Aircraft General Discussion

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

AES, maybe try the York and District Plastic Model Society, maybe one of them has a copy, because one of them is building a model of that aircraft. Ian S C

[AESParticipant @aes]

Good idea Ian, thanks, will do.

Krgds

AES

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The Mosquito had another day out today, one more airshow in NZ, then its off to the USA, and its home, there is talk that it may tour the UK at some time in the future, maybe next year. Ian S C

[Pat Wright 1Participant @patwright1]

Attached is a youtube 16 minute video taken from the cockpit of Mosquito KA114 from Ardmore airfield and over Auckland accompanied by two seat Spitfire and a Vampire. They used a headcam on the passenger.

Some of you may have seen it before.

Hope the attachment works ok as I have not done this before.

Pat

<iframe width="450" height="253" src="**LINK**" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Thanks Pat, I'll have a look at it in a day or so, when I can see it on broadband, I;m not hanging around about 4hrs while it loads up on my dail up system. Ian S C Born aviation nut

[The Merry MillerParticipant @themerrymiller]

Fantastic high quality videos, very impressed Pat.

Don't switch off at the end of the mosquito video, there are more bonus videos tagged on and on!

Beautiful stuff.

Len. P.

[AESParticipant @aes]

Thanks Pat, worked perfectly, SUPERB video.

Krgds

AES

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

For more on NZ aviation, including the Mossie, check out

**LINK**

This has quite a few sections in it , some will be of interest, some not, but worth a look. Ian S C

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Saw the vidio this afternoon, Great, turned up the volume, just like being in the cockpit, wonder if there was a photographer in either or both the T-11, or the Spitfire. Any idea what the(warning) horn is on the Mosquito?

Got to the take of on the second Yak 3, then my 1/2 hour at the computor at the library was well over, and someone else was waiting for his turn on the computor, our library only has 5 screens, and the other 4 had kids playing games, perhaps I should have unplugged the headphones, that would wake them up!! Ian S C

[Grizzly bearParticipant @grizzlybear]

Hello Everyone, Would anyone like to see the two emails, below?

I don't know how to post them. Could forward them to an email address.

Vulcan to the Falklands

B17 survival story

Regards, Bear..

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Sorry Bear, the conection is'nt getting through here. I also notice that there seems to be nothing in your photo album. I'll have a look on broadband in the next day or so, they sound interesting. Ian S C

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

TOP SECRET, well that did'nt happen! The latest rebuild in NZ is a Hawker Tempest II, with a Bristol Centarus engine, It arrived in NZ about mid 2012. It was built in 1944, and after the war, went to the Royal Indian Air Force, went back to the UK in the early 90s. I think they would have liked a Tempest V, But there are only 10 Napier Sabers left, and at their best they were not the most reliable engine. Apparently the reason the Tempest V got built was because the Minister in charge of purchacing aircraft had something against Bristol, (perhaps he had shares in Napier).

The aircraft should roll out in the next couple of years, and is tro be based in NZ, it has a US owner.

Ian S C

[Billy MillsParticipant @billymills]

Loved the Ardmore mossie film ( and the other films on you tube). The originals were built a few miles from here. My next door friend was at school in the 1940's. One day he was given some left over balsa from mossie building, he took it into school and told his teacher that our planes were now being built from balsa! Teacher gave him a clip behind the ear for being silly.

When the production ended there was a lot of thin ply left over which was used for all sorts of home projects around Hatfield.

Billy.

[WindyParticipant @windy30762]

Enjoyed the Mossie and just watched it on another site.

Amazing was talking to a chap in his 90's last week I used to see at jazz meetings some years ago and he trained in Canada to fly Mosquito's.

As a top pilot he was asked to stay and train other pilots but he wanted to fight the enemy.

He was mourning that most of his flights were low level.

A small World these older chaps have such tales to tell another one used to drive Black Fives then worked in the machine shop at Fords.

Such interesting people.

Paul

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The latest on the Burma Spitfires came up on the radio news about a hour ago, one box full of muddy water, more info to come I suppose.

There is one ex Burma Spitfire flying in NZ. a relative (grandson?) of Alan Deere WW2 Spitfire ace has it. Ian S C

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Billy

Re. using balsa wood in aircraft – It was … in the VC10! It was used to make a 'sandwich' of thin aluminium sheet bonded to a balsa filling. Very strong and good load bearing qualities. I had a largish piece which I used bits from for model aircraft – originally part of the toilet floor! Balsa does come in a vast range of quality and is a HARDwood! I've got a couple of bits in my balsa store which could probably be shaped to use as axes!

Rgds

Bill

[Billy MillsParticipant @billymills]

Bill

Yes balsa is a hardwood but is cut down before it matures. Like any other log the timber needs grading for hardness which covers a larger range in balsa than most other commercial timbers. In the last few years balsa has started to be used in decorative panels, lots of slices glued into panels then stained. It continues to be used as a good thermal insulator which also has structural value.

Some of the ideas behind the early wooden aircraft structures have seen a rebirth in the large scale use of wooden I beams in construction using ply and solid woods. Very strong yet very light and a very low carbon cost.

Billy.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Balsa has also been used in modern boat building, it is sandwhiched between two skins of fiberglass, another variation of this system, and more common is replacing the balsa with a closed cell foam plastic. With the origional open cell foam, and the balsa, if the outer skin was holed the whole interior became water logged. I know a little of the closed cell foam construction as my brother in law built a 16m catamaran, and used it for ocean cruising, up to Fiji, and on to Austrailia.

The important part of the design is the two skins, the balsa, or foam is there to keep them separated. There is a metal equivalent in skins on aircraft with honey comb cell separatingthe skins making a strong but lighter structure.

Last airshow in NZ this weekend, for the Mosquito, just a bit north of Wellington, at Masterton, it will be flying with two Vampires, and a Venom, along with about seventy other aircraft. Ian S C

[BubbleParticipant @bubble]

Hi all

re balsa

Some years ago, British Rail Civil Engineers used large baulks of pitch pine, about 12" square by 3' long (I write in code so that only my generation understands) as packers when jacking heavy objects on track (such as derailed wagons). Of course this doesn't happen any more except on preserved railways.

Anyway, H&S was worried about fragile staff lifting heavy things, and in my testing Lab at Derby I was asked to test some blocks made of balsa. The blocks were made of end-grain laminations, the whole encased in GRP. They were very light compared to the blocks in use and easy to handle.

We found that they performed very well with loads up to about 20 tons (more code) suitably distributed, but subject to the need to apply the load on the end grain and not across it. The blocks were marked accordingly.

The idea was abandoned as… guess which way they got loaded when in use on track.

Jim

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Thor Heyerdahl made a career out of ocean-going balsa boats !

Pretty low-tech though!

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I read somewhere about footwear in a factory in Holland, H&S wanted steel toe capped boots, the workers wanted clogs, so they averted a strike by agreeing that both types of foot wear should undergo the same test, a weight of a certain size dropped from a designated height, the clogs won, the steel caps collapsed. Ian S C

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

prably old news but just run across this

link

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Some years ago, British Rail Civil Engineers used large baulks of pitch pine, about 12" square by 3' long (I write in code so that only my generation understands) etc

—-

I've been using cheap household insulation blocks to make huge stacks of indoor shelving recently

They weigh almost nowt and have good tension

Mine are orange, not white like the link but from the right outlet a tenner gives you a bucketload of material to work with

Search and ye shall be rewarded… look for space board

Edited By Ady1 on 15/02/2013 00:21:25

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Jason – old news indeed.

W/C 'Taff' Holden was the Senior Eng Officer at Lyneham and (for reasons best known to himself!) was conducting an engine run in a Lightning on the (short!!!) out of use runway. The aircraft was minus its bang seat and IIRC he was perched on a box!! He, inadvertently, took the engines through the reheat gate and it jumped the chocks. Deselection didn't work, the runway end was rapidly (very!) approaching so he pointed the thing skywards. He had, apparently, completed a very basic flying training course some time previously and the adrenaline no doubt helped to get the beast vaguely 'under control'. A couple of somewhat 'interesting' circuits and he managed to get it back on terra firma.

As I recall, it was to be about 5 years later that he suffered the repercussions of his little adventure – what is now termed PTSD. Mind and body combinations can be uncontrollably weird – I speak from personal experience – wouldn't recommend it to anyone!!

Rgds

Bill

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Posted by Cornish Jack on 15/02/2013 18:22:11:

Jason – old news indeed.

W/C 'Taff' Holden was the Senior Eng Officer at Lyneham and (for reasons best known to himself!) was conducting an engine run in a Lightning on the (short!!!) out of use runway. The aircraft was minus its bang seat and IIRC he was perched on a box!! He, inadvertently, took the engines through the reheat gate and it jumped the chocks. Deselection didn't work, the runway end was rapidly (very!) approaching so he pointed the thing skywards. He had, apparently, completed a very basic flying training course some time previously and the adrenaline no doubt helped to get the beast vaguely 'under control'. A couple of somewhat 'interesting' circuits and he managed to get it back on terra firma.

As I recall, it was to be about 5 years later that he suffered the repercussions of his little adventure – what is now termed PTSD. Mind and body combinations can be uncontrollably weird – I speak from personal experience – wouldn't recommend it to anyone!!

Rgds

Bill

Well reading the forum postings..various accounts of the "bangseat" being out and " taff sitting on an orange box" follow…

Having/claiming no knowledge of the matter beyond that thread…

The "truth" was the seat was in and SAFED..so at least he had somewhere to sit…..Taff latter in the thread confirmed much of the "facts" and laid to rest the" orange box" story..

Doesn't detract from a cool head in the situation..no radio either..no headset!…

The fault being investigated was traced to a wiring loom error ( a substituted harness from test ver. of lightning)

Still great tale…

rgds

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