Focusing upon the final show I’ve begun to create a bi-plane. The amazement of flying, the recent headlines surrounding the Dreamliner, my own long flight to Japan all led to me researching ‘flight’.

I discovered interesting facts, the wright bros started with gliders then moved to powered flights. The planes were crazily dangerous with the fuel line running directly underneath the one passenger – the pilot!

I found this quote very interesting:

“They also realized that trial-and-error with different wings on full-size gliders was too costly and time-consuming. Putting aside the three-wheel bicycle, they built a six-foot wind tunnel in their shop and conducted systematic tests on miniature wings from October to December 1901. The “balances” they devised and mounted inside the tunnel to hold the wings looked crude, made of bicycle spokes and scrap metal, but were “as critical to the ultimate success of the Wright brothers as were the gliders.”

I’ve begun to create my own bi plane – it’s fairly large scale with 7 foot wings. I’ve ordered propellers and making a rudder. Bronze is going to combined into the work. It’s based upon a model airfix bi plane – Kitty Hawk.

PLANE RESEARCH AT THE SCIENCE MUSEUM

I’ve been researching the early days of flying. The worlds first ever flight was in a hot sir balloon that nearly caught on fire. At the Science museum they have a whole gallery devoted to flight. The models there are really interesting and are a big influence on my work.