Gone,but not forgotten kit mfg

[Robert Parker]

JB Aviation

I bought my kite from them along with field box and passed my "A" cert at their field just outside Swindon. The field box is still going strong cannot say the same for the kite though but it was the best trainer I had and I tried a few.

I really fancied their DH71, would love to get my hands on one of these not keen on the plans on outerzone

Regards

Robert

[PeD]

Posted by Maurice Dyer on 13/03/2019 13:29:20:

Oh dear, i am getting old.......

The KK SE5a mentioned earlier was my second radio build, 1976. Enya .19 and I loved it.

The Hawk 70 was fabulous too. Enya 40 two stroke and flew a dream. Always wanted a Skymaster bipe but kids and mortgages got in the way.......

The only model I had and wish I hadn't was Dave Smiths Saphir. Lousy wood selection and weighed a ton. Good riddance.

Anybody with any Flair kits unbuilt, give me a shout. Good money waiting.....

Maury

Message sent re Flair Kit

[onetenor]

Skyleader has been mentioned but what about SKYLEADA Just recall the name, Not models

[Hugh P]

One from the archives. Skyways Chipahawk meet Keevil airfield, Wiltshire. Skyways owner Phil Durrant 4th from left. Happy days, wish I still had mine.

[Hugh P]

Maurice Tait of Moreley Helicopters. I wonder how many started out with a Morley?

[Andy Meade]

Posted by Hugh P on 14/03/2019 08:35:25:

One from the archives. Skyways Chipahawk meet Keevil airfield, Wiltshire. Skyways owner Phil Durrant 4th from left. Happy days, wish I still had mine.

Brilliant, where I flew for many of my teenage years I flew Mr Norris' (of Melksham Models) Chipahawk for a few years as a loaner, lovely aircraft.

[Nightflyer]

Ah good old Morley Helicopters. I wonder how many heli pilots cut their teeth on one of Jim's models. I think my first introduction as a teenager to helicopters - and the fine control required (in the mid 70's at least) was when two club members built Bell 47's and had a standing order for blade sets and battled to extract power and improved cooling for their engines. Of course this was before the onset of gyro's and the pilot dexterity became really highly developed.

[jeff2wings]

Nice seeing the Phil Ramsey Gladiator,had both mini-pitts and 1/4 scale one

mini-pitts

Bowman's did take over the Olympic Sportsman,nice looking plane.

one for the glider*st out there

I think that people that are 'new' to the hobby,as in the last 15-20 years,would be surprised at the number of kits that were available from small mfg and shops in this country.

 

Edited By jeff2wings on 14/03/2019 21:44:34

[Bob Cotsford]

Anyone remember the big St Leonards Models kits? There was a 120" thermal soarer, fibreglass fus and built up wing, was it the SuperNova? My first taste of what a good soarer was like.

[Capt Kremen]

Yep, 'SuperNova' - Red G/F fuz and built up wings with two wire joiners, all-moving tailplane. Very good flat-field flier and off the slope too.

[Nightflyer]

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 15/03/2019 10:58:32:

Anyone remember the big St Leonards Models kits? There was a 120" thermal soarer, fibreglass fus and built up wing, was it the SuperNova? My first taste of what a good soarer was like.

Hi Bob,

Yes there were a few designs. I am not sure who the designer was IIRC it was Keith Panell who also was credited with the Alpha trainer model I mentioned in an earlier post, and the fuselage made by Brian Diss (also mentioned in an earlier post on here). Some local model shops produced some good model designs during the 70's and early 80's until ARTTF and Far East kit models got a good hold. I will have to look to see if I can find some of the old ads to add on here.

Tim Ruck who was in the Hastings club at the time produced a lovely trainer which was originally called the Cavalier. I had the third prototype model and learnt to fly with it. It survived a great many flights until it met with a fiery end because the wood was so oil soaked for the glue anymore.

[Colin Carpenter]

Ah yes ! Morley Helicopters ! Maurice Tait and I formed Bath Heli Club on 84/5 and I last saw him a few years ago living in Sherborne , Dorset . I flew (badly ) for Morley at shows in the 80's ! The Hughes flew well when set up , no doubt the weight helped ! They seemed easy in comparison to today's 3D choppers 😂😂 Colin

[Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1]

One of my best pals still has his Morley 47G - with floats completely unflown. It's hanging from his bedroom ceiling. Lovely piece of work, and looks much more "modelly": that is to say that HE made more of it, than modern helis. Lovely piece of kit: it's even got a very early mechanical gyro. He is rated on full size helis ( and pretty much everything else ) but was always JUST too nervous to fly this one.

[Peter Christy]

Still got my B47, and still going strong! (Built in the mid 80's IIRC!)

--

Pete

[Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1]

Oh I need to show this to Tim! Lovely! What spec are you flying her at?

[Peter Christy]

Posted by Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1 on 15/03/2019 17:29:58:

Oh I need to show this to Tim! Lovely! What spec are you flying her at?

Not quite sure what you are asking, but it is powered by the same Super-Tigre 40 that's been in it since I built it! A few years back I fitted new servos (JR) to replace the old Orion (don't ask!) ones that had served well for nearly 30 years! I also upgraded it to five servos - for the first 30 years it flew with a basic 4-channel aircraft radio, and one servo for both collective and throttle! It now has a basic gyro in as well, as my reactions aren't what they were 30-odd years ago! I'm using some K&S fibre-glass blades that I was given to try many years back. They are really the wrong rotation, but as they are symmetrical, it doesn't matter much!

It still flies very well!

--

Pete

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Capt Kremen on 15/03/2019 12:41:02:

Yep, 'SuperNova' - Red G/F fuz and built up wings with two wire joiners, all-moving tailplane. Very good flat-field flier and off the slope too.

'two wire joiners' - it always looked about ready to clap hands on a windy day going up at the end of a bungee, there was a definite un-clenching moment when it finally released!

[PatMc]

Posted by Nightflyer on 15/03/2019 12:45:20:

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 15/03/2019 10:58:32:

Anyone remember the big St Leonards Models kits? There was a 120" thermal soarer, fibreglass fus and built up wing, was it the SuperNova? My first taste of what a good soarer was like.

Hi Bob,

Yes there were a few designs. I am not sure who the designer was IIRC it was Keith Panell who also was credited with the Alpha trainer model I mentioned in an earlier post, and the fuselage made by Brian Diss (also mentioned in an earlier post on here). Some local model shops produced some good model designs during the 70's and early 80's until ARTTF and Far East kit models got a good hold. I will have to look to see if I can find some of the old ads to add on here.

Tim Ruck who was in the Hastings club at the time produced a lovely trainer which was originally called the Cavalier. I had the third prototype model and learnt to fly with it. It survived a great many flights until it met with a fiery end because the wood was so oil soaked for the glue anymore.

The St Leonards Models Super Nova was designed by Jim Baguley. There were 2 versions, 100" & 124" span, both with the same all wood fuselage. The wings were a terrible design structurally & much of the kit contents were poor quality. Despite having a side of the boot & ruler wing section it was a good floater & could put up quite a good performance - if it could be towed up without the wings folding. I built a redesigned wing for mine (124" version) using an Eppler section after the wings folded during the tow in a BARCS competition.
I saw un-coloured fibre glass SN fuselages for sale at a couple of BARCS comps, I think by Mike Proctor. There may have been more after market FG fuselages being made but AFAIK St Leonards kits were all wood.

St Leonards Models also made a slope soarer kit, the Twister. This had a 6ft span symmetrical section wing with virtually identical fuselage to the SN. I bought the kit from my LMS at a give away price when he was getting rid of old stock - but just for the plentiful supply of wood in the box.
I believe Jim Baguley was a well respected FF comp modeller in his day but the Twister would never have cut the mustard as a slope aerobat.

[David Davis]

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 15/03/2019 10:58:32:

Anyone remember the big St Leonards Models kits? There was a 120" thermal soarer, fibreglass fus and built up wing, was it the SuperNova? My first taste of what a good soarer was like.

My first radio controlled model aircraft in 1988, was a St Leonard's Models "Gemini." It was a 50" trainer powered by an Irvine 19 car racing engine and guided by a Sanwa Conquest radio.I built it as a three channel model but ailerons were an option. It was too fast for me as a beginner so I built a Junior 60 and put both into engine and radio into that.

I kept the plan and in 2016 built a four-channel version powered by an electric motor. I gave it to a clubmate.

[stu knowles]

This ad cropped up in a thread on here a while ago. I have an unflown Cutlass from this kit in the garage,

[PatMc]

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 15/03/2019 19:42:59:

Posted by Capt Kremen on 15/03/2019 12:41:02:

Yep, 'SuperNova' - Red G/F fuz and built up wings with two wire joiners, all-moving tailplane. Very good flat-field flier and off the slope too.

'two wire joiners' - it always looked about ready to clap hands on a windy day going up at the end of a bungee, there was a definite un-clenching moment when it finally released!

Actually there were 3 wires, all in brass tubes - a 10SWG fixed to a spruce reinforcing spar that was fixed to the LE, another 10SWG between spruce reinforcing pieces fixed to the main spar & a 16swg incidence keeper just ahead of the TE. The 10 swg wires in my kit were loose fits in the tubes - so loose that I sourced tubes that fitted before I built the model.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[PatMc]

Posted by Andrew Ray on 15/03/2019 20:32:52:

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 15/03/2019 10:58:32:

Anyone remember the big St Leonards Models kits? There was a 120" thermal soarer, fibreglass fus and built up wing, was it the SuperNova? My first taste of what a good soarer was like.

Jim Baguely of free flight fame. I don't remember the fibreglass fuselage but I am building a 124" one with the wooden fuselage and changing the wing joiner to a flat steel strip, I thought the design was quite clever, very light with the 1/16" x 1/2" spruce spars at the surface butted up to the D box sheeting The free flight heritage very much evident in the design.

Andrew, the 1/16 x 1/4 spruce spars are not up to the job, they rely on the vertical 1/16 balsa webs. Trouble is the wings flex under load which stresses the joints between the web & spar. There just isn't enough glue area on these joints [also I suspect the glue doesn't penetrate such a thin spruce edge] This can result in the webs becoming popping of the spars which are too thin to take the stress so collapse.

[David Davis]

Ah, Sailplanes International didn't it start to produce i/c powered models under the name Powerplanes International? I recall fancying the Maule Luna Rocket stocked by a model shop in Barnstaple but someone else bought the kit before I had saved enough money to buy it. **LINK**

There was a plan several year's ago called Negative G if memory serves, which looked like the same aircraft to me. Alternatively I could buy an ARTF today, but that's not the same of course. **LINK**

P.S. I used to have a Detroit Custom Cruiser too. Didn't like its flying characteristics that much so sold it on.

Edited By David Davis on 16/03/2019 08:58:29

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]