Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[Guest]

Barry,

Whilst I completely agree with your sentiments I think the reality is a bit less than clearly defined. I have always been a great believer in making your point by either voting or deciding where to spend your money but people seem to think there is no point. Everyone complains about the power of the big supermarkets and the death of the corner shop but then everyone buys thier groceries at the big supermarkets because they are cheaper. You get what you deserve.

Politics is similar but the trouble there is that nowadays you don't have a great deal of choice. For a start the three main UK parties will all have candidates who will only be offerring portfolio's that you will agree with a percentage of so you have to decide which is the best for you. You will always be voting for something that you don't agree with. These portfolio's are always put together to attract votes and are written with a degree of flexibility that allows a justifiable cause for the expectations not being met a couple of years down the line.

Then I firmly believe nowadays that the majority of local and national politicians are working for themselves and not the greater good. You only have to watch the childish bickering that goes on in the Houses of Parliament to see that there is very little genuine concern for the good of the country.

I usually find there is not a great deal to choose between the three main candidates and when you look further than that you are into the realms of candidates who are so preoccupied with single issues that they could not possible have anything to offer the greater good of the community or the country.

I think taxation is a classic area to see these things at work. No party wants to be seen to raise taxes as they would loose votes. They all want to be seen to put more money in our pockets so we can all go out and spend it on the holidays, houses and SUV's that we are all so desperate to have. Yet we have the worst health service, police force, local ameneties, schools and highest council taxes for years.

Taxes need to be higher to pay for these things but our selfish greedy society wants the money in thier own pockets and politicians are more than willing to pander to that need.

So whilst I agree with your sentiments I have yet to come across a candidate in any party that I could vote for and genuinely think they will do thier best to improve things and put a stop to what I see as a slow decaying of our society.

I actually had an interesting conversation with a colleague of mine here on the ship about this very subject. He is not in favour of increasing taxes to support things such as schools because he doesn't have any kids. Neither have I but we all should want to produce the best educated next generation because they are going to be making the decisions about our society when we reach retirement. If we don't educate the kids in schools nowadays what are thier views on education going to be in 20 years time?

[wonwinglo]

Richard,I am sure that you are right because someone once told me that when you see these MP's battling it out in parliament it gives the impression they would not even speak to each other outside,this is far from the truth as they prop up the bar chatting like old buddies regardless of their political beliefs,lets face it,it is just another job to them,well paid with lots of perks,how many really have their heart in it ? like yourself I am dis-illusioned by what they say that they do for our well being,I am not impressed one little bit with their conduct in general.

[Guest]

Careful now Barry, the Mekon might get you

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-A Look at the work of technical artist L.Ashwell Wood

The work of pioneer artist L.Ashwell.Wood is well known,the detail and finesse of this technical illustrators work has become legend,he started working for the War office doing drawings of aircraft,ships,tanks many of which were used in period publications and later boys comics,he became best known for his superb centre spreads in the 'Eagle' a boys comic introduced by the Hulton Press at the request of a reverand who hated the horror comics coming into the UK from America at that time,the success of the 'Eagle' can be judged by the quality of illustration and the stories within,but the cover always featured 'Dan Dare' pilot of the future,whilst PC 49,Riders of the Range had their own sections inside,many journalists cut their teeth with the 'Eagle' such as Mac Donald Hastings who went onto greater things.Eagerly awaited every week were the centre spread illustrations,the originals done in poster paint on smooth board realise hundreds of pounds,but thankfully we can still enjoy the old centre spreads that exist today,here are a few from my own collection for you to enjoy.

[Guest]

Ohhhhh Politics!!! Whilst i agree with you Richard on some points ! You like me probably pay 40% tax and our council tax is £1400 per year this all for a really crappy refuse collection where if the bags are not at right angles fail to get collected also wo betide anyone who puts something out not in a bag! with regard to politicians correct me if im wrong but my mp is supposed to represent me not his political party because all i get is labour ideaology and am told how great the health service is (not) how wonderful europe is(most definately not no way never) and this is the best one " how labour have strived and succeded in producing a fully integrated society!!! that one had me laughing more than the "life of Brian"!!! I just want a good education system for my kids and being not afraid to let them out to play! i wonder how i can get a speeding ticket in 24 hrs yet cant get a copper to investigate our car breakin since 4 weeks ago (pressures of work im told yeah !!!! doing what ) i am getting to the point of despair i see people (immigrants) being given council houses and benefits at the drop of a hat. yet a young couple who work for me with a baby have been on the council waiting list for 4 years (their crime !! that they work and have contributed taxes nat insurance and council tax!! they live with his mom) I am getting to believe that we are classed as some kind of milch cow that this government can view with a parasitical avarice!

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Spring has Sprung.

Well I hope that like myself everyone has been enjoying the beautiful two days we have just had ? today I decided to open up the summer workshop and get it ready for the seasons outdoor modelling,I say outdoor because I only have a tiny shed and when I am working the things such as bandsaw,sander,Dremel motoshop,home made wood lathe etc go outside to make room,all wood parts are cut outside also which solves the problem od dust getting everywhere,this is also why my larger models are built during the summer months,these days I seem to do more actual building than flying due to the lack of places to fly,my small electric designs satisfy the need to get airborne in the local park where there are no problems due to noise etc.

Anyway the first major job was to place a piece of roofing felt between my workshop shed and an adjoining one which is used as my hangar,the workshop is flat sloping roof and the storage one apex,so you can see it needed some careful folding and joins to get everything to work,all that is now needded is some liquid roof sealer to seal the joins and all should be well,it is amazing how dusty everything gets during the winter months,there is a greenhouse heater in place to keep the condensation down and stop my tools going rusty,it is a bit like opening up the Mary Celeste as everything is virtually left as I finished my summer season around October,even wood blanks that will need finishing off and templates laid out alongside,but the biggest job this year is to overhaul and check over my squadron of flying scale models,no doubt batteries will need replacing and engines turned over,last year virtually nothing got done in that respect done due to a bout of illness rearing its ugly head,also my big Lancaster project still needs finishing,it has only been on the go now for close on six years,everything is built it just needs assembling,I now have a cockpit canopy to place over the framework on the fuselage,once again it is a fine day job as with eleven foot wingspan it takes up a lot of room as can be imagined.

The last job of the day was to move some boxes of bits from my full sized helicopter cockpit storage to between the two sheds in a sort of lean too arrangement,these boxes contained spares for my engines,helicopter models etc they will need sorting out,another task to do soon,so I am feeling quite shattered after that little lot as it expended a lot of energy,have you noticed it is not the actual building that takes the time but getting everything ready that eats up the hours ?

Everyone has their individual way of doing things,mine may seem a bit unorthodox but they fit in with my busy lifestyle,I would not want it any other way.

Everyone enjoy their weekend whatever you are doing.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The Trans European Aviation story.

Faded aviation endeavours-THE TRANS EUROPEAN AVIATION story.



G-ALBA Rapide after being withdrawn from service with Trans European Aviation.



The prototype Bristol Freighter G-AGPV used on ad-hoc charters with Trans European,notice the company now has the status of 'Airways'

During the mid 1950's when legislation regarding privately owned airlines was not so strict in the UK,there appeared a variety of self motivated airlines and operators,These were known as Independents and names such as Eros,Pegasus,Hunting Clan,Orion and the infamous Captain Kazubski who started Falcon Airways started operations from various South Coast airfields,some in fact it is true to say failed fairly early in their operations not realising the true costs and pitfalls of operating elderly piston engined airliners such as the Vickers Viking, on what were really even in those days over saturated routes,take a look in the back pages of any old copy of 'FLIGHT' magazine and look at the numerous air transport applications then published for all to see,so the companies resorted to various ad-hoc charter operations ferrying anything from school parties to France or horse charters to Ireland ! Many of the bigger companies such as BKS became household names in air travel and the names of their founders were also to become well known for better and bigger things,take for example Jim Crampton who started operations flying a Auster from the beech at Cleethorpes pleasure flying,he later became chairman of Air Anglia and we all know about Mr Laker !

However for the majority they were to vanish forever into oblivion never to be heard of again,all this is leading up to a small operation known as Trans European Aviation Ltd,and no this is not the one that operated Boeing 737 aircraft,this one founded by Captains Stauber & Ross started operations at Swansea (Fairwood Common) airfield way back in 1958 with two lovely old De Havilland Rapide aircraft registered G-AFFB & G-ALBA,after a very short period they moved to Baginton airport near Coventry and earned their living initially by plying their trade as a joy riding operation flying the aircraft over to Elmdon every Sunday morning,parking it up by the old café and giving flights around the city of Birmingham,this they would do all day long and then fly the aircraft back in formation to Baginton until the next weekend,despite moving into a small office in what is now the executive/customs terminal not much if any trade was done during the week,however despite this rumours of bigger plans to buy and operate a much larger aircraft came to fruition shortly afterwards with the acquisition of the prototype Bristol type 170 Wayfarer G-AGPV as we all know the Bristol Freighter has front loading doors,not this one which had fixed doors ! hence all freight had to be loaded through the rear door a big pitfall on a potentionally useful aircraft,I saw this aircraft many times on the ground but only a few in the air when it made the occasional trip to Elmdon and back,it usually flew very low over our house in Coventry and even in those days looked very impressive,however this was not the end of the Trans European saga which despite poor trade was thinking of even bigger aircraft,this time two Lockheed 049 Constellations G-ARVP included (ex 4X-AKB) were earmarked for delivery to Baginton about 1962,they were sadly never delivered and scrapped in May 1965 as the airline went into liquidation,I would have loved to have seen one of those aircraft in Trans European colours but it was not to be.

The last I heard of Captain Stauber was that he had been killed whilst flying a DC-4 in South Africa,I overheard him once put out a request for the controller to ring his wife as he flew in a DC-6 over the Midlands,I spoke to him on many occasions and he told me that he had accumalated thousands of flying hours,Ross vanished and I never saw him again.

The two Rapides lingered on at Baginton almost like ghosts clinging onto Baginton regretting the demise of Trans European,both were kept with Ray Turner and bequethed in lieu of hangarage fees at Light Aircraft servicing,G-ALBA was scrapped off behind Executive Air Engineerings hangar a sad sight for such a lovely aircraft and G-AFFB was broken up for spares with Light Aircraft Serving after making at least one flight the deatails of which we will not go into here !

As young lads we scrounged flights from Baginton to Elmdon and stepped out like Kings from G-AFFB after taxying up to that old café,the name of that company and the dear old Rapide certainly conjures up many very happy memories for many,long may they keep flying.

Evert time I see the Air Atlantique historic flight Rapides pleasure flying its just like turning the clock back some 40 odd years.

(First written for the Tamworth aviation group magazine by Wonwing )

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Building a Chrislea Super Ace miniatutre radio model.

Chrislea Ace





The Chrislea Ace light airplane was designed just after World War 2 to help fulfill a new demand for private flying and air touring,the machine was interesting in that it had very unconventional controls with no rudder pedals,however following a sales tour of the UK where it was flown by instructors who did not favour the simplified system further examples reverted to normal rudder pedals,the Super Ace had a tri-cycle undercarriage which was still quite novel for the period,the company also built the Skyjeep series 4 which had normal tail dragger undercarriage,several of these went to Australia,it also had a more roomy cabin and a hinged rear decking to accomodate a stretcher and freight.

Accomodating four people the airplane was fitted with the popular and reliable 145 hp Gipsy Major 10 which gave it a max speed of 126 mph,and a range of 400 miles flying at 112 mph.

Loaded weight was 2,350 lbs with a wingspan of 36 feet.

In January 2004 I decided to build a small flying scale model of the Chrislea Ace to add to my fleet,from the outset it was planned to fit sub miniature radio as a module that can be moved from one model to another as required,this fits from underneath and only requires four small screws to release the module,and then to dis-connect the two linkages to the controls.

The motor selected came from a flying weary GWS Pico-Stick,a really reliable geared unit which operates from the BEC circuitry of the receiver,this fits snugly into the nose supported onto balsa blocks and then held in place with the humble elastic band,simple but effective and also allowing easy thrustline adjustments to be undertaken.

The twin fin and rudders presented a few design decisions due to the difficulty of linking such a system,and despite different ideas tried I resorted to a simple direct linkage to drive one rudder and slaving the other one in turn,I just think of the wire as a control cable running from the fuselage side.

Wings and struts are fitted via tiny powerful magnets,a new system to myself,despite being strong the extra security of a couple of bands is considered prudent !

You just have to try these weight saving ideas and see how they work in practise,all in all a delightful little scale model which brings the full sized airplane to life.

The lightweight but strong structure maintained the centre of gravity to within acceptable limits,at the moment I have resisted the temptation to add extra weight with paint and content with a little artists colour in certain areas and coloured Jap tissue shrunk up with thinned PVA adhesive which gives a very pleasant sheen.Overall I am pleased with the model and now just waiting to get in more flying with her and an upgrade to Lithium batteries for even better performance.



The pleasing lines of the Super Ace are shown here to advantage,built entirely of one sixteenth and one thirty second balsa with a sheet tail,the advantges of the small electric motor hidden in the Gipsy cowling are evident.



Shown under construction here with the brass soldered sprung nose gear leg in place,the two side panels allow easy access to the control rods, and the wooden wheels came from a 1950's Skyleader Hawker Tempest kit,the first flying model that I built from a kit.



The small powerful magnets holding down the wings are more locators than anything else are shown here,the security of bands to do the real work.



Four tiny screws release the radio module shown here.



Just visible here are the mini servos,monster by todays standards are micro servo's are now available as well,the speed controller and receiver sit onto a balsa platform all ready to use in another model if required.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Piston engined aircraft from yesteryear.

The fast dwindling Avgas guzzling piston fleets of the world will always be remembered,here are a few of these great aircraft described in historical detail for you to enjoy,relive that dripping oil from a Connies engine bay,those enormous paddle props and the evocative smell of dope and aviation spirit,the jet engine has taken over but the memories of these past airliners linger on.



Saber Airlines DC-3 Dakota N79017 looks very much like a strengthened floor version with a more pointed nose.

By kind permission of Robert Belcher comes this rare photograph of the one and only Hawker High Speed Hurricane,known as the thin wing Hurricane it was made by Sir W.G.Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft company at Baginton,I feel very proud to have the opportunity to show them here -





Note the very unusual positioning of the standard R.A.F cockades (roundals) very inboard of the wing,it is quite possible that this was to help the aerodynamic properties of the critical wing.

Photograph was taken at Farnborough on 24-09-47 by Mike Buck.

We cover interesting facts about aircraft that have appeared over the years and combined with the present day material will serve as a unique record of historical information that has not been published anywhere before,much of this material was gathered first hand.



Two Lockheed L.749 Constellations flying over Miami Beach,can you hear the roar of those engines.



Lockheed Constellation over the Pyramids at Giza,Egypt.



WF320 Blackburn Universal Freighter (later renamed the Beverly) loads a period coach at Brough.



Junkers 52 3/m over Lions Head,Capetown looks terribly close to those mountains.

[Guest]

Barry,

That Hurricane is a superb shot for modellers who want to add a bit of exhaust weathering to thier models and clearly shows the path of the fumes along the sides of the aircraft. Not the straight line you might expect of course.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Focus on type-The Avro 19 (Anson)

FOCUS ON TYPE-THE AVRO 19

Sometimes referred to as the ANSON but not strictly true as the true Ansons were early Mk 1 aircraft with wooden wings,the series 19 and 21 types were a new aircraft designed to meet the needs of the post war RAF,the series 1 of the Avro 19had parallel chord wooden wings and the series 2 had new increased span tapered chord wings,this is the basic identification feature.The Australian civil aviation authorities would not issue any more certificates of airworthiness to Anson 1 aircraft from 1952 and the British authorities followed suit in 1962 due to some accidents attributed to glue failure on the wooden aircraft in Australia,the glue scares spread to many aircraft including Miles Magisters,Percival Q6 and Proctor,Miles Messenger and other types,the problems lay with a beetle type of adhesive used for wartime production of aircraft which was said to deteriorate especially in damp humid conditions,despite the use of resorcinal resin adhesives a lot of valuable aircraft were scrapped off which on reflection was totally uncalled for as the full potential problems of the adhesive failures were unfounded.



G-AHIB Avro 19/1

This aircraft was photographed at Wymeswold 12.3.62 by Dave Peace,with c/n 1317 it was built in 1946 and last registered to Pomeroy Developments Ltd,Guernsey although it is shown here in the colours of Olivetree Estates Ltd and doped green and white,the final demise of this aircraft was probably due to the aircraft having wooden wings as shown here in its final resting place and the date ties in with the British authorities concern over early versions of Anson aircraft and their beetle glue construction.



G-AHKX Avro 19/2 constructors number 1333,ex Smiths Aircraft Instruments aircraft hack was built in 1946 and shown here in Treffield Aviation colours (Treffield was the amalgamation of the names Lord Trefgarne and Charles Masefield) colours were a pale blue/green almost a duck egg shade.The aircraft survived and is now at Woodford on restoration.

Gemini Aerofotos picture.



G-AGWF Avro 19/1 c/n 1287 was built in 1946 and operated by Fairways (Jersey) Ltd.

Gemini Aerofotos photograph.



VM318 Avro 19 at St Mawgen in 1960 when it was part of the station flight at the airfield,note the tail of a Canadair CL-44 in the background probably visiting for one of the stations at home displays.

Photograph by Barry Cole.



G-AGPG Avro 19/2 c/n 1212 was built in 1945 and used by Ekco for research and as an hack aircraft ,photographed at Baginton circa 1963-64 note the bulbous nose modification for the experimental radar,this was actually the second Avro 19 used by the company they having used G-AHKX also for some years although not with this type of nose.The aircraft went onto the Historic Aircraft Museum at Southend and is now in store with the Manchester Aviation Museum.

Gemini Aerofotos picture.



TX237/FKNL Avro 19 Taken on a foggy day at Finningley probably in the mid fifties,this is a 1948 built aircraft,we make no excuses for the picture quality of this historic photograph note the tone of the roundals due to the use of ortho film used at that time and a confusing thing for people unaware of this process in identifying aircraft colours.FKN was the code for Flying Training Command Communications Flight (credit:Squadron codes1937-56)

picture credit-E.G Hall,Leamington Spa.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Focus on type-The Avro 19 (Anson) Part 2

The Anson soldiered on in R.A.F service until eventually withdrawn from use in the sixties,most of the aircraft were scrapped off at Shawbury,but a few aircraft were purchased privately with a view to keeping them flying,only a few of these in fact made it due to the high costs of preserving them in flying condition.



The very same aircraft at Enstone airfield,Oxfordshire on 6.2.93 prior to its sale shortly afterwards to Air Atlantique when it was registered as G-BFIR and flying in its RAF colourscheme as WD413,it was ex maintenance serial 7881M,eventually she was re-registered as G-VROE in honour of the great man himself,A.V.Roe the founder of the Avro company.



VH-ASM anson 1 This is a true Anson Mk 1 used by Marshalls Airways at Tamworth NSW,Australia ,this aircraft has been shipped to the UK and after a spell at Duxford is now on display in the RAF Museum painted as an RAF example with serial W2068 which is its former RAAF serial.Via N.M Parnall phptograph.



G-AMDA shown here when in service with Derby Aviation,the device underneath is a magnetometer that is trailed underneath the aircraft.





G-AMDA Avro Anson 1 picture shows David Ogilvy putting G-AMDA/N4877 coded FV-X through its paces at a Skyfame Staverton airshow in the seventies,the aircraft was built in 1938 with two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah 9 engines and became part of the Derby Aviation magnetometer fleet which together with civilian Mosquitoes performed extensive research work for minerals in Canada.

On the demise of the wonderful Skyfame museum which was way ahead of its time and started by Peter Thomas and his wife the aircraft were transferred to Duxford where they carried on the work of aircraft restoration with the Imperial War Museum collection.

The latest on this aircraft is that it is undergoing restoration by a team at Duxford.



N4877 shown at Duxford on an unknown date picture by Dave Peace.



A recent photograph of G-AMDA being restored at Duxford to non flying condition,a turret will be added during the work on this aircraft.

Pictureave Peace.



This lovely early shot of G-AIPA has recently come to light,it clearly shows the underslung magnetometer equipment in the form of an ECM Bird which was trailed behind the aircraft,note also the legend 'Canadian Aero Services' on the nose.

Gemini Aerofotos files picture.

[Guest]

Peter Thomas retired to somewhere in the NW of Scotland, maybe Ullapool. He even managed to get the Red Arrows to perform there one year. Skyfame was a gem. I was lucky enough to have a couple of flights in an Anson as an ATC cadet, out of Prestwick.

[wonwinglo]

***That is correct Duncan,he set up a guest house called 'A.V of Roe' his brother was killed in a flying accident during WW.2 that was the reason that he set up the Skyfame museum at Staverton,one of the first major air museums in the UK in fact,he was a real pioneer of the aircraft preservation movement and a very nice chap,I had the great pleasure of meeting him on more than one occasion,sadly he passed on about a year ago.

You lucky fella flying in an Avro Anson all those years ago,always wanted to build a model of one some day.

Peter Thomas retired to somewhere in the NW of Scotland' date=' maybe Ullapool. He even managed to get the Red Arrows to perform there one year. Skyfame was a gem. I was lucky enough to have a couple of flights in an Anson as an ATC cadet, out of Prestwick.[/quote']

[Guest]

Thats interesting Barry my Brother in law seves at Shawbury??? and i know they have a horsa and dak there