Evolution of Flight, a work in progress

Gigatron

Sr Member
Hey guys,

I've been working on a collection of models, to show the eveolution of flight. I have, what I feel, are some of the more important players, in the history of aviation.

Heritageflight_WIP.jpg


There is, of course, the Wright flyer; the first plane to make a controlled take-off and landing, the Bell X-1; the first plane to break the sound barrier, the North American X-15A-2; the plane that held all speed and altitude records, until the culmination of aviation was realized by the space shuttle.

Now, I have gone back and forth about adding other planes, to the timeline. For instance, I considered adding the P-51D, which is really the pinnacle of prop-driven planes. And perhaps the Me-262, or Gloster Meteor; the first jet fighters. I even thought about adding the F-22; the latest and greatest in aviation.

Anyway, I'm just waiting to here back from our resident space guru, on his opinion of the shuttle MLP color. I did a lot of scratchbuilding on the revell MLP, as it was just a box with wheels, so now it's just in primer. Once I get the MLP painted, I'll post final pictures.

So enjoy, and as always, constructive criticism is welcome - epecially if you have any ideas on placement of the planes (this is like the 15th re-arrangement). I think I may move the X-1 to be slightly ahead of the wright.

-Fred
 
Awesome collection and great idea for a line up. What about a modern airliner like a Connie or 707 great steps in the evolution of flight
 
Very cool set there. I might add a Vostok or Apollo model in there, but there are a ton of contenders that you could also justify including.

My heart goes out to the X-15. I've always liked it,
Same here - I always thought that was the sleekest, most futuristic looking plane we put in the air.
 
Thanks, guys :$.

The X-15 took quite some time, as I did a lot scratchbuilding in the cockpit. Actually, most of the pit is scratchbuilt as the stock pit, is very bare. And I also built the topside astronomy lab. Once I found a clear picture of it in my reference material, I knew I had to include it.


Awesome collection and great idea for a line up. What about a modern airliner like a Connie or 707 great steps in the evolution of flight

For some reason, I've just never been into civvy aircraft. If I did it might be the C-47/DC-3. But you're right, one of the 7 series really should be in there. And possibly the Spirit of St. Louis.


Very cool set there. I might add a Vostok or Apollo model in there, but there are a ton of contenders that you could also justify including.

I really didn't want to get into rockets, as that's a different family of aviation. I included the shuttle because once it re-enters the atmosphere, it has to be flown, like a plane, whereas as rockets are just pushed and then fall. Plus, if I get into rockets, then I have to start with the V-2s, and then, do I include things like the LEM? Rocketry was never my forte, :cool

-Fred
 
Nice work Fred.... How about an airship in that collection? I have the Hawk models Graf zeppelin. It even comes with lighting. Or maybe the Leonardo Da Vinci wood models that are out at the mo. I think the Spirit of ST Louis is a must.
 
Yeah - agree maybe some more early stuff - Montgolfier, Lilienthal, Santos-Dumont, Zeppelin, Bleriot maybe? +1 on the SoSL, good call.

REALLY nice work, Fred.
 
Hey Fred - those look outstanding! I've always loved the NASA X-Planes. The X-15 is amazing. One of my favorites (which pioneered some early design features for X-15) is the X-3:

85291main_X-3_lg.jpg


I've seen the X-3 in person many times. And like the X-15 it borders on 'fugly', but it also borders on being 'amazing'. I love that - that's why the SR-71 and XB-70 are two of my very favorite planes!
 
Well, I placed my order for the SoSL, yesterday. It's the Revell 1/48 kit (the other 3 planes are in the 1/32 family), but it's the only large kit available for that plane.

Nice work Fred.... How about an airship in that collection? I have the Hawk models Graf zeppelin. It even comes with lighting. Or maybe the Leonardo Da Vinci wood models that are out at the mo. I think the Spirit of ST Louis is a must.

Yeah - agree maybe some more early stuff - Montgolfier, Lilienthal, Santos-Dumont, Zeppelin, Bleriot maybe? +1 on the SoSL, good call.

REALLY nice work, Fred.

Thanks guys :cool. I'd love to do all the early stuff, but I'm trying to stick with a theme of controlled flight - otherwise, I'd need an entire house in which to display them all :lol.

But a seperate theme of all of DaVinci's stuff wouldn't be out of the question, one day. But again, space is really tight. I don't even have the space to rotate models in and out of display cases. Once I run out of cases, I'm kinda boned :(



Hey Fred - those look outstanding! I've always loved the NASA X-Planes. The X-15 is amazing. One of my favorites (which pioneered some early design features for X-15) is the X-3:

85291main_X-3_lg.jpg


I've seen the X-3 in person many times. And like the X-15 it borders on 'fugly', but it also borders on being 'amazing'. I love that - that's why the SR-71 and XB-70 are two of my very favorite planes!

Ahhh...the stiletto - NACA's deadliest looking plane :lol. I'd love to build all of the X planes, but so few of them appear in model form. But for this series, I'm sticking to planes that made real contributions to flight, henxe the X-15A-2. To this day, it still holds the record for highest and fastest manned flights. Multiple pilots even qualified for their astronaut wings, because they broke the 62 mile altitude mark.


And for fun, here's a new picture. Slightly different re-arrangement and some more lighting

Heritageflight_WIP_2.jpg


-Fred
 
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