Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference. - Page 41

**wonwinglo** · 19-05-2006

The Vintage Aircraft club had a Daffodil Rally Fly-In at Fenland airfield on 15-04-2006 which proved very successful,Roy Moore from Tamworth,Staffs kindly sent in these photographs of the day,this just goes to show the importance of taking along your camera to record these events,and once more share them with forum members here,well done Roy.
So whether it is a traction engine rally,vintage cars,airshow etc get clicking,you supply the pics and I will add the words,fair deal ?

PA-34 Seneca G-BSUW belonging to NPD Direct Ltd,Spalding landing at the all grass airfield at Fenland.

G-AJON Aeronca 7AC Champion of the Oscar November 92 Syndicate.

G-CUPS Yak 52 from the Fenland Flying School is an IDA Bacau built example,this popular machine was built in large numbers.

G-PDOG GP/24550 Cessna 305C Bird Dog owned by Justin Needhams lines up for take off at Holbeach St John ( Fenland ) a friendly small airfield.
This is the only example of a flying Bird Dog in the UK,note the rockets under the wings ? bet that turns a few heads in the circuit !

Max Holste Broussard G-BWLR 44-CA/185 from Upton Bishop,Ross On Wye, seen on finals,the aircraft has been owned by Chicory Crops for some years.
The design was used by the French Army as an observation aircraft.

Luton Minor G-ASML always a delight to see.Mr Slaters pride and joy.
The design is a successful pre war ultra light aircraft.

**wonwinglo** · 20-05-2006

Airbus A400M The freighter of the future.
The new A400M Airlifter flight simulator software is out today. The A400M is the next generation of military transport aircraft. It is being built by Airbus and is scheduled to fly in 2008. It will be used by the Royal Air Force, as well as the French, German, Spanish and South African military. This simulation of the A400M has been developed by Wilco and will give flight sim enthusiasts the chance to fly the transport of tomorrow.
The superb software is a credit to Justflight,here are a few screen grabs to see the attention to detail.

**wonwinglo** · 21-05-2006

Just as I was wondering how to obtain a kit of the Airbus A380 for my collection,this little beauty came along,it was a gift from an employee at the Airbus factory,what a kind thought and I am most grateful and it will be treasured,apparently everyone connected with the project was given one of these 1=400th scale models made by Dragon,this one was a spare which has come my way.
Having watched the programme yesterday,on the Discovery channel about how they solved the logistics of moving parts from Hawarden in the UK to the assembly factory in France, via barge and lorry,it made me realise what a project this has become,the combined efforts of thousands of people have evolved into a machine that will change the course of en-masse commercial air travel history,aviation takes on some interesting tangents over the years and this is set to become one of them.
Ten years from now we will be wondering what all the fuss was about ? but will the roads and rivers of Europe govern the sheer physical size of future transport aircraft, given the problems involved in moving large components with this one.
I look back and marvel at the sheer size and complexity of its structure.

**Bunkerbarge** · 21-05-2006

Barry,

Is the model of a prototype?, where are the passenger windows?

**wonwinglo** · 21-05-2006

***Well spotted Richard,see here http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/a380/a380f/
She represents the freighter version of the family,you could get a lot of freight into that space,even an airborne disco dance,the possibilities are endless ?
Will we see Fedex Airbus 380F aircraft in the skies,who knows ? Airbus are obviously exploring every inch of the market potential to reap back the millions invested.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunkerbarge

Barry,

Is the model of a prototype?, where are the passenger windows?

**Bunkerbarge** · 21-05-2006

According to your link Barry Fed-Ex are already customers!! along with UPS.

By the way I have a lot of Justflight add ons for my flight simulators and I am always impressed with thier software.

That A400 looks quite impressive but I do tend to prefer things that I can chuck around a bit more!!

Probably why I prefer CFS and Stormovik to get my flying kicks.

**wonwinglo** · 21-05-2006

Yes I noticed that bit after my posting about Fed-Ex,interesting that they have explored the freighter potential alongside the passenger versions early on.
Justflight are the tops for quality and detail with their software packages,if you want something to test your reflexes then a Pitts Special is fun,there are some good freebies on the simviation site for aerobatic jobs.

**wonwinglo** · 23-05-2006

The Frog Tomtit was one of a series of first class kit designs kitted during the late fifties and sixties,they utilised a clever sheeted type of construction which went together well,above all they flew exceptionally well and were well designed models,I had hours of fun with mine and it proved to be a model that could be relied upon to perform well at a moments notice provided that there was sufficent rubber available,my interests in this design were re-kindled when someone on the internet provided some of the original drawings,with a pair of dividers,some wallpaper and a pencil a drawing twice size soon evolved,my plans were to make an electric version of one of my old time favourite flyers,a new Tomtit with a tiny geared Perkins cheapo motor,once more the motor was radial mounted so all that I needed was a simple bulkhead to mount it to,in fact this was not necessary either because two obeche bearers with two wire hooks sufficed to hold the motor neatly in place with the humble self tensioning elastic band ! there were no surprises when on the first flight she took off from a strip of tarmac and climbed like an homesick angel skywards,I was thrilled to bits on the models performance with that small motor,if you have not yet tried building a small balsa electric model especially from a time travelled design,then you just do not know what you are missing,scale them up either photographically by taking the plans down to your print shop or get out that old school draughting set.
The Tomtit design was kept as original as possible only allowing for easy battery compartment access and wings held with tiny magnets,these have proved reliable and crashproof,whilst my old rubber model flew at about 100 feet free flight,this one will easily climb to a speck in the sky under sub miniature radio control,she really is my favourite small flyer at the moment,so clear the bench and lets build.

First raid your balsa stock and select some decent medium grade wood,forget the pulpy type we need good straight grained timber such as that shown in the photograph above,make up a set of parts first then you will be able to carry on with the model,cut the ribs as a block of blanks,these are then shaped with a razor plane,sanded and the slots filed into place checking with the spars strip wood size,make laminations of 1=32nd wood for the wingtips wound around thick card templates,sheeted tail have anti-warp inserts,use aliphaetic resin adhesive for the construction and use dabs of cyno to assist the assembly,work cleanly and enjoy the build.
Dressmakers T-Pins are a godsend to hold parts onto a home made balsa building board with transverse end pieces to avoid warping,it is a lovely material to use for building,you can also bond hard balsa to MDF board for a super flat building board,use contact adhesive for this job,well woth the cost and effort.

Lay out the first fuselage side flat onto the bench,place the formers vertically checking with a small engineers set square,next add the second side after the first dried out overnight,no harm in adding great strength at the corners with strip wood,the whole lot evolves into a tough box structure whereby the decking and nose cowl are added,the central pylon has been centered within two formers,this takes the top wing which simply slots via the lower spar,the magnetic wing struts hold the whole lot in place and two more tiny magnets lock the lower wing,a singular elastic band adds aerodynamic integrity via two small dowels fore and aft on the centre pylon,always keep the tail end light as possible to avoid any excessive dead nose weight which contributes nothing to the way the model will perform.
The nose hatch is two laminations of 1=32nd balsa bound around with masking tape until the adhesive sets,a simple elastic band and toothpick pegs holds that little lot in place,anything that you need access to give a bit of thought to,this avoids fiddly flustrating on the flying field when you should be enjoying your flying ! make sure that you do not build a 'banana' into the fuselage,when pulling the sides in use the squares on your self healing mat using the best of tools,your Mk.1 Eyeball.

The electric motor is trial fitted at this stage via the two ledge bearers,any sidethrust trimming adjustment can be easily added by shaving off a bit of the wood and re-seating the motor,the nose cheeks are laminated balsa,give the whole lot a good sanding working down to fine crocus paper,then give the whole lot a coat of thinned down PVA adhsive to seal the grain,and prepare it for the Jap tissue covering.

Here you can see the two degrees of downthrust which proved adequate on the model,the balsa block nose provides some protection for the electric motors main shaft encased in plastic with a brass bearing at the front,with the gearbox at the rear,note the built in top wing incidence on the cente pylon,everything is kept simple and practical,this is a sports fun model with the emphasis on plenty of flying fun.

Micropore surgical bandage is used for the hinges sealed with cyno flooded into the weave,keep adhesive away from the centre hinge,a piano wire bridge locks the two elevators into place,small control horns are cut from scrap ply,the control rods are carbon fibre or piano wire can be used bound to the ends of balsa strip with the necessary end fittings ( tip-use one end fitting for adjustment and simply bend the other at right angles into the servo arm,this can be secured with a swing-in keeper )

The parts laid out all ready for covering with Jap tissue applied wet (Tip-lay tissue onto a towel,spray with water,lay the towel over to absorb excess moisture,then offer to the airframe ) note gussets at crucial joints,strong and light,laminated wingtips are vey strong even springy when a wingtip touches the ground,when tissue is dry apply a coat of highly thinned PVA and the tissue tightens like a drum,stronger and not so brittle as clear dope which will be withdrawn in a few years time anyway,so get used to other systems now.

Partially covered with Jap tissue,on biplanes you can cover the lower wing bottom surface,and the upper wing top surface first,then make up and fit the struts,adding small blocks at the strategic points,place writing paper rings around where the struts enter the covering and cut through the centres with a sharp knife,spend time in these areas and you will be rewarded with a neat arrangement that is also serviceable.

**wonwinglo** · 24-05-2006

72 hours later a model almost ready for its first flight,in fact as usually happens it was two weeks before that happened due to awful weather,here you see the model has had its upper wing covering added and the wing struts fitted,the lightweight wheels proved adequate with foam tyres,undercarriage struts are balsa with Micropore to hold them in place,the single elastic band wing retainer proved adequate for straight and level flight,if doing aerobatics add three bands,the model will loop and roll easily even on rudder and elevator,to perfom a roll just bring her pointing into wind,dive a little and pull up into a sharp climb,then input some rudder and over she will go,spinning is easy,full up and left rudder,enter the spin,release controls and recovery is automatic on the Tomtit.

Top cowl fitted and all ready to go,take care with no heavy paint and rely on the colours of the tissue for adequate decoration,the stars are cut from Solartrim applied over a thin sponging of washing up liquid and water to aid the slideability,pat out the bubbles trapped and allow to dry.

Rear view showing the models attractive lines,simplicity is the keynote.

**wonwinglo** · 25-05-2006

Jean Battens record breaking Percival Gull G-ADPR, when owned by the Shuttleworth Trust,at Old Warden and seen being flown here at one of those lovely evening flying displays when the air is so still,the aircraft is now on static displayat the Jean Batten Memorial Auckland International airport,New Zealand and preserved in a special building.

This is a flying replica of the German Me.262,the aircraft is one of a small batch of four,which were built exactly to the specification of the original aircraft using an original machine captured during WW2, and stored with the U.S.Air Force,the only concession is its modern jet engines,the life of the original motors could be measured in hours before they literally blew up due to the right metals not being available back then,the aircraft above was flown briefly during November 2002 making a short hop down the runway,ballast had to be added to the nose to compensate for the lack of armanent,this exciting project should make a special appearance at the Berlin airshow this year.

Low level beat up by a preserved B-17,there are still a few dedicated operators of the Flying Fortress in the U.S.A and we are fortunate to have our own 'Sally B' here at Duxford UK.

B-17 converted as a flying water bomber by the U.S Forest service,several types of bomber were converted for this task and called 'Borate Bombers' one was even fitted with turboprop engines.

You can almost hear all of those engines in the B-36 bomber,six pusher piston engines with four tip mounted jet engines the B-36 was unique and looked most impressive in flight.
Just look at this classic shot of one coming into land.

Howard Hughes Spruce Goose now in a museum following some years outside,the aircraft made a single short hop but Hughes immediately realised the limitations of such a large machine with such marginal performance and the Spruce Goose was never flown again.
When placed into the museum,a special plastic coating was applied all over the airframe to help preserve the all wooden structure.
Hughes was constantly at loggerheads with the U.S.Navy especially over the supplies of good quality plywood,the Navy department tried to fob him off with inferior timber keeping the best for the war effort,a thorn in the side as he had little time for officialdom or bureaucrats in his constant battle for his many plans.