Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 I have a number of projects running which date back over the last dozen years or so, affected by serious family issues following the illness and death of my late wife and professional pressures, happily we are in much happier times now and beginning to get back into some semblance of order. The participation in last year's mass build and the successful (Sea)! Tucano project lead me to design the Seafang which is reported on another thread, and is almost ready (more news soon) to go having been delayed by the distraction of this year's mass build and my pushy Cat "Super Venom"(!) just flown as well as a Can-Doo! This is not to mention a Hughes XF11! At the time of my late wife's illness I had designed and built ready for finishing and covering a 58" Westland Welkin. Because of my problems I gave it to Dave Chinnery who finished and flew it. He featured it in his "Flying Sparks" column in RCME, which sadly finished not long after. There is a very good picture of Dave with it at Baldock in the September 2003 BEFA magazine, which I sadly haven't been able to copy yet from the electronic file. Afterwards I designed a 1/12 scale version of this quirky but distinctive 70' wing-span single fighter that many people have never heard of, yet 75 production aircraft were built after the prototypes, including a two seat night fighter conversion, although never used in combat because the expected high altitude bomber threat from the Luftwaffe fizzled out. Even so there was a lot of development work done and the Normalair Garrett pressurisation systems used in modern airliners owe a lot to the Welkin. The 70" model is built but I wasn't as successful as I was with the first one in getting the cg right. the problem will be solved by replacing the single Lipo in the fuselage with two separate one in the nacelles, which will require some work. However I thought I would put it on here out of interest and to see if it might inspire anyone. There are some pictures of the full-size as well. Dave's choice of blue for the first smaller one wasn't accurate, the later one shows the true colour scheme. Although the Welkin didn't see active service, it was extensively tested by the Air Fighting Development Unit. Most built were stored in Scotland and flown occasionally so they were action ready, but were eventually scrapped. There are a lot of pictures here so I will split them between two posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Here are the original as finished and flown by Dave Chinnery, a draft of the article he wrote about it in RCME and the full size, including the one-off prototype two seat night fighter. I built the first one with foam wings and no wash-out. Dave was worried that tip-stalling might be an issue because of the sharp wing taper, in fact he found that it was very benign. However, the second one has got 3 degrees of wash-out built as a precaution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 So sorry to hear about the death of your wife. It was nice to hear that you are getting into some semblance of "normality" and getting on with your life. Oooh, I do like that model Colin. What kind of specs does it have? Motor size, ESC, battery etc? I think I see that both props spin in the same direction, does it roll at all with the torque? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Ooops, I posted before you added your second post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Thank you John, it was a number of years ago and I have re-married since, but it takes a long time to get straight and I have been busy professionally, although that is easing off as I go through semi-retirement. As you can see, the first one flew very well and would be even better with modern brushless motors. I had the wings and top deck made up from veneered foam for quickness, but they were perfectly ok. I gave my drawings to Dave. The second one hasn't flown because of the cg issue. I did put some lead in the nacelles but realised that I was making it too heavy when all it needed was a bit of surgery and re-wiring to put Lipos in the nacelles, which I will do. I chose the 1/12 scale 70" size because I felt that was as big as I would go for hand-launching. Clearly, there is potential to fit retracts. Edited By Colin Leighfield on 21/03/2014 07:59:04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Yes, lots of potential. If there was room I'd probably try for a bomb bay too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Hi Colin. Great model! I have had the excellent RAF News scale drawings on file for more years than I care to think of but never got round to it. That CG position looked too much of a problem. I did consider the night fighter version but it is not as nice looking. Of course I would have gone the ic route but that is just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Thanks Peter. I think I can sort out the cg in the way described, although in the first one it turned out ok. The thought of i/c didn't escape me, it's just that electrics are a bit easier for a twin. Also the longer nose of the night fighter would be helpful, but I didn't do it for the same reason as you. I'll get there, my projects are like elephants, they have long gestation periods! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 nice looking model sir. now get it finished and flown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 You 're right Tony, it 's no 4 in the list , you know what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Nice looking model Colin, it must be pleasing that the prototype received compliments from DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Thank you Bob. I remember contacting Dave after he'd mentioned interest in the Welkin to tell him I'd got one nearly finished. We met at a BEFA event in Leamington Spa and I gave it to him with the drawings. I think he flew it a lot, but I haven't spoken to him for a while and he said then that eventually it got damaged in some way, but he'd still got it. I was pleased that it worked out so well and that lead me to draw up the more ambitious larger one here. I always felt that it had the makings of a great flying model as long care was taken over the cg. I'm getting a bit more time now, so I'll get back to it later this year, all being well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 My computer minded son managed to download the photo of Dave Chinery with the first Welkin at Baldock in I think September 2003 and convert it into a Jpeg image, so here it is, on a fine sunny day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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