Author Topic: L'Air '36  (Read 2591 times)

Offline Dr. YoKai

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L'Air '36
« on: October 29, 2020, 07:29:23 AM »
or, "Where did all those apostrophes come from?" Some of you folks may remember this build from the What If some years ago -
DSCF0198 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr
and somewhere else in these threads is my conversion of the Mureax 117 parasol observation plane into
a death-ray equipped autogyro. So I realized that I was working on a sort of series, albeit at a geologic pace :-[.
And so, another of the Mid-thirties Marvels that appeared in Hughes's long lost follow-on to Hell's Angels, the effects-heavy  Plus L'Air. (More story later - it's almost dinner time)

So that led to this build, the Bloch D'Assault 300 10 Attend
DSCF0093 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

I could have sworn I had more in progress shots, but I may have just missed them. Anyhow, this is how it wound up- DSCF0197 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr
Been kinda off my game a bit lately colleagues. Sorry to have been a bit faded lately.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2020, 12:09:00 PM »
A French A-10 from the 30s? I love that purple/brown color. The gun pods look great - that's a well armed plane.

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2020, 01:53:55 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Dr. YoKai

  • Was in High School when mastadons roamed the plains...
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Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2020, 08:26:54 AM »
And at the wire...first a couple of detail shots of the Attend'
DSCF0217 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

I am moderately proud of the engines.
DSCF0218 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

 Plus L'Air (Cinema Connerie, 1935) should have been the The Mysterians* of it's day. Hughes had approached Clark Yo jr. about 'loaning' some of the prototypes under construction at YA for a 'follow-on' to Hells' Angels in early 1932. Hearing about it, De Basher immediately offered his services as a pilot and consultant,gratis. Using his considerable persuasive skills,( and no small amount of alcohol) Hughes was able to convince the French that the psychological effect on the Germans would be "worth a hundred squadrons".
The details of the filming, De Basher's scandalous affair with Josephine Baker, and the unfocused Matthews Beam that would plunge Paris into darkness for twenty four hours have all been told in detail in André Bazin's exhaustive study Plus ca Merdre! Hughes, De Basher et le film qui a aveuglé Paris(City Lights Press, 1967) Suffice to say, the general chaos of the production eventually resulted in the film being confiscated by French authorities, leaving nothing but a few grainy test clips. Ultimately, it would all be revealed as a double Psychological operation, designed to make the Germans believe these 'Super weapons of Super Science' were in service in numbers, when the reality was (1) the military budget for the next decade had already been spent on the Maginot forts and Eclairs, and (2) They really didn't work. The few frames that survive, and De basher's own account indicate that the Attend' could not manage an altitude much over two hundred meters, and had a range only slightly greater, while the 'La Toupie' "just sort of bounced all over the sky." as De Basher put it, "As long as the engine was running, you could keep it more or less in one direction, for a few minutes, and then the transmission would seize for an instant on one of the rotors, and you'd spiral straight up for a few seconds, then level out heading in the opposite direction you'd been going. Landing, I realized, was going to be...interesting." As indeed it proved to be, but a substantial bribe to France's largest Ceramics firm allowed the prototype fighter to end its days as the loudest and largest pottery wheels in Western Europe. The 'Toupie' started life as another Heller classic, The Morane Saulnier MS 225. The inspiration came from a thirties MODERN MECHANICS cover "Amazing Spinning Top plane" with looked like a
cross between a bizarre carnival ride and Dick Tracy's Magnetic Space coupe. One thing is certain - old Heller decals are...difficult.
DSCF0312 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr
DSCF0315 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr
DSCF0314 by VileDr.Yo, on Flickr

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2020, 02:09:38 AM »
Outstanding!
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2020, 05:28:27 AM »
I love 'La Toupie'! That's a great design.

Here's the cover from Modern Mechanix, May 1935:



The complete issue is at archive.org: Modern Mechanix, May 1935

The issue also has a possibly related article: Charles F. Kettering asks "DOES GRASS HOLD SECRET of HIDDEN POWER?" Based on the picture, I think "Boss Ket"'s interests in the exotic went way beyond and was far stronger than grass...

Offline robunos

  • Can't afford the top wing of his biplanes...
Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2021, 12:13:36 AM »
XLNT!!!
Wonderfully Bonkers!
Cracking Builds . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Robomog

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Re: L'Air '36
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2021, 10:20:03 AM »
XLNT!!!
Wonderfully Bonkers!
Cracking Builds . . .


cheers,
Robin.

X2 couldn't have said it better myself

Mog
>^-.-^<
Mostly Harmless...............