discussion Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[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

 

[wonwinglo]

***Well Martin they all have a place,some are displayed in cabinets and are rotated,the rest are placed into sealable bags and stored,they only come out if I do a display or support one,a few hang around my den,one day I would like to display them on shelves showing the history of aviation,my flying models are in my hangars ( sheds) my wife is used to my model building antics so I guess that I am lucky in that respect ! Some of my models are also on display in aviation museums so continue to give pleasure to others.

As you can guess I have been modelling a very long time.

Hi Barrysad 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

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-About research,data,information,resources for model building and how .

On average we get more requests for plans,data,colourschemes etc than for any other subject,a request for a particular scheme worn by an aircraft flown by a builders father,an aeroplane that the person had a flight in years ago,cockpit details for a particular type or a technical specification or plan for an individual type ? now let me say this,and this is very important all model builders of scale subjects should throughly research the model they intend to build,not only this but the should be able to put together a dosier of that machine photographs,cuttings and sketches,plans,3-view drawings should all be there,such information can be obtained in many ways but one factor comes into all of the equation,and that is 'Time' something that very few of us have enough of ! the secret is to gradually gather that said information over the years,just as our model building can be a slow process then so also is the gathering of priceless information,for one I realised long ago that sorting through thousands of magazines simply was not the answer,so I set about organising my collection of pictures,photographs and plans once and for all,this was over 40 years ago,and since that time my library has grown and takes up a small closet ( see picture above ) each folder is clearly labelled with the manufacturers name,placed into alphabetical order so that access is easy,now I can reach for a particular folder and plough through information regarding that subject,add notes and plans at whim,it works believe me !

There are numerous resources available to everyone who has the desire to obtain information,you can apply for a readers research ticket at the countries numerous archives and libraries and museums,even local archives are a mine of information,last year I spent every Friday on research at my local archives researching details of our local airport for my web site,this was needed to supplement photographs that I had taken whilst working at that particular airport,it proved a very fruitful exercise if not time consuming and at times tedious getting the exact material that I needed,sometimes it needed to be ordered weeks in advance,but that is all part of the fun,once you stumble upon what you want then its bingo !

Local newspaper offices shpuld also not be ignored either,all of them carry their own archives even if not copies of their publications then microfliche film or hopefully computer records of events,machines and people in that community.

The internet provides the very best but not the only source of info,sometimes it will lead you to a professional library where you have to pay money,but if the subject is important enough to you then that is a small price to pay,libraries and buildings where archives are kept cost money to run so keep this in mind during your research.

Sometimes you hit really lucky and find individual people who are connected with your project,for example only last year I typed in the name of someone and up came a family tree,this led me to the daughter of the person I was looking for,subsequent communications revealed a whole host of info despite the person in question being quite elderly,he was however delighted that I had tracked him down,this chance meeting enabled me to fill in some precious details for which I was truly grateful for my project.

One word about such events,always hold every respect for locating such people or information sources,rather than bulldoze straight in get to know the people that you are dealing with first,normally things will just happen and take their course and you could be quite surprised as to what is forthcoming,faded but precious pictures from yesteryear at the least,make notes and sketches,and always return material that has been loaned for your use soon as possible,in other words have the utmost respect for people and their personal possessions.

In a lot of cases details of long lost material can be located this way,it is up to you to spend time and put effort into what you research,but be warned,not everyone will respond usefully and provide you with unlimited material,or above all show the same enthusiasm as yourself !

The golden rule when looking for info is this-Always exhaust all possible normal avenues of research available to you,if the plan,photograph or knowledge is not forthcoming then more in-depth work is required,you are the sleuth and above all you are the one who needs the information.

From personal experience in my own extensive research over the years it has proved a most interesting task,sometimes interspersed with flustration and the end of the road,but get it right and you will get a real sense of a job well done.

The internet gets better every day as more enthusiasts and people come on board,that mine of knowledge can now sometimes be shared from the comfort of your own home,but remember still be prepared to do some footwork for the information that you require,best of luck !

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Part 1 of how I finally managed to get here !

Poignant reminder of times past ( 1938 ) -think of the scene the person sitting on the horse and cart on the left is my father,note that he is in full R.A.F uniform,on leave for the very first time and obviously very proud,his father is the one standing,a coal merchant delivering his wares,the cart looks home made from the chassis of a vehicle,his two beloved horses were his pride and joy,he cared for them making up tinctures of dubious value for looking after the horses of the Gipsy community and anyone who needed his help as a quack horse doctor .

Well you asked for it,here is part one of my very own story,warts and all,so lets start seven years before I was even a twinkle in my mothers eyes-

To understand a little of my really early days we must go back to the year of 1938,war clouds were looming in Europe as Mr Hitler gathered together his arsenal,meanwhile the government were frantically trying to muster together personnel and crews for the Army,Navy and Air force,the carefree pre-war days with sports cars and lovely old biplanes gave a thrill to those with any interest in machinery,nobody really thought that the Germans would have another pot shot at our country,but how wrong they proved to be ? the hum drum of everyday life and need to feed the mouths of millions would mean that people would of necessity take jobs that they did not really like or want,well nothing has changed there ! my father was no exception,the frantic search for work had led him into an industry building gas meters,he absolutely hated it,the job lasted only a few days and he did a most extraordinary thing for the time,he simply walked out,however his dogged determination led him to get work in a factory building aero engines,the famous firm of Alvis,without doubt the company produced some of the finest pre-war cars in British motoring history,cars built to last,hand built with wooden and metal parts formed by true craftsmen,no such thing as production lines then,that would come much later when Henry Ford built his all black lookalikes in America and Mr Boeing built his B-17 Flying Fortresses,no these were limited run beauties.As he started his daily trips to work he could not but help looking skywards at the beautiful Hawker Hart biplanes painted all yellow with polished silver alloy cowlings gleaming in the morning sun,elite university air squadron students practised their daily formation flying,but my father was no elitist,far from it,he was born to a coal merchant who delivered his products by old fashioned horse and cart,who was a quack horse doctor much in demand by the local gypsy community,never missed a chance to make any spare cash,whether it be selling outdated tins of red paint clearly marked white ! or doing a deal in the local pub with a pint of beer thrown in,he really was a likeable rogue like many of his ilke.So my dear father who built aeroplane models made of bamboo with silk covered wings as a young lad,purchased the latest copy of the ‘Wizard’ comic to get the special cardboard parts of aeroplanes within its weekly pages was now in the real hard real world earning a living,he must have really wanted to fly as even during his early factory life he applied to the RAFVR,Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at nearby Ansty aerodrome for acceptance in the air force,his first application was met with ‘Go home lad,you are too young for one thing,swot up on your maths and come back next year’ can you imagine the dis-appointment he must have felt ? and many would have given up at that point alone,but no he did go home,he did carry on working in the aero engine factory,and above all he did swot up on his maths ! the outcome was that the following spring he enrolled and took the required tough exams and passed,he went back home again and waited for his details,this eventually found him square bashing at R.A.F Cardington,then attending the famous Arcy-Dacy establishment in London ( having slept on a park bench overnight as he arrived too late ) soon he was posted after a crash course in aerodynamics,more maths,more square bashing and the usual things associated with military life in general.But it was the lure of learning to fly that kept him focussed and before long he was on the train to an EFTS ( Elementary Flying Training School ) in Lincolnshire to learn to fly on Tiger Moth aircraft.,during that year was to prove the worst winter for many a year which was so bad and hampered flying to such a degree that the Air Ministry had to think of a way around it,and before long my father was setting sail for the sunny climes of Florida where he would be pushed to the limit to get him to fly along with many many ordinary British citizens who had given up everything to join the armed forces…the story continues.

 

[Guest]

wow this is going to be even better than i anticipated!! Barry you are a "natural storyteller" With that very rare ability to grab peoples attention and hold them entranced

 

[Guest]

Barry,

The time and effort that you put into your writings is, as always, much appreciated. No matter what you are saying it is a joy to read and I am sure that your story will prove to be equally interesting.

Thank you.

 

[Guest]

That was wicked, cant wait for part 2. Like the others say you have a perfect writing style which is both easy, and more importantly fun to read!!! You could easily sell this blog as a book!

I can 110% understand your fathers lust to fly, up until the age of 16 its all i ever wanted to do, but alass my crappy eyes let me down and it was ground crew or nothing......tiger moths tho....lucky chap!

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Part 2 of how I finally managed to get here !

Part 2- Hard work and gritted determination.

Before we move on to my fathers trip to America lets look into detail how things worked before you ever got near an aeroplane and follow his movements from 1938 to 1941,25th February saw him at the Aviation Candidates Selection Board No.2 Recruit centre,Cardington in Bedfordshire,here as many thousands before and after him you stepped right off the train and into the old first world war airfield,the selection board kept their young recruits waiting deliberately in the waiting rooms,closely watched they needed to see how they reacted under stress and uncertainty,this seemingly cruel behaviour was essential in determining the moral fibre of these potential aircrew,questions,questions and yet more questions were bombarded at the candidates,they went into great depth about the candidates background,psychology played its part,if you could endure this then you were in,all of this was followed over a two day period entailing suitability for flying duties,aptitude tests,educational tests,and the dreaded selection board and air crew medical board,this was the first hurdle to becoming an airman with much intensity of training to follow,just to show that intensity I have where ever possible here included actual dates,this will give a clear impression in how they moved from one task to the next in the effort to get them trained as quickly as possible,only the very best would survive the course,and many got washed out when they went abroad to do their flying training.

The next move was on 14th July 1941 when my father saw himself at the aircrew receiving centre ACRC rudely nicknamed by the airman as `Darcy Arcy' this was at the famous Lords Cricket ground,Abbey Lodge,Regents Park,London N.W.8.

Within a few days saw him the other end of the country at No.4 Initial Training Wing,Paigntn,Devon where he received more intense training in preparation for another move,lots of drill and physical training,subjects to absorb were mathematics,navigation,morse signalling,gunnery,aircraft recognition and the all important air force law.

During 1941 in his uniform at the No.4 ITW,Paignton,Devon.

Then he was on his way to a real airfield at No.3 Elementary Flying Training School,R.A.F Watchfield,Swindon,Wiltshire,here he did his first solo in Tiger Moth R5201 on 7th November 1941.

Notable amongst the instructors at Watchfield was Captain Meager a first world war pilot who later was to be the navigational officer on the R.100 airship.

Another trip this time on 20th January 1941 to the ACDC at Heaton Park,in Manchester where he received his orders to get ready for embarkation to Canada on the famous 'Arnold Scheme' instigated by General 'Hap' Arnold,on 20th January 1942 together with hundreds of other potential aircrew he set sail on the troopship `Montcalm' from Greenock,Glasgow to Halifax,Nova Scotia,from here he travelled some 1500 miles down the east side of the United States by train to No.31 R.A.F depot Moncton,New Brunswick and then onto the U.S.Army Air Corps reception centre at Turner field,Albany,Georgia,U.S.A.

Montcalm 1920-1942 16,418 gt,she was built in 1920,in 1939 she was converted into the armed merchant cruiser HMS Wolfe,from 1941 she was used as a troopship,and in 1942 was sold to the Admiralty as a submarine depot ship.

She spent most of the war,from 1943 on Holy Loch with HMS Forth.The mobile submarine ships were the 'ugly ducklings' of the fleet,and gave invalueable long distance support for submarines such as the re-loading of torpedoes when required.

A bleak looking Nova Scotia during January 1942.

Locomotive 1395 pulling the train some 1500 miles down the east side of the U.S.A,what a magnificent looking engine.

From there he went during the same month of January to the Lakeland School of Aeronautics,Lakeland,Orlando,Florida,U.S.A. where he was to carry on with his flying training on an entirely different type of machine to the Tiger Moth,this time the Boeing PT-17 Stearman Kaydet, training biplane was to teach him the fundamentals of handling much heavier and larger machines.

A piece of history,my fathers identification card issued to him at the Lakeland school of aeronautics.

And in the Sidcot flying suit outer,helmet with fitted inter-comm,chest type parachute harness,with his ambition fulfilled to fly he looks a very happy man.

And with a nice looking young lady called Ruella 28th March 1942.

To be Continued...

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Part 3-How I finally managed to get here.

Part 3-29th January 1942 to 4th February 1943 The pressure is on.

After the long and tiring journey from the UK,and the formalities at the reception centre at Turner Field,Albany,Georgia,U.S.A it was time to travel to Lakeland in Florida,as the future airmen travelled across America they observed the beauty of this new found country,the numerous orange groves,lakes and everglades,if you had the misfortune to have an engine failure over them then the allogators or snakes would have you for lunch,many of the barren satellite fields were far from home keeping airplanes from clogging up the intense circuit,the American instructors were tough and unforgiving,you could get a 'wash out' for the slightest misdemeanour,step out of line and you were washed out the next day,one student taxied into another Stearman scratching the paintwork,another wrote off five aircraft in a take off accident in one go,the scrap compound was an indication of the attrition rate,a pile of Stearmans that had been wrecked in a freak storm and used for spares,airplanes were valuable and they did not want to loose too many,as you can see from the U.S.Army Air Corps rules below issued to every student and drummed in constantly,flights were strictly VMC ( Visual flight rules )a term unheard of in those days,but meaning that the ground should be visible with no flying in clouds whatsoever,the inherent and real dangers of vertigo had claimed many a student loosing sight with the ground and spinning in-

The Boeing PT-17 Stearman was the airplane used for training,all fifty five of them neatly lined up gleaming with yellow wings and blue fuselages,the red dot of the American roundal standing out like a sore thumb,with the seven stars and stripes proudly displayed on the rudder,powered with a variety of engines usually 225 hp Continental or Lycoming motors,she was a rugged man sized machine.

Not far from the two huge steel and concrete hangars which were large enough to accomodate two regulation hockey rinks,were the barrack blocks,administration offices and mess hall,all laid out in much the same quadrangle formation as you would have found in any period university,the mess hall was high ceilinged and beamed in the Tudor manner.It seated 250 at refectory tables,all buildings were built to withstand hurricanes and painted in restful colours inside and out,and were erected acording to plans of the U.S.Army,for tropical posts.Each building was tightly screened and there was a ten foot high esplanade around each floor so there is a cooling breeze on the hottest day or night,there was a heating system available for winter use if needed.

While some of the schools chose a housing system of placing four students in a suite,the school at Lakeland was based on the community principle of thirty boys to each barrack.The owner of the school was Albert.I.Lodwick who was himself a leading figure in North American aviation,a big believer in good fellowship.

The students day began at 5.30 in the morning with reveille,roll call and formation,followed by half an hour of calisthenics,breakfast followed and by 7.30 am,those that were assigned to morning flight,were on the line with their instructors,those assigned to morning ground school were in their classrooms absorbing the principles of aerodynamics,theory of combustion engines,meterorology or any of the book subjects of the day that airmen would need to know,the classroom groups would then fly in the afternoon.The morning and afternoon periods would have been alternated weekly and were for a reason,any Florida pilot would have told you then that there was as much difference in the lift of the morning air,and in the afternoon air in Florida as there is between the Sahara and the Arctic wastes.

The entire school knocked off for lunch at 11,30 am-not the conventional lunch hour but remember these guys had been up and at it since 5.30 in the morning ! Lunch was a bountiful meal,served under the vaulted ceiling of the mess hall by impeccably neat coloured waiters in white coats.

This gives the historian a great insight into the efficency and planning that went into the Arnold Scheme,if it had not been for this ability to train in such good conditions that Florida offered then the training back home in the bleak and awful weather that the UK was then experiencing would have severly delayed the production of suitable aircrew.

Picture of the recreation rest room taken by my father at Lakeland during 1942.

Lakeland looked like this from the air,the Lockheed Lodestar was a regular visitor carrying passengers across America,note the rows of tiny Piper Cub aircraft on the left operated by the resident civil flying school.

The beautiful Lakeland civic centre.

Well it could not have been all work,my fathers smile says it all !

To be continued...14 months of hard work and time for embarkation.

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Techniques for planking your model.

The term 'planking' as applied to a scale model has been used for many years by scale modellers,the technique is particularly useful where a compound curve is involved in the structure of the model,take for example a typical fuselage of a fighter aircraft like the Spitfire or Hurricane,the shape changes dramatically where the nose underneath meets the wing root,and then aft of the trailing edge blends in nicely with the fuselage.Such a compound curve can really only be successfully tackled by planking,it is not difficult but does require a bit of planning and know how to do the job properly.Firstly select a few planks of balsa sheet with a medium density and aim for a straight grain if you can,we can tackle the planks in two basic ways 1/ Planks cut parallel or 2/ Planks cut with a taper,experience will tell you what to use at which position,but as a useful guide if the curve tapers towards the tail or nose then you need to cut the planks respectively,lay out a selection on the bench and make sure that you have enough to complete the job in hand ! for the sake of instruction we will be planking a Hawker Hurricane fuselage,you will have pre-sanded the formers with a Permagrit block to account for the taper of the cladding,start by laying the first one mid way on the fuselage side,this plank will be a parallel one because it is a starting datum piece,everything relies on this single point,as we add further pieces note that as the wood takes the curve it needs to be slightly chamfered at the edges,to do this use a trusty and invaluble razor plane,just run the plane from one end to the other but dont get paranoid ! any discrepencies can easily be accounted for in the glueing process,this is not a precision process so dont get the micrometer out,the final sanding will knock everything into shape,it is a case of adjusting,sanding and curving,only do a few planks at a time and use those super 'T Pins' obtainable from either model or craft shops,forget the glass headed pins that break and can be dangerous,I once drove one right through my finger,very painful.You will slowly get to the point where things start to require a dramatic curve,dont worry just stop at that point in the planking and make a new datum with another strip of wood,the gaps in between can easily be plugged with pieces of balsa,this is sculpting balsa wood at its best,so relax and enjoy it,another tip is to curve the planks as well especially with a large compound curve to deal with,take a strip of wood and draw it under a round object such as a pencil,this will break the fibres of the wood and make it more manageable,continue until you meet the top and bottom of the fuselage,by this stage it will look like a crazy porcupine but that is how it should look at this stage,now comes the interesting bit ! remove all the pins and once again take the razor plane and slowly and carefully run it along the planks from nose to tail,then reach for some coarse glasspaper wrapped around a piece of cork or balsa block and just keep sculpting and sanding the shape until you are happy with the profile,this is a very satisfying process as the model starts to come alive and a thing of great beauty,carry on by using finer grades of paper finally finishing off with a fine garnet or my old favourite grey crocus paper,this will leave a fine shine to the balsa,hold the fuselage up to the light and place a straight edge against the wood,as you run it along the surface you will note any bumps in the surface,just rework these areas with your abrasive papers until you are happy with the result.

For adhesives use Aliphaetic resin glue,this yellowy mixture sands well and does not have the rubbery quality of ordinary PVA for this particular job,a medium sized bottle will last a long time.

We are going to finish the planking properly in another tutorial,forget the heat shrink films for this one,I am going to show you how to do the job properly as the modelling crafstmen of yesteryear used to,and get a great finish at the same time,meanwhile grab a cuppa and admire your handiwork in the knowledge that you have done the job correctly !

To all my good readers-Part 4 of my story continues shortly,some necessary vintage photographs have now been located,these have not seen the light of day for over 45 years !

 

[Guest]

Barry,

I have to say your life story is fascinating so far, you could write a book about your Father, never mind yourself!

I am amazed, and it made me realise just how much I fall short, at how much you know about your Father. My knowledge of mine is no-where near as in depth and I am left wondering whether I should be questioning my Mother more while I still have the chance.

Very interesting stuff though and obvious where you get your love of all things flying. I look forward to more.