No pics here either just Tripod logo.
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Very odd,everything showing this end,are you receiving the ones in the post prior to this ? done with the same software,let me know,meanwhile I will investigate.Comment
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All pictures from post 825 onward are invisible!Comment
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Right it must be that Tripod is not compatible,Tripod became Cute which is a software that I use for all of my updates,so it looks as if anything prior does not work,leave it with me deep into setting up my new wireless connection at the moment,I will revamp the photographs and upload them again in due course.Comment
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All sorted I have redone all of the pictures,my apologies over that little glitch.Comment
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Wonwings diary-How to identify a Globemaster C-17
Look a Globemaster C-17
Well outside it is damp and windy so time to look back on the summer months down on the beach,if you are lucky a Globemaster will appear on the horizon and as you grab your throw away camera ( never ever take your best digital anywhere near sand and salt air ) you see the chance for a really great shot like this,sand,sea,aeroplanes and a touch of glamour,what more could you want ?Comment
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Personally I fancy the one on the left...she looks like a lonely rich widow woman. Oh ....just noticed there is an aeroplane in the picture too, nice.Comment
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What aeroplane?Comment
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Wonwings diary-The return of the small air force-Panavia Tornado.
The Small Air Force
THE PANAVIA TORNADO.
The Tornado IDS is the baseline model that resulted from a 1968 feasibility study undertaken by the Belgian, British, Canadian, Dutch, Italian and West German governments for an advanced warplane to be designed, developed and built as collaborative venture with the object of providing the air forces of the partner nations with a STOL warplane able to undertake the close air support, battlefield interdiction, long-range interdiction, counter-air attack, air-superiority, interception and air defence, reconnaissance and naval strike roles.
Belgium and Canada withdrew at an early date, being followed by the Netherlands at a later date, and this left Italy, the UK and West Germany to persevere with project definition from May 1969 and development from July 1970. The resulting MRCA- 75 (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft for 1975) was designed as a high-performance type with a fly-by-wire control system and advanced avionics for extremely accurate navigation and safe flight at supersonic speeds and very low levels in all weathers, this being deemed the only way to ensure pinpoint day/night first-pass attacks with a heavy (and highly diverse) warload against a variety of well defended targets. Design and development of the MRCA-75 was entrusted to Panavia, which was created in 1969 as a joint venture by Aeritalia (now Alenia), BAC (now BAe) and MBB (now DASA), while the parallel engine consortium was created as Turbo-Union by Fiat, MTU and Rolls-Royce. The two main subcontractors were IWKA-Mauser for the cannon and Elliott for the electronics, and government control was provided by the NAMMA organization established in 1970 to supervise each country's contribution, which was fixed at 42.5% each by the UK and West Germany, and 15% by Italy.
With the new warplane's roles finalized, the task of the design team was to create an airframe/powerplant/electronic combination able to fulfill the resulting requirement. This demanded five core capabilities: the ability to take-off and land in very short distances for continued operational capability even if the main runways were damaged, the ability to fly at high speed at very low level over long ranges without significant degradation of crew performance, the ability to undertake low-level penetrations of hostile air space by day and/or night under all weather conditions, the ability to hit any target with complete accuracy in a first-pass attack, and the ability to attain high supersonic speed at all altitudes. The aerodynamic core of the airframe demanded by these capabilities was a variable-geometry wing: in its minimum-sweep configuration of 25 degrees this would generate high lift at takeoff and landing (thereby reducing lift-off and touch-down speeds and consequently reducing runway requirements), and in its maximum-sweep configuration of 68 degrees it would produce low wave drag for high supersonic speed as well as low gust response for a smooth low-level ride. The wing was also planned with extensive high-lift devices for further enhancement of its take-off and landing performance: these devices included double-slotted flaperons across virtually the full span of the variable-sweep trailing edges, automatically controlled slats across virtually the full span of the variable-sweep leading edges, and Krueger flaps under the leading edges of the fixed inboard wing sections. The primary flight-control surfaces were all powered, and the primary surfaces were the rudder and all-flying tailerons. The latter operated collectively for longitudinal control and differentially for lateral control, being augmented in the latter task by spoilers on the wing upper surfaces: these were designed to become operational only at sweep angles of 45 degrees and less, and to operate collectively as lift dumpers after touch-down.
Flight control was exercised via a fly-by-wire system operating in conjunction with a command stability augmentation system. The airframe was, of course, schemed in association with the powerplant and electronics. The powerplant was to comprise a pair of reheated turbofans of very low specific fuel consumption for long range and high afterburning thrust for maximum acceleration at take-off, and fitted with thrust-reversers for maximum reduction of the landing run. The avionics were based on an extremely advanced nav/attack system with fully automatic terrain-following capability to ensure all-weather penetration capability. Structural design was completed in August 1972, and the first of nine prototypes flew in April 1974, the type being named Tornado later in the same year. The Tornado IDS baseline warplane was ordered into production during July 1976, the first pre-production Tornado IDS flew in February 1977 and the type entered service in July 1980.
ZA325 Tornado GR.3 served with QinetQ in 2003 finished in the well known and highly visible 'Raspberry Ripple' scheme,she was eventually retired at R.A.F St Athan,the aircraft was built in 1980.
Wings extended and low on approach to Warton ZA325 GR.3.
A service GR.3 gets airborne from Coningsby with wings about to swing.
Models in these re-enactment shots are from the old original Airfix kit.
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Wonwings diary-The C-130 Hercules gets renewed life.
Workers in the U.S.Air Force have began a three-phase project in November to ensure the viability of the C-130 Hercules fleet through the year 2030 and beyond.
Center wing boxes on C-130s have been showing cracks earlier than expected.
As a result, members of the 402nd Aircraft Maintenance Group have removed the center wing box from aircraft 83-1212 and will replace it with a new center wing box as part of the first step in addressing the problem. The center wing box sits atop the fuselage and forms the attachment point for both wings and all four engines.
During phase two, maintenance crews will replace the center wing boxes on an additional 12 C-130s. Projected completion is by 2009.
The third phase is scheduled to begin in January 2007. By 2020, 155 C-130s will have new center wing boxes.
The replacement program encompasses all C-130 models except the C-130J. The J model is the latest addition to the C-130 fleet and entered the inventory in February 1999.
The new center wing boxes are the same ones being manufactured for the C-130J, so they are brand new.
Center wing boxes are built by Lockheed Martin of Marietta, Ga. Once removed, old center wing boxes will be destroyed.
Accordingly there are 47 aircraft with flying restrictions, plus another 30 completely grounded because of the cracks.
The replacement program is important because of the impact the loss of those aircraft could have to the warfighter, he said, adding that the replacement program will get ahead of the "grounding-restriction curve by 2012.
By that time we will have center wing boxes installed in aircraft before they would be restricted or grounded.
Aircraft 83-1212 already was going through programmed depot maintenance, but this may not be the case for future aircraft.
During the peak production phase, when we ramp up to about 18 aircraft per year, aircraft will be brought in just for center wing box replacement.
The cost of center wing box replacement will be $6.5 million to $7 million per aircraft, depending on the model.
That's a lot of money, but a new aircraft would cost 10 times as much.
The C-130 is the workhorse of the fleet, he continued. It's the primary intra-theater airlifter in the war zone, and a major component of special operations missions. Without this effort, availability of the aircraft would be significantly lower.Comment
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Wonwings diary-The Piper Tri-Pacer
The Small Air Force
PIPER TRI-PACER.
Empty weight 1070 lbs. Gross weight 1950 lbs. Useful load 880 lbs. Seats 4 Maximum speed 132 MPH Max Cruise speed 126 MPH Stall, flaps up 52 MPH Stall, flaps extended 48 MPH Green arc 52 - 126 MPH Yellow arc 126 - 158 MPH White arc 48 - 80 MPH Vne speed 158 MPH Maneuvering 106 MPH Load Factor 3.8 G's Fuel capacity 36 gallons Fuel consumption 8 gallons per hour Engine Lycoming O-290D2, 135 HP Fun factor High
Monogram model of the Piper Tri-Pacer.
This model is now some 48 years old and has been repaired a few times,as you can see the noseleg has been replaced from an item in the spares box,only the red is paint the cream colour is the original plastic,thats the way we used to do it back then because paint was not as reliable as it is today,I had thought about a total strip down and refurbish but on reflection will keep her in the original state that it was made all of those years ago,that way it will remind me of the early days of modelling.Comment
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Barry, I think this model has a character that would be lost if you were to completely refurbish it. It sort of looks like a real one would look with the same number of years wear and tear and so somehow appropriate.
It looks very good for it's age.Comment
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Wonwings diary-The Vultee Vengeance dive bomber.
The Small Air Force
VULTEE VENGEANCE.
Developed primarily in response to British interest, Vultee developed a two-seat dive bomber in 1940 which was to become known as the Vengeance. The British Purchasing Commission placed an initial order for 200 aircraft from Vultee along with a further 200 aircraft to be built under license by Northrop. Additional orders then followed. Few of these aircraft actually reached Britain however with almost the entire order being diverted to the Far East for use by RAF, RAAFor Indian Air Force squadrons. A number of aircraft were also retained by the USAAF. In RAF service, Vengeance were operationally employed to good effect in the Burma theatre. As the war progressed, the RAF transferred some Vengeance aircraft to the Fleet Air Arm for use as target tugs. Additionally, some aircraft were used by the RAF in smoke-laying operations.
The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was a dive bomber built originally in the late 1930's as the Vultee Model 72 (V-72) by the Vultee Corporation. Additional aircraft were built by the Northrop Corporation. The V-72 was built with private money and was intended for sale to foreign markets. The V-72 was a low-wing, single engine powered, monoplane with a closed cockpit and a crew of two. An air-cooled radial Wright Double Row Cyclone GR-2600-A5B-5 engine rated at 1,700 hp powered the V-72. It was armed with both fixed forward firing 30 caliber machine guns and flexible mounted 30 caliber machine guns in the rear cockpit. The aircraft also carried up to 1,500 lb of bombs in an interior bomb bay and on external wing racks.
Production
France originally ordered the V-72, but with the fall of France in 1940, the order was taken over by Great Britain, which ordered additional aircraft. Under lendf lease, the US Army Air Corps ordered addition aircraft for Great Britain under the designation A-31. Additional V-72 aircraft were sold to Brazil, China, Turkey, and the USSR during the late 1930s.
When the Army Air Corps became interested in dive bombing, a number of V-72 and A-31 aircraft were either ordered or re-possessed for their own use. An improved version of the Vengeance, designated the A-35, was ordered which was equipped with a Wright Cyclone R-2600-19 engine.
When production of the Vengeance was completed in 1944, a total of 1,528 aircraft had been produced.
Operational service
British and Indian service
The Vengeance was used both by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The Vengeance was used by the RAF mostly in Burma. Additionally, two Indian Air Force Squadrons were also equipped with this type and operated on the Burma Front. The Vengeance was found to be very vulnerable to enemy fighters in front line use and was soon withdrawn for use in secondary roles such as training of attack squadron pilots and towing targets for gunnery training. In these roles all armament was removed from the aircraft. The FAA received their aircraft near the end of the war, in late 1944 and 1945, and did not see front line action before the war ended.
Australian service
Australian placed an order for 400 Vengeances as an emergency measure following the outbreak of war in the Pacific. While the first Vengeance was delivered to the Royal Air Force in May 1942, the aircraft did not arrive in substantial numbers until April 1943. By this time the crisis for which the aircraft had been ordered to meet had passed and the Australian Vengeances saw little combat.
Following a short front-line career the RAAF's Vengeances were withdrawn from service in March 1944 and the Vengeance-equipped combat squadrons were re-equipped with B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. While the RAAF still had 58 Vengeances on order in March 1944 this order was cancelled and the aircraft were never delivered. Small numbers of Vengeances remained in service with support and trials units until 1946.
The model used in the re-enactment photographs is the original Frog example.Comment
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Wonwings diary-The Yak 40.
The Small Air Force
YAK 40.
Years ahead of its time the Yak 40 has served Aeroflot well,it was to be Russias answer to a replacement for the venerable Dakota which was produced as the Lisunov LI-2 airliner.
Re-enactment model is from the VEB Plastikart kit,fine it is crude by todays standards but as model makers we must take every opportunity to use these basic kits as a blank canvas, from which to to build exciting miniatures of aircraft that may never again be repeated in model form,with the use of plastikard and a little extra care thrown in these model kits can emerge as real gems for our collections,having said that this model was virtually built from the standard kit,the rivets were removed with lots of wet and dry and hours of patient sanding,make a proper wing spar to fit between the centre section and file and shape the wings so that a better empenage fitting can be executed.
With most of the decals in these VEB kits they need treatment first with Johnsons Klear to build up the decal before soaking,otherwise they will curl up and crack before application,so it is pin down or tape down to a sheet of thick balsa wood,then flood the decal with Johnsons applied with a cotton wool bud,allow a few days to really cure out properly and then trim close with a pair of nail scissors,after application treat again with another coat of Johnsons to seal the decals.
One feature of these kits is the tough plastic used for the mouldings,do not be afraid to attack the pieces with a set of files to remove all traces of flash on the parts,if the files clog up simply take a piece of masking tape and press onto the file,the debris can then be lifted before it literally welds itself to the file making it impossible to remove,these models will benefit from a coat of white Halfords universal primer,wait until the sun shines,take the model outside and spray away,windows and the cockpit can be masked with Copydex and peeled away after final painting.
The Yak-40 was the first and the only jet powered airliner in its class in service in large numbers anywhere in the world, preceding the ERJ-135 and 328JET by three decades,it is not generally realised how advanced this design really was.
The design of the Yak-40 resulted from a mid 1960s Aeroflot requirement for a replacement for the thousands of Lisunov Li2s (Soviet built DC-3s), Ilyushin Il-12s and Il-14s (2-engines prop liners) that were in service during the fifties. Aeroflot attached great significance to the Yak-40 program, as the aircraft was intended to operate regional air services that accounted for 50% of Aeroflot's passenger traffic.
The genius A.S Yakovlev (after whom the design bureau is named) led the Yak-40 design team, and first mention of the program's existence was released on October 21, 1966, when the first prototype made its maiden flight. The type entered production in 1967 and entered service with Aeroflot in September 1968.
The Yak-40's most noticeable design feature is its trijet configuration, with three specially developed Ivchenko AI-25 turbofans. The three jet engine layout was chosen for increased redundancy and good short field, hot climate zone and high altitude performance, which is very important in many areas of Russia like Siberia, Far East, Caucasus, Urals etc.
The unswept, high aspect ratio wing is also designed for good field performance. An APU and built-in stairs allow autonomous operation at remote airfields.
And for those who like to see what these aircraft were like to fly there is available a flight simulator package available,just to see the detail it goes into here we are-
Features
This project consumed 2 years of intensive development. It has several unique features:It is one of a very few aircraft on the market which incorporates the state-of-the-art technology of smooth moving needles in virtual cockpit (they are 3D modeled, not gauge bitmaps), therefore they move smoother then in 2D.It doesn’t matter that this is Russian Metal. You can easily switch entire VC flight deck to international layout with single click. This will change not only texts on labels, but also control panels of different systems, scales in appropriate gauges and logics of airspeed, altitude, vertical speed indicators etc.It has a very handy module Deck Navigator which is actually a custom programmed tool which acts similarly as active camera and lets you easily jump to different seats in VC (i.e. changes view position). It works in 2D cockpit also and changes views, recalls subpanels etc.It has smart loader/refueller/ground service tool which can change load configuration, fuel, changes weight/balance characteristics in real time (i.e. – fill on of the tanks with fuel and machine will experience bank immediately). Loader configures passengers and cargo load also and shows up CoG position (for operating movable stabilizer). Ground service module permits requesting and connecting of external air for startup without APU and external electrical power.It has custom programmed thrust reverser of engine No.2 which can be operated in flight like in real thing for correct landing procedure.Flight dynamics were fully refined, tested/tuned and approved with 5 real life pilots currently flying Yak-40. Even handling in icing conditions (changing of flight dynamics) and movable stabilizer were incorporated into model’s logics and dynamics.
Flight Deck
2D panel consists of more then 20000 bitmaps and represents actual environment of the Yak-40 flight deck with incredible detail.
More then 200 clickable and fully operational switches and knobs
4 modes of deck lighting: Day, Night with white floodlight, Night with red spotlights and Mixed (Night with both floodlight and spotlights).
6 Full screen panels: Captain's seat, Co-pilot's seat, Center Pedestal, Overhead, Left and Right consoles.
Zoomed-up subpanels represent all vital instruments in easy to use and convient way and even permit precision flying in external view
The complete Type-3 layout with international SO-72 transponder, Feet and metric altimeters, SD-75 DME indicators, Kurs MP-70 VOR-DME system (2 units), 2ADFs, authentic GMK-1G course system with latitude and magnetic correction.
The Electrical system consists of 6 inverters (4 switchable and 2 automatic), 2 batteries (which can charge from ground electrical power and generators and discharge), control panel for 28V, 36V and 115V subsystems and circuit breaker panels.
The Hydraulics system consists of two subsystems (primary and emergency) and is equipped (in panel logics) with 2 hydraulic pumps, hydraulic reservoirs, hydraulic feed station, control gauges and switches. The system feeds with hydraulic pressure the movable stabilizer, brakes, the thrust reverse mechanism, the nose gear steering, flaps, landing gear and the combined retractable stairs/door of the main exit.
Engines can experience danger vibrations, icing and overheat conditions if the pilot fails to accomplish the flight manual procedures in a correct manner.Comment
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Wonwings diary-The Short Sealand Amphibian.
The Small Air Force
SHORT SEALAND.
This very rare model was made by Frog,long before they introduced their standard scale range they produced a series of topical aircraft including the Beaver,A-26 Invader,B-47 Stratojet,Rapide and this Sealand,the scales were all over the place,virtually to fit the box.
I made this model during 1953,straight out of the box and only the red is paint,the rest is the white plastic,note the inscribed markings and the decal transfers which were too large and did not line up,well once again she will be left as she was,she defies her age and makes me wonder how many similar models still survive like this today ? think of it,several house moves and still intact.
A very pretty aircraft of which two survive,one in India and the other G-AKLW in Ireland with the Ulster Folk museum.
Besides this I also have in my collection a wooden scratch built example of the Sealand in 1=72nd scale.
The Sealand twin-engined light commercial amphibian flying-boat was first flown on 22 January 1948. Power was provided by 254kW de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70 engines and accommodation was for five to eight passengers. Only a small number were produced, including three for the Indian Navy.
Tech Spec
MODEL
Sealand III
ENGINE
2 x de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70, 254kW
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight
4128 kg
Empty weight
3205 kg
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan
18.75 m
Length
12.85 m
Height
4.57 m
Wing area
32.79 m2
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed
298 km/h
Ceiling
6340 m
Range
958 k
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