Homemade P-26s

[creosotewind]

I've been a long-time lurker here, and been inspired by so many awesome builds. This is a bit different. I was watching the show "Daniel Tiger" with my grandson, and there was a scene where the kids (tiger, human, and cat; it's a kid's show...) were running around wearing boxes colored to look like a bus, fire truck, etc. I thought it would be fun to do that as an airplane that he could run around wearing. 1930s planes are fun to do as caricatures, especially with the radial engines, so I choose to do a P-26 Peashooter.

The fuselages are 14" diameter cardboard tubes used to make concrete columns. The rest of the body, wings and wheels are an expanded plastic sandwiched between two sheets of paper, called Gatorfoam.

A friend who has a sign shop cut out the pieces after I supplied them as line art. I did the cutting on the tubes for wing and hand inserts, the cockpit and wheel well (or, at least, the opening where the kids put their legs.)

It was a lot of fun to build. I hope you enjoy as much as I had building them.

[gotham]

Have you any pics of the planes all painted up ? They look great fun for kids.

[creosotewind]

Start of painting. There will be two green and one blue plane. The parts were first primed and then painted using spray cans. Lots of test fitting to make sure everything slipped together.

The hand hold, just above the wing, is a plastic cat food container. Lots of repurposed materials on these planes.

[creosotewind]

The cowls are foam "pool noodles". I ripped them length-wise on a table saw and wrapped them around some tube leftovers. They were then cut to size and glued together. I used Gorilla Clear Non-Expanding glue to make them hold. The large clamps helps to hold the joins together while the glue sets.

[SCEtoAUX]

That looks really good. Your grandson should get a lot of fun out of running around making airplane engine noises.

[creosotewind]

My little aircraft factory. I designed the markings as well. They are printed vinyl that sticks onto the substrates. I'm a sign designer, so I like to incorporate some of what I've learned in business to my hobby.

[creosotewind]

Viewed from the front, they got big mouths. I had to add a bolt with a dozen or so fender washers to the front to balance the tails. I also added shoulder harnesses with snaps. Overall they each weigh a little over 5 pounds.

[creosotewind]

Done in time for a family reunion. Lots of little kids (and my older sister) trying them out. Everyone had a great time with them.

[creosotewind]

My grandson really enjoyed dive bombing the corn hole game. The kids also loved to play tag while wearing them.

A couple of the planes got busted, but they were easy to glue back together.

[yukonjohn]

A wonderful grand-dad project. Great job.


yukonjohn