September 1, 2006
THEY CAN'T EVEN MAKE TOY ONES:
Iconic model maker Airfix comes unglued (STEPHEN MCGINTY, 9/01/06, The Scotsman)
IT INTRODUCED generations of schoolchildren to model-making and was responsible for countless miniature Spitfires, ME-109s and Lancaster bombers doing battle below bedroom ceilings.But Airfix is now facing an uncertain future after its parent company went into administration, unable to compete with the more modern childhood pastimes of computer games and television.
Which is why Boeing has no competition. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 1, 2006 8:09 AM
Boeing has no competition because children are more interested in computer games than builidng models? Man, I would give cash money to figure out the labyrinthine processes of your mind.
Anyway, I used to build Monogram 1/32 scale WWII airplane models. My early attempts were amateurish but by the time I finished my final model, a B-17, I had improved greatly. I had one side of my bedroom be the air war in Europe and the other side be the war in the Pacific because I just couldn't abide seeing an F4U Corsair in the same airspace as a Spitfire.
Posted by: Bryan at September 1, 2006 10:05 AMEveryone concedes your point "Boeing has no competition" we're just searching for why.
Posted by: oj at September 1, 2006 11:02 AMBoeing has no competition worldwide because socialism can't be inventive nor spontaneous and therefore can't compete with American ingenuity.
I have no idea why there is no domestic competition except I'd bet it has to do with leftwing politics of government over-regulation and interference.
Aircraft design, like so much else, is a computer-generated art these days. Small wonder that the U.S. has the edge. A generation of kids who (mostly) never built a model plane but can visualize one can bring a lot to the table. The actual manufacturing is an afterthought. We could farm it out. I know, how about China?
BTW, I have a stick-and-paper model of a Stinson Voyager hanging near my 'puter, complete except for a motor. If anyone has spare parts for a Brown Junior, Campus A-23, Peanut CO2 engine, especially the gasket for the cylinder head, I'd like to hear from you.
Model aircraft construction, along with fly tying, remains one of my delights. Parts are hard to come by for this motor, as the manufacturer has passed. Thank Heaven birds haven't.
Posted by: Ed Bush at September 1, 2006 12:21 PMAww Bryan,
Where's your imagination? A fond memory from my youth was going to sleep watching two ME-110s engage in a vicious dogfight with a Japanese Zero. Hanging by fishing line over my bed. 1/32 scale.
JP
Posted by: jefferson park at September 1, 2006 12:28 PMI was a pretty anal rententive kid. I went nuts when my grandfather told me that my Stuka was in too steep a dive until my Dad took me aside and mentioned that the only Stukas my grandfather had seen were on the ground.
I used fishing line too. And I only built models from Monogram (due to minute differences in scale between them and Revell) and only in 1/32 scale.
Hmm. Model airplanes and fishing line. What's next, airplanes and kayaks? Seems we have theme working here.
Posted by: Ed Bush at September 1, 2006 1:02 PM