Aerosan RF8
Posted: January 17th, 2017, 9:14 pm
Recently picked this one up at my LMS. The Trumpeter Aerosan (Aero Sleigh) RF8. It looked just weird enough to build.
Of interest to me was what I learned about a similar design during a Google search looking for photos. Designed by Chester Wing who was mayor of a small town of St Ignace, MI about 150 miles from me. He was looking for high speed travel from the mainland to Mackinac Island (around 5 miles each way) in the winter when the Strait froze over. Wing was also a car dealer and had access to Ford Model A engines for power. The story continues with the plans being obtained by Igor Sikorsky and found their way to Russia. They were then mass produced. Michigan Historical photos show similar machines in use. So the project hit close to home without realizing it.
It was a really fun build. Quite easy with instructions and parts well laid out.
Of interest to me was what I learned about a similar design during a Google search looking for photos. Designed by Chester Wing who was mayor of a small town of St Ignace, MI about 150 miles from me. He was looking for high speed travel from the mainland to Mackinac Island (around 5 miles each way) in the winter when the Strait froze over. Wing was also a car dealer and had access to Ford Model A engines for power. The story continues with the plans being obtained by Igor Sikorsky and found their way to Russia. They were then mass produced. Michigan Historical photos show similar machines in use. So the project hit close to home without realizing it.
It was a really fun build. Quite easy with instructions and parts well laid out.
