Ailerons done, tail feathers covered. I went for the most brownish greenish greenbrown muddy green chocolate that was long term supportable and I could reliably get matched for repairs. The guy I bought it from said that my choice was indeed popular for many of his WW1 builders (whatever that means). The bottom will be a varnished linen color, and then the usual suspects for the roundels and tail, featuring a lighter blue than the WW2 insignia blue. So, here in Poly-tone: Oak Green 212, 4 gallons Sun Valley Ivory 132, 2.5 gallons Pontiac Red 191, 0.5 gallon Insignia White 105, 0.5 gallon True Blue 173, 0.5 gallon Flattener, 0.5 gallons All told, a bit less than $1K US, or 20 quid UK at the current exchange rate from what I can tell. We are still planning on shooting the exposed metal cowl, sides and hump in clear overspray tinged with black and flattener as on the really nice EIII at Dayton - a very nice effect Image Unavailable, Please Login
Russ, what references are you using for squadron markings,etc? I'm not very familiar with this data. I suppose that Taz is very knowledgeable here. Switches
My goodness, where to start. Sopwith Camel - King of Combat by Chaz Boyer (A definintive tome, lovingly done) Windsock Datafiles on Camel F.1 and Camel 2F1 and Sopwith Camel Squadrons Profile Publications #31 The Sopwith Camel F.1 (Two Shillings!) Sopwith Camel F.1 Plans by Replicraft Sopwith Fighters in Action - Sqn Publications Ghosts - The Great War The Camel File Sopwith Camel Aces of WW1 - Osprey Sopwith Camel vs Fokker Dr1 - Osprey ...and numerous good advisors over at www.theaerodrome.com. I've never seen people get into name calling fights over the correct shade of color before. There are some AMAZING aircraft being built by some of the guys on that forum. Amazing. Albatros, Dr1, DVII, Snipes Fe2, Pups, you name it, at every level of authenticity to museum quality with original engines.
I chuckle at that comment because my old friend Pete Bowers was a purist about any old aircraft be it the structural accuracy or markings. HE was THE expert on just about anything from exterior markings down to serial numbers and how many types were on what contract. At a fly-in years ago a proud owner of a sort of Aircamper thingy was proudly displaying his airplane and Pete looked at the CUB nose, CUB engine, CUB landing gear and told the guy that , " That is no Pietenpol Aircamper! If you wanted a PIper Cub why the hell didn't you go out and buy one!" There are too many " restorations" and " replicas" that are totally in error as to coloration and application and that includes many B-17's and WW2 fighters that have the wrong O.D. and the wrong color gray underneath and the wrong proportions on the insignia. Thanks for the info. I'll do some studying. Switches
Great story. I immensely admire Mr. Bowers; my response would have been, "it's easy to be a purist, but it's harder writing the checks, which is, of course, the trump card". One of the things that I have found marvelous about most all the WW1 folks is that the purists and the not-so-accurate guys get along great, and are bound by their enthusiasm for WW1 aviation, each doing the best he can. A great bunch of guys.
Pete was a great purist but also generous person IF you were genuinely interested in aviation. He wouldn't talk about anything else and would berate those who were inaccurate or sloppy about aviation history and would eschew those who weren't totally truthful about their involvement with airplanes. His evenings at home away from Boeing were spent digging through historic files, writing, or building something. He was an eccentric but contributed an enormous amount of knowledge to the aviation community. It never ceased to amaze me how he would come up to someone and say, " Why don't you go and fly my airplane?" Be it the Fly Baby or Pietenpol or whatever , he was generous. I met him in 1952 when I entered a painting in the Boeing Hobby Show, long since discontinued. After that we were good friends because I spoke airplane. Switches
The Sopwith Camel is a difficult airplane to fly, and during World War 1 some 385 pilots lost their lives just learning to fly the beast. But once you get past that I'll bet you will have a heck of a ride. Be sure and take your white scarf along - you will need it to wipe all of the castor oil off of your goggles! Enjoy! JetAviator7 {John} http://sopwith-camel.com http://all-things-aviation.com
Wings and tail surfaces in cover. Stuggling with throttle/mixture linkage Also will attach elevator controls/trim this week. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looking at the last picture, you're not doping with that salamander running are you? You could be going for an unexpected flight before you know it!
Russ, from what I can detect , it appears that the aerofoil ( British for airfoil) has been modernized and simplfied. No under camber and a full curve at the leading edge. I think that the aerofoil on the originals had an RAF 5 section, thin under-cambered, and sharp entry. Good for doing bad stalls. AGAIN ! You are having too much fun but it adds an association with your airplane that comes only with the act of building it. Beats the hell out of just buying one. Swiyches
jesus h christ - now I know where you've been!! I was going to ask you if you could send my dad's exhaust manifold how-to book back, but I do not want to get in the way of the progress of this amazing project!! next time you're up here visiting that 5-sided building, the belgian beer is on me, big guy.
Very astute, Mr. Parks. The airfoil, although of the same length and choed, is not undercaambered and hs a rounded front. The original RAF 15 was very sharp edged, reflecting the belief it made it faster (it didn't). The Germans figured out first that a rounded fromt was indeed as fast or faster, with a much gentler stall. This particulat wing is one where the RAF wing ection was given a round front and under camber removed. The Wing area is the same at 231 sq feet. Tonight was finishing tapes and more dope - hopefully paint next week. Finished linkade today - very satisfied. Ta - Da - the instrument panel is FINALLY finished, Trim system and elevator system going in Image Unavailable, Please Login
What a beautiful and classic instrument panel ! How I envy you and your involvement in the Camel project. From my time at work I learned that the first third from the leading edge of the wing is what produces a great percentage of the lift and the down flow aft produces the rest. In a light airplane like yours the leading edge is most important to keep it flying and not to quit when the alpha gets a bit high. The German's idea was correct, thin wing sections don't keep an airplane flying in all regimes and the speeds then were so low that the well curved airfoils did the best job. Look at the Fokker D-7, it could fly with all the rest at 125 -130 but it could out-climb everything and hang on it's prop and it refused to stall. A wing with enough area and a lifting airfoil will perform much better than a thin stub that has to fly at a high alpha and the resulting high drag. The Spad, Sopwiths, and SE-5 had sharp leading edges and thin sections but ample wing area helped to off-set the sharp stall characteristics. I have always liked the SE-5 and wish somebody would build one like your Camel. Switches
Yeah, you're right on there, Jim. Who in the world ever heard of a Beagle flying a Sopwith Camel ! GOOD GRIEF! A senario like that would NEVER FLY!
Seriously, though, the workmanship looks remarkable and I'm sure she'll fly very well. It's probably wise to ditch the rotary in favor of a modern radial.
...and here is the panel in the cockpit. A photo of the offending throttle body. Throttle quadrant, stick with RV trim system windlass -- and - note the AERONCA 7AC heel brakes!! Finishing tapes. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I failed to see where the 7AC brake pedals were but never mind. I wish that I was there helping on this project. How exciting ! Switches
