Chiltern Models

[Janson]

Hello, I was looking for a winter project and a good friend of mine has given me a load of balsa in a rotten box and a very old Glass fuselage full of spiders etc. I have a roll of drawings and the original manual as photographed previously on this forum. Does anybody have any detailed photos of a completed model? 
Regards

Alistair

[Neil Postons]

Hi Janson,

Can you confirm that you have the chiltern models 72” span sea fury as I believe it never had a plan for the fibreglass fuselage kit but only for the foam veneered fuselage kit which was also available earlier. 
 

[Alan Gorham_]

I've got a 72" Chiltern Sea Fury with a fibreglass fuselage and the plan very definitely is for a fibreglass fuselage.

[Neil Postons]

Hi Alan,

This is my plan in the photo, is this like yours?

[Alan Gorham_]

No, mine is similar but only shows a bare minimum internal structure related to the epoxy glass fuselage.

[Neil Postons]

Hi Alan,

 I thought my plan was wrong for my fibreglass fuselage. 
I don’t have the correct positions for the formers for me to build the kit. 
If I paid you to have a full size copy printed at your local shop/office, building architect business, would you mind?

kind Regards 

Neil

[alan p]

That's definitly the plan for the foam veneer model. It will only show positions for the formers. Profiles were shown about the back page of the instruction book but not actual size.

[Neil Postons]

Hi Alan P,

yes you are correct, that’s why I would like a copy of the fibreglass fuselage plan so I can start building the kit. 

[RottenRow]

This is interesting. I too have the glassfibre version kit, bought at one of the Sandown Park shows in probably 1994.

My plan is exactly as in Neil's photo above, it only shows the 'built-up' fuselage version. The instruction booklet covers both versions and as Alan P. says has former outlines for the g/f version near the back but not full size. These formers are all numbered 'FF...' (the built-up formers are also shown, numbered 'FT...' and 'FB...').

I think mine was one of the earliest g/f fuselage version kits and it looks like John Wills (the owner of Chiltern Models) hadn't at that time produced a separate plan for the g/f fuselage, but instead just included the built-up plan.

The instructions refer to the fuselage former installation and refer to the plan but the plan makes no mention of any 'FF...' formers.

As Alan G.'s plan shows the correct positioning for the formers in the g/f version I assume that it was issued a bit later. Mine says copyright 1993 down the bottom RHS by the way.

The box for mine says that the kit was available in both versions at the same time. I also have a copy of BMFA News, December 1994, in which Simon Delaney had started a review of the model. He gives the prices as £143 for the built-up version and £155 for g/f. I haven't found any subsequent issues unfortunately.

Chiltern also made a static scale 5-bladed prop kit at the time which looked very impressive. Hollow g/f blades if I recall correctly.

Brian.

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

I had two of them!!

One glass Fuz and one built up. I hated them and they ended up on the bonfire!

Bonfire

 

I got them in a job lot, really got my fingers burnt, they flew awful and needed 3lb of lead in the nose to achieve the CofG all memories have been erased. I think I still have the retracts somewhere.

 

Hope yours is better.

[Neil Postons]

I have flown the chiltern Tucano, bulldog and chipmunk and they all flew well, perhaps the c of g is more critical with the sea fury.