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Marathon - vac style


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There seem to be a few vacform builds here lately, and not wanting to be left out I thought I'd join in. It's too long since my last vac, so looking forward to this a lot. The subject is Contrail's Miles/HPR Marathon, a type which never really fulfilled its potential.

 

001b

 

I'm sure my last Contrail kit was in a box, so I assume this is an older release, as it came in a bag:

 

001c

 

Typical Contrail mouldings: a good starting point.

 

001d

 

001e

 

001f

 

And unusually, you get a landing gear supplied too. I won't be using these, but it's nice that they were included:

 

001g

 

And that's it: no decals, no propellers and no interior. But that's part of the fun. I will use spares box items for wheels, @John Aero has kindly supplied some metal propellers and the rest will be scratch-built. No ideas on colour schemes yet, but it won't be an RAF navigation trainer. More on that once I decide.

 

So a quick look at the moulding, which is on some pretty thick plastic card, so coarse wet-n-dry will be a must!

 

001h

 

001i

 

Hopefully a good few hours' worth of modelling pleasure ahead...

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I have never seen this one before, and I was pretty keen looking out for Contrails.

 

I am looking forward to your progress.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

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Best of luck with it. Actually it might be a later release as some kits that first appeared in boxes appeared later in bags, and the fact it has moulded undercarriage legs I think supports this. Surprised it has no props as they often came in the kits. If the one I built from a Magna kit is anything to go by, it will need a bit of nose weight, even as a vacform as the wing is quite well forward on the fuselage. 

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The Marathon was originally designed and built by Miles Aircraft. When Handley Page took over production the RAF ordered 28 as Nav trainers.  They served with 2. ANS. and later 1.ANS at Manby (Trials), Topcliffe, Thorney Island and Hullavington. The only RAF one I saw was at RAF Syerston in 1957. They left RAF service in 1958.  I flew in a Derby Airways Marathon out of Hucknall in (IIRC) 1959. They were used by Union of Burma Airways and West African Airway Corporation.

I'll try and find my photos.  I too have one of these kits in my collection.

 

John

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4 minutes ago, Moa said:

I like this!

Many civil options, all attractive!

Here are some:

http://f-86.tripod.com/airlines.htm

 

 

 

He he: that's my website! It started off after I discovered that 'an aircraft' had crashed locally and I couldn't find any information about it. The quest for knowledge can be a curse at times...

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1 hour ago, Sabrejet said:

He he: that's my website! It started off after I discovered that 'an aircraft' had crashed locally and I couldn't find any information about it. The quest for knowledge can be a curse at times...

That's a great link and hats off to you for all the work you've put in to it. There's a fine selection of photos in it and together with the vast amount detailed narrative, makes it a must have bookmark. 

Thank you. 

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14 minutes ago, cngaero said:

That's a great link and hats off to you for all the work you've put in to it. There's a fine selection of photos in it and together with the vast amount detailed narrative, makes it a must have bookmark. 

Thank you. 

The clue is in the website address: it's actually my old F-86 website :)

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8 hours ago, John Aero said:

The Marathon was originally designed and built by Miles Aircraft. When Handley Page took over production the RAF ordered 28 as Nav trainers.  They served with 2. ANS. and later 1.ANS at Manby (Trials), Topcliffe, Thorney Island and Hullavington. The only RAF one I saw was at RAF Syerston in 1957. They left RAF service in 1958.  I flew in a Derby Airways Marathon out of Hucknall in (IIRC) 1958. They were used by Union of Burma Airways and West African Airway Corporation.

I'll try and find my photos.  I too have one of these kits in my collection.

 

John

The RAF didn't order any Marathons.

Miles received an Instruction To Proceed on a contract for 25 Marathons for the Ministry of Supply which it was purchasing for a rather reluctant BEA.

This was converted into an order for 50 Marathons by the Ministry of Supply on the day Handley Page (Reading) came into being, these being for BEA and export as airliners.

BEA gradually whittled its requirements down to none and cancelled the order.

West African Airways ordered 4 via the MoS, followed by a further 2, but found them uneconomically large and they were traded in for Herons. 2 went to the RAE, 2 to Derby Airways, one to King Hussain of Jordan, and one to Balfour (Marine) Engineering Ltd.

Union of Burma Airways ordered 3 via the MoS, one crashed and the other 2 were scrapped after 5 years in service when no buyers were found.

Of the contract for 50 Marathons, 40 were built and the MoS found itself stuck with 30 new unwanted airframes. These were foisted on a reluctant RAF and sent back to Woodley for conversion into navigation trainers.

Two of these earmarked for conversion were sold to Far Eastern Airlines of Osaka, one of these was on display on Nagoya Airport roof in 1974, thought to be the last surviving Marathon.

Of those that went to the RAF, they went first to 10MU at Hullavington, from where they were issued first to 1ANS at Hullavington (later at Topcliffe) and 2ANS at Thorney Island, or remained in storage unused at Hullavington.

When disposed of by the RAF 4 went to FG Miles for a proposed cross channel service from Shoreham with one being converted back to passenger configuration and making local flights, but never entering service. Another went to Meridian Air Maps for overseas contract work but was never used. Most of the remainder were sold off for spare Gypsy Queens for Doves, Dan-Air and East Anglian Flying Services bought some and Derby Aviation bought one.

 

The Marathon was wanted and unloved, too large for the number of passengers carried and uneconomical to operate. Derby Aviation managed to increase the passenger capacity by moving the rear bulkhead back, however requirements for an additional crew member reduced the capacity back to 18 and removed this advantage. They were withdrawn the following year.

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What a superb website Sabrejet.  Always been a fan of the Miles Marathon, especially the Mamba twin which looked like it could have been successful, but I've never seen your site before, amazing and sad that an example survived until the mid 1970s.

Really well put together with some great pictures.

 

I wish someone would do an injected one, right up Valoms' street I suppose.  Would even tackle a decent vac-form one, but Contrail?  I think I will just watch your labours!

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I am not sure about the lower fuselage line which I think sweeps up too far too soon making the rear fuselage a bit thin top to bottom, but that might just be me. The Marathon was not an unattractive looking aircraft, but issues with power and weigh rendered it an uneconomic proposition. Here is my Magna kit from a couple of years ago. 

 

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28 minutes ago, Mr T said:

I am not sure about the lower fuselage line which I think sweeps up too far too soon making the rear fuselage a bit thin top to bottom, but that might just be me. The Marathon was not an unattractive looking aircraft, but issues with power and weigh rendered it an uneconomic proposition. Here is my Magna kit from a couple of years ago. 

 

Very nice: I doubt mine will look quite so accomplished.

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Tabs added to the fuselage:

 

002c (1)

 

002c (2)

 

And a quick check of the two halves...

 

002c (3)

 

002c (4)

 

Well the front bit looks Marathon-ish, but the tendency of the fuselage halves will need a few formers to persuade it into shape. First few done, including a rudimentary nose gear floor.

 

002c (5)

 

More soon I hope! Oh and I think I've settled on a colour scheme. 🤔

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Aviation News did some that were reprinted in SAM, but they are both quite old. I think the Magna kit was mastered off them as it matches pretty sell. 

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2 hours ago, Mr T said:

Aviation News did some that were reprinted in SAM, but they are both quite old. I think the Magna kit was mastered off them as it matches pretty sell. 

I'd be wary of the Aviation News plans: the nose section forward of the windshield is wrong (it's too long), which puts the rest in question.

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