October 2010 Ping

[R.F.Bennett]

PING!


STATUS REPORTS! ALL HANDS REPORT!

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[lastvautour]

Thank you Ray for posting the numbers and activating the Ping. Not much on the bench right now. The Argus is having its engine/nacelles installed and the Yukon wing assembly with nacelles is in the paint shop receiving primer. Other than that, I completed the Dauntless, DR1 and fixed the razor back T-Bolt last month. I have one more active project in the form of a 1/144 scale Tutor that is being painted by hand. I have taken the Bonnie out of mothballs and started doing the port on the side.

[Ken Pugh]

My XL5 got a small amount of damage when I dropped something on it.  The model was fine but the silver paint was damaged.  I later damaged it further when I applied low tack tape for masking, and that was after clear coating.  Frustrated with silver, I went back and repaired that paint damage then gave it more silver coats.  I will now see just how thick a clear coating I can put on this pain in the neck.  As annoying as this is, it is good training for silver finishes, which I will probably end up doing several of because of my interest in early jets.

Ken Pugh

[Balsabasher]

My all consuming passion at the moment is my 1 to 1 scale build of the 50 year old one and only Tawney Owl,the fuselage was built entirely from scratch and incorporates the fittings from the original aircraft,so far 550 enjoyable hours have gone into the build,once the fuselage pod has been completed the wings will be removed and the fuselage turned around in the workshop in readiness for making the tail booms,these will be mated to the tailplane and fitted out.
There are about a dozen solids in grey primer on the bench awaiting work when I get around to them.
Barry.

[dave_t]

What are your plans for the Owl after restoration?

[Balsabasher]

She will go on display in a UK air museum on loan to make room for my next project.
I may tour the fetes etc with her for a season if I can find a caravan chassis to convert into a trailer.
Barry.

[Mark Braunlich]

Not the best 3-view in the world, here's the Tawney Owl.

[lastvautour]

John, can you give us some info on these. Where did they come from? Kit or scratch? Paints used? When were they done. Etc. It would be greatly appreciated.




Pictures posted by John Bell

My favorite is the DC-3

Lou

[dave_t]

Not the best 3-view in the world, here's the Tawney Owl.

Nice one. I suppose Barry could verify the accuracy of this drawing.

[Balsabasher]

The drawing was prepared by Thurston Engineering for 'Janes All The Worlds Aircraft' 1961 edition,it is very accurate and has proved invaluable to myself,thanks for sending it Mark as any information is most welcome.
Barry.

[dave_t]

Barry, I suppose you already have the 1960 Flight magazine article showing artist's sketches of the Owl's various components? I am looking forward to seeing how this project turns out. Do you have a blog or thread on another forum concerning the restoration?

[Balsabasher]

Dave one is in preparation,a friend invited me to place a whole series of pictures from the first rib onwards onto his photo blog which is hosted,there is a lot of material that needs captions but I am too busy building at the moment ! once it is all up then I will place the link here.
Yes those 'Flight' sketches have proved invalueable,thank goodness that the skilled artist recorded the inners as he did,I am certainly grateful to him especially as parts identification from the basket case was made easier.
Also once I have completed the Tawney Owl then I will do a special drawing here for Solid Model Memories,it will come complete with detailed building instructions and the authentic colourscheme of white/pale blue/red the neutral silver fuselage was selected because when it first flew the fibreglass pod was merely finished in scruffy grey and yellow primer,the end result will be a quality restoration that will last for years,I intend on forming the Tawney Owl Trust so that it will be looked after long after I am gone.
Barry.

[dave_t]

What happened to the original fuselage anyway?

[Balsabasher]

Its a long story Dave,but basically the company promised the aircraft to two different parties by mistake,the fuselage never got re-united,I got fed up with hearing about where it was supposed to be and then it had vanished to another location,in the end the decision was made to make a replica fuselage using the original fittings within, 'If' the orginal fuselage ever turned up then that would be restored as a separate item and displayed alongside.

Barry.

[lastvautour]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. I believe it is Columbus Day in the USA, so a happy Columbus Day to my American friends.

Lou