Pin Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) On March 14 1960 SAS Boeing 707 en route from New York to Stockholm with refueling stop in London Gatwick was struck by lightning and lost power in three of four engines. The pilots issued "MayDay" and attempted successful emergency water landing in Baltic Sea in proximity of USSR territorial waters, all passengers and crew were eventually picked up by Soviet coast guard and emergency vessels but the plane sunk and was written off as a hull loss.By that time the only Soviet long range civil type was turboprop Tu-114 derived from Tu-95 bomber. Although being comfortable and reliable the type cruise speed was about Mach 0.71. The development of faster Il-62 was in its early stages therefore the opportunity to study one of the most advanced western types to speed up development was too good to miss. The plane was quickly and secretly salvaged from the bed of relatively shallow Baltic Sea and transferred to Yakovlev design bureau for studying. In September 1960 during the meeting in the Ministry of Aviation Industry Yakovlev mentioned that his bureau could deliver long range jet ariliner prototype based on reverse engineered 707 quicker and cheaper than Ilyushin that had given a green light for copying of 707 as Yak-62 as Il-62 competitor. Indeed, Yak-62 has made its first flight in July 1961 and after completion of state trials was recommended for mass production that begun in late 1962.Although based on 707 design Yak-62 was not its 100% copy - it was redesigned to comply with Soviet standards, dimensions and manufacturing process that made it 8% heavier than original 707. Soviets decided not to copy RR Convays but use four Kuznetsov NK-9 engines that had similar characteristics but were slightly more fuel hungry. Visually Yak-62 had different nose (early versions even had glass navigator cabin instead of radar), fuselage length, wing profile, cabin window layout, engine pylons and nacelles.Yak-62 was intended solely for internal use and served long haul routes such as Moscow-Khabarovsk and Moscow-Vladivostok. Unlike Tu-114 and later Il-62 Yak-62 was not considered as "achievement of Socialism" and therefore was not offered for export on international exhibitions. Its western ancestry was the reason of its quick withdrawal from service - although appreciated by passengers and crews alike all 34 of produced machines were replaced by Il-62 in just 15 years.I once bought a lot on e-bay that contained three airliners I truly wanted to build one day but the fourth was Airfix 707. I'm not a big fan of the type and this "WhatIf GB" is perhaps the only chance for it to be built Edited November 28, 2015 by Pin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Cool. A touch of Cold War intrigue makes any back story more exciting. I'm interested to see what modifications you have planned for this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 Not much. Most of "modifications" are known inaccuracies of Airfix kit Besides that I'm planning to rescribe, replace all antennae and use decal windows of different shape and spacing At the moment I filled cabin and cockpit windows and closed the fuselage - pics to follow soon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Main parts are rescribed and primed to reveal defectsOne may easily recognise the difference between 707 and Yak-62 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Nice to see this one moving forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Airfix does not provide turbine imitation. First tried to make it from paper soaked in super glue but was not too happy with the results. Then recalled that the engines of Avro RJ are of similar diameter and decided to cast copies.I used magic japanese substance that is getting soft in boiled water and hardens under normal temperature - it makes it possible to produce simple forms much faster than with silicon. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Cool way to get the engine detail produced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Main legs. The ones from the kit are not elegant enough to my liking Yet another coat of Mr.Surfacer. Each time I find some new area to sand - perfectionist nightmare 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 A coat of white 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Cool back story. I'm intrigued as to what the scheme will be. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptormodeller Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Looking forward to the finished post, keep it up! Chomp chomp -raptor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Finished? Not that quick!SMW, as usual, is quite inspirational 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Designing the decal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 Final decal maquetteRegistration will be taken from sparesPrinted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 Yak-62 was known for its very large cabin windows- largest of its class, made from specially formulated "aeroglass". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 It certainly looks 'right' to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 On her feet 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Complete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Totally missed this WIP Pin, great job! looks great in this scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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