Straight Outta Verne

     Jules Verne, that is--

     It's my take on a Verne heavier-than-air flaying vehicle from The City In The Sahara, one of his lesser-known books (actually the second half of The Barsac Mission, edited and expanded by Michel Verne in the the early 20th Century!), reprinted by Ace 40 years ago, presumably when that then-famously cheap publisher realized the U.S. copyright had run out.

     The vehicles in the book are pretty recognizably 19th-Century helicopters, with engines running on extremely compressed air -- a not at all implausible idea at the time -- single or concentric lift rotors and open platforms.  Mine is the result of noticing awhile ago that the big-box building-supply store stocked Erector/Mechano type structural parts in their craft and hobby supplies, not too long after I'd put together the the little airplane (an imported kit, sold at on clearance) seen in the background of this photo.

     (Also in the background: a plastic primate skull with a suspiciously-large hole in the back of it and a ray gun, plus a couple of Tam's film cameras.  My library decor, such as it is, tends to be a bit like the books library itself.)