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Gnosspelius Gull, Scratchbuilt 1/72


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A build from 10 years ago:

 

For earlier airplane designers to think that the shape of their machines should resemble that of a bird seemed natural, in the true sense of the word. Among many others following this trend you may visualize the Etrich Taube.

It is a known fact that some of these pioneers even glued feathers to their structures to confer to them flying abilities. 

Mr. Gnosspelius, following the bird-like path, created a remarkable plane that was able to perform efficiently with the only help of the 16 hp provided by a twin-cylinder Blackburne Tomtit.

Although the Gnosspelius name may conjure images of an alchemist from the Middle Ages, the fact is that he was a civil engineer that collaborated in a number of Short Bros. projects.

The Gull was a sound design that falls in the category of what we would call today a motorglider. The engine was semi-enclosed on the wing and transferred power via chains to two shafts with pusher propellers, a bit like the Wright’s Flyer.

Given the date, we may consider the Gull a “modern” design, with features like a monocoque fuselage, control wires and torque rods running inside the structure, and a very interesting feature regarding the airfoil: it had a “step” about the CG area on top of the wing -supposedly proven in the wind tunnel- that acted more or less as a turbulator, attaching the boundary layer to the airfoil. 

Two machines were built, one registered as G-EBGN and other that remained unregistered. In some images they can be seen with the #2 and #19 “contest” numbers respectively. The front tip of the fuselage, or “beak” was an aluminum cone. The second machine (#19) had a slightly larger fin that met the rudder at the apex. The very small wheels of the original where soon changed for slightly bigger ones to improve ground clearance and increase alpha on take off, but the track remained narrow.

Since there is no color description, color is speculative. The second machine -depicted here- seems to have a white rudder with black numbers and a color that is uniform through the whole plane (whatever it is on a wood surface or a fabric-covered one), hence the assumption that it was indeed painted. While in some photos that color appears light, in some others is darker, perhaps as a result of a change of film type (Panchro or Ortho). The colors that vary in that way are most noticeably light blue and yellow; therefore I picked light blue as the likely one to have been applied to the second machine, since a few machines of the time were that color, and seems more consistent with the “gull” theme.

The bird-like shape of the Gosspelius makes for a more normal appearance than my usual oddballs; that should give you readers a –perhaps welcome- break from the bizarre scarecrows that normally populate my posts.

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Edited by Moa
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There's something very appealing about the plan view of this little aeroplane. 

I really like your rendition of the wing scallop and rib effect. 

What an amazing collection of aircraft you've brought to our attention. 

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I think your colour assessment of light Blue is sound as it's an easy mix of White and Roundel Blue. It's worth remembering that in the early post WW.1 years that war surplus cheap aircraft cellulose paint in Red, White, Blue, Black, Grey and Khaki were available by the barrel load with Silver coming into use.

 

Now how about a Short Mussel.

 

John

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5 hours ago, John Aero said:

It's all in the mind.🤔

John, since you seem to be around for a little while, do you have a photo of RAF BE2c G-EAQR, apparently the only civil one?

I have a very good candidate for the RAF BE2e (G-AUBF), but I wanted to use the new Airfix kit (that of course can be made into an "e" version with some effort too, but I am trying to avoid that).

Thanks in advance for your kindness.

 

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10 hours ago, John Aero said:

I think your colour assessment of light Blue is sound

The Colo(u)r/s Conundrum

 

When two or more modelers discuss the Colo(u)r/s of a given type, and their opinions tend to diverge beyond a possible foreseeable agreement, a Colo(u)r/s Conundrum may ensue.

Origins:

The Colo(u)r/s Conundrum was first studied –and indeed enounced- by the Greek philosopher, modeler and olive pitter Styrenides (V Century B.S.)

In more recent times, scholars and sages at modelling websites and forums fully embraced the joys and sorrows of the Colo(u)r/s Conundrum.

The Colo(u)r/s Conundrum may be regarded as slightly similar to the Heisenberg Principle, where the ultimate reality is influenced by the perceiving subject.

To tackle that monumental task, some prefer to use sunglasses while contemplating a photographic reference, because it is claimed that in doing so reality has a lesser grip on the outcome of the observation, allowing for the surrounding ether to play a bigger roll on the final determination.

Other schools of thought like the Academie Canadienne du Colorisation sustain that Colo(u)r/s can only be proved, not directly observed. This requires the obliteration a priori of the object of perception and the consultation of indirect sources, as such as opinions, distorted memories, faded documents, contemporary weather reports, market lists, statements of ex-girlfriends/boyfriends, personal diaries of distant relatives and so forth.

Other -more drastic schools if I may say so- is the Modeling School of Unbuilding: it states that the only way to deal with the Colo(u)r/s Conundrum is to declare them nonexistent, together with planes, photographs, and the rest of the known (and/or unknown) universe.

The reader may explore yet other views, like those of who advance that the Colo(u)r/s Conundrum should be solved by others, or the beliefs of scholars that propose having a heck of a party where the solution may present itself, the later the better, when Colo(u)r/s Conundrum Supremis in Excelsis Unio is achieved.
 

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But is there room for logic?

 

Regarding G-EAQR. I've looked in the expected places such a Air Britain, British Civil Aircraft registers and there is no photograph. I think that you may well be on a hiding to nothing (British classicism), as it was flown without a C of A and therefor it was probably flown discretely. It only lasted  less than a year. 1920 Flight or Aeroplane might reveal something.  G-AUBF is an Australian registered BE.

 

I knew that at least you would have a file on the Mussel. Interesting in that it landed and taxied with a dead Oswald Short at the controls.

 

John

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1 hour ago, John Aero said:

But is there room for logic?

Nevah! I am an artiste!

1 hour ago, John Aero said:

Regarding G-EAQR. I've looked in the expected places such a Air Britain, British Civil Aircraft registers and there is no photograph. I think that you may well be on a hiding to nothing (British classicism), as it was flown without a C of A and therefor it was probably flown discretely. It only lasted  less than a year. 1920 Flight or Aeroplane might reveal something.  G-AUBF is an Australian registered BE.

Thanks for looking. You shouldn't have bothered with available7known sources, I generally ask after I tried very hard to get some data from the usual suspects, and then and only then.

Yes, G-AUBF is a BE, but an "e" version as said, therefore not a case of slap-the-civil-decals to the Airfix c version. No esay way for me, it seems. May have to chop that little kit and get an "e" from it.

1 hour ago, John Aero said:

I knew that at least you would have a file on the Mussel. Interesting in that it landed and taxied with a dead Oswald Short at the controls.

 

John

You reminded me of that!

Eerie.

 

Thanks again for taking the trouble and time to look around for the request.

Cheers

 

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  • 6 months later...

Thanks for the link to this one Moa because I missed it when it was originally posted. This is another of your many gems and another type which is completely new to me. Superb scratch building as usual, and an excellent representation of the wing step. The engine is a mini-masterpiece, the more so when I compare it with the kit part in your other current Avis build.

 

P

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