Lego Technic Firefighter Aircraft 42152 - Review

My daughter and I usually stick to City or Star Wars sets, but the occasional Technic set has been built. The last one was the 42124 Technic Buggy, which seemed curiously suited to racing around the Botswana landscape.

From an educational point of view, what the Technic range lacks in creativity is more than made up for by their real-world engineering. For instance the Buggy is a relatively simple set, but it introduces children to steering systems, suspension, and differentials - not to mention the motors and sensors. 

The build

The build starts with a seemingly complex set of gears within a box structure that is soon recognisable as a ratchet. This will eventually power the propellers - but that is a long time in the future! To this is added the undercarriage mechanism, although this initially is only connected to the nosewheel.

The ratchet comes together above, while the start of the undercarriage workings can be seen below.

Features

It is the ‘play’ features that make this set so educational and a joy to have.

The next on the simplicity list is the water bombing feature, but even here the clever use of a spring element ensures that the door holding the water back is fixed in the fully closed or fully open position. A lesson that simple solutions are usually the best. 

My favourite system is the undercarriage mechanism. The way the rotational force from a small knob is sent off in three different directions is a thing of beauty. Each leg moves smoothly and in an incredibly realistic way. There is something soothing about watching the main gear retract into the engine nacelles! The landing gear is sturdy and can handle quite rough play. However, it is the clever use of levers in the folding motion and the idea that quite a small force can do a lot of work if it is applied over a long distance is a physics lesson in itself. 

The propellers are rotated in opposite directions as the ratchet allows one way rotation along with wings where driveshafts and a gear take over. It is simple but very effective - and again a great lesson to any budding engineers. 

In schools?

This is a big model with a lot of engineering going on inside of it. It manages to combine the pleasure of Lego building with a lot of learning and really can be considered an educational toy.

While acknowledging the cost of Lego, sets like these are hugely effective teaching tools and should be seen in more schools - not every parent is as Lego daft as I am and too many children miss out on basic skills.

This was highlighted at a recent leavers’ dinner when I challenged my A Level students and teachers to build a polybag Technic Helicopter (30465). This P50 (3.50GBP) set was put together by my then seven year old daughter in under 7 minutes (it was a 6+ set). After 15 minutes I had to stop the teachers and A Level students. These were some of the best teachers and brightest students in the country - yet they struggled with the basic engineering concepts of a basic Technic set. This says a lot about education, not only in Botswana, and the way theoretical knowledge is valued over hands on experience - all the way until people get their first job! 

Sets like the Firefighter are a great project for small teams and can be built over and over again, making the investment similar to that of a textbook.

Cost: P1,700

Bought: Toys ’R’ Us, Airport Junction

Time to build: 4 hours (at a gentle pace!)