March 2013

Transcription

March 2013
North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
Club Newsletter
Rushbrook
March 2013
March 2013
Events
Sunday 7th April 2013 First BBQ of 2013
Season and examination day at Tardebigge.
There will be an opportunity for members to be
evaluated for their ‘A’ Certificate (helis or fixed
wing) and ’B’ Certificate (fixed wing).
Quiz and Social Night Thursday 18th April
at Studley Cricket Club.
In This Issue
Club News
The regular round up of club news, appeals, and
information about the club and its members.
Sopwith Pup
The task of restoring the Rushbrook strip to flying
status is well under way. The strip itself has been
cut and is in surprisingly good condition with virtually no damage from the sheep. The next task is
to re-erect the fence so the strip can be protected
through the rest of the year. So far the moles
have not appeared.
Access
As with our Tardebigge field we enjoy a good relationship with the owner Farmer George and the
poor state of the drive to the field will shortly be
improved to allow cars to drive to the strip. Considering the rain in the past 6 months the access
and strip are not showing too many signs of water
logging or water damage.
Field Use
It is important that the strip at Rushbrook is used
as otherwise we may have to introduce some form
of time limited flying which we know is not popular.
Clive Cottingham writes about the Sopwith Pup
and how it makes such a good R/C aircraft.
February Talk
Some pictures from the talk in February given by
Tony Hooper together with some of the superb
models that were brought along.
Seen At Tardebigge
Pictures of the aircraft and pilots that were seen
recently during one of the better flying days.
For Sale
Falcon Aviation Rush F3A pattern ship 72"
span with brand new SC120 four stroke,
servos and batteries, excellent condition,
only test flown, flies superbly £200 ovno
Phone Pete Hunt 07941199588
Maintenance
Stuart Clitherow (email [email protected]) is
leading the maintenance team so if you have any
problems or concerns about the state of the strip
or access then please raise it with Stuart.
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North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
March 2013
Club News
Club Events
Indoor flying takes place every Monday at Birkensale Middle School, Bridley Moor Road, Redditch, B97 6HT from 6.30pm. The last session is
expected to be 25th March.
Sunday 7th April 2013 First BBQ of 2013
Season and examination day at Tardebigge.
There will be an opportunity for members to be
evaluated for their ‘A’ Certificate (helis or fixed
wing) and ’B’ Certificate (fixed wing).
Quiz and Social Night Thursday 18th April at
Studley Cricket Club.
If you are interested in any events, or have suggestions for future events, please contact Paul
Dudley on [email protected] or Tel 0750
8029795
Club Trainer
The club trainer, that was supplied by the BMFA
for training purposes, is maintained and stored by
Paul Dudley. It can be used by any member who
wants to develop their powered aircraft flight
skills. Please contact Paul on
[email protected] or Tel 0750 8029795 to
book some time with the trainer.
Weather Station
The weather station at Tardebigge field can be
contacted on 07501841025 to check the
weather before you set out to fly. There are ongoing problems with the detector so don’t blame me
if it says there are people at the field when there
are none.
Rushbrook
A team of members led by Stuart Clitherow
([email protected]) are now flying regularly at
the Rushbrook field and maintaining it. They have
widened the strip making it even more accessible
and would welcome any pilots to use the field.
They are always looking for help with the maintenance so please contact Stuart if you are prepared
to spend a little time ensuring the continued use
of this site.
Your Committee
Chris Jenvey - Chairman, [email protected]
Peter Hunt - Treasurer,
[email protected]
Peter Seddon - Secretary,
[email protected]
Sean Doyle - Membership Secretary,
[email protected]
Paul Dudley - Events Secretary,
[email protected]
Dave Watts - Field Liaison,
[email protected]
Training Liaison - Iain Pickersgill
[email protected]
Membership
We welcome new members
Carl Wakeman
Rob Townsend
Max Johnson (junior)
Payment of Membership Fees
Please talk to Peter Hunt if you are seeking to
spread the payment of membership fees.
Photo’s for the Newsletter
Please send ([email protected]) any
photo’s you think may be of interest to members.
Shed and Field Locks
The new combination lock fitted to the shed at
Tardebigge access number is 0162 - the same as
the field entrance code at both fields
Please ensure you lock it when you leave.
Last person to Leave Field
Once again all members are reminded that should
they be the last to leave then they should:
Check the electric fences are properly erected and
the batteries connected.
The shed is locked
The flying field gate is secure and locked
The gate to the road is closed and secure.
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North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
March 2013
World War I Aircraft suitable for R/C..1
I have started
this series of
WW 1 aircraft
with the Sopwith Pup. I
make no
apologies for
this aircraft
being very
well known to Modellers. The full size had a reputation for being a Pilot’s Plane, so most modellers will
think it can also be a good modeller’s plane.
A Looker
When you look at the Pup it ‘looks right’. The
American’s would call it ‘cute’. It also has an engaging simplicity. The Sopwith Designer, Herbert
Smith, had the knack for simple efficient design, a
bit like two well known freeflight model designers
Bill Dean and Vic Smeed (for those of you over a
certain age – modelling in the 50’s and 60’s).
Chris’s Southerner is a Bill Dean Design.
Origins
The Pup was developed from a small biplane built
as a ‘runabout’ in Nov. 1915 for Harry Hawker,
Sopwith’s chief test pilot. After the war Tom Sopwith and Hawker renamed the company H.G.
Hawker Engineering. Harry Hawker died in a crash
in 1921 and the company was renamed Hawker
Aircraft in 1933 – the rest is History as they say!.
Pup with Bite
When you look at the Pup, it is hard to believe that
such a gentle looking plane could be so successful
as a Fighter. Many modellers read stories of the
Pup being used for Naval experiments of Deck
Landings and it being the favourite of Instructors in
UK Training establishments who painted them in
multicoloured patterns. The aggressive side of the
Pup is sometimes forgotten. It did shoot down over
240 German planes and probably many more that
where not confirmed.
Performance
When introduced in October1916 by the Royal Navy
Air Service (RNAS) the Pup was superior in flying
ability to it’s opponents, but it always suffered from
being ‘out gunned’, as it only had one machine
gun. When you consider it only had a 80 HP engine
and by 1917 the Germans were flying with the 160
By Clive Cottingham
HP Albatros D111, it’s performance was quite
remarkable.
Success
RNAS Canadian ace, Joe Fall, scored 11 on the
Pup with a final total on Camels of 36.The RNAS
were the first Service to use the Pup. Fall had an
outstanding
day on 11
April 1917,
when he shot
down 3 Albatross D11’ s
in one combat. The
painting below shows
him after
downing his
second victim. RNAS pilots were particularly aggressive
and successful. They had a number of highly
successful Canadian pilots in their ranks.
Take the Fight to the Enemy
If you read Arthur Gould
Lee’s book Open Cockpit
(still available
from Amazon),
he vividly describes fighting
the Jastas in
1917 with the
Pup. The Pups
always tried to fight at 15000 ft or higher, as
they could out manoeuvre the Albatros D111 at
that altitude. However it could never run away
to safety, as it was considerably slower and the
D111 could always out dive the Pup. This also
applied to the majority of German 2 seaters.
The bravery of these pilots can really be appreciated when they are in combat and know they
cannot run away! An added problem was the
prevailing winds, which were predominantly
from West to East. The British RFC High Command gave strict instructions to the Pilots to always take the fight to the Germans. The patrols
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North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
March 2013
World War I Aircraft suitable for R/C..2
also had to be 2 to 3 hrs long, otherwise questions would be asked!! Many combats took place
well inside the German lines, which were in the
East. So the Pups had to fly back after combat
against the wind with a plane that was shot up
and/or had a rough running engine.
Sopwith Camel
The Pup was superseded by the Sopwith
Triplane, which had a 130hp Engine and this in
turn was replaced by the famous Sopwith Camel.
Modelling a Pup
As a Flying Model the Pup is very straightforward.
Simple box section Fuselage, Constant chord
large area Wings, very large Stabiliser area for
easy C of G positioning. There is also a generously sized Rudder and Fin.
Clive’s Plans
I have produced some plans for a model that
can use the Flair Puppeteer Aluminium Cowling
(6.75 inch dia), as this is the one item that is
difficult to make. The Pup’s Cowl dia is 39
inches so this gives a scale of 1/5.78 which is
slightly larger than 1/6, but you can still use the
Williams Bros Vickers machine gun at 1/6 scale.
However you will need to make a set of wheels
as the model dia is 4.77inch. British WW1 Fighters had 700mm dia wheels (27.56 ins). Flair
Puppeteer wheels are 4.375 inch dia., so they
should be 4.593 dia at 1/6. These will not look
right on a scale Pup, as the wheels are part of
it’s character!
As far as Engine size is
concerned a
48/52 Four
stroke would
be ideal. It
may even fly
on a modern
30FS if you
are good at
building
light.
This plan is the basis of my RC Scale drg. for the Model. The eagle eyed among you will see that
the plan is actually for a rubber driven Model. Now there is an indoor challenge for you Chris!!
However these FSI Rubber plans are very accurate and scaling up is quite easy. It is just a matter
of using appropriate wood sizes and quality. There are a number of FSI 1st War plans on the Outerzone Web site (www.outerzone.co.uk). This is an excellent site for all types of plans and they are
free!
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North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
March 2013
Seen at February Talk
A very well attended talk by Tony Hooper about
the Large Model Association and his life as a
professional model pilot was very well attended.
Chris’s latest old timer with real Mills .75 diesel.
Maurice’s Mew Gull
Parts for Rob’s own build engine
Chairman of Bromsgrove brought along hist latest scale model
of a Harvard.
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North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
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More on Maurice’s Mew Gull
Maurice inherited this aircraft from Gary Fisher who obtained it from Paul Dudley.
Maurice says of it
“It is 62.5 inch wing span and weighs 8lbs. The fuselage and tail surfaces are all
balsa covered in fibre glass and painted. The wing is normal open structure covered in Oracover. I have fitted a ASP91 Four Stroke with the exhaust fitted within
the cowl.”
Experimental Aircraft
Peter Seddon
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North Worcestershire Model Aircraft Society
March 2013
Seen at Tardebigge
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