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flying model of famous New York skyscraper |
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WAEC Rockets Space Racer SAM-66 Sunbird II Pi Sprint Leviathan Space Racer II Arcturus Mk. 1 Roswell or Bust! Brinley Short March Discovery XW-1 Apollo-LES Sprint II Lone Star Mercury-Redstone Shenzhou Saturn 1B Saturn V Gemini-Titan II Juno I Chrysler Building More Information |
Of the Nine Objectives which I set out to complete in the final year of the WAEC, the most unusual was, without question, the goal to build and fly a model of the Chrysler Building, the famous skyscraper and signature of New York. Why, one might ask, would I bother building and flying a model of the building if the real thing never flew in the first place? This is a difficult question, I must concede, and it does not have one single definite answer. I had long been captivated by the elegance of the Chrysler Building's design, and almost three years prior I had done some preliminary design studies of a flying model of said building. After all, if I wanted to fly a building, what design was more sleek and streamlined (not the Citicorp Tower, certainly!)? But in the end, I believe, building and flying a model of the Chrysler Building was a bold statement about the WAEC and my abilities as a modeler: given sufficient time and resources, I could make anything fly. But, before I could build and fly the model, I would have to design it. After a careful search, the best scale data I could find of the original building was a simplified paper model from Paper Toys. I scaled up the paper model, printed it out, assembled it, and then scaled my flying model from that (in a resulting scale of about 1/950 to the original). After I'd drawn up the original plans with all of the different flat faces of the building denoted, I photocopied the plans and built from them a full-scale engineering mockup of my model out of paper, to ascertain that the parts fit together as intended. They did. This was the first and only time I built an engineering mockup for one of the WAEC's projects. This is common practice for full-scale aerospace engineering projects. I began assembly soon afterward (this being July and August of 2003, early in the challenge). I was missing the BT-20 tubes I intended to use for internal structural support, so I could not assemble the parts together. I cut out all of the pieces, put them in a shoebox...and waited several months. In April of the next year, I carved the building's Art Deco cap out of balsa (with a toothpick for the record-breaking spire). Finally, with about a month left in the challenge (and following my graduation from high school), I got my hands on the requisite body tubes, and began assembly. It only took a few days to assemble the model, putty up all of the gaps, seal the balsa wood grain, and give the model its base coats of paint. The last final hurdle for the finishing of the model (which I didn't complete by the time I flew the model) was drawing on every single little window of the 71 stories of the building. I started doing this with a fine-tipped permanent marker, but after working for a good five hours on that (not on one day), I decided I had better things to do with my time. (For part of that time, I was watching Ronald Reagan's over-the-top state funeral on television.) Finding a day to fly the model was also a major challenge. At last, on July 1, 2004, with less than a week left in the challenge, I launched the Chrysler Building skyward, complete with removable fins. Ignition was flawless, boost straight, ejection clean, descent slow, and recovery perfect (culminating in a catch by me). The model was in almost perfect shape after its one and only flight skyward. I was elated. Close to three years later, I finally got the chance to go to Manhattan and get a firsthand look at the real Chrysler Building. Even in the midst of my ecstacy at beholding this architectural jewel, I couldn't shake the thought that I got a few details wrong on my model. I made the cap too small and the gray paint I used was too dark. Even so, my model is unmistakably the Chrysler Building, and I remain quite proud of it. Chrysler Building specifications Scale: 1/950 Height (without fins): 33 cm Base Dimensions: ? Structural Materials: balsa, styrene, kraft paper body tubes Engine Mount: 18 mm Nose: Art Deco cap (balsa) Stabilization: (4) clipped-delta fins (removable) Recovery: parachute Number of Flights: 1 Official WAEC Plans
Chrysler Building images
Chrysler Building Flight Log
Chrysler Building Links
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herein copyright 2003-2008
by Willy Logan willy@wilhelm-aerospace.org |
