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Overall view of the vehicle.
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The upper propeller/tail-fin assembly is not at all fixed to the chassis, and
can be removed by simply lifting it off.
Here it is balancing on the box (with flower print) by the middle section of the
3x5x3hole DAS.
The contrate and spacers, which normally are on the vertical Axle Rod,
are now stacked loosely.
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Remaining vehicle after lifting off the propeller assembly.
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Front view of propeller. The blades are Plastic Flexible Plates, each of which
is fastened to the Face Plate by two Angle Brackets.
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Rear view of propeller and tail fins.
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Detail of transmission of propeller rotations to vertical shaft. On the right,
an 11t Pinion #26n meshes with a 3/4" Pinion. The 3flat Contrate could just
as well have been a normal #28; it is a "relict" of an earlier version of
the mechanism where space was a problem.
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A 60t Gear meshes with a 95t Gear; the plastic ones were chosen for the slightly
wider face making it easier to line them up. The vertical shaft in the 60t Gear
sits in the centre hole of the yellow 1.5"x2.5" Flanged Plate; a non-Meccano
nylon washer interfaces between the Gear and the Flanged Plate. The 95t Gear
is mounted one hole from the centre of the 4.5" DAS, and therefore also one
hole to the right of the boss of the 60t Gear.
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The rear axle assembly showing the final gear stage.
Here a 12t 3flat Pinion #26b-3p was
chosen because it requires a tiny bit less horizontal clearance that a #26n, but
still it was not quite possible to centre the rear wheel. The framework consists
of 1x0.5"" DAS's #48e bolted to the chassis; on the outer lugs, 1.5" Strips are
bolted vertically, to which the lugs of the upper 4.5x0.5" DAS are bolted.
It can be clearly seen in this photo how the entire vehicle leans to one
side. This is because at the front it is resting on one wheel and the guide
pin, which normally is suspended in the groove of the track.
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The combination 3flat Axle Rod with a clutch #144c to fix the wheel #187c on the
rod had too much play and caused the vehicle to move jerkily. This was remedied
by friction-fitting a plastic 57t Gear #27a into the inner teeth of the #187c
and conventionally fixing the boss of the #27a on a normal round Axle Rod.
(As an aside, the first time I held a #187c in my hands I didn't know about part
#144c, but noticed that the inner teeth complement those on a #27a and
thought that this was the intended way of fixing these wheels on a rod. Here
I was able to use this method to good advantage!)
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The steering mechanism could hardly be simpler, but after experimenting with
several variations of Ackermann steering, this one proved to be the most
effective in guiding the vehicle along the groove of the track. The guide
pin at the front is a 2" Axle Rod held onto the 2" Strip by two Collars.
The front wheel assemble attaches to the chassis by simply slipping the
Threaded Pin #115 into the boss of the Bush Wheel (which was chosen
simply because I haven't got any Double Arm Cranks).
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I had antipicated visitors to the Hobby Show complaining that the wind vehicle
moved too slowly, so to meet this complaint I built a motorized version.
The driver is a Junior Meccano figure. As it turned out, the wind vehicle
was quite a hit with the public, and the motorized one was used only to
provide people something to look at while adjustments were made to the
windpowered one!
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This vehicle is geared down in two stages, chosen to reduce the speed to
a level which works reasonably in the tight turns of the track.
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