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Entomology for some reason seems an
appropriate tool in dealing with this plane.
The joint-venture that gave birth to the Elytroplan took place in France
in 1937, between Charles de Rouge, Jacques de Chabrillan and Victor
Bouffort. The curious may visit:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Roug%C3%A9
for further info.
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images below to see larger images
So, what is an “elytron”? A
pair of hardened front wings on some insects. I guess the French designers
were referring to a pair of small vanes that in this case were located at
the tip of a super-sized rudder. They were used to further improve
control. Or so the legend goes.
In any case the design trend originated a small number of planes,
unfortunately all of them destroyed later during war time. There is a
plane from another designer preserved at the Musee de L’Air but,
although using a similar concept, doesn’t bear a close resemblance to
the first Elytroplan, having a horizontal “elytron” instead of
vertical ones.
The model:
A tiny strange thing in 1/72 scale, basically simple to build if you are willing
to deal with small details. For the record, I spent more time looking for
minuscule parts that jumped on the floor than with the building process itself.
The only “foreign” part is a photo-etched propeller boss. Most of the other
elements were made of styrene sheet and rod, even the wheels. The wing-tip skids
and main mono-wheel undercarriage were made of bent staples. A simple interior
was guess-built, the whole thing airbrushed with acrylics, et voila!
Daring job, being a test pilot, uh?
Thanks to modeler Michel Barriere for spurring the creation of the model.
Gabriel
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