Plans and Construction Tips for Building
a 13" Airline-Transportable "Travel Scope"
by Ray Cash

My lovely wife next to the 13" scope in Hawaii, 1998.

The scope breaks down and fits into its
own sturdy, airline-transportable case.

I made this telescope around a 13" Coulter f/4.4 mirror in 1991 after seeing an article introducing such an approach by Tom Clark in Sky and Telescope of about that time. Since then, this scope has served me well--whether it has been used on a sidewalk here in San Francisco, traveled on a back seat of a small car en route to the Sierra, or packed away as luggage on a commercial airline (I've taken this scope to Hawaii twice, and Chile once!)  I even re-designed my larger 17.5" scope around these principles:

13.1"; 17.5"; Equatorial Platform

On the following pages you will find all the dimensions and construction tips needed to make one of these scopes--or one similar--for yourself.

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