MODEL ENGINES

Hokitika Guardian, 27 October 1932, Page 2

MODEL ENGINES

INTERESTING EXHIBITION. ENTHUSIASM AND SKILL. , LONDON, October 22. At the Model Engineer Exhibition now in London there is a remarkable, atmosphere of comradeship Boys and . make model engines, sail small yachts, invent, speed boats, or fly kites or aeroplanes are a kindly group of people, and they meet at tnis annual exhibition in the usame spirit as the Hoy Scouts attend their Jamboree. « But the exhibition meant* more than the expression of playtime hobbies. It is the outlet for the mechanical genius of the British race, the inspiration of the rising .'engineering generation, the cradle of many important inventions, a valuable means of technical education, and a delightful recreation. The work entered for the model, competitions comes from all parts of the country and from abroad, and the articles are made by people of all ages and of all walks in life. Some of them are veritable monuments of patience. A model that took 6500 hours' °f spare time work to make has won the Model-Making Championship of Great Britain. It is the work of Mr Alfred George Woodwarde, of Dunstable, ana is a reproduction of one-eighth scale of a 70-year-old pumping engine at the Tring Waterworks. As there were no drawings lie had to measure each part himself, and in the sis years and four months that it took him to'build the model he travelled backwards and forwards for these measurements a distance of 6000 miles. This sounds like carrying a hobby to excess, but no doubt the labour was its own reward. An ex-Naval officer whom I met in the secretary’s office said he was a really happy man, and his face glowed with satisfaction. Ho was back on a holiday from* South America and he had achieved one of the ambitions of Ins life, for he had won a first prize for a model of one of Nelson’s ships, constructed according to Admiralty specifications.

There is, an amazing array of engines made by .amateurs. Many of them are steam engines for power or for ships, but a good proportion are petrol engines. Mode), locomotives range from the smallest working model locomotive in the world—a tiny engine an inch long with trucks, and lines set in appropriate • scenery in a small. glass case to the model ..which carries passengers. This latter locomotive with trucks rests on raised lines, and for 2d a time passengers are carried astride, the trucks the length of the hall several times. -

There are other groups for amateurs, including tools, electrical apparatus, aeroplanes, ship models, power boats’, and ; » miscellaneous group which includes such work as a cathedral built with sliced corks, dolls’houses, Avonmouth Docks, a- Hotchkiss Naval gun, motor cycles, an. 8wheeled motor omnibus, a sawmill, • a kitchen lift, a timing device for model power-bcat racing, and racing motor-car*-

; Very interesting is the section devoted to maru.j models of all periods. The fifty entries in this class .show a carefuj study of the original plans. There are models of the clipper ship Alice, a merchant ship, about the period of 1500, the fouruiiasted barque Port Jackson, the Cutty .Sark, the four-masted barque Loch Torridon, the Mayflower 1620, the Elizabethan, warship Ark Royal, and an English galleon of the 16th century. Power boats and aeroplanes form large sections of the exhibition. The construction of thbse is encouraged by two strong organisations—the Model Power Boat Association and the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers. A splendid array of speed boats are on view. These have been made by the members of the Association and are worked with petrol engines. It seems that the form of the hull is the obsruction to. speed the full capacity of available engines never having been exploited. Indeed, some of the models if scaled up to 30ft boats would travel in theory at 400 knots. One touch on the ruddei. of al boat going at 3 miles an hour, however, would probably cause it to tv in several somersaults.

An interesting exhibit in the aeroplane section is the machine propelled by a one-horse-power engine. The construction of this is plain sailing up to a point, but as there is no pilot, something has to be done to stop the engine before the machine fiies out of sight. A clock is carried on board which, when the allotted time for flying has expired, shuts off the engine. Another lever hangs down in front, so that if a “forced landing” takes place the engine is again shut off. The aoroplane has a wing span of about seven feet. Commercial firms take advantage of the exhibition, and here the manufacturers of modeli of all kinds display their wares. It is certainly a surprise to find how many firms are engaged h\ this type of work, and what a variety of articles and accessories may he obtained by those who desire them.