UGears: Mad Hornet Airplane (354pc)

Engine—check. Propeller—check. Rudder—check. Flaps—check. Flightcontrol—check. Pretaxi checks complete.

“Mad Hornet to Tower, request taxi to runway 1 6.”

“Tower to Mad Hornet, Roger that, clear to taxi to Runway 1 6 via taxiwayAlpha. Winds are currently out of the south at 1 8 0 at 10 knots. Clear skies,visibility is 10+. It's a great day for flying!”

Every day is a great day for flying with your Ugears Mad Hornet vintageracer. Inspired by the Granville Brothers' Gee Bee Model R-1 Super Sportsterand other vintage racing aircraft of the 1930's, the Mad Hornet Airplane has afat, teardrop-shaped fuselage and a cockpit located well aft, to give the pilotbetter visibility for tight turns around race course pylons.

The 1920's and 30's were the “Golden Age of Flight.” Aircraft designevolved from cloth and wooden biplanes to metal monoplanes, and ever morepowerful aircraft engines opened up new possibilities for military and civilianuse. Air racing, as depicted in the popular “Rocketeer” comic books, becamea spectator sport. The Gee Bee R-1 won the Thompson Trophy (one of the mostprestigious U.S. air races) in 1932, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle, who would go onto win the Medal of Honor for leading a daring bombing raid on Japan after PearlHarbor. With a maximum speed of 294 mph, the R-1 lapped all but one of itscompetitors in the 1932 race because it was able to stay high on the courseowing to its excellent maneuverability at high speeds. In Doolittle's words,“she is the sweetest ship I've ever flown.”

The Ugears Mad Hornet Airplane is a “Medium” difficulty DIY wooden modelwith 354 parts, promising 8 hours of enjoyable assembly time. The airplanemodel is powered by a wind-up helical spring motor, often used in watchmechanisms and other precision instruments. Various gear sets transmit powerfrom the spring to the aircraft's movable parts. The Mad Hornet features twomodes: pre-flight check mode and taxi mode. Choose the mode by setting therotating drum in one of two positions. Insert the special key into the stopperslot, then give up to 21 pulls on the winding string. Place the aircraft on aflat surface, then remove the key and watch as your Mad Hornet comes to life. Incheck mode the propeller spins while the wing flaps and tail rudder wiggle,before the aircraft switches automatically to taxi across the airfield to therunway for takeoff. In taxi mode your aircraft starts taxiing immediately,traveling up to 2.5 meters!

Ugears is known around the world for producing beautiful wooden DIY modelsand 3D puzzles, including all types of vehicles—cars, trucks, motorbikes,trains, boats and airplanes. The Mad Hornet is our most beautiful, complexaircraft model to date. We're also known for our throwback, steampunksensibility, so this short and stout 1930's speed ship seemed perfect for asignature Ugears flyer. The Mad Hornet is an attractive decorative item for yourhome or office shelf, but with all that engineering it's really meant forimaginative play, especially showing off the pre-flight sequence. The MadHornet's spinning propeller and moving tail rudder and wing flaps working intandem are plenty cool, but the sequential action of having the model aircrafttaxi after ground checks are complete is unique in our collection.

No glue or special tools are required to assemble this DIY model kit, justpunch the pre-cut pieces out of their composite wood boards and snap themtogether. When assembling your Mad Hornet Airplane model, remember to lightlysand and wax the moving parts to make them run smoothly. This is a “Medium”difficulty model so meant for somewhat experienced modelers or those up for achallenge. The model kit includes detailed, illustrated instructions in11 languages (Ukrainian, English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese,Polish, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean) to guide your assembly. If you're not yetfamiliar with the Ugears catalogue of 3D puzzles, DIY model kits, automatons,robots, wooden puzzle boxes and STEM Lab models you could order one of oursimpler models together with the Mad Hornet as a warm-up build.

The Mad Hornet Airplane is sure to appeal to aviation enthusiasts, modelairplane hobbyists, those who appreciate clever design, and admirers of “thosemagnificent men in their flying machines.” Looking for a thoughtful, uniquegift? Check. Are there any aircraft lovers among your circle of friends andfamily? Check. The Mad Hornet is the perfect gift for birthdays or holidays. Foranyone who's dreamed of piloting a one-seater from the Golden Age of Flight anddancing among the clouds, this flyer's for you!

Specifications:

• Model size: 10.4×9.6×4.9 in (26.5×24.5×12.5 cm)
• Package size: 14.9×6.7×1.3 in (37.8×17×3.4 cm)
• Number of components: 354
• Estimated time of assembly: 8 hours
• Level: Medium