Description

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In this detailed how-to on wooden toy projects, the home workshop craftsman will find full-color illustrated chapters with instructions on building a toy biplane, airplane hangar, sailboats that really sail, a submarine that runs on rubber band power, and a classic Caterpillar D-6 bulldozer. Each chapter includes full-size and dimensioned scale plans drawn by author Jim Humphries, and step-by-step details for construction.

A longtime fascination with classic biplanes—those which served as war planes and later, as crop dusters and barnstorming craft—and stories he read to his sons in their childhood inspired retired U.S. Air Force Command pilot Jim Humphries to begin making wooden toys, and he now shares his creations with those interested in building these timeless toys for themselves. With designs that stem from the Cold War era, colorful paint schemes, and real, functioning motors, children and craftsmen alike will get hours of joy from building and playing with these classic toys.

About the Author

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Jim Humphries is a retired U.S. Air Force command pilot with 10,000 hours of flying time. In 1956, he earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University and continued his graduate engineering education at the University of Michigan while on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, eventually earning master's degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Using his extensive engineering and aviation background, he designs and builds quality wooden toys, many of which have survived through generations. He has been married to his wife, Marsha, for over sixty years. They have two grown sons, nine grandchildren, and have begun having great grandchildren.

As a jet fighter pilot, he served for 23 years on active duty, including a combat tour in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He retired as a full colonel in 1979, and flew as an engineering test pilot with Fairchild Aircraft Corporation in San Antonio for fifteen more years.

As a writer, he has published articles in military and civilian magazines and newsletters. Writing is a special joy, and when he's not designing and building wooden toys , he can be found at the computer crafting a new story.

He is a long-time Bible teacher in United Methodist Church Sunday schools. He has been a featured speaker at military, professional and Christian events. Now, in his mid-eighties, he is about the business of getting years of toy projects out to the public through colorful how-to books.