Macclesfield model

Aeroplane Monthly 7-2002

  I CAUSE MYSELF a lot of problems by acquiring photographs that intrigue me. Life would be a lot easier if I simply collected well-known aircraft of a specific period, but when a curio appears I want to find out more about it. Thus I have a file drawer labelled “Puzzle Pics” which is full of pictures of odd aeroplanes, or of ordinary aeroplanes in odd situations.
  A few years ago I came across these photographs of a large model aeroplane in someone’s back garden. They were taken by a photographer in Chestergate, Macclesfield, in Cheshire, and the title “VERA multiplane” was written on one of the pictures. I did not greatly fancy my chances of finding out any more, but serendipity struck while I was searching for something else in Flights 1911 - the same two pictures appeared on the “Models" page of the September 16 issue. They accompanied a letter sent in by Mr F.M. Stone of Macclesfield, who described his model thus: “It is fitted with a 1/4 h.p. petrol engine and carries 44ft2 of area. Between the top and bottom main planes is a triplane elevator, which I have arranged to work automatically for balance. The engine, coil and accumulator are fitted 10in below the bottom plane, thus giving pendulum stability. In front of the planes are two propellers. The span is 6ft and the overall length 8ft."
  Of the success or otherwise of Mr Stone’s model there appears to be no record, although I suspect its creator's name describes its flying qualities. And was Vera his mother, wife or daughter? Can any local aviation historians provide further information?

Philip Jarrett