Jonathan Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) Got this out of my mum's loft today, a steam powered plane me and my dear departed dad made in the 80’s. It was a design by David Parker from the 50's which was a featured article in a areomodeler magazine in the 80’s, I can't remember which magazine, my dad made the engine and boiler, I was tasked with making the airframe, unfortunately it was pre smart phones with cameras so I have no photographic record of it , there was 1 photo of it finished but can't find it. The airframe was based on a glider design around 80" wing span with a high topped tailplane. A mate of my Dad's former signaller in the army gave us a duralumin cast radio transport case, I was at uni and had access to the colleges small foundery so sledge hammer in hand I tried to break it up for the crucible, it bounced all round place, so gas axe it was. I managed to cast 2 cylindrical billets out of it. A couple of weekends later when I had a full washing basket I went home with them for my dad to start the machining, his mate was there and I told him about the sledge hammer, his said you paper hat they where designed to be thrown out the back of a Heracles hahah. I built the plane during the winter evenings, a nice break from studying, a friend came round one night to see me , she said 'that's a nice toy' 😄 never mind. My dad took 3 months to make the engine and boiler which along with the burner was made out of stainless steel. After many practice sessions in the workshop filling and lighting it up the field beckoned Maiden flight, me holding the plane and my dad lighting the methylated spirit filled burner and guess what whoof the doped tissue covering caught fire, couldn't drop it on the floor and stamp on it haha, fortunately we had a container of water for topping up the boiler and dad was quick enough to soak me and the plane, luckily only the fuselage needed recovering 😀. Week later it flew, the boiler held around 1/2 pint of water which gave about 6 minute powered flight time, we used a 10" propeller. Hence glider deign loads of height once steam gone nice slow thermal Gliding. It still turns over so I might have ago at steaming it up again. Edited August 3 by Jonathan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted August 3 Author Share Posted August 3 Sorry should have said what's left of a steam powered plane 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Intriguing… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Colbourne Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Fascinating stuff Jonathan. Thank you for sharing it with us. I remember seeing David Parkers' article in the Aeromodeller, and some years later going to a lecture by a chap, Dennis Allen, who had been in charge of the unmanned aircraft department at RAE Farnborough, who had also built one after retiring. There is a thread from some years ago which has copies of the original 1967 David Parker articles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) There was a full size steam plane created by the Besler brothers in the US in 1933. They took a standard Travel Air 2000 2 seat biplane airframe and replaced its Curtiss OX5 90hp V8 with a double acting V twin of a nominal 150hp. The complete installation including the flash tube boiler was 100 lbs heavier than the Curtiss. It flew well enough but water capacity limited flights to 15 minutes. A neat installation but as you have to carry both fuel and water it is always at a weight disadvantage when compared to IC. Edited August 3 by Simon Chaddock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis 2 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 (edited) There was a guy in Sri Lanka who built this model and flew it, though it looks a bit different to the one shown in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n17uoYgtIw. Was the designer of The Comet the same David Parker who designed the Firebrand? This is an elegant vintage model which I've never seen in the wood. I believe that it has a six foot wingspan. Colin Buckle has the plan: https://www.benbucklevintage.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_9&products_id=64 Edited August 4 by David Davis 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Dell Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 (edited) That’s interesting, they say things go full circle. John Stringfellow experimented with this idea! Not free flight however.John Stringfellow Edit: It did free fly! Sorry the memory cells are diminishing. Edited August 4 by Nigel Dell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis 2 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Robin's link takes us back to 2020. I was informed later on in the thread that David Parker did indeed design the Firebrand. He was also a pilot in the RAF. My memory must be slipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Fraser Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 I was in Chard a few years ago and popped into their museum to find an interesting display of steam powered models by John Stringfellow and William Henson Open this link in a new window - John Stringfellow | Chard Museum Cheers, Marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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