JERSEY AIR SHOW - TASTY STUFF FOR AIR FANS

Sad to say, the pretty little 1:72 scale de Havilland Heron airliner depicted on this old Airfix box-top wasn't at the 2012 Jersey Air Show, either in model form or the real thing. But there were plenty of elderly aircraft flying at the display held a couple of weeks ago.

Here are some of the interesting aircraft on display, on the ground and in the air. The annual event must make an interesting change for the air traffic controllers, as display and regular traffic use the same runway, under watchful eyes in the gleaming new control tower. The tower painted on the old Airfix box-top is now consigned to the past.

Airliners sharing runway space with the display aircraft included types from Embraer (above) and Airbus (below).

The Groupe Trenchant flew ex-Armee de l'Air Potez Air Fouga Magisters in a neat four-ship display.

Britain's Red Arrows display team put on their usual immaculate performance in BAe Hawk jets.

Classic World War II heavy bomber, the Avro Lancaster in flight and parked.

Sea Lynx anti-sub helo in hover mode.

Another de Havilland design, this Hornet Moth dates from the 1930s

Superlative Spitfire, a late model from the last days of World War II.

Swedish trio (above, top to bottom) Saab J-29, Saab 105, and J-37 Viggen.

Ex-French service North American T-28 two-seater, and (below) our Socata four-seater in which we flew to and from Jersey. Guess who's waving in the back!

Take a look at the Guernsey Model Show we saw on a previous trip to the Channel Islands.

* Heron kit box shown courtesy Airliner Cafe, Christian Bryan.

* Thanks to photographer Steve Pomroy, who kindly took the TB-20's portrait from the Jersey Aero Club as we were preparing to leave the island.

2012 INCOMING - HIGH-FLIGHT KITS FROM DRAGON

SMN report:

Here’s a bunch of 2012 aerospace kits from Hong Kong’s Dragon, and very good they look too.

First American in space

On May 5, 2012, it will be 50 years since Alan Shepard Jr piloted the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule to become the first US astronaut. And now Dragon celebrates Shepard’s sub-orbital flight with a 1:72 kit of the Mercury capsule, together with its Redstone launch rocket.

Mercury capsule detail

Judging from Dragon’s promo material, the kit looks well worth a look. The emergency escape tower atop the single-seat Mercury capsule is neatly detailed, and includes the trio of rockets needed to blast the capsule free of the Redstone launch rocket if required. The capsule itself has the correct ribbed appearance, and its single tiny window is there too. The original capsule design had no window, but one was fitted at the righteous insistence of the astronauts, and quite right too.

Redstone launcher

The Redstone looks accurate enough, with rectangular aft rudders present and correct, plus the main engine cone at the base. There is no interior detail to the rocket or capsule (NASA drawing shown above) but this is a display model, so perhaps this is a wish-list item - even so, a 1:72 scale Shepard sitting inside the capsule with the hatch open would have been an added-value touch.

Display solution

And talking of display, Dragon has included a circular dais for the rocket to stand on - a simple and effective solution. When assembled the model stands some 353 mm (13.9 in) high. 

Quotable quote?

Incidentally, Shepard (above) entered the aerospace dictionary of useful phrases with his muttered pre-launch words: “Don't fuck up, Shepard” later misquoted as "Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up.” Whichever version you choose, it’s known as ‘Shepard's Prayer.’

Two-man Gemini spacecraft

The follow-up to Mercury was the bigger Gemini capsule, and once again Dragon has stepped up to the plate with a decent 1:72 scale version of the real thing. Unlike the Mercury capsule, this model has both opening hatches and interior detail, which is terrific news. The two-man crew is also present and correct, with one astronaut in the left-hand seat, the other floating on the end of an umbilical tether. This is made of springy wire, so your spacewalker won’t dangle when the completed kit is mounted atop the supplied display stand.

“Golden and shiny”

Unusually, Dragon promotes a single item for early kit production, and that’s what’s described as the: “Golden, shiny and pre-painted propellant tank.” What we think Dragon means is the aluminized foil covering the rear of the service module, shown upper right in the picture. Well, it’s handy to have that part pre-finished, and here’s hoping Dragon’s production team keeps it that way.

Like the Mercury capsule, the Gemini has neatly-moulded ribbed capsule construction detail, and both these 1:72 scale kits are really an absolutely essential duo for space fans. 

Experimental superbomber

Taking this reviewer’s personal gold medal for the most beautiful bomber ever built, the North American XB-70 Valkyrie was a six-engine Mach 3-plus design, built in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War. Two prototypes were built, and Dragon’s 1:200 scale kit represents the second one, presently on display at the US Air Force Museum, Ohio.

We’re not overly keen on small scales here at SMN, but this Valkyrie kit shows the sheer size of the real thing, as, even at 1:200 scale, the model still has a wingspan of some 160 mm (6.3 in) with a length of 288 mm (11.3 in). More details on this kit soon.

Brightly painted Turkish jetliner

Last but not least is the ready-built Airbus A321 in Turkish Airlines decor. Made to super-small 1:400 scale - for aircraft, anyway - the Dragon A321 has a wingspan of just 85 mm (3.35 in). Even so, the Turkish Airlines markings all seem to be applied very neatly, including the near-microscopic flying bird logos on each winglet. Its diminutive size makes this model not quite our thing, but as an example of a beautifully produced miniliner model, it more than passes muster.

Summation

More good stuff from Dragon, and in the case of the two spacecraft, filling gaps in the aerospace model firmament, even if they've taken half a century to get here. 

Visit Dragon here.

These Dragon models are coming soon, meantime more Dragon stuff available here.

A FEAST OF MODELS AT THE 2010 FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW

David Jefferis reports from the show
The SMN crew spent yesterday at the UK’s premier business-orientated aerospace show. The weather was fantastic (which just goes to show how useless the predictions of some iPhone weather apps are...) and it was a real pleasure to watch high-power aerobatics and more genteel flypasts in bright blue skies, with puffy clouds to set them off.

Stealthy delta
Highlights of the day included new aircraft like the Airbus A400M military airlifter, and old-stagers such as the delta-wing Avro Vulcan, currently maintained in flying order by an enthusiast group, and good for them. The Vulcan’s shape gave it stealth-like abilities long before stealth became a design essential for survival in aerial combat...

A380 airliner
For model fans, shows like this are fantastic. Wandering round the real machines parked by the flightline reveals so much detail you just never see in photos. And as for weathering, one look at the A380 demo airliner should give you airbrush modellers perfect guidance for a careful bit of subtly realistic dirtying down.

Models on display
Being an industry trade event, there were fewer enthusiast shops than at many other shows; even so, there were plenty of models on display, both in the trade halls, and for sale in exhibition tents out in the sunshine. Trade models came large and small, and were fascinating for their variety, from rockets to rotorcraft. Models for sale showed just how popular readybuilts have become - it was a near clean-sweep for them, with only a few construction kits on display.

Fine levels of detail
Among our observations were the incredible levels of detail now being incorporated into metal kits. In particular, a Sukhoi Su-27 impressed us with its ultra-fine panel detail, while a Douglas Skyraider had a jewel-like sliding canopy, and a complete range of ordnance slotted neatly into a shiny plastic case - rockets, bombs, tanks, you name it - all ready and waiting to be hung under those straight wings. Just beautiful.

Air Show dates
Enjoy the pictures above, and we’ll hope to post some video clips in a short while. The Farnborough Air Show alternates annually with Paris, so in 2011 we aim to be reporting from the land of vin rouge, escargots, garlic - and home to Airbus Industrie and Heller model kits.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Chinese rocket models were popular with video crews.
2  JF-17 Thunder combat jet, co-produced by Pakistan and China.
3  Northrop Grumman hybrid air vehicle, looking more like a Dan Dare-era spaceship than a surveillance airship.
4  1:1 scale mockup of the planned 1000 mph (1609 km/h) Bloodhound, being developed to break the Land Speed Record (LSR) in the near future, perhaps as soon as 2011.
5  Temporary model shop for showgoers.
6  Lineup of large-scale display models. These are wood-based, nicely finished, and suitable for desktop display, but lack the intricate detail of plastic kits or metal ready-builts.

Visit the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow here.

The A400M is available as a 1:200 scale model direct from Airbus here.

A variety of Sukhoi aircraft is available here.

USEFUL SIZE-O-METER FROM THE NETHERLANDS

Dutch Telesale is an online supplier that has a surprisingly useful set of pages (top picture) on its site. These chart the length and wingspan of a range of aircraft, at various scales, in both Imperial and Metric measurements.

For example, a 1:24 Boeing 777-300 would be a whopping 121 inches (3073 mm) long, but at 1:500 it’s just a palm-of-the-hand 5 inches (148 mm).

There are some nice things for sale on DT’s site too, including a Herpa Wings 1:400 Airbus and DC-3 pair (middle picture), commemorating old and new airliners in Cathay Pacific's fleet. From Spark there is a tiny, yet beautifully detailed PininFarina Modulo concept car to 1:87 scale.

The Modulo dates back to 1970, yet still looks utterly futuristic, like a rocketship on wheels. It’s one of my all-time fave designs, not least for the slide-forward cockpit canopy (bottom picture). Wow - imagine something like this as a 21st century hydrogen-electric ecomobile, on sale in your downtown auto showroom. Gimme! Now!

You can visit Dutch Telesales here.

AIRBUS IS 40 YEARS OLD

At the weekend, Airbus celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Franco-German agreement that launched its first aircraft, the A300. The twin-jet’s maiden flight was in October 1972, with Air France putting it into airline service two years later. Production continued until 2007 after more than 800 had been built.

Perhaps the A300’s most unusual role is as a zero-g weightless trainer for European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts (top picture). The aircraft climbs, then gently pitches over in a parabolic arc that gives trainee astronauts some 20 seconds of weightlessness for each manoeuvre.

Changes to the aircraft include fitting out the interior with padded walls to cushion floating astronauts during zero-g flights. For a model project, the markings are the main items to be changed.

You can find details of the zero-g special at the ESA site here.

There are quite a few A300 ready-builts available, include those made by Herpa, Gemini Jets and Dragon Wings in 1:400 or 1:500 scale. Try the Scale Model Store here.

The old Airfix 1:144 kit can still be found on eBay and some retail outlets. Currently there’s an eBay offering at a Buy It Now price of £18.00 GBP ($29.00 USD), which sounds fair, especially as the A300 is no longer marketed by Airfix. Visit here.