1. I was going to point out the helicopter/plane thing, but figured I'd already corrected the man's spelling, and it probably wouldn't be in good form to nitpick his facts too, lol... but I'm glad somebody else did, haha!
2. Rick, the wiki entry on the talk box might be helpful... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_box
Also, Joe Pascarell of The Machine once posted a simple description of how to set one up:
hi , joe here...
the talk box i use is an original made by the first guy who made them , i believe is name is bob heil. i found it in the corner of a music store in northern california..the owner of the store gave it to me as a gift. when i got it home , i had my tech repackage it into a modern case with all new jacks and switches...a talk box is just a driver mounted to a plastic tube...you place it between the amp and speakers and the foot switch routs the output of the amp either to a speaker cab. (normal sound)or up the tube into your mouth. the tube must be next to a mic. thats hooked up to a PA system...thats it....you can build one if you are industrius....just make sure you get a driver that can hold the output of your amp...
my 2 cents
joe the guitar player
3. J Dawg, according to that wiki entry, Peter Drake used a weak talk box on his steel guitar back in 1964, but the first high-powered talk box suitable for rock stages was developed by Bob Heil and the first one he built was for Joe Walsh... so there's your answer.
--Vik 