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Short 184, HMS Ben-my-Chree, Aegean Sea, 1915. Aeroclub, 1:72


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Here, finally, are the pics of my finished Short 184. But first a little potted history of this aircraft:

 

The Short 184 was the first aircraft designed specifically to carry and deliver a torpedo. The prototype, (no 184 strangely enough!) was put aboard HMS Riviera on May 3rd 1915, then joined HMS Ben-my-Chree on May 21st. No. 842 was the second production machine and joined HMS Ben-my-Chree on August 10th, in the Aegean Sea.

 

 

On August 12th at 0455hrs, Flight Commander CHK Edmonds took off in 842, without an observer, and with only 45 minutes fuel - all he could carry to get the aircraft airborne with an 810lb torpedo! He got up to the dizzying height of 1,500 feet and crossed over to the Sea of Marmora. His target was spotted near the north shore, where an earlier reconnaissance flight had reported it to be, and he dropped to 15 feet, launching his torpedo at a range of about 800 yards. The ship was struck abreast the mainmast. It was later discovered that this particular ship had earlier been torpedoed by a submarine, which was given credit for its sinking.

 

 

However, on August 17th, both 184, flown by Flight Commander GB Dacre, and 842, again flown by Flt Cmdr CHK Edmonds, launched to attack enemy ships at Ak Bashi Liman, on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Edmonds torpedoed the middle of 3 ships which caught fire and was later taken to Constantinople. Dacre had engine trouble and landed in the straits. His engine recovered enough for him to taxi towards False Bay where he fired his torpedo at a large steam tug, which he hit and sank. He then taxied 2 miles before managing to get 184 airborne again, crossed Bulair at around 200 feet, and was within gliding distance of Ben-my-Chree in Xeros Bay when his engine finally failed completely!

 

 

This made 842 the first aircraft ever to torpedo a ship....the rest, as they say, is history.......

 

 

This build is in tribute to those brave and relatively unknown fliers, who faced challenges that modern pilots would deem ridiculous - and succeeded!
 
For those interested in the build thread, it's here.

 

 

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Thanks to all for your support and constructive criticism throughout the build!

 

 

 

 

 

Ian

 

Edited by limeypilot
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Oh my word !

A work or art congratulations.

Can I ask a daft question, not having followed the build unfortunately, can the wings be moved into the extended position, and why undertake the additional challenge of building with the wings folded ?

Cheers Pat

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Absolutely INCREDIBLE !!!

I really cannot understand how you managed to do

such a great work.

I admire the patience you had to achieve such a masterpiece,

and I don't speak only about the rigging.

FANTASTIC work !!!

Congratulations. Polo.

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

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Thanks all, you're all way too generous!

Pat, the wings don't move, that would be asking for trouble - the mounts are already pretty fragile! My long term aim is a collection of as many WWI types as possible, so space is a consideration. This aircraft had a huge wingspan for a 2-seater, so I decided to accept my own challenge and do it wings folded - I also wanted to see if I could do it! It really wasn't as difficult as I'd thought it may be, I just had to develop a plan of attack and build it in stages. My plan wasn't perfect unfortunately, but valuable lessons have been learned for the future. I also intend to build the Airfix HP 0/400 with folded wings.......just not right now! Maybe a tank next? Or maybe one of my newly acquired "Battle of Britain" stash...something without too much rigging anyway!

Ian

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Truly magnificent. Finish and level of detail is immense for this scale. Go to the top of the class.

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Truly Superb……Coincidentally I am off to one of our local museums this coming week which houses, if I am not mistaken, the only life-size example of the Shorts 184 in the world. The aircraft is on display in the Estonian Seaplane Harbour museum, here in Tallinn and is actually a replica which sports Estonian markings, to commemorate the part it played in early Estonian military aviation. I'll compare notes during my visit !

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Thanks very much everyone, I have to admit I'm a little overwhelmed by the positive reactions to this one!

@Tiger331 - please take pics! I wasn't aware that a replica existed. The remains of the "Jutland Short", no. 8359, are in the Fleet Air Arm museum at RNAS Yeovilton, in England, but it is a very sorry state after the Imperial War Museum in London, where it was originally, was bombed during WWII.

Ian

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Absolutely stunning. A thorougly comprehensive build. Well where I could wax lyrical about every aspect of this, the main things that stand out are the shading on the wing ribs, really comvincing. And of course that rigging, oh that rigging...work of a spider that studied fine art!

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