wonwinglo

The De Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide, was probably responsible for successfully setting up more small airlines than any other machine,the reason being that the simplicity of design and operation,coupled with a small monetry outlay ensured that the company made money,just as the Douglas Dakota paved the way for the larger airlines the Rapide was ideal for operation from small fields,even flying from the beach taking customers from the Channel Islands to the mainland,the aircraft saw wartime service with many air forces and was used amongst other jobs as a navigation trainer,crew ferry with the Air Transport Auxiliary and by the Fleet Air Arm.
This nostalgic cover from the 'Aeromodeller' magazine shows one of the British European Airways examples which operated amongst other places to the Scilly Isles.






This is the Heller Rapide painted in the colours of the Automobile Association,this aircraft was used for traffic spotting and congestion solving in the UK,also aerial photography.
The markings were home made using an Epson printer onto white tissue paper,these were then stuck onto the model and protected with Johnsons clear,there is also full interior detail with home made seats,although you cannot see much of it at least I know it is there and there are no voids when looking through the side windows.

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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/

wonwinglo

***Thanks for your very kind offer Nigel,the ones that I am short of are post war R.A.F roundals and especially fin flashes,Modeldecal used to produce them but are no longer in business.

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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/

wonwinglo

De Havilland DH.84 Dragon
The DH.84 Dragon was designed by Arthur Hagg in response to Fox Moth operator Edward Hillman's request for a twin engined aircraft to be used on a proposed air service from Southern England to Paris.The slab sided plywood box used successfully in the Fox Moth was adopted for the fuselage of the new design,a clever two bay biplane with wings that could be folded just outboard of the two Gipsy Major engines.The pilot was provided with a separate compartment in the extreme nose and the main cabin would seat six passengers.The prototype first flew in 1932 at De Havillands works at Stag Lane,Edgeware,Middlesex,it was later delivered by air to the Maylands airfield ,Essex together with three more Dragon 1 production aircraft for operation by Mr Hillman,the planned Paris route took place in April 1933,British production totalled 115 aircraft built at Stag Lane and when the company uprooted to the new factory at Hatfield,a further 87 aircraft were built in Australia during World War 2 at Bankstown,these were to become navigation trainers for the Royal Australian air force,the first of which entered service in 1942.
A further version called the DH.84M was fitted with a dorsal gun ring,a dorsal fin and was supplied to the air forces of Denmark,Iraq and Portugal.



The model of the DH.84 Dragon was scratch built from Plastikard sheet and Jabrok and wire.
It represents a machine currently restored by Air Lingus to represent their early roots,this aircraft often comes over the Irish sea to airshows and special events in England.

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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/

wonwinglo

http://www.pilotweb.aero/content/art...e.aspx?id=3436

Fasten your seat belts again,and for this one you will also need your G-Suite.



The high bandwidth version does not load properly which is a great pity,suggest that you use the low bandwitdth version instead,sit back for some of the finest aerobatic flying you will ever witness,and once more some of this has been filmed from above from an helicopter,very unusual and beatifully done.
Enjoy.

__________________
'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/

wonwinglo

__________________
'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/

wonwinglo

De Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly.

The external simularity of the De Havilland DH.90 Dragonfly to the DH.89 Dragon Rapide belied its very different internal structure,the earlier designs spruce and plywood box fuselage being replaced by a preformed plywood monocoque shell strengthened with spruce stringers.The lower wing centre-section was strengthened ,making possible deletion of the nacelle/wing root bracing struts and inner bay rigging wires,and so providing easy access to the cabin,with accomodation for a pilot with four passengers.Powered with two Gipsy Major engines,the prototype made its first flight at Hatfield in August 1935,the first production machine being flown and delivered during 1936.Production totalled 66 aircraft and the aircraft was very popular with wealthy private owners of that time,the type was also used for commercial purposes and served with the air forces of Canada,Denmark and Sweden.







Model of DH.90 Dragonfly G-AEWZ is scratchbuilt and made from Plastikard,Jabrok,Jelutong and wire.
You will not see these models on display at any IPMS meetings,they are 'banned' from the tables because they do not fulfill the 'all plastic' criteria,I dont care because I build for my own enjoyment from whatever materials I can find,and to enhance my collection,anyway it gives me greater pleasure sharing them with you here.

The last in the series of De Havilland biplanes the DH.86 Express airliner is undergoing a repaint,so I will cover that some other time.

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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/

wonwinglo

Focke-Wulf FW.44 Steiglitz.

Second only to the Focke Wulf FW.190 as the most prolific Focke-Wulf design,the FW.44 Steiglitz ( means 'Goldfinch') trainer appeared in 1932,the prototype making its first flight in the late summer of that year in the hands of Gerd Achgelis.Powered by a 140 hp Siemens Sh.14a radial engine,the aircraft was a single bay biplane with a welded steel fabric covered fuselage,with wooden wings and fabric covering,in its original form the aircraft suffered some undesireable flight characteristics,but these were soon sorted out after an extensive flight test programme undertaken by Professor Kurt Tank who joined the company during 1931 from the BFW organisation,he headed the design and flight test departments of Focke-Wulf when Heinrich Focke became pre-occupied with his rotary wing activities.The Steiglitz became an outstanding aerobatic mount,particularly in the very hands of Achgelis,Emil Kropf and Ernest Udet,it won many export orders from Bolivia,Chile,China,Czechoslovakia,Finland,Romania ,Switzerland and Turkey,licence production was also undertaken in Argentina,Austria,Brazil,Bulgaria, and Sweden.Built in substantial numbers for the Luftwaffe,serving as a trainer until the end of World War 2.



The lovely Steiglitz climbs away from Baginton ready to give a superb aerobatic display at the 1954 Lockheed Aerobatic competition,the aircraft was crated in and assembled on site by Alvis Ltd.



Ready to go into a flick roll,the powerful ailerons on top and bottom wings.



And with a rock of the wings to inform he judges that the competition flight was complete,and into land.

The model was made from a stripped down Revell Boeing PT-17 Stearman kit,the wings needed to be swept back and a new aerofoil section filed in,the shape had to be altered dramatically,ailerons replaced,new undercarriage built up,the fuselage was cut just aft of the cockpit and a new front fuselage made from Jabrok grafted into place,the Siemens engine was scratch built from toothpicks bound with button thread,rocker covers made from a toothbrush handle,pushrod guides from pins.The tail is made from Miralyte 1=64th ply two laminations,struts made from Contrail/Sutcliffe streamlined section pinned to the board and glued together,the whole model was then primed with Holts white primer and sprayed with auto enamel Canary yellow,details hand painted.

No doubt there are now kits available for the FW.44,but this one was built a long while ago.

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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/

wonwinglo

Updated pictures of the Memorial Flight Avro Lancaster,and two Spitfires that visited Coventry for the Town and Country Festival flypast.
The Spitfires of the Memorial flight start up their Rolls Royce Griffon engines ready for the flypast over the Stoneleigh Showground,pictures courtesy of Dave Peace.



The Memorial Flight Avro Lancaster PA474 taxies in after its display over the Town and Country festival on 26-08-2006,the aircraft overnight stopped together with two Spitfires which were pushed into the Air AtlantiqueClassic Flight hangar.

Memorial Flight Spitfire IX PM631 (left) and Spitfire XIX MK356 at Coventry 27-08-2006 together with the Lancaster below,pictures courtesy of Dave Peace.

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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/

wonwinglo

The Miles Aerovan.

Miles was a prolific designer,and a mass of projects passed through the drawing office,though many of them came to nothing.One unusual looking design which did make the grade was the Miles M.57 Aerovan,a twin engined light freighter which first flew in 1945.In appearance the wings and tail unit were similar to the Messenger ,but somewhat larger,while the fuselage was of pod and boom layout.A number of UK and overseas orders were placed and the Aerovan entered production with a longer pod than the prototype,which was designated the Aerovan Mk.1,and the second prototype the Aerovan Mk.2.The first production Aerovan Mk.3 was similar to the Mk.2,and seven of these were built with 150 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major 3 engines,which was the standard Aerovan powerplant,the next version the Mk.IV differed in detail and 40 of these were built,the final version was the Aerovan Mk.VI which had 195 hp Lycoming 0-435-4A powerplants,this was later fitted with a Hurel-Dubois high aspect ratio wing in 1957 and became the HDM.105.The aircraft would carry a family car,one undesireable feature of the Blackburn Cirrus engine was to have the crankshaft break in flight,thus the propeller would rip through the sides of the fuselage directly in line with the pilot,something that happened more than once.







The model of the Aerovan was made from various materials,the fuselage was made up from a crutch form of thick card laid into a '+' shape,this was then treated with Johnsons clear to seal it, then Das Pronto was laid and built up between the 'L' shape of the form to get the complex shape necessary and smoothed down with a pallette knife,the tail unit was two laminnations of 1=64th Miralyte ply,the boom was made from an old toothbrush handle suitable filed to shape,the wheels were from a childrens bead pack and represent the low pressure tyres nicely,the wings were made from Bass and the props carved from Jelutong.

The aircraft represented is OO-ERY of the Belgium Royal Family,this came to England and was registered as G-AJOG to a company called Devonair Ltd who intended to operate her on an air service to the Lundy Isles,although she is known to have flown at least once to the Lundy Isles the service was operated instead on an Ad-Hoc basis with a Auster 5 aircraft G-AJXC.

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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/

Nigel.D

Barry!!!! You continue to amaze me ! Where on earth do you find the time to do sooooooo much ???? and with such great style and skill?