"Granny" flies over Forest Hill awaiting permission to land. The inventions, machines and contraptions created by our Art Director, Peter Von Czarnecki are unique. This page looks at just a few of these in greater detail. At the Forest Hill Chase Complex  "Granny" is landing her first shipment of Pure Maple Syrup, all the way from Vermont. Also at Forest Hill, Peter Von installed an elaborate Pure Maple Syrup "refinery", built from his weekly forays into scrap metal yards. "Pedal-Powered Trans Pacific Maple Syrup Bulk Carrier"  (or The Granny Plane at Highpoint.) Constructed from plans first devised by the Brothers Wright of Kittyhawk, USA for the expressed purpose of transporting the Pancake Topping known as Maple Syrup from its place of origin in Maple Grove, Vermont, via the Pacific Ocean to The Pancake Parlour Restaurant at Forest Hill in Victoria, Australia. The gingham covered aircraft (over a frame of aluminium salvaged from the wreck of the ill-fated Hindenberg Airship) has been involved in several incidents worth noting, the most interesting of which was the timely and gallant action which resulted in the demise of that Scourge of the Skies over France, Baron Von Richtofen, none other than the Red Baron himself, in 1917. It was also involved in the search for the missing aviatrix Amelia Earhardt just before World War 2. The aircraft gains its motive power entirely from the pedal connected by mechanical advantage to two largish propellors (ex-Hindenberg) which have seen the elderly aircraft and its aged suffraget pilot, known affectionately only as "Granny", cross the Pacific innumerable times, always at the mercy of the elements. The large Oak barrel slung under the aircraft containing the bulk Maple Syrup was originally in use in William Randolph Hearst's famous mansion "San Simeon", during the Prohibition Era. "The Maple Syrup Refining Plant"  (also at Forest Hill) Whilst en route to Australia, the Maple Syrup contained in the ez-Hearst Oak barrel (slung under the fuselage of the "Granny" plane) became habitually affected by exposure to the upper atmosphere and subtropical conditions, resulting in a subsequent loss of quality and required further refinement... thus the building of the Maple Syrup Refining Plant. The Pancake Parlour was fortunate to obtain, as part of the "War Reparations of 1919 Treaty of Versailles Page 112”, an ex-Australian Light Horse Water Filtration Plant, last used in Beersheba in 1917. The Filtration Plant, colourfully enough, had been captured by the German Army and was prized for its efficiency and "bush simplicity". The Maple Syrup, direct from the barrel, passes through a series of complex filters and purifiers, each one more effective than the last, but invariably using the same technology that saw Stephenson apply steam so creatively, until the precious golden-brown liquid, as pure as it was when it was gathered from the glorious Maple trees of Vermont, arrives to provide the perfect accompaniment to the Splendid Pancake. "The Pancake Densitometer"  (originally installed at Market Lane, now residing at Doncaster) This fascinating device measures the density of the pancake (to ensure the uniformity of the product) according to an Act of Parliament placing the control of the quality of the products of Pancake Establishments under the control of The Health of The Colony of Victoria (relevant department) which by the said act also includes The Department for Administration of The Shelters for the Insane and Infirm, so to speak. Some rare close-up photographs of "Granny" at the wheel. The Maple Syrup Refinery. The Densitometer. Above: The decommissioned Highpoint Iron is, according to the proprietors, now "safe". "The Highpoint Iron" Enclosed in a glass case (for the safety of the patrons) this rare (and possibly unique) device is, as the attached plate says, "for the conversion, by means of the application of heat and pressure, of the dimensions of the Common Colonial Pancake to that of the more popular French Crepe and demonstrates some of the features of the last gasp of the Industrial Revolution's grasp on Mechanical Reality, at the same time working at pressures guaranteed to present hazardous working conditions. The hapless operator apparently literally "ironed" the Pancake from its old, accepted thickness of up to 10mm out to acceptable wafer thinness, sometimes "ironing out" the surrounding areas at the same time (if contemporary Newspaper Articles are to be believed). A useful study, for the interested, is in the archives of the Victorian Police Forces under "Industrial Accidents of the Past Colonial Era, Steam Boiler etc. Fatal Accidents and Inquiries 1882 under the heading of "Incompetence in Construction Leads to Double Tragedy... An Accident That Need Not Have Happened" by Superintendent A. E. Mowbray (later knighted for his successful campaign to have such devices outlawed). It should be noted that the device on display, whilst demonstrating fully its original intentions, has been decommissioned by Sgt. A. M. Scott M.C. and in no way presents a hazardous situation to the public. Right: Follow this link to see the Monkey-Powered Lovely!Tone News Inert Gas Photographic Airship at The Pancake Parlour at Northland as the pilot records "The Annual Great Colonial Heavier-Than-Air Pancake Tossing Race for Ladies". Left: The Pancake Stamping Machine, seen here getting the final touches applied by The Master himself, now adorns The Pancake Parlour in Canberra.  Follow this link to read about this unique device and about the life (and some of the scandals) of Miss Lola Montez during her visit to Australia in 1855. Webmaster's note: Various other Inventions, Devices, Contraptions and Machines are scattered throughout the pages of this web site, usually on the page devoted to the restaurant where they reside. We will add to this collection with more detailed information, additional diagrams and technical data in the future.