Jonners

Some very interesting entries in people's lists here! Flown: Chipmunk Slingsby Venture C150 C172 PA-28 Cherokee 140 SA Bulldog Grob 109 CFM Shadow Slingsby Firefly Short Tucano Gazelle HT2/3 Bell 412 Sea King 3 (also briefly 3a & 5) AW139 (short demo flight) EC725 Caracal (demo flight) MD902 Explorer AS355F Twin Squirrel Sikorsky S-92 Flown in: Sea King 4 Puma Chinook Wessex various Nimrod Hunter T8b (briefly on the controls) Hawk T1 B727 B737 various B747 various B757 B767 DC-9 (jump seat, LBA - LHR rtn) DC-10 Tristar VC-10 A310 A319/320 A330 A340 Embraer 175/190 Embraer 135/145 Canadair CRJ Saab 2000 Saab 340 Jetstream J41 DHC Dash-8 Bombardier Q400 ATR 42/72 Sikorsky S-61N (both pax & demo P2) There might have been others, but I've lost track! Jon

Brilliant.

What they said! Superb.

This is great stuff, Mark; not sure how I've managed to miss this WiP so far, but I've just caught up. The Wessex is looking fantastic, in spite of Italeri's best efforts. A few years ago I had the privilege of visiting the various memorials around the small cove where most of the lifeboats and liferafts came ashore near Fitzroy. It was a glorious sunny day, very peaceful, and I was completely alone looking out across Port Pleasant (Bluff Cove being the intended destination, not the location) at a view that I had seen many times on the TV footage of the rescue efforts but obviously without the burning ship, helicopters and trauma. In fact, the view was exactly as it should be. I missed the last RAF Shawbury Wessex course by only a few months, but I was lucky enough to fly in quite a few of them (SAR, SARTU, 2 FTS, 84 Sqn, 72 Sqn) both 'up front' and in the back and have worked with lots of former Wessex aircrew. Happy days. Keep up the great work - nearly there! Jon

What a corker, Chris. Brush painted? Wow! Jon

You're quite right about the decoys, Pete, though they're on the north bank at The Outstray, Cherry Cobb Sands near Keyingham. Some ponds are rectangular, but others have odd inside or outside corners to simulate the dock corners. Each had a post with a light to shine down onto the water; I think at least one of these posts is still present. Staying on the WW2 theme, there are still quite a few anti-aircraft gun emplacements still in existence around Hull, as well as a much-overlooked spigot mortar mount and original public air raid shelter in the nearest town. In my own village there is a Norman motte and bailey site, a small church with clear Norman features, and the property next door used to be a wheelwright's workshop. My wife is a bellringer in the local Minster, which has allowed me rare access to some incredible nooks and crannies! Jon

My NOTAR experience is limited and there are plenty of people with way more time on NOTAR types than me, but here's my take on the subject. First, the 'better' part (compared with a standard tail rotor). To put it simply, you can't walk into a spinning tail rotor, have a birdstrike to a tail rotor or accidentally put a tail rotor into a bush or tree if you don't have one. That's a big bonus for something like HEMS where you are routinely landing off-airfield in unprepared sites. The shrouded NOTAR fan is also noticeably quieter than an external tail rotor, and especially a fenestron, which is a bonus for urban work such as police. Now the 'worse' bit. The MD902 was, as I clearly remember, a bit if a handful in autorotation, with the NOTAR setup necessitating a significant amount of right pedal input just to stay straight. Next, handling a low-power stuck thruster (right pedal forward) was a bit of an art form that I found rather more challenging to manage that a low-power stuck tail rotor control. In forward flight the big fins move to provide the optimum anti-torque sideways thrust, but these are useless in the hover (no airflow over the fins) so all of the anti-torque thrust has to be provided by the shrouded fan; this leads to high hover powers in light winds and, crucially, big torque increases (+10% wasn't unusual) if you apply anti-torque/right pedal, eg when hover-taxying crosswind or when hovering out of wind - in certain circumstances you can run out of 'spare' torque. Finally, in certain circumstances - wind over your right shoulder, IIRC - it seemed as though the airflow affected the coanda effect from the slots on the right side of the tailboom, leading to an effect similar to an incipient loss of tail rotor authority. I only had this last situation happen once operationally, and didn't let it happen again! In short, the NOTAR has some safety benefits but retains a significant number if moving parts to provide the anti-torque reaction; whilecthese are fewer than a traditional tail rotor system they introduce some awkward handling characteristics in certain situations. That said, I found the MD902 extremely comfortable with outstanding pilot visibility and a very straightforward cockpit compared with its rivals. Jon

I don't remember having seen this first time around, but it's just made very interesting reading from the first post. I've never flown anything in the 500 series, but I have about 1200 hrs on the MD902 from a previous employment so I'm somewhat familiar with the NOTAR system, for better and worse. I'm glad to see that you've resurrected the project, partly because it's ambitious and interesting, and partly because it makes me feel less guilty about some of my delayed projects! Great story about the chameleon rehab, too, though I have to admit that I'm struggling to picture what an excited chameleon might look like! Cheers, Jon

Wow, that's something very special. The pilot figure is also extremely well painted. Superb. Jon

Wot John said, pretty much word for word. There's nearly always a stack of other jobs higher up the priority list, and spare time seems to evaporate...especially when you have a couple of WiPs running.

Spotted during a spur-of-the-moment detour to that rarest of things, a dedicated model shop (Porthmadog Models). Still in its cellophane wrapper and lurking on a top shelf just waiting for me to find it. "A blast from the past!", said the friendly lady at the till - quite! It cost me a tenner, which is a bit more than the 75p that I remember a younger version of me paying for Matchbox kits in Boots! I also picked up some paints, tape and filler, so while it was a very modest purchase by modern modelling standards I'm pleased to have done my bit to support a fantastic shop. Jon

Cheers @Terry1954, that's fantastic! They all look immaculate. Not entirely convinced by the bright pink one, though... I'm optimistic that I might be able to resume progress on the model soon, as Real Life might give me some gaps. In the meantime, tomorrow will be the Federation of British Heritage Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) 'Drive-It Day' so you might well see some classics out and about. My 2CV will be joining a road run with my local classic car club and the weather is set to be good, so I'll be grabbing the grease gun this afternoon and topping up those kingpins in preparation!

Wow - superb! I wasn't aware of the AZ conversion set. Lovely model. Jon

Perhaps, but it's still a genius idea! I may have to use it myself sometime... Jon

There we go, I'm committed: I suppose I'll have to do a proper job with it now!