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Automoblox is one of those toy ideas that, when you see it, you smack your forehead and go "Oh, why didn't this come out when I was young enough to play with them?" In a nutshell, it's sort of a cross between hot wheels cars and Lego bricks - you take the pieces and parts and make your own custom wooden bodied roadster. In terms of visual appeal, they're very Art Deco with streamlined, aerodynamic shapes, and look sort of like a 1950s vintage vision of the future on the basic line. The R series line are a bit sportier, lower down to the ground and more aerodynamically shaped and "modern" looking.

The basic concept is that you buy a kit - made of maple - where three pieces snap together to make the chassis for the car (a body, a front (with axle) and rear (with axle) and various snap on parts let you customize it (from wheels, to windshields, to spoilers and airdams.)

The pieces are constructed of high quality wood, and while the plastic bits are, well, plastic, they're obviously built with the understanding that this is a high price item, and furthermore, a high price item meant to be played with by kids. (Though I don't doubt that a lot of adults end up buying a set for the kids, and a second set or two for themselves.)

There are three lines - the basic Automoblox system, the R series, and the minis. Parts from the basic Automoblox and R series are interchangeable, but parts from the minis series are not. The minis series parts are interchangeable with other minis parts, and Automoblox says that they're releasing new concept cars for both lines each year.

The Basic Line has six models:

• Red C9 Sports Car
• Aqua M9 Sport Van
• Purple X9 SUV
• Green T9 Truck
• Blue S9 Sedan
• Orange A9 Compact

Because of the interchangeability, Automoblox toys encourage, for lack of a better term, "fiddlyness". Kids (of all ages) will take them apart and put them back together. Want to see what your R series race car looks like with a fire engine front end? It'll fit! What this does for kids is make them learn fine motor control (getting the bits stuck together), and encourages a lot of creativity and problem solving, and exploration of combining parts into custom vehicles. One of our testers created a stretch truck that he thought was "super cool" especially after filling the truck bed with skittles!

The R Line has three models:

• X9X Sport Utility
• C9-R Sports Car
• S9-R Sport Sedan

The parts are built sturdily enough that they're nearly kid proof. They aren't quite indestructible, though. We found that the solid wood construction meant that the pieces held together nicely, and they have a reassuring solidity in the hand that injection molded plastic pieces don't have. On the two main lines (but not the minis), the pieces are large enough that we're not terribly concerned that a toddler would swallow them; the minis pieces have smaller parts and should really not be handed out to kids under the age of 5 or 6, in spite of what the packing says. (Honestly, we think the miniatures are really aimed at adults.)

The Mini Line has three models:

• Mini Green S9 Sedan
• Mini Blue T9 Truck
• Mini Yellow C9 Sports Car

One of the clever things about how they're designed and built is that the connectors on the front and rear ends are custom-keyed - the front ends will only connect to the front end pieces of the same design, the rear end pieces will only fit onto the rear end of the chassis. This helps cut down on frustration among the young set, and causes adults who collect the parts to do some careful swap and trade bits.

Automoblox for adults taps into the same sort of mindset that builds on customized cars, and, frankly, are just a lot of fun to play with and make "vrooming" noises. (We confess that we keep a couple of the miniatures lines in our desk drawers for stress relief at the office. Judging from where Automoblox get sold, we're not the only ones.) In much the same way that true adult Lego fanatics will scour web sites for specific sets of bricks, we can see a real subculture growing up around Automoblox owners as adults.

As for price, this toy line is not cheap. You can find them on eBay and Amazon, however the company itself will not sell to mass merchandisers. They prefer to sell to niche sites that can represent the product as a specialty toy and not a commodity. The basic and R Line can be found for a tad under $30 and the mini's go for about $10. We feel the price is fair if not a little on the high side, but our poll felt that a 10 - 20% cut would be more in line with consumers expectations.

Alycia Shapiro is Vice President in charge of product development for SensoryEdge. She has advocated for special needs children in order to get them the services they are entitled to and need. Many parents either have difficulty getting the proper services or might not know these services are available. You can visit SensoryEdge to learn more about Wood Toys and Pretend Play.

The Demoiselle Airplane

The Demoiselle, a small, frail monoplane seemingly incapable of supporting a single pilot, not only reflects the equally short man who designed it, but the long lineage of lighter-than-air craft which had preceded it.  That designer, five-foot, four-inch, 110-pound Alberto Santos-Dumont, who had hailed from Brazil, had spent most of his life in France, site of the world's first successful aerial balloon ascent by the Montgolfier Brothers in 1783 and an event which may have subconsciously sparked his own related experimentation.

Unlike fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft, which employ the science of aerodynamics for lift, these balloons attain lift by means of the buoyancy principle.

Air is compressible—that is, its own weight compresses it.  The lower its location in the atmosphere, the more air—and therefore weight—is above it, rendering it densest at or near the ground.  Conversely, as it rises, it becomes thinner.

Hot air balloons utilize these varying conditions to attain lift.  Heated air, or lighter-than-air gas, within a balloon's envelope, causes the balloon itself to rise, because its internal air is less dense than the surrounding air.  When it reaches the altitude where the density of its internal air equals that of the surrounding air, it ceases to rise and attains a state of internal and external equilibrium—that is, its internal gas density equals the external gas density.

At this point, the downward pressure exerted on the balloon equals the upward pressure on the balloon.

Balloons are designated "aerostats" because their lift is attained in a static air mass—that is, an air mass which does not move.  An aerostat moves vertically, but relies on existing wind direction and speed for its horizontal motion.  As a result, it cannot be relied on for specific-direction transportation.

Aerostats with controlled movement employ one or more propellers for velocity and direction, and are designated "airships," but these propellers do not provide or augment lift.

Santos-Dumont had, even at an early age, resolved to exert a profound impact on people with his life, but had yet to determine the means.  Nevertheless, a fascination with flight, in general, and balloons, in particular, only continued to increase, causing him to focus on their steering deficiencies and leading him to believe that their aimless, wind-determined direction could be substituted with pilot control.

It was only after his own first aerial ascent in a 40-foot-diameter balloon in the fall of 1897 that he concluded that aeronautics had been his life's calling.

Seeking to tame the uncontrollability factor, he designed an airship designated "Santos-Dumont No. 1."  Featuring an elongated, cigar-shaped balloon envelope, whose 6,454 cubic feet of gas had a 450-pound lifting capacity, it was powered by an internal combustion engine which drove a 6.6-foot-diameter propeller, to provide forward speed, while a rudder augmented direction and two heavy balloon-suspended ballast bags, positioned fore and aft, substituted for the later, heavier-than-air craft's elevators, producing pitch control.  The pilot was housed in a basket and guard ropes enabled ground crews to maneuver the dirigible to and from its mooring position.

First flying on September 18, 1898 in Paris, it gently collided with trees on the other side of the field from which it had been cast off because of inadequate distance in which to rise above them, but, after a two-day repair, proved successful, demonstrating Santos-Dumont's envisioned, rudder-provided controllability.

Tracing circles and figure-eights in the sky, the No. 1 incorporated all the necessary elements to triumph over gravity: the balloon for lift, the engine and propeller for forward motion, the rudder for directional steering, and the ballast bags for pitch.

The succeeding, Santos-Dumont No. 2 sported a wider envelope whose ten-percent increase in gas volume resulted in a 44-pound greater lifting capability.

In order to house its No. 3 successor, which achieved an aerial longevity record of 23 uninterrupted hours, Santos-Dumont erected a hangar with 36-foot-high doors at Saint Cloud outside of Paris.

On October 19, 1901, he won the 100,000 French franc prize offered by Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe, founding member of the Paris Aero Club, by circling the Eiffel Tower and returning to the point of lift-off 30 minutes later in his No. 6 design, a 108-foot-long dirigible with a stern-mounted propeller.

Despite these successes, however, he soon turned to heavier-than-air flight.  Fulfilling a promise to Samuel Pierpont Langley, the Smithsonian curator who had unsuccessfully launched his own "Aerodrome" design from a catapult on the Potomac River, to commence experimentation with this lifting realm, and attempting to regain his reputation after suspected sabotage had resulted in slashes in his No. 7 balloon and had precluded him from entering the St. Louis Aero Club competition for a $100,000 prize, he designed a powerless, pontoon-equipped monoplane glider in Paris.  Designated the No. 11, it had been speedboat-tugged, causing it to skim the top of the water, while the subsequent No. 12, a dual-propeller, rotary-wing aircraft, failed to become airborne because vertical flight technology had been insufficiently developed at the turn of the century.

The No. 14-bis, however--although offering little contribution to aerodynamic advancement--achieved both continental notoriety and technological success because of the sheer lack of existing competition.  Jointly designed by Santos-Dumont and Voisin, a 25-year-old engineer who had set his sights on heavier-than-air craft and had shared his knowledge about them with Santos-Dumont during the winter of 1905-1906, it was a 40-foot-long aircraft with 33-foot cellular, box kite wings attached by piano wires and pine struts and featuring extreme dihedral; a long, covered fuselage; a single, moveable, box kit cell providing combined longitudinal and pitch, forward-canard control; and a 24-hp, lower wing plane-attached Antoinette engine which drove a crude, paddle-bladed, pusher-propeller.  It was later retrofitted with a 50-hp engine and octagonal ailerons.  Control could only be provided by a standing pilot.  Because it had first been flight-tested suspended from the No. 14 airship, it had adopted the "14-bis" designation, but its canard configuration had earned it the title of "Bird of Prey" by the press.

It won the Archdeacon Prize on October 23, 1906 for a flight of 25 meters and the 1,500 French franc Aero Club Prize for a 100-meter coverage on November 12, the latter considered Europe's first recognized, sustained, heavier-than-air triumph and, for a time, believed to have been the world's, because of the Wright Brothers' own secretive, undocumented experiments.

After four intermediate, but unsuccessful, heavier-than-air evolutions, Santos-Dumont applied what had consistently constituted his signature, airship-related design philosophy to his next fixed-wing development—namely, employ the smallest possible airframe which could accommodate him to produce a sport plane, akin to a personalized aerial car.

The resultant design, the No. 19, was a small, tractor monoplane whose "fuselage" had been comprised of bamboo poles and whose fabric-covered wings, spanning 16.5 feet, retained the very pronounced dihedral introduced by the No. 14-bis.  A two-cylinder, 20-hp Dutheil-Chalmers engine, mounted above the pilot at the wing half-mating point, provided power, while the combined rudder and elevator was augmented by two side, under-wing rudder surfaces and a forward, canard elevator, which extended well ahead of the structure.  The aileron- and wing-warping mechanism-devoid aircraft, inherently unable to be controlled about its lateral axis, made three short hops in late-1907, the longest of which had been 200 meters, before being damaged and withdrawn from further testing.  Nevertheless, it provided the foundation for the definitive aircraft, the No. 20, which also proved to be Santos-Dumont's last.

Retaining the minimal-size design simplicity of the No. 19, but eliminating its deficiencies, the aircraft featured a three-boom, bamboo frame, its first one extending from the wing to the tail, its second extending below the wing to the wheel axle, and its third extending from this point to the tail, all fastened with steel joints.  

The rectangular-shaped, significantly-cambered, high wings, with an 18-foot span, a 6.35-foot width, a 2.7:1 aspect ratio, and a 113-square-foot area, were covered with a double layer of silk tightly stretched over their bamboo ribs and mounted, as characteristic of his previous airframes, at a pronounced dihedral angle.  A cutout along the leading edge, equaling one-third of the span, facilitated propeller installation and rotation, but reduced chord and area along this stretch.

One vertical and one horizontal, fan-shaped surface, swung on a universal joint at the frame's triangular-apex meeting point, served to form its tailplane and respectively provided yaw and longitudinal axis control, the rudder itself covering a 21-square-foot area. 

A 30-hp, two-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, water-cooled Darracq engine, mounted, like that of the No. 19, above the pilot, drove a 6.9-foot-diameter, six-foot pitch, two-bladed Chauviere wooden propeller at 1,400 revolutions-per-minute.  Its two cylinder valves were operated by rocker arms and pushrods activated by two eccentrics.  Its magneto was mounted at an angle on top of the crankcase, while its carburetor and oil tank were suspended below it, a tank-immersed pump distributing the lubricating liquid.

The aircraft had alternatively been powered by Clement-Bayard and Panhard engines.

Ground maneuvering was accomplished by means of two rigidly attached pneumatic tires and a single, small skid at the rear.

The pilot, cradled by a strip of canvas slung across the frame below the powerplant, was, like that of the Curtiss Model D, a virtual extension of the airframe and the seat was restricted to small, 120-pound operators.  Longitudinal control was maintained by a right-hand, elevator-actuating stick atop which was a blip switch for engine cut-offs to induce descents.  Vertical control was augmented by means of the left-side, rudder-deflecting wheel, while lateral control was attained by a lever located behind the pilot and inserted into a narrow, vertical pocket sewn into the back of a special flight jacket, effectively rendering the body attachment point a "third hand."  Its wire, activating, like that of many pioneer aircraft designs, the wing-warping mechanism by means of torso-leaning, modified the angle-of-incidence to effectuate aerial banking.  A toe-clip on the pilot's left foot released a spring-loaded cable to change the propeller's revolutions-per-minute.

First unveiled in France in March of 1909, a location and year which bred the similar, but larger Bleriot XI monoplane, the elegant, diminutive aircraft, with a 330- to 370-pound gross weight, resembled a dragonfly or a young lady because of its translucent, silk-covered wings and was therefore dubbed the "Demoiselle" in French.  It was the world's first sport plane.

Sharing the extreme wing dihedral and low, pendulum emulating center-of-gravity with its No.14-bis and No. 19 predecessors, it could only benefit from such design features in static, still-air conditions.  These, however, failed to exist, the aircraft thus prone to ever-increasing, destabilizing oscillations which resulted in excessive, in-flight pitching and rocking.  Nevertheless, as the first light aircraft, it successfully married Santos-Dumont's lighter-than-air experience with an internal combustion engine in a very low eight, fixed-wing structure.  With an average maximum, level-flight speed of 52 mph, it produced 12 pounds per horsepower and 3.1 pounds per wing square foot of lift, although it had once attained a top speed of 55.8 mph and in September of 1909 had flown a maximum 11-mile distance in 16 minutes.

Emulating the success of the concurrent Bleriot XI, the Demoiselle became Santos-Dumont's first, and only, aircraft to be duplicated—and in significant numbers.  Clement-Bayard, for instance—a Paris automobile manufacturer—built some 300 with 30-hp car engines and sold them to $1,250 each, while the aircraft could be purchased for $1,000 in Chicago and for $250 without a powerplant from the Hamilton Aero Manufacturing Company.  In France, a Demoiselle Flight School was established and occasionally boasted of Santos-Dumont himself as one of its instructors, and in 1911, the Popular Mechanics magazine published its blueprints and assembly instructions.  Also like the Bleriot XI of its day, it was privately assembled in copious quantities.

During a January 4, 1910 flight, the Demoiselle crashed, according to one account, because of a "snapped bracing wire."  Although Santos-Dumont had sustained non-life-threatening injuries, his emotional state had been the more precariously affected.  Because of it, the Demoiselle became his last design and the January 4 flight served as his last as a pilot, the 36-year-old pioneer claiming that he had alas achieved his life's goals with it.

Always intent on developing and advancing aviation for the purposes of transportation and social and economic development, he had been emotionally shattered by the destructive role it had played during World War I and which he had vehemently opposed.  Tormented by the multitude of lives prematurely lost as a result of his own invention, he ultimately ended his own life 22 years later, on July 23, 1932, in Brazil, having paradoxically attained his life's self-stated goal of profoundly affecting mankind with his inventions in both positive and negative ways.

The Demoiselle in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome collection is a reproduction which had been built by Cole Palen in the 1950s at his parent's Red Oaks Mills home, the idea for which had come from the simultaneously- and similarly-constructed Curtiss Model D.

The Rhinebeck example's last restoration had occurred in the mid-1990s when Dan Taylor, a Rhinebeck pioneer aircraft pilot, had attempted to render it more representative of the original No. 20 Demoiselle and for which he had secured a 30-hp, two-cylinder, air-cooled Detroit Aero engine from 1909, the type which had powered the US-built airframes.  Paul Savastino, a professional machinist and welder, designed an aircraft-appropriate mount able to support the powerplant without overstressing its bamboo construction.

Suspended from the high ceiling of New York's Jacob Javits Center during the July, 2002, New York Jewelry, Watch, and Clock Show, the monoplane represented both Old Rhinebeck and Alberto Santos-Dumont, whose Louis Cartier connection had been forged almost 100 years earlier when he had designed a hands-free wristwatch for him after learning that the dirigible pilot had been unable to control his airship and simultaneously monitor the time with his hunter pocket watch during his famous Eiffel Tower circumnavigation in pursuit of the Deutsch prize.

Today, the aircraft is displayed in Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's Pioneer Aircraft Hangar, one of four buildings located across the airfield on a hill.

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Question on a 1984 toyota 4x4 long bed rear leaf springs.?

Remember that it is a LONG BED, one of my rear leaf springs snapped on my 84 4x4 pickup long bed (NOT A 4RUNNER!) I phoned the dealer and they told me that those parts are no longer available and are obselete. I ended up phoning some toyota auto wrecker specialists and they said it fits starting 79 upto 85, well I ended phoning another toyota specialists and they told me 83 to 85. I keep going back and forth to junk yards but measuring the springs is not quite the right way to do it. Is there perhaps a website I can go to check that out? Has someone gone through this and knows exactly what years they fit? It is the solid front axle type if that matters and yes I am looking for STOCK rear leaf springs LONG BED pickup and NOT A 4RUNNER! Thanks everyone

I could be wrong because itʻs been a LONG time since i had a long bed but the springs shouldnʻt be any different. If you look up lift kits, they donʻt ask for long bed, short bed, 4runner etc Ok well sometimes 4runners do make a difference. But you should be able to use springs from 83 - 88, itʻs the same body style/suspension as long it is REAR springs. Between 85-86 the front suspension changes to IFS.

Your springs connect axle and frame not axle and bed and I am pretty sure the frame on all 3 is the same,a buddy gave me the old life off his truck to use on my 4runner. Itʻs just different bodies that they put on them.

Winging It One More Time
IN a beloved cliché of any time-machine movie, the intrepid traveler goofs up the controls and emerges in a cosmically awful predicament -- in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, say, or at the molten core of the earth.

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