mal brewer

P.S. I've always wondered how you'd bale out of the Lightning without wrapping yourself round the tailplane....... answers on a postcard please....... Edited By Percy Verance on 11/11/2013 20:48:56 Hi Percy, by coincidence,there was an ex-p38 pilot on a tv programme last night,and he was saying how hard it was to bale out of the aircraft. The recommended method was to invert the aircraft,and drop out,probably quite difficult with a damaged aircraft in the heat of battle. The modeller with the Hampton was ,I seem to recall, a chap by the name of Peter ............... not surre of his surname,was it Greene ? A very succesful model.........................Mal.

Hi Colin, yes I,m sure Mike Hawthorn would have 'got on with it',he was a real gung-ho character,mind you, he became disillusioned with racing after the death of his best friend,his 'mon ami mate' Peter Collins, in the 1958 German grand prix.During the 1950's, le mans was the major road race in the world,and I used to follow the race on the radio broadcast. The jaguar was, to me, the finest car in the world,and their feats at le mans legendary. There was just nothing else like a 'D' type jaguar,and their drivers were all household names.And yes,I'm still a jaguar man,got a real scruffy 3.8 mk2,but it still goes well,and sounds fabulous.........Mal

Posted by Colin Leighfield on 25/09/2013 08:40:32: I've got so interested in this that I've had a look on-line to refresh my memory and find it was 59 when Mike died, not 58, but it was a Mk2 Jag. Also I was way off beam on the location, it wasn't Arley in Worcestershire, so I don't know why I'd fixed that in my head! It was near Guildfor Mike Hawthorn's accident was in 1959,I seem to recall it was either january or february,and it was shortly after he had retired from racing,as reigning world champion,I believe britain's first grand prix champion.His car was a 3.4 litre saloon,known then as the 'compact' jaguar. After the introduction of the improved copact jaguar,which was known as the 'mk 2' jaguar,the earlier saloon,like Mike was driving,retrospectily became known as the mk 1,but it was never known as this while it was a current model.There was a lot of talk and speculation at the time about his car having experimental tyres,also maybe a hand throttle,both of which were suspected of being factors in the accident,but nothing became of these rumours.Ironically,with respect to the le mans tradgedy,the car Hawthorn was overtaking on the guildford by-pass was a mercedes,so in both tradgedied,a jaguar and a mercedes were involved.Anothe story was that mike,being a patriotic englishman,would not have let a german car out drive him. Incidentally, mike hadn't long to live in any event,as he had a serious kidney disease,anyway a tragic end to a flamboyant character

Posted by Gordon Whitehead 1 on 06/08/2013 14:29:02: And here are a couple of oldies which I made years ago. I'm still a great fan of Harold Krier's planes and there used to be a decent amount of info on the web about him, but it's all gone. Hello Gordon, I don't know if you remember,but many years ago,when you wrote a scale column in,I think, Radio Modeller,I sent you a picture of my Krier Kraft,built to 1/4 scale,based on the Don Stothers plan.You sent me a very interesting letter by return,explaining your model and its data.All this was pre-computer days,to give some idea,probably early '80's?Any way,there are a couple of pictures of this model on an earlier date in this thread(page 5).I have almost completed another Krier Kraft to 1/4 scale,based on your plan,so hopefully it will be a little more to scale than the earlier model.Incidentally,ther are also a couple of pictures of this model somewhere on this thread(page 8).It is now covered,and awaiting paint.Hopefully,it will be ready soon,as I am now working on this model once again,after a bit of distraction with other models and classic cars.....................regards,Mal. Edited By mal brewer on 06/08/2013 15:09:01

Hi Andy, no,there is no particular part I was looking for,I just thought it would be interesting to see if I was correct in my deductions.The equipment I described,such as the escapement and winder,could well have been available in the 1950's,well escapements certainly were,not so sure about the 'Elmic' winder, so it all seems to tie in with the paperwork you have found. Very interesting indeed,the models are well worth sympathetic restoration,and please don't throw away any of the boxes or paperwork,even if you don't want them,somebody will be very grateful to obtain them for their vintage collection........................Mal

Hello Andy, from the description you have given,it would appear to be the remains of a single-channel rubber driven escapement system,as used in the days before propo gear became available at an affordable price.These escapements were common until,I would guess,about the 1960's,possibly until the early '70's. I can't see much from your photographs,but the turning handle may well be an 'Elmic' winder,used to wind the rubber loop required to drive the escapement.Be nice to see some pictures in more detail.......................Mal Edited By mal brewer on 08/07/2013 08:55:53

ok rich, will try that,should be able to sort it ( hopefully )...................Mal

Posted by Richard Harris on 01/07/2013 23:31:51: Posted by mal brewer on 28/06/2013 22:42:15: Mal, You mentioned you are having trouble getting your plate to run true? But in which plane? looking from side on or is it eccentric looking from above? Rich Edited By Richard Harris on 01/07/2013 23:32:38 Hi Rich, looking at the plate from side-on,it does not run quite true.It would appear that the ball-race bearings are not set quite correctly, despite my attempts at trueing up the plates using my pillar drill as a crude lathe ! There is not a lot of 'wobble', how critical is this ? Obviously, it would be preferable to have no 'wobble'.............................Mal

Hi Paul, excellent looking bit of building there.I see you have used the built-up rotor head as per the PDF drawing. I also am using this head,but I'm having a bit of difficulty in getting the fibreglass plate to run true.It tends to oscillate a little as it rotates.Have you had any similar problems,and if so,how did you cure it ?..............................regards,Mal.

Posted by Paul Richardson on 12/05/2013 12:52:09: Just dropped in to say hello. Flew control line planes with my dad when I was 14 spent many an hour in the shed building planes with him in winter and flew a keil kraft ? fw 190 with an early OS max 1.5cc glow up Paul Hi Paul, as Peter Millar says,there wasn't a Keil-Kraft Focke wolf 190 for power,only a rubber-powered '3/6d' (as they once were) kit. Peter says that the Veron FW 190 was too big for a 1.5cc engine he is quite correct,the model has a wingspan of about 27" ,but I'm wondering if you have got a little confused with the passage of time,and the engine was in fact an OS Max 15, which is of course 2.5cc,which would be an ideal match for the model...........................great memories coming back from all these early models........................Mal.

Hello Trevor, yes, Malcolm is quite correct, Wickes do indeed stock pine in the correct size,that's where I bought mine....................................Mal.

Great to see all these Panthers,but how do you guys build so fast ? I've been working on mine since the plan was issued, and it's still not yet ready for covering . Not too far off now though, good to see the succesful maidens also, keep up the good work, should be a fair few of them at Greenacres.........................Mal.

Hi Bearair, I remember the channel crossing by the Radio Queen, it was sometime in the 1950's. I think it was flown by George Honest-Redlich, who I seem to recall was employed by E.D. as their radio expert. However, the name of colonel Taplin also rings a bell, I think he designed the model. I'm pretty sure the model was powered by an ED Hunter diesel of 3.46 cc . I remember the capacity of the engine as I later owned one . I may well be wrong on the details,I was fairly young back then !................................Mal Edited By mal brewer on 13/03/2013 00:24:20

Posted by Koen Smits on 07/03/2013 19:59:02: Hi all, Is there someone who made the head as per PDF, with birch ply and so? I made mine out of Alu and weights 110 gramms, all the parts including the FG plate but without the M4 x 16 bolts and nuts and i would like to know how much the weight differs from the head assembly as per PDF. Picture follows. Hi Koen, I've made the head as per pdf from ply. The complete assembly,including shaft and ball-races,but less the f/g triangular plate,also less any of the fixing bolts,weighs in at 42 grammes. That includes both the shaft mount and the head assembly. Hope this is of assistance to you...............Mal.

You could write a book about Roy Lever. I notice Erfolg mentioned his Merlin radios. Do you remember his unique 'fail - safe ' ? In the event of a loss of signal, a parachute would open, and bring the model safely downwards . A good idea.............................or...............................Mal

Going back to Roy Lever, has anybody got any pictures of, or memories of his Concorde. I remember it had a variable c of g ,which was achieved by having a football bladder partly filled with water,which was free to slop up and down the fuselage. I think the theory was that the water surged backwards to move the c/g aft for take-off, then as the model achieved level flight, the water move forward again,further moving the c/g forward ! Yes you read that correctly, and that's how I recall the system working, or not working perhaps ..............anybody any memories of this model,I'm pretty sure it was before his Lancaster,so it would have been around the early to mid '70's.....................Mal.

Hi Alan, yes you're correct about the Dutch pulse-jet flyers,I do believe they had special dispensation to fly in Britain,or so Dave Bishop used to tell us over the P.A.......true, or just one of his crowd-pleasing statements ? I don't know about appearing tame nowadays,but they put on an absolutely stunning performance, they used to disappear vertically upwards through the (quite low ) clouds ,and the noise !! The Roy Lever Lancaster was somewhat very loosely scale to say the least............Mal

yes,that's the Roy Lever Lancaster. Ever the showman,he used to fly standing in the back of a convertible car which chased the model down the runway.It ended it's days with a write-off crash,which I seem to recall was at Woodvale. Jim Davis also had a large Lancaster,which his shop manager Dave Wright used to fly at model shows and exhibitions...................Mal.

Posted by Richard Harris on 27/02/2013 12:46:2 Mal, I think the hardest part with the home made spindle is getting everything spinning true. A lathe makes this so much easier but a simple mandrel can be made from a bolt and it spun in a pllar drill. It would be alot easier if these parts were cnc cut (hint hint) Rich Hi Rich, yes,that is exactly what I did. Not having a lathe,I used my pillar drill,hopefully it will balance out ok.........................................Mal

Posted by Richard Elliot on 26/02/2013 20:51:13: Personally I'd be looking for an ASP or OS 52 four stroke.....but i think I may be flogging a dead horse!!. Seriously though....it would be nice to see a few more ic examples, but select your engine before you build your cowl!!   Malcolm, thats a nice build....super job Hi Richard (both Richards), I'm about half-way through the build of mine,and I'm fitting an ................................SC 52 four-stroke.......................................Mal. p.s. I'm also building the rotor head from the pdf download,a bit fiddley, but quite simple...................       Edited By mal brewer on 27/02/2013 11:10:31

Hi Robert, I haven't seen it mentioned,and you probably already know,but it is actually a scale model.The full-size was a 'one-off ' designed,and I think built,by Phil Kraft,of model aerobatic fame................................Mal.

The 'rubber flyers' I remember used a system known as 'pre-tensioning' the rubber motors,which,as it's name implies,kept the seemingly over-long rubber motor slightly taut.However,I can't for the life of me remember how they did it................................Mal

Posted by PatMc on 19/01/2013 11:09:36: Only a small part of the nose cone was made from moulded wood, the rest of the aircraft was metal. Later Vampires & Venoms had fibreglass nose mouldings. According to my information,the DH 108 used a Vampire fuselage,which was made from a ply/balsa/ply laminate,as used by DH to build the Mosquito.....................great model btw........Mal

Posted by Aky208 on 12/01/2013 23:19:17: Do you mean the mambo? Matador.................?????.................................Mal

Reminds me of a model kitted by Mercury Models,was it called the 'magna'......??........Mal