For more than 50 years, one of the favorite toys of the mexican children was the cross helicopterwhich for those who have not heard of it, was a completely plastic device capable of real flight.
And no, it didn’t use batteries, nor did it have a motor in the strict sense of the word. She rose thanks to a Mechanic system rotary, located below the propeller, which was started with a thread.
The Helicopter of the Cross was capable of rising 50 meters
With a good tug, the manufacturer explained in its box, the toy helicopter could rise up to 50 meters high and then descend to the ground perfectly thanks to its landing gear.
Speaking of its packaging, this was a piece of art from the 50’s in itself, because on the left it had drawn the Angel of Independence original (the angel would fall in the 1957 earthquake), while on the right was sketched the Latin American Tower.
The history we know of the Helicopter of the Cross
Now let’s talk about the creator of this flying gadget. According to the director of the Interactive Toy Museum (miju), Artemio Abrego Treviñowas the engineer octavio de la cruzgraduated from National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), who invented the helicopter.
However, another expert in the field, named andres guzmanprovided another interesting fact about the creator of the device, and this is that the engineer de la Cruz was a friend in the IPN of another great invention, neither more nor less than Guillermo gonzalez camarenacreator of color television.
Octavio de la Cruz, a great inventor of the IPN
Both, according to this version of the story, had announced during their school years that one would invent color television, the other a toy helicopter that would actually fly. Both kept their promises.
Sadly, no further details are known about the invention and subsequent commercialization of the Helicopter of the Cross. However, it is the people, in some areas of the Internet, who have nurtured the history of this device with their own childhood experiences with it.
What memories does the Helicopter of the Cross bring you?
For example, many remember that when they were children they bought them at street vendors in the Chapultepec Forest, in small stalls outside the Metro stations, in stores like the extinct Mercería del Refugio, or they won them at the marble games at fairs. streets, etc.
Others affirm that with the Helicopter of the Cross they spent many hours of fun, losing many of these toys in the treetops and on the roofs of the neighbors.
And what memories does this wonderful toy mexican helicopter?
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