John B (Sc)

Interesting. So Airfix now have a Spitfire Mk 1a, Mk V and Mk IX in 1:24th. Quite a line up; presumably that completes their likely Spitfre output (please!), though I agree with wellsprop, a Seafire would be nice, to display wings folded. Maybe I need to get my old Mark 1a and the Mk V built...

"Left hand down a bit, Mr Pertwee."

It will be interesting to hear from the more expert amongst us, over the next few months, if articles are being recycled, or believably 'tweaked' for re-use. What a shame if that happens; a once good magazine.

Indeed. I recall the F104s being shiny and new and then the F-5s and RF-5s. God grief, where have the years gone? Just whizzed by !

Hello Dominic. Like many of us, I was very sorry to hear of your father's death; he was a really lovely man to listen to. Glad you intend to carry on modelling, especially with all the reference materials you must have ! Welcome to this madhouse.

There are some fascinating bits and pieces around the edges of that hangar, including what look like two extraordinarily long slender wings, trestled up. Maybe high altitude reconnaissance power sailplane prototypes or similar? John B

If it is not it must be very close to it ! Very dubious behaviour and likely to rebound on them. A great shame, because that was once a good, worthwhile magazine.

Interesting discussion. The Siskin tail is unusually complex; I wonder why the designer didn't do a Cub style screwjack just on the horizontal tail? (There must have been some interesting loads on the pivot - additional twist load because of the rudder. ) The tailplane surfaces on most fabric covered light aeroplanes that I am aware of are essentially fairly flat plates, bevelled at front and rear. Simple and cheaper to build. Some may be tapered - having thinner trailing edges than leading, mostly for structural reason s- the LE needs more strength for attachment points and to absorb deflection loads. As was said earlier, even without a specifically aerofoil shape, they act as aerofoils under any deflection of airflow. I can't say I have noticed much pillowing or hollowing/dishing of fabric surfaces on deflection. Admittedly that has mostly been when looking at ailerons and wings rather than tail surfaces, which I'd only look at occasionally on a glance back - they do often vibrate quite a lot in flight, even when well braced ! Wing surfaces, even under reasonable aerobatic loads only show minor pillowing at most, in my experience. Different fabrics and different aircraft do show different effects though. Depends on the materials and the tautening process I suppose. Incidentally, I don't think metal skinned light aircraft such as the Cessna 150 or Piper Cherokee have anything fancy as tailplane aerofoil sections either - it's a long time since I looked at one carefully, but I think they are also more or less rounded plate type cross-sections, for ease of manufacture. (*Correction: the Cessna 172 does have aerofoil shaped tail feathers - and I recall the Rallye I used to fly also had aerofoil tail contours) Some lighter machines such as modern sailplanes may have fully aerofoil tail surfaces, for efficiency. Easy enough to do in fibreglass moulding.

As James said, the Zvezda kit is better by a large margin. In addition to what James said, it has good internal detailing as well, if you want to model with doors open, I like the old Airfix kit, which is still OK with a bit of work for a 'standoff scale' model. If I was to do another Hercules, the Zvezda kit would be my clear choice, despite the cost. John B

Impressive! Well done the boys ...

It was to house some additional avionics equipment - the Venom fuselage was fairly tight on space. Not sure precisely what, shall check further. Clearly not vital for flight, since some ex-Swiss machines have had earlier style noses re-fitted I think. Though modern miniaturisation might explain that.

I too recall as a youngster building the P1127, and later modifying one to be an attempt at a Kestrel, I was really pleased with my Tripartite Squadron roundels. Pity I didn't take photos - I bet they were pitiful. I even painted one up as a Harrier-to-be in camouflage - and was so delighted when Airfix produced their first GR1.

Hmm - impressive Paul. What happened to that one I wonder. (Especially apposite for us because after weeks of unsuitable weather we finally got a chance to test fly (Permit renewal) our Champ today. From a slightly soggy but acceptable grass strip. Oh boy, the mud splashes on landing, all over the tail and under the wings! Needed several buckets of water.)

Blast. Just read this, and like several others I had been reading his Tailpiece in the last SAM earlier today. A nice guy. Seahawk - I agree with your comments, as another anonymous face in the crowd. One of the true gentlemen of our hobby. John B

Thanks exdraken. Wasn't aware of that.

Impressive order and whee, another scheme to use, eventually. 'exdraken' - you mention 'KH is no longer' - ??? Which company is that ? Not Kinetic I hope.

Wow! Most impressive and from a 'different time' ! Gutsy flying indeed, and noticeably slow at the start of the 'flare' to level flight, given the deck angle. I wonder where that was- it looks like a grass strip, not a tarmac/concrete runway in sight. The white 'vehicle' early in the sequence made me wonder if it was a gliding site. Someone must know the story ! Thanks for posting it up.

I seem to recall there was also some very quiet talk afterwards amongst the Kipper Fleet boys which suggested some recce operations went on by maritime Nimrods supported by tanker Victors down towards South Georgia (Possibly one Victor also took part in the recce element) and at least one sweep near to the Argentine coast checking for elements of their surface fleet - presumably the 25 de Mayo. All kept very secret - if true, which I suspect it was, impressively brave work by all involved, Unarmed Nimrods at fairly low level, deliberately seeking. An extraordinarily dangerous game, - more so than the much hyped Vulcan efforts. From what I know of Kipper fleet folk, they would have done it and kept strictly schtumm. The close relationship between the Maritime force and the Navy always intrigued me.

I'd agree with that!

My memory is that the Sea King AEW capability then appeared with impressive speed after the Falklands war

Hmm, well at least one of those names doesn't inspire confidence. A gentleman who allegedly was 'released' from his role for having played fast and loose with some of the samples provided by manufacturers. Those with long memories and useful contacts will know to whom I refer. That 'curiosity' aside, the gentleman had an odd style anyway - which i my view is not terribly encouraging for their future!

"There was a counter argument that the radar shouldn't be used as Argentine pilots knew when they were being "lit up" by the radar as they had RWR - Ward again argues that this is a good thing as the Argentines therefore new there were Harriers in the area, tracking them and that this would deter Argentine pilots from continuing an attack." To my mind this showed how well Lt Cdr Ward was thinking as a leader, not a fighter pilot. Their job was to deter, disrupt or stop attacks by opposing aircraft. Shooting them down was of secondary importance. Hadn't heard of Adm Woodward's order; that sounds very strange, given his lack of aviation expertise, unless those like Captain Middleton or the CO of 800Sqn felt that pilot morale was an issue. Odd one, unless it was an order about not using radar too close into the fleet or on a vector direct from the fleet, since that would give away fleet position. I'm sure I read something about that, whether from Ward or others, not sure. As for opinionated, self confident - yes that certainly defines fighter pilots - actually I'd say it well defines most pilots, certainly those who are enthusiastic long term pilots. Confidence in your own abilities is important when faced by 'challenging' conditions, and given how large the sky is and how awe-inspiring the weather can be, a certain amount of self confidence or arrogance that you can deal with the issues matters. And that is without people shooting at you! This is also why aviation puts so much effort today into pilot psychology and attitudes. Opinionated - surely not? Just go into any crew room or flying club bar... !

From my reading, the bulk of the comments on PPrune are from ex-RAF folk who are not the least biased people around, Are they qualified? I rather doubt it., in most cases. There has been FAA vs RAF banter and dispute for many years, some justified , some less so. I think both Squadrons had RAF pilots successfully integrated within them; the aggro I suspect comes from people probably never near the action, or those like the Hercules pilot Ward mentions who claimed to be on 'active war duty' weeks after all the fighting had ceased. Technically true but - yawn. Lt Cdr Ward was clearly not the most tactful of people, but then in a war situation, tact often comes second. He also clearly enjoys winding up the 'light blue'! It does seem from the evidence that 801 Sqn did get better radar operation; I think they had had longer to get used to and tweak the set up. That, combined with 801's different patrol and loiter tactics generally worked better than 800's approach. I get the impression that 800 was inhibited rather by being under the direct eye of the overall commander, Adm Woodward, who had no aviation experience - a submariner. Possibly the style of Lyn Middleton . CO of Hermes, contributed, though I suspect he too found having the Task Force commander flying his flag aboard a strain. (He definitely wasn't happy with the RAF Harriers at first) In contrast, Invincible seems to have been rather more relaxed with a closer understanding between the seniors involved. Overall, despite the strains and evident disagreements about tactics and deployments, a great job was done by all, against the odds.

I agree with des and Muzz. Take your time and put in the effort it comes out well. Looks and 'feels' like a real heavyweight aeroplane, just like the real thing was. I've done several now and am just now working on an all dark grey FAA machine from Lossiemouth back in the great old days of the Navy. But yes, I expect Airfix will do a new tool, eventually. At quite a price, no doubt. Their retooled 1/72nd Buccaneer - their third 1/72 moulding - is excellent.

Thanks all. Yes gingerbob, I did finally realise that the OP was talking (implying) 1/48th. I have all these variants already in1 /72, except the PR10. Shall check on the presence/absence of airbrakes on my kits. I suspect they are are old enough to have the error; they were bought in a reduced price sale many moons ago! . Some filling and re-scribing might deal with it adequately. Super - and winter just coming along, right time for this sort of mulling - well done mackem01 !