes didn't come about until WWII. Before WWII it was just a white star on a blue field with a red circle in the center.

You made them of wood though, so that's all correct.

I'll fix you for picking nits. The star roundel was phased out in Feb 2018. The US Signal (Air) Corps) then used a roundel that was a tri-color: red, then blue, then white center. They went back to the Star after WWI.

A tricolor roundel was introduced by the US Army Air Service in February 1918 for commonality with the other allies, all of whom used such roundels. Contemporary with the red star, the US Navy was using an anchor symbol on the rudders of its seaplanes. As of May 19, 1917 all branches of the US military were to use a white star with a central RED DOT all in a BLUE DISK painted in the official flag colors. In August 1919 the colors were adjusted to the current standards and the proportions were adjusted slightly so that the center dot was reduced slightly from being 1/3 of the diameter of the blue dot, to being bound by the edges of an imaginary pentagram connecting the inner points of the star.

Good job, Bill, on the models. Kids don't care about the insignias. I remember putting 60 hours into a Gillow stick and tissue kit only it have it thermal away never to be seen again or else smash to bits. Ah, the good 'ol days.

 

[billb]

Charlie P.(NY) Thanks for stopping here And also for the privilege of your time And sharing such great history ..Yes it’s true kids don’t understand insignias ..What they indeed liked was I chose their names and birthdates,,Someday I’m going to get brave enough to go up in one of those open cockpit planes and think about the early days...take care,,,

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

My great-uncle (who I am named for) was an air observer in WWI. My Father's Father worked at Morse Chain in Ithaca and was building Thomas-Morse Scouts . . . that arrived too late to see any action for better or worse (Dad was born in 1912). Mom's Dad was in the Infantry and volutered in France with the 78th Division, went through their officer's school, but later resigned and took a commission as 2nd Lieutenant when the US officially entered the war in the 6th infantry, Co. I. of the 5th Division. He stayed on in the Army of Occupation.

But I never met the first two and Grandpa never spoke of the war that I ever recall. I do know he volunteered with two other guys from his town and they stayed on French soil under white crosses. Lets hope and pray we never see anything like that again. If you lived through the first month you were an old timer. In the air or on the ground.

 

[billb]

Charlie P. (NY)thank you for sharing your family history with me..As a young boy I remember my uncle showing me a book on a plane he used to service when he was a airplane mechanic while in the service..That’s a great picture,,imagine going up in that beauty..At some air shows here they offer rides on some WW1 replicas,but I first have to get more courage to fly in one of those open cockpit wonders. Take care my friend and all the best to you...