Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[Guest]

Since we moved into this place we have slowly filled it with more and more stuff. The amount of gear we put into it was frightening but I would estimate that we have probably doubled it over the last six years.

Annette even said to me one day, "What would I do with all this stuff if you go before me?" "Whatever you want" says I "I won't be too worried any more!!"

Makes you think though, we do collect some stuff, and a lot of it never gets looked at/finished/played with etc...etc...

[wonwinglo]

Terry and Richard,I would not wish this to happen to my worst enemy even if I had one ! that conversation Richard is a common one in this household too,it seems we are like magpies and even today I have found stuff which I had forgotton about ?

It is very difficult to let go of something that you have treasured for a very long time,in two days I have deposited aprox 500 surplus books in one of those charity things where you swing the bin over,the problem is you see this has left me with no time to dispose of them,and I just hope that they will do someone some good.

The removal quote from P[ickfords is between £450-£700 it is more likely to be the latter,do they come and see what you have ? because if they do they could say no thank you our lorries are not big enough ! on previous occasions I have moved myself in estate cars,this time I will need the professionals to do the work.

There are no takers yet on the Lancaster,but still time I want her to go to a good home.

[wonwinglo]

86 boxes now filled,as at tonight,we cannot see out of the front window.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-What happened to the Avro Lancaster model ?

In answer to what eventually happened to my 11 foot span Avro Lancaster model recently put up for sale on E-bay ? well she has found a new home as the centrepiece of a publishing house office in Devon.

The new owner proudly has a name associated with the great designer.

That was my third flying model of a Lancaster,the next one will be for electric power with lightweight construction.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The Peter Farrar model collection of the fifties.

THE PETER FARRAR COLLECTION



A tribute to Peter Farrar (1920-October 1991)

Peter Farrar established a large collection of 1=72nd scale model aircraft,culminating in 1956-57 as the worlds biggest single collection of model aircraft he gave exhibitions up and down the country mostly in aid of charity,here are cuttings from my collection describing both him and his models.

I had the great pleasure in corresponding with him during the fifties when he lived at 107 Barton Road,Torbay,we used to exchange wooden aircraft recognition models to mutual advantage,my 1=72nd scale Avro Vulcan B.1,Vickers Valiant and tiny Auster A.O.P.6 came from his surplus stock,in return went recognition models of the Savoia Marchetti SM.84,Bristol Brigand which I discovered at Riddy's Army Surplus store in Coventry,all obtained at a remarkable 5/- yes five old shillings each !

Enjoy looking at the numerous examples in the pictures and see how many that you can identify ?

Peter Farrar inspired me as a youngster to build up a like collection of scale models which was eventually achieved and now eclipses several thousand models,Peter reached the 1,000 mark before his untimly and sudden death in 1991,but that was a lot for its time as they were mostly hand built from wood as solids,or converted from those black basic recognition models.

The 'Reveille' newspaper June 17th 1957 did a centre spread,here it is-





And the 'Flying Review' magazine November 1957 reported the collection like this-



Likewise the 'Aeromodeller' gave some excellent insights into this collection-





If you have any memories or cuttings or photographs of this historic collection then I would like to hear from you,thank you.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Psst...!! Wanna buy a Tornado ?

http://www.vebeg.de/images/losbilder/70218.001.pdf

No less than six Panavia Tornado aircraft for sale ex Luftwaffe airframes 43+33,43+53,43+64,44+04,44+09,44+54

It does not seem like five minutes since I walked around the factory at Warton,looking at the machined from the solid components of this classic machine,that was on 26th November 1977,so some 29 years later these same aircraft having accumulated thousands of reliable flying hours come up for sale on the open market,they should find ready buyers from around the world.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Preparations for on the move

How to move thousands of books,tools and models.

First you get hold of as many boxes as you possibly can from local supermarkets,if it just happens to be before Christmas as in my case then the wine department will be your favourite port of call,soon you will begin to appreciate those stout whisky boxes and appreciate its drinkers !

Next the long and boring job of packing your chattels safely,rolls of bubble wrap,tape and hours of work ahead,this lot took 30 days so far that included dismantling five sheds into flat packs,the load will take two specialist removal company runs estimated at a 4 hour upload,and a three hour download time with three men and a 7 and a half ton articulated lorry,estimated time out of my life is one and a half years,will I ever find anything again ? well not in the immediate future and the unwrapping will take 24 times that of the packing,a sobering thought ? hardly.



Boxes



Curver type boxes



Every little bit of space filled with boxes



Materials have to be bundled together



Awkward sized items need sorting



Another room with boxes



Looking through a stark lounge at more boxes

A box is a box,whatever its shape and size



What was the entrance to my library now jammed with moving items



What was my workroom,packing those small fragile models is a real headache



One shed has been loosened off all ready for moving,but the contents need moving first,you have to plan,and then re-plan



Looking from the back of my old workroom towards the door



Tools need attention as well,really heavy stuff to pack,old shop drawers come in handy here



Thousands of files all ready to go



Dismantling sheds is time consuming,and hard work,you must label everything and order new screws for the re-assembly process

Christmas items all ready to go,not that we used any this year



Those old large kit boxes have been put to good use

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-A cryptic look at tool descriptions

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against those freshly painted parts you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off of bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned guitar calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Ah, sh..."

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to further round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16" or 1/2" socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X6: Used for levering an automobile upward off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters and wire wheel wires.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A misnomer. It is a tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps off in removing bolts you couldn't use anyway.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the tensile strength on everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large prybar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, it's main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during the first few hours of Desert Storm. More often dark than light, its name is also somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under peanut jar lids and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts which were last over tightened 50 years ago by someone at an auto manufacture, and neatly rounds off the heads.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts not far from the object targeted.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, fingers, palms and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while being worn.

JESUS CLIP: Also known as circlips, e-rings and by other technical descriptions, they are nearly impossible to remove even with the proper tools, and immediately create lift and fly into the unknown zone when they're about 3/4 of the way off. For Jesus Clip reinstallation, see HAMMER above.

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also the next tool that you will need.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The small grey tractor that started it all-AIRFIX treasure remembered

AIRFIX MASSEY HARRIS TRACTOR

The first kit made by Airfix was this little grey tractor,the kit was initially made to promote tractor sales,it proved so popular that a bagged kit appeared,here is a rare example still in existance.

Thanks to the person who has sent in this material for you all to enjoy.



The instruction sheet with AIRFIX,Haldane Place instructions.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The Hunting Percival Sea Prince

Still utilising material stored on my hard drive, due to everything still packed and ready to go ( delays with house move,it is like a builders yard at the moment and I do not think for one moment that I shall be moving for a few weeks yet,you just cannot get the staff these days ! ) anyway it has been a while since I put up a model re-enactment so found and worked on this one,it is a very old Airmodel vac-form kit,a few humps and bumps but where else can you get a Sea Prince even these days ? so here goes-

The Small Air Force



PERCIVAL SEA PRINCE

The Sea Prince first flew on the 24th of March 1948. Two variants were ordered by the Fleet Air Arm - one version was to be used for communication and the other as a training aircraft. The first Sea Prince C1 entered service in February 1953. It was soon followed into service by the trainer version which was given the annotation of Sea Prince T1. Sea Prince aircraft were based upon the civilian Percival Prince. The first order for the Sea Prince was placed in 1949 and consisted of twenty one aircraft, three for communications and eighteen to be used in the training role. An improved version of the C1 was produced as the Sea Prince C.2. This first flew on the 1st of April 1953 with the final aircraft being delivered in September 1953.

The Sea Prince C.1. continued in service until 1965 when it was replaced by the Sea Devon and Sea Dove aircraft. However it wasn't until 1970 that the Sea Prince C.2. was retired from service. A further two orders for the T.1. were placed, one order in early 1951 for an additional eight aircraft followed later that year by a second order for another fifteen.

Some Sea Prince T.1.'s were scrapped in the 1960's when the RNVR (Air Divisions) were disbanded, but other Sea Prince T.1.'s continued in service for many years. For those that continued, their airframe fatigue life was enhanced by being re-sparred in the early 1970's. They were finally retired from service in 1979 when the Jetstream was introduced to replace them.

The Sea Prince was used in two roles. The first was as a communications aircraft. In this role one flew the Atlantic ocean to Washington D.C. for use by the Joint Services Mission. Another was fitted out as an "Admirals barge". The second role was to train navigators and radar operators. For this role the Sea Prince T.1. was fitted with ASV 19a as its primary search radar for training radar operators and observers.

Hunting Percival Purpose: Royal Navy Navigation and anti-submarine training Crew 2 PILOTS, 1 INSTRUCTOR and 3 PUPILS Max Speed (sea level): 194 knots (359 Km/h) Cruising speed: Approx 159 knots (294Km/h) Dimensions Wing Span 56ft: Length 46ft 4ins: Height 16ft 1ins Cruising speed: Approx 159 knots (294Km/h) Engines: Two Alvis Leonides 125 Service ceiling: Approx 22,000ft (6,700m) All-up weight: 11,850 lb (5,375 Kg) Weapons: None Range: 400 nautical miles (741 Km)

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The North American F-86 Sabre

The Small Air Force



NORTH AMERICAN F-86 SABRE







More than 6,000 F-86s were manufactured by North American's Los Angeles, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio, divisions.

The first swept-wing airplane in the U.S. fighter inventory, the F-86 scored consistent victories over Russian-built MiG fighters during the Korean War, accounting for a final ratio of 10-to-1. All 39 United Nations jet aces won their laurels in Sabres.

Four models of the craft (F-86A, E, F and H) were day fighters or fighter bombers, while the F-86D, K and L versions were all-weather interceptors.

Successive models of the daylight versions -- all designed to destroy hostile aircraft in flight or on the ground -- were equipped with more powerful engines and armament systems that ranged from bombs and rockets to machine guns and cannon. All are rated in the 650-mph class with a 600-mile combat radius and a service ceiling of over 45,000 feet.

The three interceptor versions sported black radome noses, replacing the yawning jet intakes of the other models. The K model, manufactured in Turin, Italy, by Fiat, was flown by NATO forces. The F-86L had added equipment for use in conjunction with the U.S. SAGE (semi-automatic ground environment) defense system.

Forerunner of the operational Sabre was the XF-86, first flown Oct. 1, 1947, by North American test pilot George Welch. A few months later Welch became the first pilot to fly the plane at Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in routine flight. Although technically rated as subsonic, the Sabre is no stranger to supersonic speeds.

Various models of the Sabre held world's speed records for six consecutive years, setting five official records and winning several National Aircraft Show Bendix Trophies.

In September 1948, an F-86A set the Sabre's first official world speed record of 570 mph. This mark was bettered in 1952 by an F-86D that flew at 698 mph. The "D" became the first model of a fighter to better its own record, in 1953, with a run of 715 mph.

The F-86E and subsequent models incorporated a unique control system, developed by North American, called the "all-flying tail." Where the F-86A contained a booster control system that called for the pilot to do part of the work of controlling the aircraft, the newer system added full power-operated control for better maneuverability at high speeds. An "artificial feel" was built into the aircraft's controls to give the pilot forces on the stick that were still conventional, but light enough for superior combat control.

U.S. production of the Sabre Jet ended in December 1956.

F-86E Specifications

First flight:

Sept. 23, 1950

First delivery:

Feb. 9, 1951

Span:

37 feet

Length:

37 feet

Height:

14 feet

Wings:

Spar, ribs and covering: aluminum

Speed:

565 knots (650 mph) Class

Range:

Approx. 870 nautical miles (1,000 statute miles)

Service ceiling:

Over 45,000 feet

Power plant:

General Electric 5,200-pound thrust J-47-13 turbojet

Combat weight:

14,000 pounds

Armament:

Six .50-caliber machine guns, 16 five-inch HVAR rockets or 2,000 pound max. bomb load

Special features:

Swept-back wing and tail

Electrically operated flaps

Hydraulically operated speed brakes

Automatic wing leading-edge slats

Hydraulic-power-operated irreversible controls with artificial feel for the all-movable horizontal tail and ailerons



The re-enactment model was made from the old Frog kit,finished in hand painted Luftwaffe scheme.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Vickers Wellington,Saunders Roe SR.52 & Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar

The Small Air Force



VICKERS WELLINGTON



The Wellington was a twin-engined medium bomber of geodetic construction. Affectionately nicknamed 'The Wimpey' after the character 'J Wellington Wimpy' in the Popeye cartoons, it was the main British bomber during the first part of WWII, but the RAF was soon forced to abandon daylight attacks because of its vulnerability. It was used until the end of the war. After its replacement in Bomber Command by the new four-engined bombers it was flown on numerous other duties, and some were used until the 1950s. 11461 were built, with Pegasus, Hercules, Merlin or Twin Wasp engines.

The Wellington was notable for the amount of damage it could sustain and still remain airborne. This was due in no small part to the geodetic form of lattice-work construction invented by Dr Barnes Wallis, which gave the aircraft great strength and rigidity.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________

SAUNDERS ROE SR.53



Like the Messerschmitt Me163 'Komet' , the SR53 interceptor used a rocket motor to climb rapidly to high altitudes, but it was also fitted with an Armstrong-Siddeley Viper jet engine, allowing it to remain at altitude with lower fuel consumption.

One of several projects designed to meet an Operational Requirement for a rocket interceptor, work on the SR53 started in 1952. However, due to development delays the first prototype, which is the aircraft shown here, did not fly until 16 May 1957. In trials the SR53 reached Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) at high altitude.

In December 1957 a setback occurred when the second prototype crashed and exploded at the end of RAF Boscombe Down's runway in mysterious circumstances, after failing to take-off. The test pilot, Squadron Leader John Booth RAF, was killed.

It became clear before the SR53's first flight that the aircraft was too small to carry the radar and missiles required in modern interceptors and a more powerful derivative was designed, the SR177. This project was developed for the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm but fell victim to the notorious 1957 Defence White Paper, which led to numerous aircraft projects being scrapped. Development continued for a possible German order, but when this fell through the SR177 project was dropped and the surviving SR53 retired, marking the end of fixed-wing aircraft development at Saunders-Roe.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________________

FAIRCHILD C-119 FLYING BOXCAR (PACKET)



C-119 Flying Boxcar, developed from the Fairchild C-82 Packet was a twin-engine, twin-boom, twin-tail transport designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute (utilizing its "clamshell" cargo doors in the rear cockpit). The first C-119 made its maiden flight in November 1947 and by the time production ceased in 1955, more than 1,150 C-119s had been built. The USAF used the airplane extensively during the Korean Conflict as a transport. In South Vietnam, the airplane once again entered combat, this time in the ground support role as the AC-119G "Shadow" and AC-119K "Stinger" gunships mounting side-firing weapons capable of unleashing up to 6,000 rounds per minute per gun.

When acting as a transport, the C-119 could carry up to 62 fully-equipped troops or a 30,000 pound cargo load.

Perhaps the Boxcar's most notable feat happened when it made the world's first mid-air recovery of a capsule returning from outer space. This occurred southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii on 19 August 1960 when it snagged the chute attached to the Discovery XIV satellite at an altitude of 8,000 feet.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Back again after a rough ride

Well after months of flustration,hard work and sheer hard work I am back again ! to single handedly move a very full house of a lifetime collection of models,tools,books and photographs is a very demanding task that I do not recommend to anyone,but it had to be done and lets just hope that it will never have to be repeated again,on reflection if I had known what I do now then I would have sat firmly tight and got the courts to sort it out,as it happens we have experienced huge financial costs to ourselves,promises have been broken and we have also been the victims of bullying,on top of this many models were damaged beyond economical repair and had to be scrapped,this was mainly due to items being placed one on top of the other without consideration,in other words and this is a warning to others,removal people do the uplift and deliver to the other address,instead of placing items ie boxes in a neat and tidy pile they were moved into the rooms from the front one after the other,and in consequence I could not even get into the room without moving everything to get in and sort things out ! then there is the problem of finding things ? items are still missing despite a search to locate them,I would never have believed that things could get lost the way that they did,a box is a box and despite proper labelling items easily get misplaced.

The one thing that I was dreading was bad weather on the days of the two moves,the first garden items/sheds move was on a glorious sunny day,it was a good job that it was otherise there would have been one soggy heap of sheds/garden tools/contents of sheds etc,the sheds had suffered as they had stood for far too long in the sun and rain which had warped them because of the delays,it took a bit of heaving and extra brackets to get them back together again properly,all of the roof covering had suffered and required a lot of attention,the five sheds were erected single handed in three days and by the fourth the workbenches and tools had been added,my attention then turned to the house,one room was turned into my library and also houses my huge Meccano collection which had to be on the ground floor as it was very heavy,then you get things like gas fittings to the cooker that were not compatible despite telling the people concerned to make sure they were,and my nightmare the new Broadband connection,the day came when ntl were intending to install the cables,a major snag was that the installation in the street had been hacked in two when a neighbour had built his forecourt,further delays tht mssed the second slot put everything behind schedule,and then there was my computer which never worked from the moment it was unplugged in Warwick,it was over heating and stopping,it took a new video card,new cpu, major clean to get it working again,even despite thefact that it was moved by myself and travelled in the car.

So you can see it really was no easy task and I learned a lot of lessons along the way,my biggest advice to anyone is do not move unless you really have to,it is good to be back here again and writing the blog again,all I need to do now is to catch up with events here.

The whole operation has left me physically and mentally exhausted,only now can I sit back and think about the past few months and weeks,now is the time to get my strength back and start enjoying life again,but it really is right when they say that a major move takes a year out of your life,in my case probably two !

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Back again after a rough ride

Well after months of flustration,hard work and sheer hard work I am back again ! to single handedly move a very full house of a lifetime collection of models,tools,books and photographs is a very demanding task that I do not recommend to anyone,but it had to be done and lets just hope that it will never have to be repeated again,on reflection if I had known what I do now then I would have sat firmly tight and got the courts to sort it out,as it happens we have experienced huge financial costs to ourselves,promises have been broken and we have also been the victims of bullying,on top of this many models were damaged beyond economical repair and had to be scrapped,this was mainly due to items being placed one on top of the other without consideration,in other words and this is a warning to others,removal people do the uplift and deliver to the other address,instead of placing items ie boxes in a neat and tidy pile they were moved into the rooms from the front one after the other,and in consequence I could not even get into the room without moving everything to get in and sort things out ! then there is the problem of finding things ? items are still missing despite a search to locate them,I would never have believed that things could get lost the way that they did,a box is a box and despite proper labelling items easily get misplaced.

The one thing that I was dreading was bad weather on the days of the two moves,the first garden items/sheds move was on a glorious sunny day,it was a good job that it was otherise there would have been one soggy heap of sheds/garden tools/contents of sheds etc,the sheds had suffered as they had stood for far too long in the sun and rain which had warped them because of the delays,it took a bit of heaving and extra brackets to get them back together again properly,all of the roof covering had suffered and required a lot of attention,the five sheds were erected single handed in three days and by the fourth the workbenches and tools had been added,my attention then turned to the house,one room was turned into my library and also houses my huge Meccano collection which had to be on the ground floor as it was very heavy,then you get things like gas fittings to the cooker that were not compatible despite telling the people concerned to make sure they were,and my nightmare the new Broadband connection,the day came when ntl were intending to install the cables,a major snag was that the installation in the street had been hacked in two when a neighbour had built his forecourt,further delays tht mssed the second slot put everything behind schedule,and then there was my computer which never worked from the moment it was unplugged in Warwick,it was over heating and stopping,it took a new video card,new cpu, major clean to get it working again,even despite thefact that it was moved by myself and travelled in the car.

So you can see it really was no easy task and I learned a lot of lessons along the way,my biggest advice to anyone is do not move unless you really have to,it is good to be back here again and writing the blog again,all I need to do now is to catch up with events here.

The whole operation has left me physically and mentally exhausted,only now can I sit back and think about the past few months and weeks,now is the time to get my strength back and start enjoying life again,but it really is right when they say that a major move takes a year out of your life,in my case probably two !

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings Diary-A real model Cierva C.30A Autogiro that will fly

Not often we get anything really new, but knowing the interest in the Autogyro concept here this one will really appeal,yes at long last a scale kit for the Cierva C.30A Autogiro that really does fly.

Cannot wait to get my hands on one of these little beauties.

Cierva C30 Autogyro

Rota dia 690mm. Suitable for electric power with recommended motor HCS 60/2-3e. 4 Channel r/c.

Available in Silver or Blue