Dora Wings Fairey Delta 2 (DW72009) 1:72

[Mike]

Fairey Delta 2 (DW72009)

British Supersonic Research Aircraft

1:72 Dora Wings distributed in UK by Albion Alloys

 

 

Following WWII, British aviation technology still lead the world, giving away first place to the speed of sound to the Americans by cancelling the Miles M.52 project and sharing the data.  The delta wing had been considered as a new wing planform for early jets, and Fairey was tasked with looking into it along with a great many other new aspects that came alongside jet engines. The Type-R project was originally intended to be a VTOL undertaking, but pivoted to supersonic flight and renamed it the Delta 1 project.  An initial contract for three airframes was curtailed once the initial prototype had flown, as it was a difficult aircraft to fly with many vices, although Fairey continued flying it as a test-bed until 1956 when they bent it in a rough landing, grounding it for good.  The FD2 originated as a single-engined transonic interceptor, but morphed into something different due to Fairey’s inventiveness and dissatisfaction with doing just what was asked of them.  The early data that was gathered during the FD1 project and the experience of the new chief engineer they imported from Hawker gave them a start, although the Gannet project took priority during this period, slowing down progress for a time.  Rebels that they were, the FD2 was developed upon a specification that would outstrip requirements by a substantial margin that eventually led the aircraft to be the first in the world to reach 1,000mph.

 

Two prototypes were built, and care was taken to ensure that military equipment could be added later if it reached service, taking to the sky toward the end of 1954.  A flameout of the first prototype due to loss of fuel supply resulted in serious damage to the rear end after the main gear failed to deploy in time for the emergency landing.  Once back in the sky, supersonic flight became commonplace for the aircraft in France after the Ministry refused permission over the UK because they mistakenly believed that sonic booms could be dangerous at low-level, although no claims for damages were ever lodged in France.  Its proximity to and collaboration with French engineers gave Dassault plenty of data that helped in the design of the Mirage III, which shared many of the same characteristic of the FD2, save for the droop-snoot that was later incorporated by the Concorde engineers.  The two airframes went on to perform a great deal of test flying, part of which included flying at supersonic speeds without the use of reheat in 1955, despite almost total lack of support from the Ministry, who were under the sway of Duncan Sandys, and only had eyes for missiles.  The record had previously been held by a North American F-100 Super Sabre, and after many hurdles were crossed, including reticence from Rolls Royce and the Civil Service (some things never change), Fairey went ahead on the 10th March 1956, reaching 1,132 mph or Mach 1.73, which was 37% more than the previous record.  Once the competition had got over the shock, they put their best efforts into taking the record back, which was finally done by the USAF flying an F-101A Voodoo at the end of 1957.  Despite the success of the prototypes, Fairey could not manage to convert that success into a completed project, although some of their data and ground-breaking design-work went into the Concorde project in the 60s, including a heavily re-designed FD2 with new wings called the BAC 211.

 

 

The Kit

In true Dora Wings style, this kit is a little out of the ordinary and was unexpected but very, very welcome, especially by the 1:72 modellers on this here forum.  I was happy that they are happy of course, and can’t wait for a similar announcement in 1:48.  I can dream, can’t I?  The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the FD2 in-flight over broken cloud, and inside are five crisply-moulded sprues in grey styrene, a small sprue of clear parts, two decal sheets, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of vinyl masks, and a portrait format A5 instruction booklet printed in full-colour on glossy paper.  Detail is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from Dora Wings, who seem to improve with every kit.  The exterior of the model is sleek like the real thing, with fine engraved panel lines, super detail inside the upper wing halves, moulded-in sidewall detail in the nose, cockpit, gear bays and legs that wouldn’t look out of place on a kit of a larger scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the narrow instrument panel with decal, covered by a coaming and set aside while the ejection seat is built from five parts plus decals representing four-point seatbelts.  The shallow cockpit tub receives the seat on two tabs, plus the short control column with the instrument panel in front, and an oval bulkhead in front of that.  The rear bulkhead finishes the cockpit, which is inserted between the nose halves, separated from the fuselage at the pivot-point for the droop-snoot.  The canopy is furnished in two parts, which is good news for this scale, then the spine and underside are fitted with aerials and PE vanes on the pitot probe, which are probably left off until after painting.  The fuselage has its intakes fleshed-out inside by two additional parts per side, and the exhaust tube is made from two halves plus a forward bulkhead that has the rear face of the engine moulded-in, then it and the nose gear bay are trapped between the two fuselage halves, adding a flat spar between to support the wings.  These are built from upper and lower halves, adding aileron and flap to the trailing edges, and an actuator fairing to the ailerons, briefly stopping to admire the detail included in the gear bay mouldings before you slot them onto the spars, following up with the rudder, which can be posed deflected if you wish.

 

 

 

The nose can be fitted drooped or straight for in-flight by using one of two bulkheads supplied, glued into the flat front of the fuselage, mating the nose once the glue is cured, and taking note of the two diagrams that show the correct angles from the side.  A gaggle of auxiliary intakes are scattered over the upper fuselage, and PE strakes are fitted into shallow grooves in the upper wings, flipping the model over to fit the landing gear and bay doors.  The main bay struts are braced by a V-strut, while the nose gear leg is an A-frame with extended central strut and a Y-brace near the top of the retraction jacks.  Another retraction jack is fitted as the main legs are installed in their bays, fitting a single main wheel to the axle inboard, with a captive bay door on the outer face.  The nose gear leg is installed as-is, slotting two wheels on a cross-axle near the front of the bay.

 

 

Markings

You might expect these prototypes to be bare metal only, but they also got to wear some colourful schemes, especially at shows.  From the box you can build one of these four options:

 

• WG774, March 1956, World Air Speed Record – 1,132mph, pilot Lieutenant Commander Peter Twiss
• WG774, 2nd September 1955
• WG777, RAF Musuem, Cosford, Shropshire, UK
• WG774, SBAC Show Farnborough, September 1958

 

 

 

Decals are by Dora’s usual partner, DecoGraph, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin satin carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

The only thing that could make this a better FD2 if it was in 1:48.  I know I’m harping on about that a little bit, but I figure if I mither Eugen often enough he might cave in.  It’s a great kit with plenty of detail, including the droop-snoot if you feel the urge, just don’t be tempted to fill that join line.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK in all good model shops.

Review sample courtesy of

[Wings unlevel]

Great review, Mike. I received mine during the week, it’s a beautiful little kit (looks to build up to Mirage III/MiG-21 size).

[Rob G]

I have two on order, can't wait. A very, very pretty little airyplane.

 

For those who have an interest, Twiss' autobiography, "Faster Than the Sun" is a highly recommended read.

[scautomoton]

Mine arrived recently, definitely intend to attack it soon, probably in the mauve/purple scheme for something a bit different