The Morane A-1 Tailcone As ‘Fantasy Of Flight Week’ Begins!

Entrance to the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida 

 ’Fantasy of Flight Week’ begins

 I was at Sun n’ Fun in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday just over a week ago, but Sunday turned out overcast and rainy so I decided to scoot on over to Polk City to the Fantasy of Flight Museum.  I’ve actually known about this museum since long before it was built, but I’d never had the chance to visit, so I was pretty pleased to finally be checking it out.

 My dad had been there several times, including just a few weeks before he passed away in January of 2009.  He was a really big fan of the Gee Bee R-2 and Delmar Benjamin, so he’d stop by anytime he could to see the amazing R-2 that Delmar flew at so many airshows thru the 90’s.

 There are many unique experiences to be had at the museum, and thru this week I’ll be sharing a wide variety of the ones I had .  I’ll start off by saying that this really is a fantastic facility that’s definitely a must-see for any avgeek.  It’s especially exciting to know that there are plans for so much more to be built here as time goes by!

 So, I've decided to start off ’Fantasy of Flight Week’ in an usual way, by looking closely at a small portion of one of the airplanes on display.  First, I love what flying represents in the form of freedom... breaking the bonds of gravity while also giving us the most amazing opportunity to see God’s creation from above.  But I’m also a fanatic about ’design’, especially as it relates to flying machines.  Sometimes the smallest details can really get me worked up.

 That’s exactly what happened when I saw the tailcone of the Morane A-1 at FoF.  Here’s an airplane built in 1918, not far from 100 years ago(!) with a tailcone execution that stirs me big time in 2010.  It’s really a very simple design, just a smooth tapering cone down to a very small point.  But it’s a pretty rare design element.  Very few airplanes carry a circular cross section all the way thru the tail surfaces, and in fact a large portion of the aircraft from that early era had square or rectangular cross sections.

     
The 'pointy' tailcone of the Morane A-1

I love this fabric covered tailcone with metal faring underneath!

 I realize there’s a fair chance you’ll think me crazy for fixating on such an insignificant part of a French built fighter aircraft from WWI, but you’ll get over it.  I spent almost half an hour looking at it and I’m ready to go back and see it again!

 Another thing I really like is that this it reminds me of an airship tailcone.  I’m a bit of an airship freak as well, so this Morane feeds that fire a little too.  Another part of my fascination comes from the fact that this tailcone is fabric covered.  Seeing the shape of the stringers as they all taper down to a point and then covered with cotton and reinforcing tape just tickles my core in a way that’s hard to describe.

 I’ll finish off my odd little obsession with a mention of just how cool that tail skid is, and the metal faring that runs all the way to the aft point underneath.  Wow, all this coolness in 1918!

 The rest of ’Fantasy of flight Week’ won’t be quite this eccentric, but it will be entertaining as there was a lot to see.  Lastly I’ll say that this would be a good time for any other 'tailcone freaks' to stand up and be counted!  Leave me a quick comment to let me know you get what I’m talking about… and if you think I'm a kook, then please move along, nothing more to see here : )

Unusual round cross-section tapering to a point

  
WWI French monoplane fighter: the Morane A-1

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