A Grade 12 student at Chestermere High, Ryan Haasen, has wowed his fellow classmates and teachers with the construction of a 1/8 scale Bell 429 helicopter, purely from wood. Haasen began planning out the construction last May, and he is happy to announce that 10 months later and after 500 hours of work, the model is complete. The model is five and a half feet long, and is 20 inches in height. Haasen previously built a 402 model, and this experience is what led him to be comfortable in building the 429 model’s size. Starting with a laminated 65-pound block of wood, all of the cutting and hollowing made for the end product to weigh 35 pounds.
“It is entirely made from wood,” Haasen beams, “no paints or stains were used–I feel that it adds to the authenticity of the model.” He used maple and walnut for the two halves of the fuselage, and curly maple and cherry for the smaller inlayed strips. As this was Haasen’s first attempt at inlaying, he found it challenging to do so on a curved, contoured surface. Many different types of techniques were used to construct this model, such as the wood burning for the side paneling as well as the cargo doors. The finished product is also coated in glossy spray lacquer.
Along with the previously mentioned woods that he used, others that also make an appearance on the masterpiece are padaul, beech, yellowheart, bloodwood, ebony, hickory, wenge, and pine. The Bell 429 model also features magnets on the swash-plate and doors and laminated paper for the glass instrument panel in the cockpit. The doors are fully functional and the two rear doors slide on a magnetic track. Haasen’s talent allowed for him to make the rotor head also completely functional, performing collective and cyclic movements.
Haasen has been woodworking since the seventh grade, and plans to continue his talent as a hobby, rather than pursue it as a career, “It’s relaxing, I love it,” he says, “keeping it as a hobby allows me to escape the stress of work.” Ryan is also currently involved in the shop program at Chestermere High, taught by Andrew Autet.
Ryan was hoping to take his model down to the 2014 Heli-Expo, but feared that the model would break during the transportation. Another concern was that the drastic change in humidity would destroy the model altogether, which was a risk that he was understandably unwilling to take. Instead, he submitted it to the Stepping Stones Art Contest. “This one’s for my dad,” says Ryan.
If you are interested in seeing all of the other projects that Ryan Haasen has made, you can visit www.lumberjocks.com/RyanHaasen
