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When building model airplanes, it is recommended that you research
the original aircraft. Look for references on the scale model kit you are
going to build. These include: documentation, , time period, colour

scheme, markings, details, pilot and modifications required to
accommodate a particular version of the aircraft model. Also, make a
list of the materials you will need: paint, glue, decal setting solution,
thinner, tools, etc.
Once you have begun building your plastic scale model kit, read the
instructions carefully and make sure you follow the sequence of the
assembly. Initially, you would start your scale model kit by constructing
the interior. This includes the seat, seatbelts, instrument panels, gages,
dials, oxygen tanks, engine and other fine details that pertain to the
interior of the airplane. This part of the process will have a great impact
on the overall accuracy of the finalized scale model kit. Modelers with
A family friend once commented on the Cooper extensive experience in building model airplanes will choose to use
after market parts for detailed areas and magnified original photos of
siblings: “Look, the flyer, and the flyee!” While Aja’s the actual airplane as a reference.
younger brother has successfully pursued a career in
Some effects may be difficult to achieve at first, but know that if you
aviation from a very early age and has flown more manage to master these techniques, you will be fully capable of building
planes in his lifetime than he has been a passenger, Aja model airplanes that look authentic. It may take time and practice. Keep
Introducing Aja Cooper, Collections Manager for The in mind that the plastic scale model kit is not a toy. The completed
Hall has simply just been the passenger. (And she is aircraft model replica is actually too delicate to be handled. But
managing to capture the feel of a legendary airplane in miniature form
more than fine with this!) Aja spent her childhood is very rewarding. My enthusiasm for building model airplanes of a
helping her family farm the river banks of the North military nature does not reflect my opinions on war, politics and
Saskatchewan River at Edam, Saskatchewan. She not destruction.
only watched the cultivation of crops, but cultivated a
passion for local history and wanting to preserve it.
After eighteen years, Aja jumped on an airplane and
headed for Sackville, New Brunswick to attend Mount
Allison University. She pursued a Bachelor of Arts
Degree with a Major in Art History and a Double Minor
in Anthropology (Archaeology) and Religious Studies.
Prior to convocation with the Class of 2012, Aja worked Did You Know
at the university campus Owens Art Gallery and According to one estimate, you can lose about two cups of
participated in archaeological digs in Belize, Central water from your body for every hour you spend flying. While
America. Both work places introduced her to the estimates of water loss during flight vary, it’s well-known that
concept of collections care/management, and object flying causes dehydration in passengers, which can lead to
conservation. In 2014, Aja took another long flight, this deep-vein thrombosis on long-haul flights. Drink water before,
time to Northeastern England when she was accepted
during, and after a long flight.
into Durham University’s Masters Program. She
registered in the study of Conservation of Stewardess is the longest word in the English language typed
Archaeological and Museum Objects. She studied at the with just the left hand.
University’s Archaeological Services Conservation Airliners’ lifespans aren’t determined by years. Instead, they’re
Laboratory and at the university-affiliated Oriental determined by the number of pressurisations the plane
Museum. Having spent nearly a decade away from undergoes. Every time a plane is pressurised during flight, it
home seeing the world, Aja decided it was time to causes stress on the plane’s fuselage. Over time, this stress
return to Western Canada. She is now the Collections causes irreparable metal fatigue and cracks. An approximate
Manager for Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. rule of thumb is 75,000 pressurizations per aircraft. In human
From the Flyer – Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame terms, this works out to about 20-25 years for most planes
Newsletter Spring 2017 Edition