carlstavros Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) ..... Edited January 19, 2016 by carlstavros 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Electric Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Not even heard of one of these!! A very unusual and interesting choice... and in the kooky Heller 1/50 scale too! Will be following this one with a lot of interest! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Ooo. I shall be watching this with great interest. I did most of my hours for the NPPL on a T67M at Bagby. Liked it very much. Constant speed prop - nice for aeros (hard to roll well cos of the long wings) and lovely bubble canopy. Wish I had one of those kits.....ah well. Shall just have to enjoy it vicariously through your build Carl. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Another personal build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) This will be interesting to see. I didn't fly 'UA or 'UI, but flew 4 others (G-BLVI, BONT, BUUC and BNSP) when I went through the JEFTS course at Topcliffe in 1994. Those four had slightly more room in the cockpit than the others (slimmer stick tops and throttles, perhaps; can't really remember) so, being 6'3", I didn't fit too well into the rest of the fleet! Abiding memory: being upside down at the top of a loop as the sun was going down during my Final Handling Test, when the examiner looked up at the nose-to-tail traffic jam and said, "Look at all the poor people!" Not the most politically correct comment, especially as I was only there thanks to good luck and the taxpayer, but in the circumstances I thought it better to stay quiet... Happy days! Jon Edited January 4, 2014 by Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Very interesting! Didn't realise the similarity between the Fournier and Slingsby. This one should be worth watching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlstavros Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 This will be interesting to see. I didn't fly 'UA or 'UI, but flew 4 others (G-BLVI, BONT, BUUC and BNSP) when I went through the JEFTS course at Topcliffe in 1994. Those four had slightly more room in the cockpit than the others (slimmer stick tops and throttles, perhaps; can't really remember) so, being 6'3", I didn't fit too well into the rest of the fleet! Jon Jon, I believe that during the 90's the larger bubble canopy and lower seats were introduced to the then Hunting fleet to allow the wearing of flying helmets, I seem to remember that two M260 aircraft retained their lower canopies for air displays. I've worked on all the aircraft you mentioned by the way.... Ooo. I shall be watching this with great interest. I did most of my hours for the NPPL on a T67M at Bagby. Liked it very much. Constant speed prop - nice for aeros (hard to roll well cos of the long wings) and lovely bubble canopy. Wish I had one of those kits.....ah well. Shall just have to enjoy it vicariously through your build Carl. Steve It took me a while to find one myself Steve, I didn't realise this kit was available until recently and I seem to remember a chap in the states contacting me after I put a post in the wanted section. They are quite rare as I've never seen one other than on Fleabay in the US. I was hoping to get checked out on our Firefly yesterday but the weather was naff! I've made a start by having a look at the cockpit parts and comparing it with the real thing and filling and sanding the wings. I'll try and upload some pictures later. I have only just noticed that there aren't any instructions in the box although the kit is pretty basic so I should be ok! Cheers, Carl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 That's interesting Carl - even in the four with the 'bigger' cockpits I couldn't wear a helmet due to the lack of headroom, so had to wear a headset instead. Those of us who were of non-standard height looked quite comical during Instrument Flying training, as we had to wear a back-to-front baseball cap with the IF visor velcroed in place. Imagine lanky gangsta Darth Vader in a green gro-bag and deep pink parachute.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlstavros Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 (edited) Ok, first (slow) progress.... Wings glued together and fabric detail filled on the wings and flaps. The ailerons are covered in ceconite on the real thing so I'm leaving the detail on the kit. The warp seems to have disapeared since glueing together. Cockpit assembled and test fitted. I've since added a few details to busy it up a bit. The seats needed quite a bit of thinning down as they looked more like armchairs, they also had bad sink marks that were filled and sanded. Cowlings assembled. And I couldn't resist a quick tape together to see how it's gonna look! The canopy appears to be quite thick although it's quite clear. I've had a bit of a test fit and to my eye it doesn't look too low as first thought so I think I'll live with it. I just have to work out how to do away with the ridge line on the inside rear of the the canopy. That's all for now, I'm quite impressed so far how well everything fits together. Cheers, Carl. Edited January 14, 2014 by carlstavros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 An interesting thread mate and like others an aircraft I haven't come across before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acky190 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Any more progress on this mate? I am thinking of trying to get hold of one to complement my RAF trainer collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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