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Our church is having their second pinewood derby for anyone who wants to participate, adults or kids. We have a "stock" class with the standard scouting rules and an "unlimited" class, where just about anything goes (no CO2 cartridges or other external propulsion though). In addition to the speed prize, there is also a "best design" award. I'm shooting for the latter...

I won the best design last year with this car (it was terribly slow, so I made the joke that I thought it was an uphill competition):





And here's what I'm working on for this year, it's my pinewood derby "car"-go plane. Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what plane I'm trying to replicate!






And just so you can see that I did indeed start with the given pinewood block:



I'm hoping that by building a high-wing plane (and banking on other people building low-profile cars) I should be able to clear the other racers. I don't plan on this being very fast, I'm just going for the style award. Although I am building another car with/for my little girls as well and I'm going to try and actually build that one for speed in the "stock" class.

the elephant wrote:C-130?

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! I'm glad it's apparent to other people besides myself!

I'm glad you liked the jeep too. I'll post more pictures of it later.

More pics of the jeep:

I once owned a 1942 Ford military Jeep. (Yes... Ford made 'em, too.) It was complete with the axe and shovel holders on the side and holes for a machine gun mounts in the back.

Looking at your model made me think of the number of vertical grill openings. The old ones had NINE vertical openings and the late model Jeeps have only SEVEN. When did the change take place?

Nice job on the 'peeled paint'

I don't know the answer to the grill question, but I would love to own a WWII-era jeep someday. My real dream would be to own and fly a WWII fighter (P-47 Thunderbolt to be precise), but...seeing as how those go for a couple million a piece, I'd settle for a jeep.

I'll just keep building scale planes...

Tubajug wrote:..... My real dream would be to own and fly a WWII fighter (P-47 Thunderbolt to be precise).....

Interesting! The P-47 aircraft were built here in Evansville, Indiana and in Farmingdale, NY by Republic Aviation. Production was begun at the Farmingdale factory but production could not keep up so the new plant was built here in Evansville. My dad was an amorer on a P-47 stationed in England and France in 1943-45. I still have the 'fire/no-fire' timing gauge that he used on the 50 caliber machine guns.

A consortium here owned a P-47 and was working on restoring it to the point where it could be used at a static display at the regional airport here. The airport adjoined the factory on Highway 41 just north of Evansville and was used as a test strip. That factory was used by Whirlpool for years until it closed last year. Our Thunderbolt burned up in it's storage/work facility about twenty years ago.

I helped my son's Pack as the "pit garage" for years helping the boys keep their cars running, and help adjust their weights so none were over, and every Scout had at least a fighting chance. We also would have an "unlimited" class for adults, siblings, Scouts' "second cars" so we could help the whole family enjoy the derby and encourage the imagination of the Scouts. We also had a chili cookoff for each den so we could all have lunch to make the event a great party and celebration.

The last thing I did was to help make presentation trophies, where at the end of the races, no matter who "won," each Scout at least had a 4" high base with a small headless nail in it, and if the Scout chose, I would drill a small hole in the bottom of his car so he could mount it (the rules say you can only race one car "officially" per year, and it has to be retired).

Congrats on a great vehicle. One year, my son's aunt worked for a hospital who sponsored a car in the unlimited division, and we made an ambulance in similar fashion.

Here are some more pictures of my "car." I've done a bit more sanding and shaping since these were taken, but you can see that the wing has an airfoil to it now. Next step will be to fill in the gaps and sand some more!

Looking good Jordan.

I've got a question... after helping my sons in Pinewood derby years ago, how are you going to fit that vehicle on the track with its wing span? Or... are you going down the track alone?

The C-130 Hercules is still a workhorse for the military. If you doubled the number of engines it could be a Hughes H4-Hercules, aka "Spruce Goose" as it was also made of wood.

Haha, well, to use a airplane term, I'm hoping on a wing and prayer!

This is for our church's pinewood derby open to all, kids and adults, and we're having an "unlimited" class in addition to the "stock" class. You're right, the wingspan is not regulation, as the width can't be wider than the wheels. I'm banking on other cars being built with a low profile. Or, if I don't fit over the top of them, I'm just shooting for the "Best Design" award and won't race. I will build propellers for it, but I'm going to make them removable so that I can take them off for the race and *hopefully* the other cars will fit under the engine nacelles

Ours is only a three-lane track, so if they put me off to one side and I can clear the car next to me, I might be ok. That's my hope anyway! That's why I chose to build a high wing aircraft too.

Hehe, which reminds me...my plan for next year is to go one step further and build a float plane, where the floats are actually two pinewood derby cars (with the distance between them being the width of two tracks) and just build a plane on top. I'd be taking up two lanes, but I shouldn't run the risk of hitting anyone with my wings!

Tubajug wrote:Hehe, which reminds me...my plan for next year is to go one step further and build a float plane, where the floats are actually two pinewood derby cars (with the distance between them being the width of two tracks) and just build a plane on top. I'd be taking up two lanes, but I shouldn't run the risk of hitting anyone with my wings!

Something like this:



Each float would me made of its own pinewood derby block and set the correct distance apart to ride on two tracks at once. That's my idea anyway, we'll see if I can pull off what I'm doing for this one first!

I still have the unlimited car my son and I built over 20 years ago. Everyone suspected that I did all the work but in reality he did about 50%. It was a fun, fun project for us. It wasn't fast enough to win but it is sure pretty!

Many yrs ago we had an unlimited class for the fathers in attempts to limit too much "dad help" with the kid's. One father's design was a brick on wheels. (Must have weighed about 2 lbs). When placed at the starting line and the gate came up, it only rolled about a foot as two of the wheels fell off. Everybody cracked up.

Rick F wrote: If you doubled the number of engines it could be a Hughes H4-Hercules, aka "Spruce Goose" as it was also made of wood.

If there are any other airplane nuts out there, I posted this project on a model airplane forum as well and someone suggested that, given that it's made of wood, I could also make a DeHallivand Mosquito next time!

Got some more work done on this lately. Here it is all glued together:





Close up of the putty to fill in some gaps:



The putty that went into smooth the wings to the fuselage:



In the paint booth with a coat of primer:

bloke wrote:Where's the miniature Howard Hughes ?

Ha! Wrong Hercules though... That was the Hughes H-4 Hercules, this is meant to be a Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

Nice "Herc", but won't the props just eat up the competition when she's flying down the runway?

More painting updates! The painting is done minus some touch-ups in some spots.

Masking the cockpit windows:


A coat of tan:


Masked up for the camouflage:


Brown!


And the tape comes off!


The prop spinners are 0.45 cal bullets I got from my brother who casts his own. I just cut off the back part to keep the "cone" and painted them. They are removable so the props can be taken off for the race, then put the spinner back in for more weight. Before the camo paint job it weighed 11.4 oz. Haven't weighed it since then.










Now to prep the wheels/axles! The race is on the 28th of this month.