Spitfire IX Project

[Kennair]

OMG Gwyn, that is one of the most professional looking mechanisms I've seen in a long time. I have got to get a look at this baby before it travels to Bunbury!

I'll see you Sunday.

Ken.

[Tony Hill]

Hi all,

Almost finished, it just needs the brakes and chain guard finishing before Darryl's paint job ruins the shine![/FONT][/FONT]

Ruins the shine? RUINS THE SHINE???

Those Fokkers will see me a hundred miles away if I cruise around with all that silver glinting in the sun....might as well paint the whole cockpit bright yellow.

No, I'll go for that horrible sickly green thank you very much. No nasty cannon shells messing with your fine engineering that way!




Looking great Gwyn. Looking forward to Sunday.




Ken,
I recon if we BOTH tackle him at the same time, we might just get it off him...



cheers


Darryl





Oh, and yeah, those fokkers IS Messerschmidts!!

[Kennair]

Ken,
I recon if we BOTH tackle him at the same time, we might just get it off him...



cheers


Darryl

LOL!! Darryl, you distract him with another tricky hardware request and I'll chuck your lot in the car!!

Ken.

[Tony Hill]

LOL!! Darryl, you distract him with another tricky hardware request and I'll chuck your lot in the car!!

Ken.

I have this other idea: we build this giant wooden BADGER simulator and..........


oh, never mind......




.

[Kennair]

I have this other idea: we build this giant wooden BADGER simulator and..........


oh, never mind......




.

LOL! Love it, another Python fan!

Ken.

[Crescent]

Looks real sweet. That's a very similar design to what I'm working on for the Lanc...in fact I think I'll have to "borrow" a few ideas there....bwuahahaha!

[Westozy]

LOL! Love it, another Python fan!

Ken.

You're both using coconuts, it's only a model!

Gwyn

[Tony Hill]

You're both using coconuts, it's only a model!

Gwyn

It's people like you what cause unrest!

[Tony Hill]

Well, a frustrating Saturday still fiddling with the Oil Temp. I now have 3 different templates but each has its strengths and weaknesses. I still have another couple of avenues to pursue this week.

But Sunday made it all worth it.

I met up with Gwyn and Ken and got to see the controls in action. Due to some quick thinking on Ken's part (a quick recitation of "The Dead Parrot Sketch") Gwyn was distracted long enough for me to have a go!

The controls are unbelievable. Quite simply stunning.

I took up a copy of Tony Bianchi flying the MK I and after showing the guys some serious aeros in the sim, we watched the dvd just so Gwyn could see how close he had pegged the setup. The aileron controls are very accurate with a set of near perfect square rolls and cuban eights being achieved after only 5 minutes feeling out the inputs. The square rolls were an absolute delight to fly and all that was missing was the sensation of hanging upside down in the straps when half way round. The stick feels like a real aircraft joystick and responds very much like the stick in the Extra...exactly what I was looking for.

I am seriously sold on the "broken" stick arangement and can see why the Brits used it. I can't undestand why more aircraft designers didn't follow suit, the Spitfire and Hurricane being the main, if not only, aircraft to use it.

Ken then had a go and after a nice approach and landing, took off and demonstrated what could best be described as an "upward rolling half cuban spinning stall turn with a double pike". I believe it is "patent pending"

After that (and a disasterous foray into helicopter operations by Ken and myself) we took off to Bullcreek for a look at the resident Spitfire 22. Gwyn's connections got us into the museum for the right price and also got access to the left and right sides of the Spitfire for photographic purposes. Unfortunately we couldn't actually get in as there was manequin firmly holding that territory.Some good scaling and detail photos had.

The afternoon concluded with a nice lunch and dozens of flying stories at the cafe overlooking the main runways at Jandakot. A very sullen, sulky Darryl then departed without the controls (on the rather thin premise that ALL pots have to be connected for Gwyn to build and calibrate the throttle )


Various prizes are to be awarded for the day:

Gwyn..best Helicopter flying
...Best overall Spitfire Controls Build.

Ken..best Controlled Flight into Terrain (Bell Jetranger)
...Biggest B^$7^#& (for his aircraft carrier story).

Darryl..Best choice of vehicle (you know that Ford makes them now, Gwyn)
...Best "almost collection" of secure documents previously left behind
at a flight school


cheers guys for a great day!!!




TONY er.....Darryl

[Kennair]

Thanks Darryl for a very entertaining expose on the afternoon, and I thought I just rocked up for lunch!

Seriously though I can vouch for the incredible craftsmanship of the spitfire controls. The combination of Gwyns skills and Darryl's attention to detail is going to result in a very authentic build, and after hearing how dedicated Darryl was (is) to his F16 pit, you can bet the Spitfire's going to be a doozy!

Thanks again guys,

Ken.