Grob Tutor T.1 - 727 Naval Air Sqn

[gengriz]

I've come to the conclusion that I prefer smaller models.

 

This is the Heritage resin kit of the Grob Tutor, which is very straightforward, with 6 resin parts, 4 white metal parts and a vacform canopy (plus spare).  The kit provides decal options for a wide variety of RAF training Sqns and University Air Sqns, plus the Royal Navy aircraft of 727 Naval Air Sqn who operated initially out of  Plymouth airport and then moved to RNAS Yeovilton. I added the missing Fly Navy tail marking from a Model Art set.  

 

Small, simple, but fun to build and a good looking result. an ideal "over Xmas" build !

 

 

 

 

 

and the real thing.....

 

 

FredT

Edited December 25, 2020 by gengriz

[bigbadbadge]

This looks gorgeous,  great looking model and great work. The finish looks superb.

Chris

[junglierating]

Love it 😀

[SAT69]

Beautiful little model. Makes me wish there was one in 1/32 scale.

[tonyot]

Lovely job and you have done the real aircraft proud,....... the additional Fly Navy markings are the icing on the cake. 

[desert falcon]

Great work - unusual subject as well  👍

[RMCS]

Fantastic 

[Team Aer Lingus]

That's an absolute beauty didn't even know about this kit you've done a great job very well done 

 

thanks for sharing

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[Terry1954]

Superb result!

 

Terry

[ROBOT]

That is beautiful! The smaller the kits the more interesting it gets....like that very much! 

[swralph]

Very nice build.😀

[BritJet]

That looks lovely, I've only ever seen a few of these built which is a shame. I did the decal artwork for this so got to know the real thing as well as the kit pretty well and you've captured the look of it perfectly.

 

Steve

[Lord Riot]

Looking good! Nice to see these training types built.

 

Why do they have civil registrations but roundels and squadron badge?

[gengriz]

6 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

Why do they have civil registrations but roundels and squadron badge?

They were supplied under a Public Finance Initiative (PFI - remember them!), so are owned and maintained by Ascent Aviation on behalf of the MOD.  As such they are not military aircraft, so legally have to wear civil registrations.  There is no law against MOD showing roundels on "hired" aircraft though, so they werar roundels and Sqn badges.

 

I'm not certain, but I think some of the instructors are civilians too.

Edited December 26, 2020 by gengriz

[Roland Pulfrew]

15 hours ago, gengriz said:

They were supplied under a Public Finance Initiative (PFI - remember them!), so are owned and maintained by Ascent Aviation on behalf of the MOD.  As such they are not military aircraft, so legally have to wear civil registrations.  There is no law against MOD showing roundels on "hired" aircraft though, so they werar roundels and Sqn badges.

 

I'm not certain, but I think some of the instructors are civilians too.

Not quite correct, these aircraft do not form part of MFTS and Ascent, but are part of the Light Aircraft Flying Training (LAFT) contract.  These are, I believe, “owned” by RBS and managed and maintained by Babcock.  Instructors are mainly military (Regular or Reserve) with some Babcock civilian instructors on, I think, AFG or 727.  The aircraft are operated and managed by 6 FTS (15 university air squadrons (with their associated air experience flights)), 115 Sqn (who train all the instructors), as well as 16 Sqn (who deliver regular military elementary flying training as part of 3 FTS), 727 and Army Flying Grading. 
 

Lovely build, any top tips?  I have one in the stash as it forms part of my plan to (one day) build one model of each type I have in my logbook, but I’m not a great fan of resin and don’t have much experience in building in resin 😳.  Tutor is my current chariot.

[gengriz]

1 hour ago, Roland Pulfrew said:

Not quite correct, these aircraft do not form part of MFTS and Ascent, but are part of the Light Aircraft Flying Training (LAFT) contract.  These are, I believe, “owned” by RBS and managed and maintained by Babcock.  Instructors are mainly military (Regular or Reserve) with some Babcock civilian instructors on, I think, AFG or 727.  The aircraft are operated and managed by 6 FTS (15 university air squadrons (with their associated air experience flights)), 115 Sqn (who train all the instructors), as well as 16 Sqn (who deliver regular military elementary flying training as part of 3 FTS), 727 and Army Flying Grading. 
 

Lovely build, any top tips?  I have one in the stash as it forms part of my plan to (one day) build one model of each type I have in my logbook, but I’m not a great fan of resin and don’t have much experience in building in resin 😳.  Tutor is my current chariot.

 

Thanks for the update Roland - serves me right for trusting a quick scan of Wikipedia as a source, although I knew they pre-dated MFTS ! 

 

As for tips, nothing significant except remember to add the aileron/flap actuators on wings and tail.  Antenna seem to differ depending on equipment fit (recently some seem to have sprouted a new whip). The undercarriage is a bit spindly, particularly the nose leg and is not a very firm attachment.  Nose landing light "hole" seems to be missing and the rear skeg should be pointed.  The nose wheel and propellor make sure it is not a tail-sitter.  Fitting the canopy is a little hit or miss (mine seems to have moved slightly as the Krystal, Klear dried).  There are a few gaps in the wing to fuselage joints above and below - I filled these with a light smear of Krystal Kear.  

 

Otherwise, a simple and good looking resin kit.  I'm not particularly happy with resin either or to be precise, with cyanoacrylate glue - it always sems to stick the bits I don't want to stick and not the resin.  I gave this kit a good wash in warm soapy water before starting and that sems to have helped with adhesion.

 

FredT

[Dogleg]

Nice build! Does anyone know if this, or the AZ Models kit, is available currently? Quick search doesn’t turn anything up. Looking to build as daughter joining UAS in autumn and I figured it might be nice to have on her shelf!