general melchett Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) Hi all, Not sure where to post this really but here seems as good as any. I was recently invited by our own John Lathwell, (12jaguar) to visit the old Alconbury airfield facility that is home to the Stirling Aircraft Project. John and his team have done an amazing job on reconstructing the front end of a Short Stirling, the ultimate aim being to complete the forward fuselage from the nose including bomb aimers station, front turret and cockpit 'canopy' (coupe) to just behind the wing leading edge, frame 20 if memory serves along with full camo paintwork and personal nose-art, (possibly McRoberts Reply). I only had to mention it to the rest of our merry gang at the Bomber Command sig and there was no shortage of folks wanting a visit and to see how things were progressing. Co-ordinating time off for everyone was a bit awkward and as such there will be other visits planned for next year for those that couldn't make it this time and so on this initial outing only five of us were to attend, (one chap went AWOL, missing in action, still don't know where he is, possibly fallen into enemy hands !). Myself and Neil Woodhall (woody37), Paul Hughes (Honeybee) and Richard Farrar (Hurrinut) made the trip and had a thoroughly enjoyable and informed time of it. Here are a few photos of the day..... Firstly the unit at Alconbury being used by the group at the present time...they've moved around the airfield a bit in the past but now have (almost) everything they need to crack on with the project, All manner of bits and pieces of Stirling were laying around in various areas all grouped according to their position on the airframe. These will be spacers for the main bomb bay...there are an awful lot of them needed and will be formed using a laser cutting facility with the assistance of Marshalls ADG which will cut the manufacturing time down significantly. Here's the second pilots seat and carrier frame along with floor sections, all accurately built up from patterns...the thing that looks like a handbrake is actually the seat height adjuster. And here is the whole unit complete with yokes, linkages and floor formers... And here's Paul...wondering how he can get it in the back of his Mondeo without anyone noticing ! John on the right and Cliff with the unit, progress on the first pilots seat is well underway. And all of us looking suitably gormless as required in a group photograph !, (looks like a day release outing from an episode of Derek !)...woody to the left, then Richard, Paul, yours truly (for some inexplicable reason performing a 'superhero stance' impression...most likely a call of nature !) and John....the only one with a sense of normality about him. This is quite something, the central throttle box...a work of art, still to be finished but certainly looking the part...Cliff is working on the other pilots seat. And here it is in its proper place. This gives you some idea of the size of the Stirlings cockpit......looks big until you start filling it up with equipment. These are the original pieces of the throttle box side walls in all their war torn glory..heavily damaged following a crash...it's amazing what the lads have achieved by studying these remains... Inside there are bits of Stirling everywhere...parts have been donated from various sources including crash sites in Europe. These are wing bomb bay doors..notice the remains of the night black paint... Here are the main gear legs clearly demonstrating the weak link which often tore during heavy and cross-wind landings....there are enough parts for a complete working undercarriage. Twin tail wheel unit.. A section of the upper wing complete with visible camo paint and outline of one of the upper wing fuel tank panels.....no deep trenches anywhere Italeri ! And of course a nearly complete pilots instrument panel. John's knowledge of the aircraft and its systems is remarkable... Racks of instrumentation adorned the side walls of the building, mostly radio and nav equipment...here for instance is a bomb sight. Sections like this may just look like so much scrap but they are extremely useful in determining the positioning of components and the paint colours used in specific parts of the aircraft. This section comes from the front port side of the cockpit illustrating the RAF grey/green paintwork. If the aircraft serial is known then it appears on a small tag attached to the parts. There is a wealth of supporting documentation and photographs at hand too many appearing on the wall for quick reference..here a Mk.IV cockpit layout.. And pilots seat harness arrangement...a dream for us BC modellers ! And finally John's lovely Italeri model...plenty of inspiration here There were two other 1/1 projects on the go in the building at the time too...a Sea Hornet and Chipmunk..both in early stages but with great potential ahead. All in all a great day out and if anyone else is interested in a visit then let me know and I'm sure something can be arranged...my sincere thanks to John and the team at the Stirling Aircraft Project for a great day out. Here's a link to the project.....well worth checking out. http://stirlingproject.co.uk/ Hope you found it of interest... Cheers all, Melchie... Edited August 19, 2015 by general melchett 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Excellent feature Andy. Perhaps I can ask our lot to negotiate a visit when we next go to Alconbury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Very interesting, and also very cool. Thanks for sharing. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Great report, thanks for that, it's nice to hear that the project team are still plugging away. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks chaps, appreciated..it's really great to see these groups alive and well and dedicated to their causes. It's one thing to read about it but to meet the chaps and feel the enthusiasm is something else. Perhaps I can ask our lot to negotiate a visit when we next go to Alconbury. No problem Frank, the more the merrier, these groups need all the support going, John's more than happy to accept group visits.....one pre-requisite though.......you must buy an SAP mug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Hi Melchie It was an absolute pleasure to host you all and it's great to hear such positive feedback on our work. It can be a bit isolated working away on a project like this and as it's now getting much bigger, it's getting more and more difficult to take stuff on the road. Thanks for the nice comments about my Stirling, I do my best in my own small way but marvel at the efforts of so many other fellow forumites. We're more than happy to receive visitors and if you follow Melchies advice, we'd best stock up on the mugs . Just PM me and we can sort something out regards John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomastmcc Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 worthy project.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Great stuff John, thanks again for hosting us.......pm inbound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Short Stirling in 1/1 scale? Now that's "man modelling"! Seriously though a great project and I wish them every success. I would love to see it one day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 And you'd be more than welcome JohnT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 All power to your arms gentlemen, including Mr Collins' Hornet. You have a fantastic project on the go there, it's already something very special and in the end will be truly awe-inspiring. One question, when you've finished the Stirling front end, are you going to need to dismantle the building around it to get it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 That's a good point...John mentioned something about removing the coupe, (canopy) in order to slide it out... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 All power to your arms gentlemen, including Mr Collins' Hornet. You have a fantastic project on the go there, it's already something very special and in the end will be truly awe-inspiring. One question, when you've finished the Stirling front end, are you going to need to dismantle the building around it to get it out? Quite possibly We already know that we cannot permanently fit the coupe (canopy) inside the building unless we demolish the end wall. This will obviously be a long way off, but as they're redeveloping the whole airfield the likelihood is that our building will have to come down at some point although hopefully we'll have the fuselage completed externally by that point at least John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Great write up Andy, big thanks to the chaps working on the project. Can't wait to see the day when the turret is mounted in front of all that lot and a canopy sits over it. That said John, perhaps you could hire Rambo to go and find that Stirling in Russia and bring it back. We'll buy a few more mugs to help out with his air fare 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Cheers Neil......I would go myself but I don't think the Pug's up to dragging it back across the Russian Steppes and up the A1... One thing, hopefully we will have John and maybe Cliff on the Bomber Command table at Telford this year so anyone interested can swing by for a chat about the project and all things Stirling as our theme this year will be a celebration of its 70th anniversary into service. So many models, hopefully pieces of real Stirling and plenty of mugs (and I don't mean us bozos behind the table !).. Be great to see you all there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 That's great about John and Cliff joining us, I'm guessing this will be the first time so many stirrings will have been together since the war....well in 1/72, but never the less impressive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Alan Bardell Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Great Project - I love the Stirling. I would be very interested if another visit was planned! I wish the team members well, its a huge job, but it looks as if its going in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Hi Paul You'd be very welcome John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Paul and anyone else interested in the project, if you're going to Telford pop across to the Bomber Command table for a chat about it.........and of course all things Stirling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Thanks for posting this general, Very nice pics. Will certainly come see the bomber Command table at Telford. Hope to meet John too after all those years we have been in contact. No news on BK710 at the moment. Many parts were provided to the project. Cheers Cees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Hi Cees As a long term friend of the Project, it will be great to meet you at long last. Be nice if you could make it to Alconbury to catch up on things John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 John, That would be on top if my list if opportunity knocks. Cees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Alan Bardell Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Thanks for the invite - i hope to be at Telford for at least one of the days. I will make sure I drop by the Bomber Command Table. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 Be great to see you there Paul, and of course anyone else who cares to amble over for a chat about the Stirling and Bomber Command in General.......... (see what I did there, oh never mind)..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Nice(?) to see the picture of you lot in the flesh, as it were! But you General, in your dungarees! How working class!; what would Sir Doug say? Still, nice to see you have the correct Superman stance as befits your lofty status. On a serious note, brilliant work those chaps are doing. It would be something if they could reconstruct at least one of the main landing gear legs - that would be impressive in its own right. It's always great to see people restoring or making replicas of historic aeroplanes like the Stirling. By the by, when you pop off to Russia on your Stirling hunt, would you mind picking me up an Il-2 - 80% complete would do, I should think. I have enough bits of actual Shturmovik in my storeroom and my house to complete it myself. Your Humble Servant, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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