roadrunner Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Hello does anyone have any info on the additional tanks installed in the fuselage of Amelia's Vega for her trans-Atlantic flight? nothing is planed in the DoraWings kit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Great question, and one with no good answer. The Dora Wings kit doesn't provide the long range cabin tanks as basically nothing is known about them. The old MPM/Special Hobby 1/72 Vega kits simply provided 55 gallon drums for the cabin tanks. This is pure fantasy! The long range cabin fuel tanks installed in the various Vegas were borrowed/leased from Lockheed as they were very expensive to produce. The cabin tanks in Earhart's Atlantic Vega had been used before in at least one other Vega. I have seen a couple of photos of other record flight Vegas where the cabin tanks can slightly be seen through the cabin windows. The tanks are aluminum and appear to be about 3/4 of the cabin height and at least 2 on each side of the cabin. Their shape would be curved on their outboard sides, to match the symmetrical oval curve of the fuselage, and a straight vertical on their inboard side. These cabin tanks were installed by removing the wing and then inserted from above. The tanks, therefore, had to be sized to fit through this opening. Good luck with your project. Tim 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted April 11, 2022 Author Share Posted April 11, 2022 Many thanks for your answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 I have a small, low-res photo of the long range fuel tanks installed in the cabin of Hubert Wilkins' first Vega, X3903. Unfortunately, I am not setup to post photos here but if you email me I will send the photo along to you. You may want to order the FAA Aircraft Records for Earthart's Vega, NC7952... Request Aircraft Documents (faa.gov) These records most likely will tell you how many cabin tanks were installed. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 (edited) I recently was able to view the FAA Aircraft Records for Earhart's Atlantic flight Vega, NR7592. These records shows 8 fuel tanks, total, installed for the Atlantic flight... 5 wing tanks and 3 cabin tanks. The records show the cabin tanks installation personally signed off by Bernt Balchen, who repaired/reconditioned/modified the Vega for the Atlantic flight. I hope this helps with your Vega build. Tim Edited April 25, 2022 by VH-USB spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 These are photos just prior to the world flight, not the Atlantic flight, but would the tanks have been similar? I know this is an Electra and not a Vega, but I'm curious if such extended range tanks had similar designs, albeit different capacities/sizes to fit specific aircraft. Cheers, Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 There appears to be a similarity between the cabin tanks in the L10 Electra and the Vega. Both tanks are aluminum and have those distinctive circular patterns on their ends. However, the cabin tanks in the Vega were not one-piece, the full fuselage width, but two tanks, side-by-side to fill the width. The cabin tanks in the Vega had to be smaller as they were installed through the cabin top, with the wing removed. This opening dictated their size. This photo of the very first Vega, NX913 'Golden Eagle', lost in the 1927 Dole Race to Hawaii, shows the cabin tanks, two abreast... Dole_Air_Race_NX913_"Golden_Eagle"_Lockheed_Vega,_Scott.jpg (2000×2554) (wikimedia.org) I also have a photo of the cabin tanks in the Wilkins arctic Vega, X3903, and they appear identical to those installed in NX913. Tim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 When you get around to painting the wheels on your Earhart Atlantic flight Vega follow this photo for the correct colors... NASM2019-07107 | Wheels from the Amelia Earhart's Lockheed V… | Flickr The red and gold colors aren't readily noticeable when the wheel pants are installed. Tim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Holden Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 4 hours ago, VH-USB said: The red and gold colors aren't readily noticeable when the wheel pants are installed. Thanks Tim, Never knew they were like that ! But note that the Dora Wings Vega (like the 1/72 MPM one), is based on Wylam's drawings which incorrectly show too-small 30x5 wheels rather than the correct 32x6. Knowing that, it really sticks out when I see photos of both models built. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 18 hours ago, Roger Holden said: Thanks Tim, Never knew they were like that ! But note that the Dora Wings Vega (like the 1/72 MPM one), is based on Wylam's drawings which incorrectly show too-small 30x5 wheels rather than the correct 32x6. Knowing that, it really sticks out when I see photos of both models built. I wonder if the Vega 5C drawings available from the NASM are better than Wylam's? One set was done by Eberspacher, which I assume could be more accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Holden Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 2 hours ago, VH-USB said: I wonder if the Vega 5C drawings available from the NASM are better than Wylam's? One set was done by Eberspacher, which I assume could be more accurate. Eberspacher's drawing is of various versions of Winnie Mae and included (in a very small form), in the NASM Winnie Mae book. Think it also has some faults. Wylam's drawing is ok as a starting point as it gets the basics correct, but some of the secondary aspects are incorrect like the wheel/pants size and ailerons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 Any useful wheels to be found in 1/72? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 NASM's Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega album HTH -- dnl 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 Earhart's Vega is currently at the Udvar-Hazy restoration facility being cleaned. You can find a few photos of it being moved to Hazy here... https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=9921536%40N07&view_all=1&text=vega Tim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SprueMan Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Oh dear. That airplane does not have any side windows, and the Dora kit has them. I guess it means they have to be removed from the model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 There are two kits with decals for Amelia Atlantic flight NR-7952 that don't have side windows and the Hawaii flight NR-965Y that has side windows. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 (edited) On 7/1/2022 at 2:49 PM, SprueMan said: Oh dear. That airplane does not have any side windows, and the Dora kit has them. I guess it means they have to be removed from the model. On Earhart's Atlantic flight Vega the plastic (a DuPont celluloid product called 'Pyralin') was removed from the cabin windows. The window openings then had 2 wooden stringers added to their openings, which then were doped over with fabric. You can see this effect on Earhart's Vega in the NASM... Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega | National Air and Space Muse… | Flickr I suppose simply painting over the clear windows on the Dora kit would suffice as the actual subtle draped effect may not be that noticeable. Tim Edited July 10, 2022 by VH-USB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orso Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 I have had a suspicion that it was like that. But there are two different kits from Dora with markings for an Amelia plane: Lockheed Vega 5B without windows as it seems: https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Lockheed-Vega-5b.html and a Vega 5C that has windows: https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Lockheed-Vega-5C.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Smith Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 I can remember building a model of the Winnie Mae way back in 1959 just before I left school. We were doing a project on explorers and pioneers. The model was left in a display cabinet at my old school. If my memory serves me right it was a Lindberg kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-USB Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) On 4/11/2022 at 4:15 AM, roadrunner said: Hello does anyone have any info on the additional tanks installed in the fuselage of Amelia's Vega for her trans-Atlantic flight? nothing is planed in the DoraWings kit... I know it's been a rather long time since the question was first asked, but I finally found a line drawing of Earhart's Vega NR7952 (Atlantic flight) which indicates the location, and number, of the cabin fuel tanks. This drawing comes from the NASM and shows 3 cabin tanks installed at the very front of the cabin. There are 2 tall, thin vertical tanks, with 1 horizontal tank laid on top of the 2 vertical tanks. These 3 tanks only take up a small portion of the very forward section of the cabin, right against the bulkhead at the back of the cockpit, extending to the front of the second cabin window. Along with the 5 wing tanks this does make a total of 8 fuel tanks, as described in the FAA Aircraft Records for this particular Vega. I have no idea of what references the artist used for their drawing so can't confirm its accuracy, but this is the first time I have seen a drawing of Vega NR7952 showing the cabin tanks. Unfortunately, I cannot post photos here, but I can email a low-res scan if requested. Tim Edited January 12, 2023 by VH-USB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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