Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[Guest]

now that would be fun!!!!

[Guest]

Barry,

I was reading about these last time at work and they really do seem the answer to a lot of RC prayers. They would certainly help to prevent lost aircraft, boats cars etc that are the inevitable casualty of inadvertant interference. Suprisingly they are not that expensive either, which is a novelty for new technology.

I may be looking into getting one when I go back next time as it would be even cheaper to obtain one in the States.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Auntie Jue visits the UK,your chance to fly in a Junkers Ju.52.



A unique opportunity to see two Junkers Ju.52 3/m vintage German transport aircraft in the UK next week,and if you are extra lucky to fly in one of these corrugated transports that served with the German Luftwaffe,the two aircraft will arrive from Switzerland where they are operated by a company called JU-AIR,the picture above shows the worlds gathering of five airworthy aircraft assembled in 2005.

Where to see them-

Arriving at Goodwood airfield on Monday 30-01-2006.

Then at Farnborough airfield on 01-02-2006 staying until 02-02-2006.

[Guest]

There is no chance that two of these radios operating near each other will lock on to the same frequency ?

Martin

[wonwinglo]

*** Not possible Martin,the tolerances are so fine that there is no bleedover like conventional crystal controlled radios which are liable to splatter RF,the system is not as new as we think having been used in full sized aircraft communications for some years without any bother.

The system will only lock onto the respective receiver,also interferance rejection is far superior to conventional systems.

There is no chance that two of these radios operating near each other will lock on to the same frequency ?Martin

[Guest]

Tante Ju, A couple of years ago I happened to be at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Winter Olympic Stadium when a sight-seeing Ju52 trundled across the town. A black and white photograph could have been mistaken for one taken in 1936. Apart from the Nazi emblems the stadium looks pretty much unchanged. Kind of eery for a kid born the same year and exposed to all the propaganda of the war years. Watch the ski racers this Sunday at 7.55am on channel 4 or BBC on Ski Sunday and see what I mean. On a side note , a competitor at the `36 Winter Olympics, Karl Fuchs was a POW ( ex Alpin Korps)who married a British girl and stayed in the UK to found The Austrian Ski School,the first ski school in this country in Carr-bridge , 6 miles from where I live. I tried very hard to scrounge a lift as movable ballast/gopher on the ex Strathallan Collection Ju52 on its flight to Kermit Weeks hoard but had to be satisfied with watching it clatter up the Spey Valley heading for Iceland , Newfoundland, Maine and Florida. It flew fairly low (800-ish) over our model strip, wonder if that was deliberate ? Of course that was one of the days I didnt have a camera handy....!

[wonwinglo]

Thats a really great story Duncan,these old Junkers are the last bastion of how Luftwaffe aircraft looked in flight,as you say pretty scary stuff,I wonder what their designers would say if they were alive today ? one thing is for sure these machines were never intended to last as long as they have done and it is a credit to their designers and manufacturers,sadly Hugo Junkers must have led a pretty miserable life like many others working under the aegis of the Nazi regime,these men of iron built aircraft that seem to go on forever like these old Junkers transports.

That corrugated structure must have a lot to do with their longevity,they sort of remind me of steel fabricated utility buildings...with wings ! long may they trundle on through our skies and remind us of distant and troubled times.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The way forward is to fly electric.

Over the past few months there have been some remarkable advances made in electric flight,gone are the days when you were faced with an assortment of plugs,sockets and other items that needed surgery to get them to be compatible,now electric has grown up into its own specialised industry,prepared to put together special packages that will fit straight into your model without any fuss and better still give the best performance possible,with brushless motors in all sizes right up to the awesome Hacker C50 series that will run on 4-10 Lithium cells to fly the largest of models,also the Astro 19 series of direct drives which will fly a model up to 4 lbs in weight for some sport flying.

Industry leader GWS are gearing up to go over to the low cost brushless and lithium spectrum with the EPS 480 series which produces 70 ounces of thrust,couple this with a new range of efficent non-curl propellers and you get a good combination.

Previously charging multiple cells could have been a problem and a tedious operation,now the Great Planes Electrifly Polycharger 4 solves all of that hassle, with the ability to charge 4 Lithium Polymer batteries at the same time,keep your eyes peeled for this useful unit.

Then we have all the new micro radio systems,that enable us to fit radio gear into the smallest of models,what an exciting time this is for modellers,clean and efficent flying and no need to travel miles either,tuck yourself away into a friendly farmers field and get some stress free flying in.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Making working model balloons.



Dont think that we have covered balloons before on Scale-models ? so for those who just like experimenting this is right up your street,these balloons can be built as small or as large as you like,they will fly if you are lucky several hundred feet up and sometimes fly away never to be seen again,so be warned these are nifty little flyers.I first built a few to give demonstrations to schools on lighter than air flight,even children can make them themselves with a few simple instructions so what are you waiting for,get out the tissue paper,ripstop nylon,Mylar film etc and your scissors.

The drawing 'A' shows the basic shape of the balloons panels,these are called 'Gores' you will need between seven and nine separate pieces,cut these out on a self healing mat,next joint the edges together with either PVA adhesive thinned for the tissue versions,or double sided tape for the plastic variety,once assembled just blow into the balloon to see if the shape looks right,place a piece of thin springy wire into the hole in the bottom,next roll up a piece of chicken mesh so that it is a comfortable slide fit into the aperture,this will be your main heat source,you can either use an hair drier if you are near a mains supply,or make a charcoal fire placed onto a piece of tin foil outside,always supervise fires and never leave them burning after use,under no circumstances send lit meths soaked cotton wool into space as some articles suggest,use the safe ground heat source which will easily give you a few hundred feet of flight at the least,be safe and fly safe,do not fly near airfields or airports either.

Larger balloons can utilise pre-made heating duct for the heat deflector tube 'C'.

These ballons are real fun to fly,cost very little and can be trated as expendable should you loose one !

To fly,simply hold the gore over the hair drier or charcoal fire,wait until it starts to fill and pushes against your hand,slowly release and enjoy the sight,only fly in calm conditions,if the conditions are thermic then they can go up hundreds of feet until a speck in the sky,so be warned.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-The next stage in kit production,are the manufacturers holding back ?

The results of the Toy Fair have been interesting but brought no real surprises to the model world,this set me thinking as to what the long term future holds for the plastic model industry ? bringing in new models with the high tooling costs is seldom done these days, and we have seen moulds passed from one company to another to get the very last piece of mileage from the ageing tooling.Another threat is the increasing number of diecast large scale models that are coming onto the market,packaged in large attractive boxes these are mostly aimed at the collectors market itself,produced abroad to staggering low production assembly costs with max profit margins,extending the dies to their limit is done with various colourscheme changes and limited run editions,the system works but I often wonder who actually buys these models ? they have a more limited market than say plastic kits,one manufacturer told me that there would always be assembly kits available,the two markets are distinct but do overlap to some degree.

So what can the manufacturers introduce to upgrade the industry ? well the first thing that comes to my mind is the opportunity to have plastic kits with metal fittings,for the more fragile things like undercarriages and propellers etc,this gap has already been looked upon and acted out to some degree with metal after sales add on parts by the cottage industry,but from past experience some parts are only made in limited numbers,and if they do not sell well are not produced again but withdrawn,what is actually needed is to include these useful metal fittings in-house in the kit itself,I know that certain kits already have etched parts included but these fiddly fittings are not to everyones taste.

The biggest problem with storing built up models are the fiddly parts that fall off or get broken,the first kit manufacturer who can incorporate metal fittings as standard will be onto a winner.

Instead of adding silly little useless pots of paint into kits,why not have paint upgrade sets ? for example camouflage paint sets,airliner sets and modern jet aircraft,the dealer could then offer the upgrade and easily attain another sale,from my model shop experiences nearly every kit you sell the customer asks if the model has paint and adhesive ? the sets would make life easier and avoid wasting time looking at colour plates and box art for the actual colours.

I think that the kit industry is resting far too much on its past laurels and needs to look carefully at its future,just re-vamping kits with new decals is not enough to ensure an healthy outlook,by using the technology we have today some sturdier kits could be produced with in-house metal fittings,and dont forget to make buying those kits more user friendly by offering the correct paint sets as well as individual tinlets to the customer ?

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Home brew Decals from extra clear Scotch tape.

There is another excellent way to produce small decals that only requires a steady hand to produce them,on the market is an extra clear version of the well known scotch tape,the beauty is that it has a matt surface which can easily be painted onto,start by sticking a small piece of the tape to a piece of glass or even plastic sheet will do,once this is flat on your workbench it is easy to paint in the lettering or markings required,you can even use a permanent marker if you wish or make the outlines with the marker and fill in with a 000 sized brush and enamel or acrylic paint,the idea is that it is much easier to paint onto a flat surface rather than struggle to hold the model and work on a tricky curved surface-



Using thinned down paint and a fine brush paint the design that you want onto extra clear Scotch tape,the tape is shown here placed onto a piece of plastic sheet,a piece of glass will do or anything shiny that the tape can be lifted from.



With a scalpel blade simply lift the decal away from the shiny surface,you can now carry it to be placed onto the models surface.



With the blade just lay it into position on the model.



The decal can be carefully pressed into place and smoothed out with the use of an artists rubber shaper tool,this will not damage the surface of the model.



As a final protection use a thin coat of Johnsons Klear ( floor polish ),this will admirably seal the decal,that is it ! job done,you can make any decal that you like with this method including invasion stripes,panel lines,registrations & roundals.

[Guest]

Have you tried printing from your pc onto blank decal film ???

[wonwinglo]

*** I have only used that material used for making tattoos,it is ok but a bit flimsy,I will pick up some decal film sometime in the future Nigel and experiment with it.

Have you tried printing from your pc onto blank decal film ???

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Percival Mew Gull by Marsh Models out today.





Brand new and available today is the Marsh Models 1=32nd scale Percival Mew Gull,this is a mixed media limited run ( 150 only ) kit.

This is a Limited Edtion kit and is in resin and white metal. Included are full colour instructions, decals and parts for 2 options, 39 Cape dash and 39 Kings Cup winner, paint masks and 3 etch sheets.

It was in 1934 that Captain Edgar Percival,founder of the Percival

Aircraft Co.,as it then was,built a small single seater high

performance aircraft largely to carry out experiments with a new wing

section in which he was interested.This aircraft-the first Mew Gull

also had the makings of an ideal racing machine,for it was the first

British aircraft to have a speed in excess of 200 m.p.h.

It may be said that the Percival Mew Gull was a descendant of the

Hendy 302 low wing monoplane,the design of which was the combined

work of Captain Percival and Mr.B.Henderson.

The Gull followed intermediately,and the several produced by Percival

aircraft,at Yate,near Bristol,some were fitted with a Napier Javelin

engine,as was the prototype Mew Gull in its original form.Later a

Gipsy Six was installed,but the first aircraft registered G-ACND,was

somewhat ungainly in appearance and was not entirely successful.

The following year,it was rebuilt with a completely re-designed

fuselage,tail unit and undercarriage,and for a time a French Regnier

engine was fitted.

Following the rebuild of G-ACND four production models were

constructed,in which several improvements were introduced,the second

of these four and what was to become the most famous of the Mew

Gull's was G-AEXF,this was completed in 1936 in time to take part in

the £10,000 Schlesinger race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg,to this

end and to make it more suitable for long distance racing,the

aircraft was equipped with a French Ratier airscrew and long

distance internal tanks ( see previous postings for full details of

how the tanks were fitted )these increased the fuel capacity from a

standard 41 gallons to 79 gallons.Bearing at the time the South

African registration ZS-AHM and the name 'The Golden City',it was

entered in the race by Mr Len Oates and flown by Major Allistair

Miller,but trouble with the fuel feed system enforced an emergency

landing in a tiny field some 30 miles short of the first control

point at Belgrade.At this point the Major decided to withdraw from

the race......

E22 & E23 were built specially for the Schlesinger. E21

had been EWP's own mount for some time, but was re-built to the same specification as the other two, including the change of engine,

airscrew, cowlings & added tankage etc.

All of the Mews entered in the Schlesinger were fitted with DH -

Hamilton c/s airscrews for the race. However, whilst on test just

prior to the race, the DH spinners started to break-up. Hence the

photos taken of the three Mew's and their pilots together, just

before Campbell-Black was killed show the DH airscrews without

spinners. 'KL failed to start, Halse went as he was, and Miller

fitted a Ratier at the last moment, (as did at lest one of the Vega

crews).

After ZS-AHM was returned to Percivals, EWP removed the Gipsy

Six Series II and c/s prop, and fitted a Series I with a fixed-pitch

Fairey-Reid airscrew. This was the configuration when the a/c was

sold to Bill Humble. When AADH bought the a/c, and after a period of

racing, fitted the Gipsy Six 'R' engine from a DH Comet, he couldn't

fit a DH hydraulic c/s prop', so a Ratier, electrically-operated c/s

prop' was agin fitted to the machine. Later, to qualify for the Kings

Cup, when a British (DH) unit was again fitted, a special crankshaft

extension had to be made to suit.

As a matter of interest, from recollection, - Miller had, whilst

having been in the RFC, - only flown once or twice in the four years

prior to the race.... The cold and bumpy crossing of the Alps in the

little Mews would have been pretty demanding, even for a young man,

which he was patently not. Any experienced pilot will draw their own

conclusions as to Millers withdrawal.

The only Mews that were very closly similar as built were E22&E23. E24, - whilst still called a Mew Gull, was really a totally different a/c in all but name and general appearance. IE; the wing differed in span, taper, camber and construction, the fus' was narrower and shallower, the tailplane was smaller etc. Consequently,this machine was virtually as fast as 'XF, even with a less-powerful DH Gipsy Six Series II fitted, of about 20hp or more less than 'XF's 'R' engine. It's best (the E3H's) was 265mph, as opposed to 'XF's 270mph (At which the somewhat unreliable 'R' engine was eating bearings for a pastime). Altogether, a stunnigly efficient little aeroplane. The a/c in the so called 'standard' E2H form were good for about 234mph.

For ref-

E20. (I) G-ACND

E20. (II) G-ACND

E21. G-AEKL

E22. ZS-AHM (G-AEXF)

E23. ZS-AHO (G-AEMO)

E24. G-AFAA

[Guest]

Hi Barry

sad question here. What do you do with all these models you build? Her indoors wouldn,t be please if it were me. l.o.l

Martin