The Thurston Tawney Owl restoration project
This is my one to one project,it is quite unique and is the one and only Thurston Tawney Owl G-APWU,I started with four boxes of parts that had been stored all over the UK from a garage loft to a bus garage with diesel oil spewing over them all day long,when I got the wings they were black,you could not even see the registration letters on them ! it took me several sessions armed with soap filled pads to scrub off the dirt and reveal the corrosion on the alloy clad wings,there were no booms,only one rudder with no fins and biggest job of all was the missing fuselage which despite a countrywide search could not be located,I had all of the innerds for the fuselage and thankfully the undercarriage legs,so with chalk I designed a new fuselage on the floor of the old airfield fire station which is my cherished workshop,about two thousand hours later I had built the fuselage,to me it was just one huge model and instead of pins I used long screws to hold parts into place,the engine cowlings were a real challenge and one day the funny sight of me tacking together the cowls with a rivet gun and the parts slowly encircling my body like some ancient armour ! through the kindness of many people I have received all sorts of materials to restore this unique aeroplane,I do need some basic aircraft instruments to fit into the cockpit ie altimeter,airspeed indicator,rev counter etc this is a basic machine with no high tech frills,it was one of the last private venture aeroplanes built in the UK and for that reason alone was worth saving,it is now some 50 years old and at long last has found a loving home,when it is completed and only then it will go on display inside into an air museum and I will start another one,I have rebuilt many aeroplanes but this is certainly the most unusual subject and I am very proud of it being the largest model in my collection.
Seated in the cockpit is my trusty helper and assistant Ant.
Wonwinglo
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This is my one to one project,it is quite unique and is the one and only Thurston Tawney Owl G-APWU,I started with four boxes of parts that had been stored all over the UK from a garage loft to a bus garage with diesel oil spewing over them all day long,when I got the wings they were black,you could not even see the registration letters on them ! it took me several sessions armed with soap filled pads to scrub off the dirt and reveal the corrosion on the alloy clad wings,there were no booms,only one rudder with no fins and biggest job of all was the missing fuselage which despite a countrywide search could not be located,I had all of the innerds for the fuselage and thankfully the undercarriage legs,so with chalk I designed a new fuselage on the floor of the old airfield fire station which is my cherished workshop,about two thousand hours later I had built the fuselage,to me it was just one huge model and instead of pins I used long screws to hold parts into place,the engine cowlings were a real challenge and one day the funny sight of me tacking together the cowls with a rivet gun and the parts slowly encircling my body like some ancient armour ! through the kindness of many people I have received all sorts of materials to restore this unique aeroplane,I do need some basic aircraft instruments to fit into the cockpit ie altimeter,airspeed indicator,rev counter etc this is a basic machine with no high tech frills,it was one of the last private venture aeroplanes built in the UK and for that reason alone was worth saving,it is now some 50 years old and at long last has found a loving home,when it is completed and only then it will go on display inside into an air museum and I will start another one,I have rebuilt many aeroplanes but this is certainly the most unusual subject and I am very proud of it being the largest model in my collection.
Seated in the cockpit is my trusty helper and assistant Ant.
Wonwinglo
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Attachments
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TAILPLANE ON#5.jpg2.3 KB · Views: 0 -
TAILPLANE ON#2.jpg2.3 KB · Views: 0 -
TAILPLANE ON#1.jpg2.2 KB · Views: 0 -
CENTRE SECTION#1.jpg2.1 KB · Views: 0 -
NOSE ON 13042011#5.jpg2.4 KB · Views: 0 -
20110508_3.jpg2.7 KB · Views: 0 -
ANT IN TAWNEY OWL 28052011#3.jpg2.6 KB · Views: 0 -
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CENTRE SECTION#3.jpg2.2 KB · Views: 0 -
BOOMS BOLTED ON 13042011#3.jpg2.4 KB · Views: 0 -
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TAILPLANE ON#6.jpg2.6 KB · Views: 0 -
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20110508_1.jpg2.7 KB · Views: 0 -
CHEATLINE#2.jpg2.4 KB · Views: 0 -
NOSE ON 13042011#2.jpg2.1 KB · Views: 0 -
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BOOMS BOLTED ON 13042011#2.jpg2.2 KB · Views: 0 -
NOSE ON 130042011#4.jpg2.3 KB · Views: 0 -
TAWNEY OWL IMAGE.jpg2 KB · Views: 0 -
20110508_4.jpg1.8 KB · Views: 0 -
CENTRE SECTION#2.jpg2.3 KB · Views: 0 -
TAILPLANE ON#4.jpg3 KB · Views: 0