MECCANO - AEREOPLANO 2 IN 1 70

Product Information

On the civil aircraft side the Dinky Toys Series includes fine scale miniatures of the Armstrong Whitworth "Ensign" and the "Frobisher" class air liners, two recent types of four-engine transport monoplanes acquired by Imperial Airways, now British Overseas Airways Corporation. The "Ensigns" (No. 62p) have been designed for service on the company's European and Empire air routes. The European type "Ensign" has seating for 40 passengers, and the Empire type for 27 passengers and up to 3¼ tons of freight and mails. The four engines of the "Ensign" are of the 935 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley "Tiger" IXc type, and give it a top speed of 205 m.p.h. and a cruising speed of nearly three miles a minute. Any two of these engines are powerful enough to fly the air liner fully loaded. The navigating equipment includes an "automatic pilot" that maintains a set course without guidance. Six models of these high wing aircraft are available. Sometimes a new type of aeroplane proves so exceptionally efficient that it becomes known and used all over the world. The American Douglas DC-3 is an example of this great popularity, and the excellent Dinky Toys model (No. 60t) of this machine shows a type of which more than 100 are in regular service on American air routes, alone. The Douglas DC-3 is an all-metal twin-engined, low wing monoplane that seats 21 passengers. It has a top speed of 213 m.p.h. Douglas air liners are produced in America by the Douglas Aircraft Co. Inc., and in Europe are made under license by the Fokker Company, of Amsterdam.

Arc en Ciel" – Potez 58 – Hanriot H180T – Breguet-Corsaire low wing mnoplane – Dewoitine 500 – Cierva Autogyro For example in 1936 it was produced in royal blue with gold cross-hatching to mark the coronation of King George VI following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII; in 1939 with he impending World War, Meccano was produced in matt green similar to the colour of military vehicles then in common use.A British twin-engined commercial monoplane that has proved very successful is the Airspeed "Envoy", designed for passenger or freight carrying. It is a twin-engined low wing machine, and the Dinky Toys miniature (No. 62m) gives an excellent impression of its attractive appearance. The main cabin of the "Envoy" can be equipped to seat up to eight passengers. When fitted with two 310 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley "Cheetah" IX engines, this machine has a top speed of 203 m.p.h. For some models, Dinky squeezed two model numbers out to the same casting without involving camouflage - a "properly coloured" version with an accurate name for the serious aeroplane enthusiast, and a generic version in a range of assorted (often non-authentic) colours, with a more generic name, for people who just wanted that sort of plane in pretty colours ... for instance, the " Armstrong Whitworth 'Ensign' Air Liner" ( 62p) was also available in more colours as the more generic " Britsh 40-seater Air Liner" ( 62x), and the " Junkers Ju 90 Air Liner" ( 62n) was also available in different colours as the " Giant High-Speed Monoplane" ( 62y). In the case of the " De Havilland 'Albatross' Mail Liner" ( 62r), and the " Imperial Airways 'Frobisher' Class Liner" ( 62w), someone reading the advertising text would not obviously realise that these were essentially the same aircraft: The "Frobisher" was simply the passenger verion of the DH.91 mail aeroplane. The "Frobisher" class air liners were built by the de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. The fine Dinky Toys miniatures (No. 62w) of this type show that a large air liner can be graceful in appearance. There are three models available. The machine is a long wing streamlined monoplane with a wing span of 105 ft., and retractable undercarriage. It seats 22 passengers, and normally carries a crew of four, consisting of captain, first officer, radio operator and steward. The four engines are of the 525 hp. D.H. "Gypsy Twelves" and give the air liner a maximum level speed of 225 m.p.h. at 8,750 ft.

The No.0 Aeroplane Constructor Outfits appeared last, and (as one might expect) was a simpler, cheaper, smaller, more entry-level system. Rather than attempting to be fully Meccano, the No.0 set had fewer holes, and the holes and nuts and bolts were also smaller, as on the Motor Car Constructor Outfits. The Hawker "Hurricane" (No. 62h) is one of the fastest British fighters, in service to-day. It is a low wing, single-seater monoplane of all-metal construction, and is armed with eight machine guns installed in the wings. It is credited with a top speed of 335 m.p.h. The neat Dinky Toys miniature of this formidable fighter is finished in the brown and green camouflage adopted by the British Air Ministry for Royal Air Force machines. There is also an aluminium finished model (Dinky Toys No. 62s).In 1994 Meccano released a totally new Meccano Junior system, which superseded the old original Plastic Meccano which had been in production from 1965 to 1993. The advent of television and then later, computers, made a serious dent in the popularity of Meccano (and many other practical hobbies) and Meccano ceased production at its Liverpool factory in 1979. The French producer of Meccano bought the worldwide rights, stepped up production and relaunched the company as Meccano SA. As World War 2 loomed, the aeroplane constructor sets were modified to remove markings that might make the sets useful to The Enemy for training pilots and gunners. In 2005 the 'Build & Play' range was introduced, followed in 2006 by the 'Kids Play' range. The 'City' range was then dropped in 2007. Caledonia", " Canopus", " Corsair", " Challenger", " Centurion", " Cambria", " Calpurnia", " Ceres", " Clio", " Calypso", " Corinna", " Cheviot"