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cool

alough i dont know who they are still cool

1988 was the 50th anniversary of the record seaplane flight to South Africa by the top half of the Mayo composite pair. A small group of model enthusiasts gathered to consider making flying model models of Mercury and Maia. It was to be the magnum opus of modelling and would cost a small fortune. Plan was to fly from the original take-off point on the Tay Estuary at Dundee, the Mercury would then fly up river to Perth. Controlled from a power-boat, it would alight near a waitng Post Office van which would transfer specially franked letters carried in Mercury to be taken to the regular mail-plane to London. South African Airways would take these and another(or the same) Mercury to be given to South African modellers to alight on the Orange River where the original full-size finished it`s flight. Sponsorship was sought from the obvious sources ,British Airways (no , "Concorde and the future..."), Castrol, Champion Plugs, Virgin , BBC. ITV , all no interest except SAA and GPO. Dundee City Council spent £10,000 on a stone cairn with plaque instead. The pilot of Mercury was Air Vice Marshall Don Bennet ,later to become leader of the "Pathfinders" in WW11. He was interested in the project and came and had a look at various large model flying-boats of Jeremy Shaw`s stable. It all came to nought. Today , as far as I know, the record still stands. The mega model world has changed in years since that meeting. The LMA have changed modelling and large model exhibition flying is normal at shows. TV has dabbled a bit(Supermodels) but still havent got it right. How about trying again with surely an amazing piece of British aviation history? Geoff Reichlet has Short`s C-class mouldings that could be converted. Oh by the way, the group of modellers who thought about all it those years ago were Richard Crapp, Len and Richard Rawle, Jeremy Shaw,David Boddington, Neil Tidey(Laser Engines), Roy Tassel (founder BWA) and a wee Scotsman that got jostled by the anti-apartied protesters when he went into South Africa House to meet the Air Attache and Sports Minister....guess who !

Originally Posted by Bluewavestudios

3 very BIG names in Scale modelling have joined us recently...Geoff Reichelt, Richard Crapp and now Richard Rawle...All BIG names in Scale models in R/C..surely that says something for this site then...!!!

Given the press coverage in National mags, it's nice to see some of the well known names joining us....we can learn a lot from them.

But, let's not forget...this site covers all aspects of modelling and so lets get the other big names in, whatever they build...!!!!

John will be proud now and rightly so...!!!

Regards........Mark.

*** Spot on Mark,I knew it could be done and thanks to John and his foresight with scale models,delighted to have such prestigious modellers on board.

Originally Posted by duncan

1988 was the 50th anniversary of the record seaplane flight to South Africa by the top half of the Mayo composite pair. A small group of model enthusiasts gathered to consider making flying model models of Mercury and Maia. It was to be the magnum opus of modelling and would cost a small fortune. Plan was to fly from the original take-off point on the Tay Estuary at Dundee, the Mercury would then fly up river to Perth. Controlled from a power-boat, it would alight near a waitng Post Office van which would transfer specially franked letters carried in Mercury to be taken to the regular mail-plane to London. South African Airways would take these and another(or the same) Mercury to be given to South African modellers to alight on the Orange River where the original full-size finished it`s flight. Sponsorship was sought from the obvious sources ,British Airways (no , "Concorde and the future..."), Castrol, Champion Plugs, Virgin , BBC. ITV , all no interest except SAA and GPO. Dundee City Council spent £10,000 on a stone cairn with plaque instead. The pilot of Mercury was Air Vice Marshall Don Bennet ,later to become leader of the "Pathfinders" in WW11. He was interested in the project and came and had a look at various large model flying-boats of Jeremy Shaw`s stable. It all came to nought. Today , as far as I know, the record still stands. The mega model world has changed in years since that meeting. The LMA have changed modelling and large model exhibition flying is normal at shows. TV has dabbled a bit(Supermodels) but still havent got it right. How about trying again with surely an amazing piece of British aviation history? Geoff Reichlet has Short`s C-class mouldings that could be converted. Oh by the way, the group of modellers who thought about all it those years ago were Richard Crapp, Len and Richard Rawle, Jeremy Shaw,David Boddington, Neil Tidey(Laser Engines), Roy Tassel (founder BWA) and a wee Scotsman that got jostled by the anti-apartied protesters when he went into South Africa House to meet the Air Attache and Sports Minister....guess who !

*** What a great story Duncan ! I must admit that I was not aware of such a worthwhile project all of those years ago,thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Going back even further does anyone remember a stalwart called Fred 'Taxi' Borders ? Fred was working alongside the Electronics Development company ( ED engies and radio gear ) to fly a model across the English channel,he built a Douglas Dakota with asymetric engine control to attempt to steer the model across the channel,Fred carried the model atop his FX4 taxi and was a well known sight around the London area,nothing became of the project but by chance a friend acquired that very Dakota many years later,I wanted him to rebuild her to flying condition but alsa the inferior balsa cement cused in its construction deemed the model had to be scrapped,we dont realise how lucky we are today with these modern adhesives ?
Anyway just another snippet of our modelling past to savour.
PS-Fred was a mathamatician and once appeared on the TV programme 'Opportunity Knocks' hosted by Hughie Green,how amazing that such a talented person should be diving a taxi around London ? but that is life some people prefer mundane tasks in their everyday life,the tragedy of his untimely death was a terrible shock to everyone who knew him.

Hughie Green was an aviation person if I remember right, ATA perhaps? E.D. did cross the English Channel both by model plane(Radio Queen ?) and model boat but I cant remember the details. One more recent jaunt of similar nature was the chap who flew an r/c `plane round the coast of the Isle of Wight. Good effort, was written-up in the mags a couple of years ago. Our club organised a flight the length of Loch Ness (22 miles) a couple of re-fuelling stops on the way though. We also had a beginner`s model land near the summit of Cairngorm after a fly-away from our flying field, 12 miles and 4000ft up. Mountain Rescue Team found it days later while on a training excercise, un-damaged ! Anybody going to post a picture of the Mercury/Maia composite for me ?

Originally Posted by duncan

Hughie Green was an aviation person if I remember right, ATA perhaps? E.D. did cross the English Channel both by model plane(Radio Queen ?) and model boat but I cant remember the details. One more recent jaunt of similar nature was the chap who flew an r/c `plane round the coast of the Isle of Wight. Good effort, was written-up in the mags a couple of years ago. Our club organised a flight the length of Loch Ness (22 miles) a couple of re-fuelling stops on the way though. We also had a beginner`s model land near the summit of Cairngorm after a fly-away from our flying field, 12 miles and 4000ft up. Mountain Rescue Team found it days later while on a training excercise, un-damaged ! Anybody going to post a picture of the Mercury/Maia composite for me ?

Here are the details,picture on its way-
The Short-Mayo Composite was the brain child of Major Mayo of Imperial Airways. The thinking was that an aircraft was limited by the payload when it took off, therefore if the upper component was 'overloaded' on take-off, and it took off on the back of a mother or carrier aircraft the payload and/or range would be increased. The concept was tested by modifying the design of an Empire class flying boat (Maia, which had an increased beam, thus increasing the planing surfaces, and increased span centre section, so that the propellers of Maia cleared the floats of Mercury), to lift a specially designed float plane (Mercury).

In operations the concept was flown by Captain Don Bennett, who was later to achieve further fame with the RAF Pathfinders. The long range concept was proven with non-stop flights from Britain to Canada, and to South Africa. Mercury still holds the world distance record for floatplanes. Sadly the aircraft were lost during World War II.

Short Brothers (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd

First Flight:
27 July 1937

Lower component (Maia):
1 - Shorts, Rochester

Upper component (Mercury):
1 - Shorts, Rochester

Type Specification

Applies to:
Shorts Mayo Composite

Type:
Composite aircraft to design of Major Mayo, comprising lightly loaded launch aircraft and highly loaded mailplane which was released at cruising height

Wing:
Both components - High wing cantilever monoplane of all metal construction

Hull:
Lower component - All metal hull with two step planing bottom
Upper component - All metal fuselage

Tail Unit:
Both - Cantilever type tailplane with single fin and rudder

Landing Gear:
Lower - None
Upper - Twin floats under inboard engines

Power Plant:
Lower - Four 900 hp Bristol Pegasus XC 9 cylinder radial air cooled engines on wing leading edge
Upper - Four 365 hp Napier-Halford Rapier VI 16 cylinder air cooled engines on wing leading edge

Accommodation:
Lower - Flight crew of three. Cabin for up to 18 passengers
Upper - Crew of two

Dimensions

Span:
Lower - 114 ft
Upper - 73 ft

Length:
Lower - 84 ft 11 in
Upper - 51 ft

Height:
Unknown

Wing Area:
Lower - 1,750 sq ft
Upper - 611 sq ft

Weights

Empty:
Lower - 24,745 lb
Upper - 10,163 lb

All-up:
Lower - 38,000 lb
Upper - 26,800 lb

Performance

Max Speed:
Lower - 200 mph
Upper - 212 mph

Ceiling:
Lower - 20,000 ft

Range:
Lower - 850 miles
Upper - 6,100 miles (after composite launch)

Here she is,Mercury attached to the Mayo lower half.