The knowledge gained from building planes

[DreamKnight]

Ok so I rhymed with the subject there. Building planes, I've come across some really cool information. Things such as the Thatch Weave and the exploits of aces, friendly and enemies alike. I also really love how there seems to be an air of respect among pilots when they are in the sky together even when they are after each other's throat.

Share some of the things you've learned and heard about when picking up a plane to build.

 

[Ferris928]

U.S. F-16's aren't painted Israeli camoflague. (Though it looks sooooo cool!)

 

[Dano1945]

The Navy/Marine Corps F/A-18 is the son of the YF-17 which is the son of the F-5. The YF-17 was the YF-16s competitor in the Air Force's Lightweight Fighter competition in the 70s.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Canadian Air Force actually took delivery of the first F/A-18s (CF-188 in Canadian terms), before the USN or USMC ever got theirs!

 

[Quaralane]

That the F-16XL was a competitor for the role later filled by the F-15E

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

That Canada could have been flying F-14 Tomcats.

Apparently during the Iran Hostage taking, the US having cut off all ties with Iran meant that Iran would have huge problems with getting spare parts, and apparently the aircraft were offered to the Canadian Airforce (before we took delivery of our CF-18s) for pennies on the $.

However the Canadian Embassy staff in Tehran were helping get US citizens out of Iran through the Canadian Consulate, which Iran didn't take too kindly too and the deal fell through.

 

[Gary]

That the RCAF didn't want the Arrow. They got so fed up with Crawford Gorden's refusal to listen to them about their concerns and needs that asked Defenbaker to scrap the project LONG before the axe finally fell.

Among the concerns the Airforce had, the Arrow was a pure straight line interceptor with limited visibility for the crew and therefore useless as a dogfighter. The NATO need was for an aircraft that could multi-role like the Phantom. Far too late Gorden tried variations on the Arrow theme but his arrogance had sealed Avro's fate and killed the greatest aviation legend in Canada's history.

At the same time Gorden's shortsightedness killed the Avro Jetliner, one of the first jet powered airliners and ahead of most everyone in the concept. If he had allowed Hughes to buy the Jetliners for his airline, Avro could have been one of the big boys in civil jet aviation.

Amazing what a pension for booze can do to destroy a company

 

[schweinhund227]

Interesting post! Although I research my subjects.... Mostly after I buy them... The machine's look and box art sometimes gets the better of me... First!

I am not exclusive when it comes to airframes.... WWI, II, Modern, everything goes! Nor I solely buy stuff that I can Canadianize.... If I can, good! But it's not my goal.

With the Internet and various research books I choose my subject and learn about it's design phase and the role it played..... And sometime the demise of that aircraft. Like in the case of my CH-113 Voyageur... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/limestonecitymodelers/photos/album/681441903/pic/368387664/view

When the daughter of the doomed pilot contacted me directly after seeing my model online!

Asking for better shots, since it was the very same A/C her father flew and later died in a freak accident during a test flight!

This is when it really got me! There are peoples connected to those machines... Something we often forget!

Norm.

 

[JMac]

Norms got a point. Lots of elements to history, but the human connection is what makes it worth telling, revisiting, or modelling. I think aviation is full of lots of cool facts & histories because people have really pushed the envelope of what is possible (in areas of engineering, materials, construction, perfomance, and human physical limits) with airplanes. - That's just - imho.

One cool fact I found when I was doing some research into my Wyvern build was that a wyvern pilot actually ejected from his plane from underwater.

 

[FoldedWings]

Iv'e learned overall construction! Like that many planes have a firewall behind the engine

 

[ozzy59he]

i have learned that zink chromate is not just a color it was a protective coating to prevent corrosion of aluminum, its a start lol

 

[Gary]

Norm's human element comment is so true. I do a lot of writing and I sometimes post aviation related stories on What If Modelers. I write not about the aircraft, but the human part of the story. The aircraft serve as the backdrop to the story

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,25143.0/highlight,canadian+a-10.html

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,8737.0/highlight,pronto.html

 

[HAT1701D]

Yes..the aircraft is the stage....

The humans involved are the "actors" who work it. If you can find it in any form ( paperback or hardback ), and want a great great read for information building up to working on such aircraft as the U-2 or SR-71....Try and locate "Kelly; More Than My Share Of It All".
It is the autobiography of "Kelly" Johnson and how he came to eventually lead the Skunkworks facility of Lockheed. Along the way..you pick up some interresting things about how it "was done" behind the black curtain so to speak....And he spills some interresting facts along the way....He mentions that the ole' Blackbird flew above 100,000 feet regularly...........In public, were allways told 85,000-90,000 you know.

Anyhow....That was one fact I've learned along many years of building...along with the fact that both Lockheed XST "Haveblue" test aircraft were simply buried in the Nevada desert where they crashed........

HAT

 

[13aceofspades13]

i origonally started modeling with cars, quit for a long time, then when i really started getting into Model airplanes, i started building dozens of them, really, what knolage have i gained form it? so much i cant really describe it all.

 

[redraider56]

I agree with aceofspades, words cant really describe what I've learned other than whole lot of info.

I have also learned that hobby knives and thumbs dont always get along

 

[13aceofspades13]

I agree with aceofspades, words cant really describe what I've learned other than whole lot of info.

I have also learned that hobby knives and thumbs dont always get along

i think everyone tastes a little bit of razor blade with there hand in some part, first hand experience, my left hand has a scar to prove it. one time i was making a small model car, and i was trying to cut somthing, it was a dull blade, it slipped, cut a spot on my hand open you know the rest. this was in the begining when i was starting, i was about 14 15, my experiences with blades, be carful! if its dull, throw it away!! it may not be sharp enough to cut styrene plastic with glue on it, but it WILL be sharp enough to cut your hands easy... XD

thats what i have learned, i guess i have learned how to use filler and such, Bondo instead of Squadron puddy, i learned that from watching scale model addict, i have learned all other sorts of stuff, some things i learned the hard way! some things i came up with, like my acrylic weathering solution i made it myself.

 

[SimpleModels]

Building aeroplane models has made me think about what I want to do when I'm older, it made my dream to become a pilot bigger and my love for history bigger as well. It can change and develop your life forever!