Subject: Re: Fun build "Un-Natural finishes"
From: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
To: "al petrie" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2003 21:35:40 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: "al petrie" <[email-masked]>
To: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:48 PM
Subject: Fun build "Un-Natural finishes"

> Steve: Please find attached my entry into the December themed Fun Build,
AKA
> Brad Main Brain Teaser. As follows is the write-up.
>
> The Chrome Count and his Stainless Steel Triplane
>
> Ernst Mach is best known in aviation as the physicist who explained what
the
> speed of sound was, and how it was affected by temperature, altitude, and
a
> a variety of atmospheric conditions. Lesser know is the contribution
played
> out by his nephew, Ferdinand Mach.
> Ferdy was not a typical member of the aristocracy in pre-WW I
> Austria-Hungary. He was fascinated with aviation, as well as smoking large
> Turkish cigarettes, He was one of the few members of high society to also
> not sport a large, bushy beard, a style popular at the time. He had
invested
> heavily in various razor manufacturing companies, but they all wound up
> going bankrupt as society was just not ready to see real men with smooth
> faces. As WW I broke out, Ferdy was virtually broke, so he enlisted as a
> pilot in the Austro-Hungarian Aerial Cavalry. Unfortunately, his
unbreakable
> habit of incessant smoking led to several near-fatal in-flight fires, as
the
> embers kept igniting the doped fabric of the aeroplanes. Facing the
> humiliation of being dishonably discharged, Ferdy hit upon the idea of
using
> a large supply of stainless steel he had left over from a failed shaving
> investment to build a fireproof, bullet resistant, strong aeroplane.
> Starting construction in 1915, he encountered many problems, not least of
> which was the heavier weight of a metal plane. Finally realising he need
as
> much lift as possible, he licensed the Fokker DR-1 design, and based his
> Ferd M-3 on it.
> By the time he had completed the prototype in August, 1918, the war was
> going badly for the Germans, and he was sent to the Western Front to
> operationally test the plane. Due to the higher weight, the takeoff run
was
> protracted, the climb rate abysmal, and maneuverability was lacking, but
> once the plane climbed to altitude, it could outdive anything else in the
> sky. The metal sheeting not only provided fire proofing and some safety
from
> bullets, but also provided rigidity, and therefore the plane didn't
require
> any of the common bracing wires seen on other WW I designs.
> The sole operational mission of the M-3 was not a success, however. After
> trying to attack a formation of Sopwith Camels, Ferdy was persued by
several
> Candian pilots low over the advancing troops from Australia. The fusillade
> of fire from the ground and from behind was not the cause of Ferdy's
death,
> despite claims by both sides after the war. No, he was blinded by the
glare
> of the sun reflecting off the middle set of wings, and crashed into the
> ground right in the midst of the Australians. The ever resourceful Aussies
> immediately stripped the plane of its' skinning and had the best supply of
> razor blades on the whole British front.
> As a postscript, Ferdy's family retained the rights to the three surfaced
> design, and by selling the patent to Gillette in the 1990s, Ferdy's legacy
> lives on in the Mach III razor. What was designed as an instrument of war
> has become a tool for smooth faces everywhere.
>
>
>