Oldie but goody

jsesere wrote:

$7.95!  That's a good price.

COOL !! Joe is that the name of the plane ? Thimble Drome (flight trainer) what 's the year ? Never mine I found it .. Name TD-4 Flight Trainer
Order# 5100
Engine .049 Babe Bee
Production Years 1956 1959
Description This was a simple trainer model with a profile fuselage. It came in a triangular box (“DUBL-VUE”) and also in an box with square cross section.
Initially order # B51
Price in 1956: $7.95 Yes that's Nice Good Catch

If it is like the one I had (way back when) the firewall tilts so you can adjust the thrust line and the underside of the wing is shaped to trap air somewhat like a frisbee.

George

Below; a photo that "Maui-Mark" (Batjac) posted some time ago. I think it's of his actual model.



Obviously a predecessor to the PT19 Flight trainer.. which also has adjustable up/down thrust and rubber-band retention of the major parts. Molded in blue/yellow.. yellow/blue combinations as well.

Is that a girl in the cockpit? Danged if it doesn't have a nice big wing on it. Funny looking, but pretty cool. another one I've never heard of.
Rusty

It's a young boy, flight cap and headphones make it look like long hair from a distance.

It's both a boy AND a girl.  On the right side is a boy with a blue long sleeve shirt and short hair, and on the left side is a girl with a blue short sleeve shirt with frills and curly shoulder length hair.  Both have a brown hat pushed to the back of their heads with the black visor up over their ears.  I can't scan my TD-4 since it won't fit in the scanner, but I'll try to take pictures if I can figure out the macro setting on my camera.

The Mark IV

Okay, I just spent a couple of hours going through the manual for my camera.  WOW!  I never knew it could do so much.  I’ve had it for five years, and just learned that I’ve been doing some things the hard way.  And the menu ring that toggles left-right and up-down?  The ring also rotates for selecting things.  Who knew?!?  I guess I shoulda taken the time to read the manual fully….

Anyway, here’re the pictures of the TD-4 stickers.  First is the boy on the right side:




And the girl on the left:




Cox, the first Equal Opportunity model plane provider!  Also, even though it’s a little hard to see, here’s a picture of the engine thrust settings.  It has a Beginner setting, a Sport setting, and a Stunt setting.  A TD-4 would stunt?  Again, who knew?!?




The Archivist Mark

Probably a decent little flyer. Hey Mark, can you tell us what the wing-span/area is?



My PT19 Flight-Trainer's wing has a 22.5" span and avg.-chord of 4" for an approx. 90 sq. in. Mine weighs 10oz. dry.. I'll bet that the TD-4 weighs less by a good ounce or two. The type of plastic probably differs too. I'd imagine that the TD-4 would have been molded using the rigid (more brittle Polystyrene?) plastic, before more flexible varieties were developed.

It would be fun to trace the fuse-outlines.. and make a balsa copy with rigid-mounted wing. Make a hinged-elevator/stab. instead of a stabilator.

Sorry Mark.. ("got balsa?")

The Instigating Roddie

roddie wrote:It would be fun to trace the fuse-outlines.. and make a balsa copy with rigid-mounted wing. Make a hinged-elevator/stab. instead of a stabilator.

Sorry Mark.. ("got balsa?")

The Instigating Roddie  

Already started on it.  I'm stalled at how I want to make the stabilator work, but I think I'll get back to it and finish it this week.  here's the thread I started long ago...

https://www.coxengineforum.com/t6595-giving-new-life-to-a-classic

The plastic is actually very flexible on the wing. Much more flexible than my PT-19s I have.

The Procrastinating Mark