BT Hawker Typhoon for PSS - late updates

 Well it has been a long while since I've posted here, and as always there's lots to write about.

The BT Tiffie has had 3 or 4 flights with me now and it's added rudder - I'm happy to report that she is a great flier and the added weight was of no consequence to her abilities.

Thanks to Phil Cooke from the PSSA for these photos of her flying at the October 2021 PSSA meet on the Great Orme;

As she didn't come with any rockets when I bought her, I've printed and painted two 250lb bombs that mate into the existing release mechanisms.  Bombs away!

Brian Taylor Hawker Typhoon, modified for PSS - improvements and mods

 The little Tiffie is very nearly finished now, I just have some new cannons to fit the dowels to for mounting, and we're all done.  I've been having great success printing PETG recently, so I've done the guns in that.  They seem very strong compared to PLA parts, so I'll keep a printer set up specifically for PETG from now on I think.

OK, to the photos then.

Rudder now hinged and epoxied in place, dark sea grey sprayed on;

Green next;

A quick bit of weathering.  Some silver to pick out around the hinges, then a light brushing of a light brown pigment powder across the top of the rib tapes;

Finally sealed off with matt lacquer;

I decided to make a storage / transport caddy for her out of blue foam - nearly as heavy as the fuselage!

With a removable top spine to protect the sensitive bits;

A little bit of bomb graffiti.  The release servo is now wired in and programmed up;

Other jobs include a printed RX mount; replaced the on/off switch with a newer HD item; tidied up the wiring as much as possible.

So that's pretty much it.  I hope to get some "beauty" shots before the weekend's event, if not I shall get some done whilst there.  I don't think my mods have added much weight, and I can actually see how to save a good few grams due to some balancing lead being in the battery box, where it could be reduced and added to the lead in the spinner.

That's all for now, keep on Tiffing.

Another Typhoon for PSS, and other flying.

 Well, the PSSA events have been coming thick and fast, and it doesn't slow down until after September - which is great!  Or at least great for flying and meeting up with the guys, but workshop time is at a minimum as planes are prepped, repairs are made, and maintenance carried out.  Ah well - there could be worse problems I suppose!

The Lleyn MAC PSSA meet was a great success again, with plenty of flying taking place over both event days, and lots more over my extended stay in the area.  The Meteor had another flight, which Phil Cooke managed to capture very nicely;

This little balsa Tempest that I'd bought from another member got lots of airtime too, such a stable model to fly in most wind conditions;

The little Tempest was again flown a lot at the recent Bwlch SWSA PSSA meet, along with a new addition.  Yes another model. Yes another Typhoon. No I don't care, as this one is slightly special.  

Originally a John Plumbley build from the Brian Taylor plan, modified for the slope with a glider wing section and different nose box, this aircraft is of museum quality.

I had a great first flight with her, but she does need some attention in her old age.  A few different owners and many years have taken it's toll in the airframe, so first up was a paint match for some wing repairs that I had actually undertaken for the previous owner.

Next up was a rudder.  The current rudder was in a sorry state with cellotape repairs and it was hanging off of it's double sided tape mounting (!).  I don't like to fly draggy warbirds without a rudder, so on with the conversion!

Rudder stripped, front face rounded, hinge blocks added, horn block added :

Green solartex'ed, thin masking added to simulate rib tape;

Primed, ready for final paint;

I've also got the guns to fit (new ones printed), and bombs to fit the drop mechanism (nearly all printed), so she's coming along nicely. I've also got the complete lighting system working on her, which I've never seen operating before!

Onwards...

Spitfire maidened, and other PSS stuff

Nearly two weeks since the amazing PSSA meet on the Lleyn, it's time to get things back to normal with a few running repairs on aircraft, and getting the next airframe through into build.  The Spit went very well, held energy well in the turns, and felt quite locked in - not at all like my previous experience of flying a model Spit I must admit.

The Spit received some damage on the second landing of the day, where the tufty landing area stopped the wings abruptly and the fuselage wanted to keep going!  An hour or two in the workshop and she's all repaired again.

The Tiffie continues to impress, so much so she / I won "Best Flown Piston Model", which I was quite chuffed about.  The conditions were great for her, and proves that lighter winds (30ish vs 55mph+ on the maiden) are in her capability.

All photos courtesy of Phil Cooke.

So what's next? I'm not too sure myself, there are a few build in the queue of course - B24, F20, C17, FW190 etc. but I'm getting back into power planes a bit at the moment having joined the local club earlier in the year. 

It's 4 more weekends until the Orme meet, so there won't be any new PSS aircraft from me for that meet, but I hope to get something else done before the year is out - I've completed and flown 3 brand new PSS models so far this year though.

D-Day 75th Anniversary - a Typhoon related post

So, nearly a copy of a post from a year ago - it's the 75th anniversary of D-Day.  On this day 75 years ago, the 2nd Tactical Air Force were heavily engaged over the skies of France with rocket and bomb attacks on enemy positions, and vehicles in front of the line of advance.

Eisenhower himself specifically praised the Typhoons - "The chief credit in smashing the enemy's spearhead, however, must go to the rocket-firing Typhoon aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force... The result of the strafing was that the enemy attack was effectively brought to a halt, and a threat was turned into a great victory."  I think this was more related to the "Falaise Pocket" rather than the landings themselves.

Heavy praise indeed for the aircraft and pilots.  The records of losses over the war showed that today and tomorrow there were very heavy casualties for the Typhoon force, a factor of the sudden invasion and the huge amount of missions flown per day.

"Return of the Hunters" by Anthony Saunders

Rest in Peace all those airmen and crew that paid the ultimate price for our freedoms in the face of great adversity.

Hawker Typhoon for PSS - maidened!

Well, I chose my day and me and some local helpers got to the Orme in amongst 30mph SW winds - perfect.

After flying the SBD for a few flights, the Tiffie was rigged and readied.

By the time it came to fly the Typhoon, the wind speed had increased to 50mph - if she wasn't going to fly in that, she wasn't going to fly at all.

Photos complete, let's get her airborne!

Amazing!  A 28lb beast with a 4" thick root section actually soared away, and needed down trim to stay in sight.  Aileron and rudder trim were spot on, I think the C of G can come back a little too. I tired a few rolls - very axial.  A slight bump on landing meant that the spinner fell off - not surprising with the mass of it.  A quick repair though and she'll be good to go again soon.

The wind increased to 70mph+ as the day wore on, and the light got better and better.  Alas, it became to dangerous to launch aircraft so I walked the dogs a bit then drove home.

The video, as promised...

PSS Hawker fest - Typhoon and Seahawk final pictures

These two finally out in the sun together this weekend, hopefully maiden the Seahawk next weekend on the Orme - weather permitting...

Hawker Typhoon for PSS - balanced and programmed

I made up the looms for the Tiffie, installed all the servos (8), made the myriad of links and closed loop runs, then programmed the lot into the FRSky Horus.  All told, she's 31 lb AUW which includes about 8lb of lead behind the spinner!  Well, it is a short nose and she used to have a 90cc engine up there, and still needed about 3lb of lead with that, so I've saved around 8lb from the old AUW, which isn't too bad as a percentage.

Wing loading comes out in the region of 39 oz sq ft, and a WCL of 11 - quite respectable compared to the A10.

I'm just painting the servo covers, and printing a mount for the redundancy bus, then she'll be RTF.

Hawker Typhoon for PSS - paint completion

Time to get the Tiff in for some weathering.  This was done with the little cheap "ABest" airbrush and thinned black paint :

And underneath:

When that was all dry, time to shoot the lacquer, and that's it for paint!

She's a big girl!

Time to get on with wiring, controls setup and balancing...great!

Hawker Typhoon in the paint shop

The big Tiffie is at last getting her colours, and she's coming along nicely.  Secondly (didn't get pictures of the first stage - light grey underneath) the top green goes on :

Mask that up :

Then shoot the grey : 

Mask up, shoot the invasion stripes (missed that too!)

Indoors for decals :

Final bit of masking for the tail coloured band :

That leaves me with..

1. Paint the inner cavities of the flaps grey-green
2. Paint the spinner
3. Find and paint the belly pan finisher
4. Washes and weathering
5. Lacquer

Then onto radio and linkage installation, then balancing. Phew!