Thu May 29, 2008 10:59 am
Joe Kudrna wrote:SUPERB replica!
SUPERB costume, er Uniform!
SUPERB crappy digi camera!
Thanks for sharing!
Bob DeFord did a great job in is oversized model! Really!
Only 1 glaring issue: His is a Mk V, and they had the 20mm cannon sticking out like a forks (funny, he did model the bulges for the gun), and the 4x .303's in the outer wings (could be painted on).
PS, can Bob make a Mk I?
Anyone have details on Bob's sweet toy? Engine? construction material?
Joe, can't be a Mk V... twin radiators...six exhaust stubs...
It's obviously supposed to be a ... well... it's a ...
I don't exactly know what, and it sure looks like Mr. DeFord is having way too much fun to care.
Ditto on the thanks for sharing pics, Gary.
Innaccuracy!!!!!!!!!
Thu May 29, 2008 12:09 pm
<drama> Oh no - how can we stand this? The pilot is wearing an MS22001 oxygen mask. Not RAF....and only just barely WWII (I think the A-13's came out at the tail end of the war but weren't in use in the theaters.)
Oh the humanity!!!!!! </drama>
just joking!
Oh the humanity!!!!!! </drama>
just joking!
oh the humanity
Thu May 29, 2008 12:27 pm
Worst of all, the pilot shaved that morning with an electric razor and not the RAF period correct single edge straight razor.
Thu May 29, 2008 12:27 pm
Thanks for the great pictures, Gary.
Maybe now the guy up here where I live will actually buckle down and start his "homebuilt" Hurricane. He's been planning such a project for years, and your photos of the Spitfire should push him off-center.
Oh, by the way, you were right about the tail gun and tunnel being kick-a$$ photo perches.
Scott
Maybe now the guy up here where I live will actually buckle down and start his "homebuilt" Hurricane. He's been planning such a project for years, and your photos of the Spitfire should push him off-center.
Oh, by the way, you were right about the tail gun and tunnel being kick-a$$ photo perches.
Scott
Last edited by Second Air Force on Thu May 29, 2008 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thu May 29, 2008 12:27 pm
Cool pics Gary !
I can't imagine what you would do with a "good" digital camera !!!
Thanks for sharing again.
I can't imagine what you would do with a "good" digital camera !!!
Thanks for sharing again.
Thu May 29, 2008 4:48 pm
Last month I was on a Lear trip and we stopped in at Coolidge , Arizona.(P08). The airplane is supposed to be based there. It has an Allison engine and an all wood wing, kinda like a Bellanca Super Viking. They said it looks and flies like a dream! It is a plans built Jurca full scale replica and is the only one completed. It had an off field landing following an engine failure last month also. A little damage to gear and it will be flying again soon.
They said there was also another Spitfire mishap . model unknown at CHino, landing gear problem. I didn't pass this on as I didn't know how accurate the information is.
They said there was also another Spitfire mishap . model unknown at CHino, landing gear problem. I didn't pass this on as I didn't know how accurate the information is.
Thu May 29, 2008 6:03 pm
Well, not exactly...
Bob DeFord's airplane is based in Prescott, AZ, where those photos were taken. He did have an engine mishap (nosecase failure, if I recall correctly) a few months back, but made it back to the Prescott airport...barely. He did damage the landing gear, but overall, the airplane came out of it pretty well.
Bob is a heck of a good stick and an amazing craftsman. Replica or not, I HIGHLY recommend all of you to go take a close look at that airplane if you happen to ever see it at an airshow, or if you find yourself in Prescott.
Gary
Bob DeFord's airplane is based in Prescott, AZ, where those photos were taken. He did have an engine mishap (nosecase failure, if I recall correctly) a few months back, but made it back to the Prescott airport...barely. He did damage the landing gear, but overall, the airplane came out of it pretty well.
Bob is a heck of a good stick and an amazing craftsman. Replica or not, I HIGHLY recommend all of you to go take a close look at that airplane if you happen to ever see it at an airshow, or if you find yourself in Prescott.
Gary
Thu May 29, 2008 6:06 pm
Very cool. Nice looking machine.
Eric
Eric
Fri May 30, 2008 3:15 am
Not meaning to correct anybody... But I wrote the story about Bob - a longtime friend of mine - and the Spitfire coming out in the next Warbird Digest.
It wasn't a nose case problem... Here is a hint... What component in a V-12 breaks and cuts off ignition?
Bob is a super guy, one of the best sticks I know, and one helluva craftsman. Hope he gets it flying again, soon.
Take care, y'all.
It wasn't a nose case problem... Here is a hint... What component in a V-12 breaks and cuts off ignition?
Bob is a super guy, one of the best sticks I know, and one helluva craftsman. Hope he gets it flying again, soon.
Take care, y'all.
Fri May 30, 2008 7:43 am
Its a fantastic replica - if it were given an authentic paint scheme I think it would even fool the 'purists', certainly from that distance anyway. Great photos too.AIRIC wrote:Very cool. Nice looking machine.
Eric
Fri May 30, 2008 8:32 am
IIRC, following a certain type of failure, both mags failed simultaneously,
Re: oh the humanity
Fri May 30, 2008 9:01 am
Bill Greenwood wrote:Worst of all, the pilot shaved that morning with an electric razor and not the RAF period correct single edge straight razor.
You guys are such techno-weenies!
Jerry
Fri May 30, 2008 9:09 am
Yeah, sorry about my getting it wrong about the nosecase failure. I had spoken with Bob right after it happened and thought that's how I remember him saying it. Maybe that was just his first guess or maybe I just remember the conversation completely wrong. Either way, thanks, and I look forward to seeing it in Warbird Digest.
Gary
Gary
Fri May 30, 2008 11:58 am
retroaviation wrote:Yeah, sorry about my getting it wrong about the nosecase failure. I had spoken with Bob right after it happened and thought that's how I remember him saying it. Maybe that was just his first guess or maybe I just remember the conversation completely wrong. Either way, thanks, and I look forward to seeing it in Warbird Digest.
Gary
Yeah, I can see where one can think the prop disconnected from the engine in that scenario.
I'm looking forward to it, too. I put something a little special into this one.
engine
Fri May 30, 2008 2:49 pm
I don't know much about Allison details, however, in a Merlin therr is one area that gave problems during its early devleopment years and that is called a skew gear or skew drive. One of the ways to make a safe aircraft engine is to duplicarte the critical functions. Thus the Merlin and virtually all modern aircraft engines have 2 sets of spark plugs, ignition wires, magnetos, mag switches, etc. If one mag goes bad, it still runs though not as well. One place where it is not duplicated is where a verticle shaft comes up out 0f the back of the engine, then goes into two shafts to drive each mag. The gear on this verticle shaft, the skew gear can fail and instantly stop both mags, with no warning, and no partial power. Rolls solved this problem early in the war by tighteneing the manufacturing tolerances on this part, and it worked. Does an Allison have a similar design? Is this what failed?
Rolls Royce had some of the finest, if not the finest engineers in the world. Ther approach was to use a good tried and true design, and test the heck out of it. They had a building full of engines running on test stands 24 hours a day, much to the detriment of the neighbors sleep. You can imagine that any noise complaint in those days was about like bad mouthing Russell or Bird in Boston. One compaliner was told he could sleep after the war, When a test engine failed, it was dissasembled to find the flaw. They might change the design, using a stronger, larger part, or better lubrication, etc. Their metallurgy was state of the art,is still good these days. After the improvement was made it was back to the test stand. When an engine could run 100 hours nonstop at rated power it was considered ready. This testing proceess was backed by a lot of the Queen's pounds sterling. This is a process no one today can duplicate, no matter how smart some of the current guys are and all the computer tools we have now, they don 't have the resources of Rolls. No one is going to run a dozen Merilins to failure on a test stand now, nor do they have as much staff to engineer and produce a change.
Rolls Royce had some of the finest, if not the finest engineers in the world. Ther approach was to use a good tried and true design, and test the heck out of it. They had a building full of engines running on test stands 24 hours a day, much to the detriment of the neighbors sleep. You can imagine that any noise complaint in those days was about like bad mouthing Russell or Bird in Boston. One compaliner was told he could sleep after the war, When a test engine failed, it was dissasembled to find the flaw. They might change the design, using a stronger, larger part, or better lubrication, etc. Their metallurgy was state of the art,is still good these days. After the improvement was made it was back to the test stand. When an engine could run 100 hours nonstop at rated power it was considered ready. This testing proceess was backed by a lot of the Queen's pounds sterling. This is a process no one today can duplicate, no matter how smart some of the current guys are and all the computer tools we have now, they don 't have the resources of Rolls. No one is going to run a dozen Merilins to failure on a test stand now, nor do they have as much staff to engineer and produce a change.