discussion Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-History repeats itself-The Typhoon.

Now this would make a great scale subject,research on 3 Squadron states that they operated the Hawker Typhoon from February 1943 to March 1944,they used the codes QO-,todays modern Typhoon sophisticated jet aircraft flew with the very same codes used on those original aircraft,a model of each in these distinctive markings would certainly be an eye catcher,and above all what a piece of history in miniature ?

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-A glimpse of the new Airfix TSR-2 kit.

TSR-2 Model by Airfix.

A few shots of the sprues and the beautifully executed decal sheet,the only crib that I have seen so far has been the detail around the inner jet intakes and the lack of cockpit detail,neither of which really present any big problems for the determined model builder.

Note that the pale blue of the roundals was typical of the anti-flash nuclear era,just like the Vulcans,Victors and Valiants in service with the OCU's Operational Conversion units,the general idea being that the white would reflect the nuclear radiation after the mission had been completed.So after all of these years we finally got our injection moulded TSR-2,Airfix have dragged this one out more than any other kit that they have produced,you can bet your life that sales will soar,it is just the injection that Airfix have needed,the start of a new era perhaps ?

A few sprue pictures and the lovely decal sheet of the new ( at February 2006 ) Airfix TSR-2

 

[Guest]

Everyone should have 2 of these kits one should be painted in service colours ie green and grey no1 or 617 squadron and the other either cosford or duxfords example

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Wonwing & the The Men from the Ministry.

Well you asked for it,so here it is,how did a youthful Wonwing get arrested in connection with the TSR-2 project ? yes it is true I must be the only person ever to get arrested for possession of a photograph taken in a museum,here is the full story of what happened-

During the build up to the TSR-2 programme there was the utmost secrecy involved,it was vital that valuable information did not get into the wrong hands,as it happened the Russians did in fact eventually copy the TSR-2 design,as design details leaked back to the various design bureaus,the results were a much uglier looking design with the usual lack of finesse attached to them,the factories were on full security alert in readiness for the aircrafts extensive test programme,in fact that is what supposed to have happened but things sort of went very pear shaped, and the aircraft was the subject of the biggest ministrial blunderings ever as to cancellation of a manned aircraft,during this period of utter confusion,nobody told the security folk that the aircraft had been axed overnight and that their services were no longer required,consequently they went about their everyday tasks of checking every avenue where the details of this aircraft could be found out.

Meanwhile a young Wonwing,was working for an aircraft maintenance company earning a few pounds to make a living,to supplement this income he was gradually building up a vast library of aircraft photographs which one day would number some 150,000 individual pictures of aircraft worldwide,a small catalogue was made up and a scheme arranged whereby photographs could be exchanged or sold to broaden the collection,to this end he would take every single opportunity to visit different establishments throughout the UK including the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield where,surprise,surprise there was a complete and full sized example of a TSR-2,the opportunity was taken to add a set of photographs to the list and the type was a knock-out,in those days I used to do my very own black and white processing,every night the bath would be full of prints being cleaned of the photographic acid fixative much to my parents annoyance ! they would then be dried out in the airing cupboard,the best place in the house which just happened to be in my bedroom.

As the list developed and more exchanges made,I built up a large circle of correspondents,many of them worked at airports worlwide mostly civil,but in one case there was a serving R.A.F officer from Abingdon in Oxfordshire with whom I innocently exchanged photographs of aeroplanes,as the exhanges went on he requested if I had any pictures of the TSR-2 ? I sent on a small batch of this aircraft and then thought no more about it,so there you have the basics now for what happened a few months later...

I was working one day inside the fuselage of a small twin engined aircraft at work when someone called out my name,I emerged from the cockpit to be confronted with two very official looking characters with brief cases escorted by two policemen ! as soon as I was on the hangar floor they grabbed me by each arm and frog marched me off to a waiting car with not a word mentioned,they then drove me for miles arund country lanes as they fired numerous questions at me,still baffled and I can tell you terrified ! I just sat there with these big burly officials jamming me in the car,then they asked to where I lived and the policemen headed the car in that direction,we arrived at my home and you can imagine my mother was wondering what on earth was going on ? more questions followed and then they came round to my large collection of photographs which they asked to see,they made a right mess sorting clumsily through them disturbing years of work and filing in one swoop,they appeared to be selecting certain ones at random nearly all R.A.F machines,they put them into a large envelope,never even gave me a receipt for them and left without anything further said,I now know that they were from the R.A.F Military Police at Northolt and were investigating a spy ring set up in the UK,I was unfortunately in the middle of all this having supplied a few innocent pictures to the guy at Abingdon,they must have intercepted his mail on the base and found the pictures of the TSR-2,a few weeks later I had a letter from them, saying that they demanded an explanation as to where the pictures of the TSR-2 had been taken and were coming down again to interview me,they visited me again,at work once again this time I was requested to attend the managers office,all of this was getting a bit tedious and tiring,I explained that the TSR-2 was now in a museum and they grunted something at me in their arrogant manner,I also could not help asking if they knew about its existance there,they did not reply ? the manager for whom I also took official photographs of company aircraft before and after overhaul,he also vouched for my enthusiasm for which I was very grateful,the R.A.F police from Northolt were very rude and un-imformative,I just did not know where I stood at this time,or indeed even what I had done wrong ? they left once again non the wiser as to what they were trying to ascertain so once again I had to stick it out before receiving yet another communication from them,this time it was more in my favour coming from a senior officer at Northolt,it apologised for any inconvenience but said that it was only doing its job and I was clear of everything,in the papers at that time was an article on a major spy ring in the UK that included serving officers in the R.A.F,it was all now clearly clicking into place as to my supposed part in all of this,I was innocent and they had egg on their faces,especially not knowing the full story behind the demise of the TSR-2 project,imagine a secret aircraft being placed almost instantly into a museum for everyone to see and be photographed ? this story is an example of the incompetance of people supposed to be in the know.

This story has never been related before to anyone, so is an insight into what pressures the cold war placed onto people in those days including a very frightened Wonwing.

 

[Guest]

I can just Imagine " So comrade Wonwing you have a Zenit camera or if you were high up in the ring a Practica with a carl ziess lens ohhhh and i bet his teacher was mr Burgess lol

 

[wonwinglo]

*** Nobody meddles with Wonwing,a force to reckon with,may the force be with you Nigel !

I can just Imagine " So comrade Wonwing you have a Zenit camera or if you were high up in the ring a Practica with a carl ziess lens ohhhh and i bet his teacher was mr Burgess lol

 

[Guest]

Barry,

I had visions of you in a cell, chained to the wall on bread and water!!

Did you ever get the pictures back? Have you got one of the TSR2's you can post?

I am more convinced than ever that you should write a book. I bet the collection of pictures alone would make a very interesting book without your added Blog!

 

[wonwinglo]

*** I think it got very close to bread and water and the thumbscrews Richard,no they never had the decency to return the photographs but somewhere I have the old negatives,research collating everything together is still ongoing for the eventual story,there is more to tell than I first imagined.

The main thing that this revealed was the sheer stupidity of those officials.

Barry,I had visions of you in a cell, chained to the wall on bread and water!!

Did you ever get the pictures back? Have you got one of the TSR2's you can post?

I am more convinced than ever that you should write a book. I bet the collection of pictures alone would make a very interesting book without your added Blog!

 

[Guest]

thanks for sharing

Hello all, thanks Barry for sharing the story. I'm impressed by the casual detachment in what was surely a nerve wracking time. Thankfully you didn't have to visit the glasshouse.

cheers

Jim

p.s. anyone want to buy a full and comprehensive Colour / B&W processing and printing kit for 35mm or will I keep it for a museum piece.

J

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Building from plans-Part 13

Having explained the process of building in the useful process of Blue foam lets discuss a few more scale subjects,each one of these has been chosen as an exciting and suitable subject for the lightweight radio systems now available today,gone are the days when servos,receivers and batteries weighed a ton,small cobalt electric motors serve as reliable powerplants for all of these designs,commercial propellers are available and multi designs can have the motors suitably linked,you will need more than one speed controller, but there is plenty of advice available from the various suppliers who will assist you with the wiring diagrams.

One way to determine the centre of gravity and test out any tailplane or fin areas is to make a balsa chuck glider of the design first,all you need to do is a flattie,ie sheet fuselage and wings,experiment with different settings until you arrive at a satisfactory one,these models are not only cheap to build,but immense fun to fly.

Caribou.

The Caribou offers a spacious fuselage,high set tail and easy shapes to reproduce as a model subject.

PBY-5A CATALINA

Who could possibly resist a Catalina amphibian ? the fuselage is just like one big float,imagine one of these down the boating pool ?

Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck.

Clean easy to model lines on this one,twin ducted fan electrics would be ideal.

DHC Chipmunk.

The lovely De Havilland Chipmunk still proves popular with modellers.

Sikorsky S-43 Clipper.

If you can build a Catalina then how about a Clipper flying boat ?

Antonov AN-2 Colt.

The popular Antonov AN-2 would make a superb subject,you could make a four bladed prop by splicing two together at the hub,make sure that the joints are sound and re-inforced.

Curtiss C-46 Commando.

A change from a Dakota,how about this one ?

 

[Guest]

sorry to revert to an earlier point in the blog BUT....

that tsr2 event is highly intresting! Ive quite an intrest in spying, methods and obviously the cold war era. I know the incident that you talk about as its mentioned in a couple of books ive read. It went straight to the top and was linked through to all sorts of other networks.

Sounds to me like they thought you were false-flagged, a process used to recruit agents in another state. The beauty of it is that the recruit thinks they are either helping their own country or not doing anything wrong (yourself being the latter) because the controller plays the part of a fellow citizen.

Did you have any other contact with the guy you passed the photos onto after the event?

 

[wonwinglo]

Squiffy,the people concerned were the R.A.F Police and MI5 based at Northolt,you are probably right in what you have said,the cold war era was paranoia on both sides,totally over the top tactics,I wish now that I had kept those letters as they would probably be historic,to be honest I was so disgusted at the whole affair at that time that just threw them away,I think the reason that I got involved was when they opened his mail at the gatehouse at Abingdon,they probably had scanning equipment and found my photographs,it was a bit odd because out of hundreds of correspondents he was the only one on my list who was a serving member of the forces,but being so innocent and wrapped up in my photographic sideline I never flinched.

If you ever find the details in those books I would like to see what they say about that operation.

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-A flight in an airship-The Fuji Skyship 500

If you have ever wondered what it is like sitting inside an airship then there is one word 'Whale' fourteen years ago I was asked to write two articles,one on what it was like flying in an airship,and the other a balloon,the opportunity came along for the first when the famous Fuji Skyship 500 visited our area,after waiting for the weather to settle the big day came,even getting into one of these monsters is nothing like a normal aircraft,each passenger had to be weighed individually and critical calculations made up to make sure the ship would rise into the sky,Airships have come a long way since the early German Zeppelins that used to come over and drop bombs filled with old iron and nails,the Skyship was built by Airship Industries from Cardington in Bedford, and intended for more peaceful activities,mostly for aerial advertising with a company logo emblezoned on the sides,Fuji realised the potential after flying an example all over Japan,within two weeks sales of film had doubled in that country,proof of the potential of the airship as an advertising medium as everyone looks skyward to see what is happening,so they extended their activities to the UK touring everywhere and flying a few lucky passengers like myself.

As a camera platform the airship excells,being so steady and with a relatively un-obstructed view underneath,there have been many occasions when they have been used for public events and been the platform for TV crews covering sporting events.

To fly they are like nothing else,being a machine that needs a bit of thought before any control inputs are made,there is a slight time lag so if you pull back to climb she responds somewhat slowly,and likewise to come down,airships require a good reliable ground crew,being lighter than air the airship approaches the ground as guy ropes are restrained by the crew to hold her down ready for the passengers to swop over,thats right,one in and one out ! otherwise she could quite easily lift again,as the engines are opened up the ship becomes even lighter defying gravity and climbing away at a very steep angle,unlike the Zeppelins which were classed as rigid airships filled with lots of balloonets,the Skyships are non rigid and can be deflated,this is only done however if necessary as the cost is high to fill them with the special gas,the low pressure envelope is such that a lick of spittle will easily seal a small leak,the gas is perfectly safe, unlike the type used on the early airships which as we know is highly inflammable causing those terrible accidents with the early giant airships.

So what of the future for these machines ? well every now and again there are great plans to use airships in a more practical way,the U.S.Navy have for many years used them for surveillance out at sea,there was also a plan to build a very large airship to transport heavy materials across nations,and a modern day quiet passenger service with them,but today the main use is aerial advertising,something that they are good at,at least we have a reminder in our skies of these giants.

Airship Industries Skyship 500

Airship Industries Skyship 500 was used on an extensive advertising tour of the UK for the Fuji film company,seen here while at Baginton on 14-08-86.

The ground crews grab the gondola ready for the next set of passengers to get on-board,the whole operation of airships has to be carefully executed.

Crew hold on either side as the shrouded motors are kept running,the weight and balance are very fine,they have to be enable the airship to work properly.

What happened to G-BIHN Skyship ?

Well she was sold in the U.S.A as N502LP to Trans Continental Leasing Inc,Orlando.

A Skyship was supposed to have been blown up for a James Bond film,remember those scenes ?

 

[Guest]

i'll see if i can dig them out, its quite a traul so may take some time! Your blogs fasinating as usal!

 

[wonwinglo]

***Thanks Squiffy,it would just help complete the story and then I can add the notes and details to the biography later,that would be great,no hurry whatsoever,glad that you like the blogs I enjoy writing them,and sharing with others here.

i'll see if i can dig them out' date=' its quite a traul so may take some time! Your blogs fasinating as usal![/quote']

 

[Guest]

Barry, if you feel like another lighter than air trip. Grab a cheapo Ryanair flip to Freidrickshafen and you will land at the same airport used by the ZeppilinNT company. Their LTA trip is over the Bodensee Lake to the Swiss side with the Alps in background. The Zeppilin Museum in town,also has Maybach car collection. Time it for the Model Show in the Exhibition Halls 3 minutes from airship sheds. As well as all the usual types of models there is usualy r/c model airships flying round inside the 5 halls.

 

[Guest]

Barry,

There is a news article in March's Aeroplane magazine that I read on the way over that reports the Vulcan bomber based at Blackpool for more years than I care to remember has been broken up.

It was apparently purchased by a Manchester pub owner for 15 grand to display in his beer garden, which sounded a bit ambitious to me, but he couldn't move it and had to let it go for scrap.

I remember seeing that aircraft when I went to Blackpool to do a charity aircraft stunt ride. You had to generate so much sponsorship and then you did a series of stunts getting more and more frightening each time. Best thing I ever did so the next time I did a similar thing that involved me having to fly a loop. Made a lot of money for charity and I had the most fun I have ever had in on e day.

Anyway that was just before the Falklands and they had only just mothballed the Vulcan. As I am sure you know they very quickly got all the Vulcans out of mothballs and used them to bomb the runways on the Falklands prior to our lads landing there.

I can't believe that we allow such significant parts of out history to be scrapped then we support such "art" as some clown building a brick wall or cutting a cow in half and putting it in a fish tank.

It's like the closure last month of the Historic ships museum in Birkenhead, very sad and makes me want to give up.

 

[wonwinglo]

Richard,he tried to sell the Vulcan nose on E-bay,the problem was with that aircraft after all those years exposed to the salt air it was rotton,it showed a picture of the nose section which was all smashed with cockpit broken,a great pity that they let it get into this state of affairs,did you inow that when the museums in the UK ( more inland that is ) took delivery of their Vulcans,they were not expected to last beyond twenty years standing outside ? biggest travesty was the early Vulcan B.1 XA903 broken up at Cosford because it was in a dangerous state.

What happened to the ship museums exhibits ? were they passed onto other museums ?

Likewise the much lamented Museum of Army Transport at Beverly,a fantastic selection of vehicles and a Blackburn Beverly aircraft outside,very sad when a museum has to close its doors like this.

 

[Guest]

The ships futures are still undecided. HMS Bronnington is in a sorry state and needs an injection of cash to sort out a lot of corrosion and rotten woodwork.

The U-boat is going to prove the most difficult as it is sat on a concrete plinth. It is going to cost a fortune to move and I get the very uneasy feeling that there will be calls for it to be cut up. It is the only U-Boat in the UK and only one of about half a dozen left in existance.

Apparently when it was put there there was a lot of animosity in Liverpool as, of of a sudden, everyone hated everything German. Unbelievably narrow minded and sad. There were many brave and good people lost on both sides of the conflict and I think we need to respect them all.

 

[wonwinglo]

Richard,that would be vandalism to destroy that rare example of a U-Boat,it makes me cross to see such pieces of history destroyed,the oldest railway station in the UK has just been bulldozed in Birmingham to make for a pesky car park,there was no preservation order on it so the rail people took it into their own hands to destroy it.

I am very sorry to hear about the situation at Birkenhead,please keep us informed of any developments there.