I have begun carving the WWII era "slip-wing" experimental aircraft by F. Hills & Sons circa 1941.
Definitely different looks great. Pemberton Billing designed quite a few interesting aircraft.
Gordon
Looks very promising. I read up a bit and found this.(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/607892d0460d6f7768d704ef/1630258382119-G710NXR7PPKS01Y0BGY0/9606C805-ADAB-47C4-ADEB-AB523DB9F010.jpeg?format=1000w) You may be interested in the article at https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/hurricane-biplane
It has quite a few photos of the Hillson B-Mono.
Lou
Thanks for the link. Some good info there that I did not have.
You are welcomed. I learned something new today. I wonder what the chances were of damaging the aircraft as the upper wing departed?
Lou
I wonder too, not to mention an unwitting ground target, and a wasted wing for every launch. Desperate measures apparently. A Hurricane biplane is kind of appealing, but seems more in the realm of "what-if" modeling.
Carving...
Excellent progress. I found several pictures of the Hurricane biplane. I love the shape of the Hillson, almost toy like.
Lou
Lower wings added. More carving...
Coming along nicely.
Lou
Tail and landing gear added...
I love how you do your canopy frames.
Lou
Looking good.
Gordon
Thanks Gordon and Lou.
This week,
1) I added some intakes and other cowling details.
2) Filled some spots and used putty for wing fillets (usually I carve them, but they were minimal on this plane)
3) Sprayed some primer and sanded.
Excellent details Dave.
Lou
Attached main landing gear.
Shaped a tail wheel out of a piece of aluminium.
Attached exhaust pipes, made from 1/16th-inch diameter aluminium tubing.
Did a lot of spot filling.
Your Hillson B-Mono is fantastic.
Lou
Coming along nicely Dave.
Gordon
Thanks. I have been painting and that includes the roundels which are still undergoing "rounding" until they look okay.
Next will be fabricating a prop and the upper wing.
Fantastic Dave.
Lou
Looks great Dave. Well done!.
Gordon
Here is a look at the oddly-shaped "slip wing".
That wing looks like an afterthought. On the other hand, you did a fantastic job.
Lou
Here is a time-lapse of the slip wing in action.
I would imagine a bit of negative G would have been beneficial. Hopefully, formation flying was not the order of the day.
Lou
Very nice model of an aircraft concept that I never thought would exist. Can you imagine trying to pitch the idea and test it out today? The process to modify a coffee cup holder is near impossible today🤪. Great job to find those archived inflight photos.
An article from a 1944 edition of Aeroplane magazine said the flight test was held up because they had a little "pilot trouble", but finally Mr.
P.H. Richmond came along, and the first release took place July 16, 1941.
It also mentioned that the plane only lost a couple of hundred feet in altitude after the wing release.
Any further development?
Lou
I finished painting all the markings and made a pait of wing struts. I failed a couple of times carving the prop. Will try again.
I hope to include it in the 2023 yearbook.
Lou
Yes, it will be finished by then.