wonwinglo

Yes good point Duncan,how about it Mr Moderator ?,a vintage airplane meeting place as it looks like we have a few on here that use the balsa dust to feed their golden locks and also got hooked on good old balsa cement fumes,reckon that we could evoke some memories.
Anyone remember mixing balsa dust with cement to make plastic wood filler ? sets like the proverbial rock,devil of a job to peel off the fingers and jolly painful when you had a itchy nose !

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Seaspray

I almost forgot about Heathfield Areodrome when I got there in the 70s not much left except part of a runway and the Tower it was used by scrap car dealers and there was a little industrial site there too.I stayed at Crocketford many years a ago and went to Dumfries teck college as a mature student, just aside Heathfield unless your thinking of Heathfield in Ayr which an old aunt stayed. You looked across the playing field and in the distance you seen the white top of the Scotish Avation 's building and the tails of the planes taking off. Surely there is an interest in Control Line flying especially the combat wing models with thier stringer tails. Points awarded for the more you could cut off with your prop or am I wrong.....

duncan

Heathfield aerodrome in WW2 was a satellite (fighters) for Prestwick which was the most used and longest runway for the trans-Atlantic ferry flights with the advantage of a 99.9 % fog free record. The local model shop proprietor Danny Mitchell was an ace C/L team racer in spite of being disabled. A new-ish trend in C/L is carrier deck landing re-establishing the previous Fleet Air Arm supported events of yore. Now of course with lightweight R/C gear it is possible to do it on a suitable size patch in the local gym. What are you building at the moment Seaspray?

wonwinglo

Well Seaspray around here you never see any control liners these days ? possibly the Nats is about the only place to see this form of flying in any numbers,but where would you even start looking for that stranded Laystrate control line wire ? there used to be a specialist supplier of control line bits and pieces but I think he went under long ago,I dont know if it has the same appeal these days to the youngsters,but what does ? the best years seem to be the fifties and late sixties when nearly every issue of the Aeromodeller had some freebie plans to build one.
Sottish Aviation we have the last flying Twin Pioneer down here on our doorsteps,what a machine,she will hover in a slight breeze even with all of those slots and slats extended,SA did a grand job for the war effort overhauling large aircraft,the place is an institution,the last one they built was the Bulldog,is that correct ?
Grounded again as the weather has turned foul with heavy rain and winds,looks all set for the weekend as well.

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Seaspray

Duncan D.Mitchell name is ringing a bell.Yep C/L is past it but round the pole was an is a poor replacement for C/L, although I did like those micro film models they flew indoors.I am trying to recommision a Vernon Tarpon cabin cruiser that has sat on the wardrobe for 20 years. I have spent the last couple of weeks preparring her for a relaunch but it was poor effort, slow, sluggish total loss I'll need to find more info on electric motors as Iam changing from I.C. to electric. also I have managed to get plans from Germany of a research vessel that I will be building soon.Hopfully I manage to gain enough knowledge to do some scratch building thats after I try and read the plans.wish I had some CAD knowledge too. a few years ago I bought an old Super Sixty in a model shop for a fiver.Done up and did some R/C flying. It was great cos my mate had a farmer friend and we could fly all day and did. If your in a club you have to share flying time with other club members and it can be as little as 15 minutes.
Your right Wonwinglo it was the Bulldog at Scottish Avation was being built when I was there and it save a few jobs over the years. I also was a member of the local model engineer club where they ran 3.1/2 and 5 inch guage live steam model locomotives again far too dear for this laddie but I enjoyed their company and learned a lot about them

wonwinglo

Yes round the pole ideal for cold winter evenings at a club house,not much going on socially like that now except indoor free flight or small electric radio models round here,the GWS stuff fly and bounce well,worth it for the motor and bits and pieces to build your own models from,the future of electric is worth looking at with quiet operation,clean slime free models and almost fly anywhere ability.
The Junior 60 has got to be the best trainer around,nice and slow and forgiving,you are very lucky to have that farmers field and get plenty of flying in,there is a real need now for splinter groups of flyers with their own fields too many modellers but not enough flying facilities,another cause for electric you just need to adapt.
Saw one of those Outrunner motors recently fitted into a Piper Cub,the whole motor rotaes in a cradly just like the old rotary engines,you get a bit of gyroscopic effect but they certainly have the power,no gearbox either.
The problem is for me that electric is a whole new learning curve,much more matching to do than IC,you need the correct prop,lightweight model,the right battery for the job and a decent charger.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

John

Since this has detracted from the orignal thread I've split it so you can carry on, much more interesting than the orignal

duncan

Thank you Sonic, we must sound like "the last of the summer wine" but then nostalgia aint what it used be either . re S.A.L think you are right Wonwing about the Bulldog being that last of the company`s products ,(their Jetstream was Handley-Page design I think)they are still building aircraft in "the Palace" as part of BAe. Had my first ever full-size trip in a DH Dragon/Rapide from prestwick 2/6d because I was so wee ! 7/6d for adults. The company was founded by a couple of unsung heroes (in my opinion) ...Lord Clydesdale and Gp.Capt. McIntyre who were the first people to fly over Mount Everest ( Houston-Westland Wallace). Lady Houston had an estate just 3 miles from where I am now and the airmen did some "high-altitude training " here in the Cairngorms. "Darling Lucy" also sponsored the UK entry in the final Schnieder Trophy event (which we won) and was therefore given the honour of being called .."one of the few" as the Supermarine Spitfire used a lot of the knowledge gained by the RAF High Speed Flight in its design and of course the RR engines. They dont make them like Lucy anymore. Our local club keep a little bit of the spirit going by organising a seaplane event on Loch Insh every Sept, this is its 20th year.

Ron Tannock

Duncan's and Seaspray's references to Heathfield brought back some great memories.
I first visited RAF Ayr when my father attended Radio Society of Great Britain Field Days. The local radio hams would set up a low powered mobile radio station and make as many 'contacts' as possible over a twenty four hour period. We slept on the ground on straw in the building where the RAF fire brigade had been housed and consumed the most enormous fried meals.
My second experience of Heathfield was the Sunday model aircraft flying competitions. I still have the ED Bee that used to power my fuel sodden, yellow and blue Frog 45 model. I remember my cousin's Rudderbug flying succesfully under single channel radio control - what next, I thought?
Later, as an apprentice at Scottish Aviation I went to Heathfield to look after the film used to record the Twin Pioneer's take off and landing performance. I attended the 50th anniversary of the Twin Pin's first flight in June this year. I studied the map but I could find no trace of the old aerodrome.
The mention of the Wolseley piston - the engineer's name wasn't Norrie McLintock was it? He took me to Gatwick in Surrey to take the wing off a damaged Twin Pin - he had a collection of amazing bits and pieces and could do anything - he lived in the country between Minishant and Crosshill.
Thanks for the memories

Phoenix

my grandad restored a 1939 wolsely i think (its a wolsely im just not sure of the year )

heres a piccie