hillflyer

Here is the first draft of my layout for the Airplane. When it comes time to blow it up to scale, I'm sure I'll correct little flaws as I draw it out. The numbering system I used just to reference points with was as such: The lift hill was pre-hundreds, the first turn was 200's, the cool spiral was 300's and the back spiral (I call it the "Third Wheel" was 400's. Anyways, I renumbered all the bents, any 'extra' ones I come across I'll label a, b, c, and so forth. So far I count 222 bents. The station house I haven't finalized as I'm still figuring that one out. Few pieces of a puzzle that I can't make fit together. If there really are no other photos or movie clips of the inside, then I guess nobody can mark my model as being inaccurate! 656 ' The first draft of my Airplane model coaster.

I've been debating on whether or not to make the finished model look like a coaster that's show-room new, or have it appear as if it has 20 years of age. Any opinions or suggestions?

Got an answer to my question about the ornaments on the high points of the Aeroplane! For those that were curious as well, Lawrence McGowan writes: In answer to your question on Cartouches of the Airplane Coaster, most of these decorative designs were African Art designed to grace the outside turns that faced the parking lot for people to view. It was only to decorate the ride in that era of Art Deco African Art which was in vogue of that day. I use to look at these decorations with the idea that they almost looked like Voo-Doo masks to ward away evil. So simply saying that the Cartouches were art accents for the ride in that vein of art of the era. No other significant meaning behind it all.

The first thing I did was dig my moth-eaten copy of Richard Munch's book Harry Traver: Legends of Terror book out of storage. I copied and enlarged all the photos that will help me in the initial step, recreating the layout. I also took snap shots of the videos on youtube and am finding some of those to be REALLY helpful.

Thanks MoleMaster! I am excited about the project. This is a longshot, but to everyone who might know anyone who might know: Regarding my recreating the design for the Airplane station - The stations for the Dragon Coaster and the Airplane were similar to each other. In the photo below (taken in 1989), who can tell me the distance in footage between the main support posts? I tried 36', 30', 24', but not really statisfied with my results. In the meantime, I will continue to guess until... 374 Who can help me with telling me what the distance is between these two marked support posts?

Sunday May 6th, 2012 - Fortunately, I still have the box of modeling tools that I used when building the model of Harry Traver's Cyclone. My primary workspace will be my dining room table. It's nice and bright and has a good view of our courtyard and neighbors to spy on. I'll get a protective cover for the table that I can draw, cut, and build on. I chose 3/16" = 1' because it allows me to attend better to detail (for which I am a stickler) and 1/4" = 1' was way too big and 1/8" was too small. Rich Munch suggested it be the same scale as my Cyclone (1" = 9') so that people can get a size comparison. 320 The Airplane model's future building site.

Me again! Hopefully I'll have an update on my model this weekend. In the meantime, does anyone know off-hand any details about the Dragon station house? I'm trying to figure out if the ceiling boarder is octagon, hexagon, heptagon...etc. I can't quite tell from any photos or videos.

Hello - My name is Tim Cole, I've been an ACE member for 33 years. I'm looking for better source material for creating an accurate scale model of the classic "Airplane" coaster that once stood at Rye Playland. I've built models of Belmont's Giant Dipper (3 variations) and one of the Traver Cyclone at Crystal Beach (1" = 9' scale)(Completed in 2002 after 4 years of research, planning, and building). My research included mostly photos from Richard Munch's 1982 publication "Harry Traver: Legends of Terror," plus a really good layout of the ride, reverse engineered by Randy Rasmussen. My next project will be a 3/16" = 1' scale. So far the only materials I have for research are photos online or the "Legends of Terror" book, and You Tube). I've found the layout drawn by Randy Rasmussen in this case to be slightly inaccurate and have redone and redone and redone it to my satisfaction. I've heard there are original plans floating around out there, but what I'm MOST interested in are just more photos of the coaster. If it can be Googled, or You Tubed, I've probably seen it. Any interesting trivia about altering the ride's structure through its 30-year history would be interesting too. Final question, does anyone know the significance of the "code of arms" plaques (for lack of a better description) that are on the top of each post (pictured)? Other than for structural finishing purposes, I'm wondering what they stand for. Thanks for any help! Tim Cole What is the significance of the plaques? Someone suggested they could be old bi-plane insignias.