Dazey Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Hello all, I am going to build the Special Hobby CAC Wirraway ("first blood over Rabaul" version in 1/72) and am hoping for some advice: Do any of the folk here know whether the flaps were the same between the Wirraway and North American NA-16/Texan/Harvard? I think there are PE sets for the Texan but not the Wirraway. If they are a little different, I don't mind trying my hand at metal surgery! I think the kit's machine guns will need replacing, too – does anyone know of resin/metal upgrades for Vickers Mk 5 0.303” barrels and Vickers gas-operated Mk 1 0.303” guns? Many thanks in advance, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Hello, Dayey Just a short remark about flaps: under the central wing section Texan had one piece flap and Wirraway had two with not so narrow gap between them. Cheers Jure 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 A bit of background: The Wirraway used a different wing to the Texan. The NA-16 design had continuing problems with handling at the stall, and spin. Various fixes were tried including slats on the outer panels, and washout (reduced incidence near the tip) but the final solution was a longer rear fuselage, new rudder and reduced sweep on the wing. The earlier versions of the wing had a straight trailing edge and round (or round with slightly squared tips): this is what is seen on the Wirraway and the Harvard Mk.I, which are close sisters. I wasn't aware of this difference to the centre-section flaps, but just to be awkward the Yale with it's early wing has the one-piece centre-section flap. The other point to bear in mind is that the portion of the flap on the outer wing panel will have a different sweep angle, and may (I'm sticking my neck out here) have a slightly different span. So the early flap is a pure rectangle, the late one a parallelogram. It might be fixable and livable with, but you'll have to see. Once you step away from the standardised T-6 (not without its own variations) to model earlier members of the family, there's a minefield of changes lurking. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJP Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Best to be aware that late Wirraways had a plain flap whereby the upper surface was attached to the flap and came down with it when the flaps were lowered. The original variants had a split flap (the upper surface stayed stationery while the lower surface was lowered). Early machines also had a triangular cutout next to the aileron. When the changes were made I do not know but photographs are available on the 'net. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Hello I understand all Wirraways retained split flaps throughout the WWII. According to Profile publication ordinary flap conversions had not been carried out until after the end of the war, when a number of Wirraways had been brought to CA-20 standard, which also included wing replacement. These plane served as post-war trainers for RAN. With the Lark Force Wirraways one hardly needs to worry about this. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJP Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Yes, right up to the point of assuming a picture of a late one as indicative of what an early one looked like. The error is likely to be recognised only after the mods. have been made. Grief ensues. Ask me how I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Hello Do not have to ask, RJP, I presume you are talking from a personal experience, probably not the happy one. Photos can be misleading, agreed, so here are quotes: ˝The split flaps, fitted to early Wirraways were supplemented later on by dive brakes.˝, ˝The Royal Australian Navy used the Wirraway for training purposes at Nowra after the war, aircraft being converted specially for the Navy as CA-20.˝, The Commonwealth Wirraway, Profile Publications, 1967. CA-20s were converted from earlier sub-types and are not even on production list. Also, I have never seen a photo of a wartime Wirraway without split flaps. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Intel. http://dbdesignbureau.buckmasterfamily.id.au/drawings_cac_wirraway.htm Chris 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted March 2, 2017 Author Share Posted March 2, 2017 Hi all, Thanks very much for the advice and pointers. I had seen the dbdesignbureau plans for the Wirraway, but nothing too revealing there for the flaps (at least no more than the kit's plastic!). I may give the Texan flaps a go (although I may be better off putting the effort and money into other after-market goodies). Regardless, it seems like I've got a bit more homework to do. Kind regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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