Does anyone remember this four-part TV series that was shown mid-late-90s? It featured an American chap who wanted to design and build his own homebuilt within 30 days.
I seem to remember he failed miserably to get it done, and ended up building some kit biplane in almost the same amount of time later on.
By: wessex boy - 10th December 2005 at 15:19
appropriate name!
By: Trinny - 7th December 2005 at 11:54
The guy’s name was Robert X. Cringely and the show was called “Plane Crazy”. You can write to him if you want at [email]bob@cringely.com[/email]
By: ruby0209 - 28th November 2005 at 14:33
yeah…yeah…yeah…
the huge pile of discarded formers as the programme went on…
that is true!!!
god
By: wessex boy - 9th November 2005 at 15:55
I have even tried building a couple in model form….glad I wasn’t actually inside them during the first few flights!
By: Paul F - 9th November 2005 at 14:17
Plane Crazy….
I may even have some (or all) of the episodes somewhere on VHS tapes – I videoed the series to watch at my convenience, but only watched about one and a half episodes I think before I got fed up with it…..he seemed keen but totally unable to plan/manage/tackle the project.
Perhaps he learnt a little about his own abilities and limitations as a result? I guess we all sketch our own little doodle-planes now and again, but most of us realise that actually designing an airworthy ‘plane is a touch harder than that?
Paul F
By: DazDaMan - 19th October 2005 at 15:48
I well remember him getting VERY irate with the film crew in episode three, to the point where he practically forcefully removed them! 😮
By: Arm Waver - 19th October 2005 at 15:00
God what a blast from the past…
I remember it too…and the huge pile of discarded formers as the programme went on.
By: J Boyle - 5th October 2005 at 03:24
Yes, I saw the program on the US government-sponsored public TV network, PBS.
His qualifications were mainly that he had done something for PBS in the past..and he knew how to fly.
He was a typical PBS kind of guy…intellectual and clueless at the same time.
Flying magazine’s Peter Garrison (who has designed and built two high performance planes…one flew the Atlantic and Pacific before being destroyed when an idiot landed on top of it with a Cessna 210) told the guy up front he was crazy.
By: DazDaMan - 4th October 2005 at 18:03
Well it could have been one of those!
By: wessex boy - 4th October 2005 at 16:34
You were probably dreaming of idiots building strange planes after yesterdays discussion on replicas…..
Or you were just relishing the sheudenfreude of the fact that not only did he make a complete sow’s ear of building the plane, he still pressed ahead and made a 4 part series to display his ineptitude to the world!
By: DazDaMan - 4th October 2005 at 12:21
Yeah, that’s right. He had some funny plywood-based stuff that he was going to use for the fuselage, I think.
From what I can remember, his plane was a VW-engined design, with the engine set up like a P-39 (i.e., behind the pilot, and driving the prop on a long shaft).
Dunno what made me think of it this morning! :rolleyes:
By: wessex boy - 4th October 2005 at 09:52
This was the guy that used a pipe full of Red Wine to level his workbench!
He couldn’t get it level, but after a couple of hours he didn’t care!
I seem to remember he spent a lot of time sanding…..
The Bipe was built in the kit manufacturer’s workshop, as I remember, and use dtheir tools and was constantly asking them to help….
Noble Idea, but I think Mark Evans does it better……
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October 4, 2005 at 8:20 am