How to Make a 



Toy Zeppelin 



Four rubber balloons in a rattan frame, 

 make a Zeppelin which will actually fly 



A TOY Zeppelin is not a difficult or 

 expensive thing to make in the 

 home workshop. All that one 

 needs at the outset is three or four toy 

 balloons and some rattan strips. The first 

 operation is to cut two conical pieces A A ' 

 out of cork. These are ^i in. in 

 diameter at the base, and^g in. 

 at the apex, the body being ^4 'i- 

 long. This has four deep longi- 

 tudinal grooves i, and a shallow 

 circumferential groove 2, mid- 

 way belween its ends. 



Four lengths of round rattan, 

 3, 4, 5, 6, are then pro\ ided, each 

 being 3/16 in. in diameter. This 

 can be obtained anywhere, and 

 is the lightest material for the 

 purpose. The ends of these four 

 pieces are attached to one of the 

 conically-formed corks, as shown, 

 after they are dipped in glue, 

 and a string 7 used to hold 

 them in place within the groove 2. 

 The ribs thus secured together arc ready 

 to receive the l)allooneltes 8. The 

 rattan ribs are brought toward each 

 other, and the first balloonette placed 

 in. A fine cotton thread 9 is then tied to 



By J. S. Zerbe 



one of the rattan ribs, and carried down 

 to the next rib and thus secured to the 

 four ribs in such a manner that the ribs 

 are parallel with each other. The three 

 other balloonettes are then placed be- 

 tween the ribs and threads 9 used 

 between the adjacent balloonettes to 

 hold the ribs in alinement. The ends of 

 the rattan ribs are then brought to- 

 gether and secured to a cork A^, similar 

 to cork A. 



The cork and rattan frame are so 

 light that the balloonettes readily lift 

 the structure. For that purpose two 

 bent pieces of rattan 10, 10' are used, 

 placing one at each end of the frame, so 

 that they embrace the upper and lower 

 ribs4,6,towhich they are firmly attached 

 by threads. The lower or looped ends 

 are some distance below the frame. The 

 propeller is attached to the forward loop 

 10. It is made of firm cardboard, first 

 steamed, after which the tips are twisted, 

 and after being dried are fixed to the small 

 end of a shoe eye 12. This serves as a 



Details of the toy Zeppelin 



bearing for the propeller. A wire 11, 

 passing through the eye has a hook at 

 its rear end, to which a rubber band 13 

 can be attached. 



The other end of the rubber band is 

 attached to a hook on the end of a wire 



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