Super Constellation

[Tony Nijhuis 2280]

Keith....Great to see her finally taking shape. Peter has done a fine job getting it from that ram-shacked state I sold it to you in.....I only wish I had a 'Peter' down this neck of the woods to finishes this New Bronco of mine......keep up the good work.....i'll guarantee she'll fly a treat.

Will you be a Gaydon......?

[Keith Mitchell]

Will you be a Gaydon......?

Yep - but I'm not looking forward to the 4-00am start..........!!

K.

[paul needham]

Had a look at the connie at Gaydon, a brilliant job by you guys, with the excellent standard of the skin sheeting it almost seems a shame to paint it. Well done, looking forward to seeing it fly.

[Keith Mitchell]

Since Gaydon, Peter's really crashed on with the last major structural refurb' - the outer wing panels. Removing the lower skins, our worst fears were confirmed, though not totally unexpected might I say.......

Major spar strengthening, complete new builds of flaps and ailerons and strengthening of wing tube socket attachments, was required. Add to this re-adhesion of wing skins in significant areas.

All this, however, means we'll have faith that all aspects of the airframe have been internally scrutinised and strengthened/rebuilt where required.

Now over to Inspector, Phil Clarke, for his scrutiny........

[Phil Clark]

Give me a buzz as and when Keith. Off south for Christmas on Monday, but free Thursda thru Monday as the other half is working, so free to pop up at some time during those 5 days

Phil

[Ken Bones]

A few years ago I was working at Duxford for the day and a Connie flew in. It was amazing to see the tail plane wobbling all over the place as it taxied over the bumps.

Bonzey

[paul smith]

wow what an amazing achievement ..excellent model .. ;0)

[Keith Mitchell]

Presumably that was the MATS Connie, Ken...? I was at the Flying Legends show when it was displayed. I - and the thousands attending - were enthralled when it did the slowest pass with everything hanging out, full flap and engines at full chat. It looked as though it would stall at any minute!
K.

[Dave Berry 2911]

I was at Coventry Airport many years ago when a Connie was preparing to fly to its new owners in Central America.
It twice returned to the apron after aborted take-off attempts with engine problems.
On the third attempt it got airborne, bot sounded like a dustbin full of spanners going past!
It was due to route via Shannon, and for a couple of days I kept my eye on the news, half expecting to hear about a major incident. Never heard anything, so it probably got there and is helping with their main export!!
Lovely model Keith, look forward to seeing the " three fin four fan aluminium spam can" in the air.(still no smilies when you want them)

[Dave Hayfield]

We had a Connie land at Manston a few years ago. I live half a mile from airport and it flew over my house prior to its landing, couldn't really believe my eyes so went to airport and there it was standing all shiny on the arrivals apron. Got some photos somewhere. I think it was on its way to Holland.

[Keith Mitchell]

Dave - as you probably know, the Wright R-3350 turbo compound engines were not tremendously reliable and there were many engine-related incidents.

Night take-offs must also have been challenging for nervous passengers:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dExlu488bM ... Exlu488bM4

[Keith Mitchell]

After a few weeks illness at the beginning of the year, Peter's got back on to the 'Connie. He's taking a break from structural work and is fabricating some mouldings.

The first are the huge tip tanks - over 3' long - which are no problem to him with his G/F skills.

However, he's also tried something for the first time - spinners in C/F. He made the form from blue foam on his lathe, finally shaping with glass paper stuck to a template to get the unique ' Connie profile.

Then on to half-shell moulds, a single layer of heavy grade C/F woven cloth wetted in with West Systems 105 resin and look at the result. The man's a master........!

[Keith Mitchell]

We had an outdoor session today, as Peter wanted to align the tip-tanks properly by referring the port side one to the starboard, which was already fixed.

Also got first chance to see the carcass of his first S/S silencer box, a clever double-chamber design with baffles, utilising all the available space in the cowls.

And, too, the huge, 'barn-door' split flaps, now fully operational.........

[Steve Rickett 2333]

Brilliant!!

[Phil Clark]

Ditto........lookin good, love the tip tanks

[Keith Mitchell]

We've now run one of the ZDZ 90 engine/ silencer combinations on the test bench and they worked just great.

They were married-up to Biela 28x10 carbon prop's and the combination is just perfect. I love these prop's - broad, paddle-bladed and produce loads of draft at low noise levels.

As to the ZDZ 90's, I believe this new design is one of the most significant developments in model engine technology I've seen in years. For a large single, it's as well-balanced as my big 3W twins - and they take some beating. Starting is easy and predictable (and don't I need that for the 'Connie.........!!), power is smooth throughout the range and the new porting gives it remarkable grunt at the top end.

I would thoroughly recommend this engine for aero' types and 1/4 scale fighters, particularly the non-radial types with restricted cowling space.

If it's cheapness your'e after then stick to your Dr Lau's Engines but, mark my words, you won't get the quality demonstrated here..........

[Keith Mitchell]

Peter's now got the entire model glassed and rubbed down. He's been working on the root fairings which require the fuz' to be rigged (hence the pic') and the somewhat complicated job of the windows which are at all sorts of different spacings and levels on the S/Connie.

Getting close to the paint job...........

[Keith Mitchell]

Now ready for finishing. The model is beyond Peter and my spraying facilities so it's off to Clacton in a couple of weeks to that master finisher, Phil Noel of Pinnacle Aviation.

He's hoping to have it completed for display at Gaydon.........

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Fantastic, but i wonder what folk think when they walk past?

[Keith Mitchell]

Big boys, Big toys.......??