Brio Air

Even before I did the Baufix airplane a few days ago, I was thinking about doing an airplane with the Brio Builder (and Brio Mec) parts I had been accumulating.

I started out trying to reproduce the Baufix model as closely as I could, but immediately ran into problems - in Baufix, the blocks have threaded holes (as well as unthreaded) and will take a bolt, but the Brio blocks will only take a pass-through bolt or a press-in connector.

The press-in connectors didn't provide a satisfactory propeller mount - they would have taken the two three hole strips, but not rotating (I would have known, at least some readers might have known) and without a propeller hub.

So I ended up moving on to the back-of-my-mind twin engine design I thought I might do next.

A little fiddling and trial and error brought the pictured result.

When I got my first Brio, I hadn't given any thought at all to the block pieces, merely seeing Brio and Baufix and such as oversized wooden counterparts to Erector, Meccano, et al.

But the more I do with them, the more I appreciate the blocks, and what they contribute to the design aspects.

And of course, they make this a form of Block Play.