The First Home Built Aeroplanes

These days anybody can build his or her own aeroplane in their garage or shed but back in the 1930s it was a different story. Aircraft were considered too complex for the ordinary man, F J Camm, champion of do-it-yourself, thought otherwise and started Practical Mechanics magazine which told the reader how to make all sorts of things at home. In 1935 he published a series of articles on how to build the Flying Flea aircraft which created a sensation. Although this aircraft was not a success, it sowed the seeds of amateur flying in what today we know as D-I-Y Man. When the Flying Flea was grounded because of mishaps, Practical Mechanics again rose to the challenge with the tiny Luton Minor and told its readers exactly how to make one at home. The 1939-45 war stopped everything and when peace returned home-built aircraft were effectively banned until Arthur W J G Ord-Hume,a post-war pioneer in amateur aviation, revived the pre-War Minor design and battled with the authorities to get amateur aircraft flying again, with his new Luton Minor becoming the first British design to gain post-war approval. In this fascinating and unique book all of the Practical Mechanics home-built aircraft articles are reprinted just as they were published from the Flying Flea to the LA.4a Minor.