Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference. - Page 56

**wonwinglo** · 29-07-2006

I have been informed that the static Percival Mew Gull replica of G-AEXF that Tony Ditheridge is producing for Alex Henshaw will probably not now be ready for display until the Spring of next year.
It will still go on display at Hendon, but it is ultimately destined for the new museum at Cosford.Personally, I hope it stays at Cosford too,as far too much stuff has been filched from Cosford for Hendon.Frankly, there is just too much concentrated at Hendon now with very little space available there,over concentration of exhibits is not a good idea.

**wonwinglo** · 30-07-2006

G-SWEL Hughes 369 visiting Wellesbourne on 27-07-2006,note that the centre of the airfield is used for crops,some silly regulation that stops grass operations from the airfield,years ago there used to be some really good air rallies held here,however the compulsary crops have ended all of that.

N818Y American egistered Twin Comanche now appears to be based at Wellesbourne.

Transitting through Wellesbourne were these Jetstream propellers which are going for overhaul,they came down from Humberside.

**wonwinglo** · 31-07-2006

The advent of what must today seem crude moulding equipment back in the fifties, was set to change the face of modelling forever,overnight boxes of roughly shaped wooden parts which were the basis of building up scale model aircraft would be obsolete,a small company that supplied plastic utensils such as buckets,mops and combs was set to change the way scale models were made by the masses,the aptly named 'Airfix' company were taken aback when a tiny pale blue Spitfire,sold by the million in only a few weeks of being offered for sale in plastic bags at all branches of F.W.Woolworths stores throughout the UK,special counter displays were allocated for the new kits,with a built up example directly in line with your eyes,quickly Airfix paints in awkward screw top bottles,paintbrushes and cement were on offer in order to complete your own personal masterpiece.
The subject matter just grew and grew into four engined bombers that nobody had ever attempted in kit form before,Airfix quickly became a multi million pound success story within weeks,months,years gradually producing a range of kits un-equalled ever before in modelling history.
Whilst design staff worked from a small shed in Bridlington producing brass masters ( not at the main factory ),artists elsewhere were hard at work doing the evocative kit header paintings and later box artwork to meet the demand,Airfix were quick to realise that including bombs and rockets would vastly increase sales !
The magic figure of 2/- two bob was enough to make a considerable profit,without putting off the pocket money brigade of young lads ( and lasses ) gradually a 3/- three bob range was added,then the bombers at a whopping 7/6 seven bob six pence.
As the model shops demanded that Airfix sell the kits to them as well,Woolworths fought hand and tooth to secure the first batches of kits,something that they did for many years before gradually other outlets managed to secure supplies to meet the ever increasing demands,slowly Woolworths lost total control over a very powerful Airfix company, who by now had made a move away from their old factory at Haldane Place where the first little grey Massey Ferguson premiums had evolved.

A small selection of original kits from Wonwings collection.

During the nineteen fifties a small factory based at Haldane Place,London called Airfix,was making plastic utensils and buckets for F.W.Woolworths,one day a company called Massey Ferguson contracted Airfix to make small scale models of their famous little grey tractors to give away as gifts for publicity purposes at sales centres,Airfix responded with a super little kit which was to be their very first venture into kit production and never really intended for direct sales to the public,shortly afterwards they made a 1=72nd scale kit of a Supermarine Spitfire ( said to have been copied from an Aurora kit ) moulded in pale blue plastic with abnormally thin wings and not representing any particular mark of the machine,this was quickly followed by a Gloster Gladiator,Supermarine S.6B,DH.88 Comet Racer,Sopwith Pup and a Westland Sikorsky S-55 helicopter in B.E.A markings,then some galleon kits,the models were a knockout and sold in their millions at branches of F.W.Woolworths who had a special counter for this product,every weekend thousands of schoolboys would flock to Woolworths clutching 2/- two old shillings for the smaller kits,3/- for the twins,and later 7/6 seven shillings and sixpence for the Lancaster,it is said that if you had invested heavily in Airfix at that time then you would have probably been very wealthy later on,in fact the company went from strength to strength producing an amazing range of model kits which quickly became an household name lilke 'Kodak' and 'Meccano' the range in fact became top heavy and some kits sold very badly such as the Fairey Rotadyne and the Bristol 192 helicopter,the successful designs carried the inevitable lemons which dragged on for many years.
As these words are written Airfix are part of a large company but still producing kits abroad striving to bring a new image and a brand new range of kits of exceptional detail.

**Bunkerbarge** · 31-07-2006

Barry, What an amazing collection of kits that bring back so many memories. I really appreciate you sharing them with us and certainly look forward to seeing them in some sort of period setting.

I have always seriously thought about collecting these old bagged kits as well but I am now put off by the current prices of them. I don't see them as a monetary value more of a museum item that I can relate to as they are such a significant part of my past.

Seaspray · 31-07-2006

I remember these kits hanging up in their plastic bags. It was something I could afford to buy as a lad. The last one I built was a yellow Zero or the american fighter that looks just a bit like it. Great days.....

Martin

**Bunkerbarge** · 31-07-2006

Having now received my copy of Janes I have had a quick look through the models and found out the following:

1) This would not seem to match up with anything from Janes WWII offerings. The two funnels should narrow it down to Renown, King George V or Vanguard classes and none of them have that gun configuration.
2) Once again these don’t correspond to any configuration in Janes. I do think though that with the very vertical funnels and only a single turret fore and aft, they may be WWI period rather than WWII.
3a) This does tend to indicate a WWI vintage again as there were no four funnel ships in WWII in the Royal Navy.
3b) I think this is possibly correct although I haven’t found a picture yet but an armament layout matches the HMS Cardiff launched in 1917 and was a Ceres Class Light Cruiser. Just found a picture but not very clear, however the long slim hull configuration is definitely WWI so I think this is the second HMS Cardiff.
4) I think I have this one, mainly as it is an old WWI vessel still around for WWII. The configuration of this one matches up with WWI Queen Elizabeth Class of which there was HMS Malaya and HMS Barham still active in WWII. As the Barham is probably the more famous by being filmed exploding after being torpedoed if it was meant to be a specific vessel I would opt for that one.
5) Nothing obvious here again as the twin funneled vessels in WWII, mainly cruisers with two forward and one aft turret all had their crane between the funnels. There also wasn’t a vessel with the forward funnel larger than the aft with this turret configuration so my guess would be WWI again.
6) Although in profile this ship is very similar to the Uganda Class and the Swiftsure Class they both had multi-barreled turrets so no luck here either.
7) This does actually look quite close to a cruiser of the Devonshire/Suffolk/Norfolk Class and seems to match up to all the configuration points. It is also very similar to a Kent Class cruiser but I think the first choice is closest.
8) The most distinctive feature of this one seems to be the gun between the funnels which would make it HMS Faulknor, an Admiralty type destroyer, if we assume the blobs after the aft funnel and the aft superstructure are torpedo tubes.
9) I’m afraid I can’t find anything that matches up with this one.

So at the end of the day not what you would call a resounding success however two very positive things have come out of it. One is that I think the majority of these vessels are from WWI so a book dealing with that era would probably produce more matches and the second is that I have bought a superb book, which is a wealth of reference material and it cost me next to nothing. The original published price in ’89 was $80.00 and it cost me about seven pounds!!

**wonwinglo** · 01-08-2006

Warship#10
Dinky Toys H.M.S Nelson
One gun missing.

Warship#11

**wonwinglo** · 01-08-2006

Richard,you have excelled in my opinion and there are still more to come,see the latest offerings on posting #557 the fact that they are of WW1 vintage makes them even more special,so do not despair all that we need now is a period WW1 Janes to do the rest,I would like to thank you for taking the valuable time and trouble in sorting a least this first batch out,no easy task.

**wonwinglo** · 02-08-2006

Warship#12
Dinky Toy HMS Delhi,sadly fatigued

See how the metal just pushes itself outwards,the model will crumble into dust,this is why early Dinky Toys in good condition are scarce,there is nothing that can be done to save them.

Warship#13

**wonwinglo** · 03-08-2006

With a new airframe, avionics and propulsion system, the UH-60M is the latest and most modern in a series of Black Hawk variants that Sikorsky has been delivering to the army since 1978.
The UH-60M will provide reduced pilot workload, increased lift, better protection and enhanced survivability,Jeff Pino,a retired U.S. Army Master Aviator with 26 years combined active, reserve and National Guard duty outlined the facts on this new generation combat helicopter. The new UH-60M Black Hawk is ideally suited for its mission and provides a safer, more responsive, deployable, versatile and effective weapon system for the army.
The army currently has more than 1,500 Black Hawk variants with more than 4.6 million combined flight hours in inventory, constituting the world's
largest and most battle-tested Black Hawk fleet. The UH-60M variant is slated to replace older Black Hawks and form the foundation of the army's future utility aircraft fleet.
The Black Hawk is a great aircraft, the nation's battlefield transport of choice,With the UH-60M, the army and Sikorsky are ready to build upon that tradition and ensure the Black Hawk will continue in that role for generations to come.
The UH-60M is currently in Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), the final phase in a defense acquisition program before a full-rate production decision is made. A decision by the Pentagon and army to enter full rate production of 1,200 or more UH-60M Black Hawks is scheduled for 2007. Exact procurement numbers year-to-year and across the life of the program will be determined by budget authorizations and specific contract awards.
The initial LRIP aircraft delivered today is the second 'new-build' UH-60M Black Hawk. Seven of the eight UH-60Ms produced in the previous Integration
and Qualification phase of the program were made from older aircraft taken from the fleet and rebuilt to the new UH-60M configuration. The eight IQ aircraft have compiled more than 850 flight hours since September 2003.
The first and second LRIP aircraft along with four of the IQ aircraft will enter army Operational Testing and Evaluation (OT&E) in October. The army plans to equip a combat unit with the UH-60M shortly after completion of OT&E.
The UH-60M provides additional payload and range, advanced digital avionics, better handling qualities and situational awareness, active vibration control, improved survivability, and improved producibility.
The UH-60M's new composite spar wide-chord blade will provide 227 kg (500 lb) more lift than the current UH-60L blade. The new General Electric T700-GE-701D engine will add more horsepower and allow additional lift during external lift (sling load)operations.
The new cockpit contains four Rockwell Collins' multi-function displays providing primary flight, navigation, and tactical information including a fully integrated digital map, Blue Force Tracking, Stormscope lightning sensor, radar/laser warning system and a fully coupled autopilot. The narrower cockpit instrument panel will also significantly improve chin
window visibility.
The UH-60M represents the army's third standard baseline Black Hawk version in the 28-year production history of the program. Sikorsky delivered the UH-60A Black Hawk from 1978 until 1989. Sikorsky has been delivering the UH-60L since 1989 and is nearing the end of production of that variant for the army as it transitions to the UH-60M.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Conn., is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacturing and service. United Technologies Corp of Hartford, Conn., provides a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.