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Gladys International 21C

The Almost Quarterly Journal of The Sheffield

Society of Aeromodellers Issue 110 2015

In this issue…tales of Tiggers and nightingales, fantastic things we did

with foam, shameless plugs for the Shuttleworth Trust and a

retrospective look at the hats and times of Colin Troise.

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One Man and his Hats : Ed. .............................................4

Summertime (and the flying was easy): Ed Lock.............5

Biggles Flies Again– T. ‘Biggles’ Gregory.........................6

Info-Ad-Featurisement: Penton Products........................8

Building The Versa Wing: Andy Timmons .....................10

A Shuttleworth Summer: Phil Barrett and Ed................14

Club Bits– Ron Mallett...................................................25

Spot The Plane : Ed Endum............................................27

Endpiece ........................................................................28

One for Phil Barrett: The Comet’s debut flight this summer

Contents

Acknowledgements All photos by Neil Carver except p4 Mike Stott, pp6-7 (top) Marge

Gregory, p7 (bottom) Tim Scowcoft p9 (bottom) Unknown, pp10-13

Andy Timmons, pp14-15 Phil Barrett, pp26 Ron Mallett, p28 Brian

Clamp

Mass Building and Proof Reading : Andy Timmons

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We’ll kick off this issue by welcoming Andy Timmons as our new

Membership Secretary. Welcome. Given his experiences with foam and

figures, Andy is well equipped for the role. Fortunately for him the full

initiation ceremony has not taken place yet as the goat is still missing.

Anyway, when I took on the role of editor I quickly recognised it was my

duty to take the Mickey out of club members, particularly Martin

Aspinall and of course anyone on the Committee. Of course Mickey

taking is a risky business and there is always the chance you might

inadvertently cause offence. In fact there is always the chance that

writing anything will offend someone. Well, an innocent comment I

made last issue, about nightingales in Berkley Square has in fact done

just that. A bird lover with the unlikely moniker of ‘Geo T. Ryder’ has

expressed outrage at my alleged ornithological inaccuracy.

Sir, I read in your almost quarterly rag, Gladys, a rather blasé comment

about that wonderful Vera Lynn song “A nightingale sang in Berkeley

Square”. For you to suggest that an occurrence of the Nightingale singing

in Berkeley Square is impossible really beggars belief!

I myself have been privileged to listen to a nightingale singing its little

heart out only some six miles from Berkeley Square in April 2007. It

managed to attract a mate and the pair nested yards from the park’s

main footpath. To protect the birds from unwarranted disturbance, the

local birding group made a decision not to broadcast the news. The birds

reappeared in 2008 but no nightingale has been heard there since.

Incidentally, the song is not based on a genuine occurrence of the species

in central London. Indeed, it was written in a fishing village on France’s

Mediterranean coast.

Yours faithfully but in a state of outrage!

Geo T. Ryder

...and there you have it. You might say I’ve been given the bird. Either

way I will not be cowed . Ed.

Editorial

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As you may know Colin has (finally) stepped down as Membership

Secretary. He took up this role in 1756 and has been trying to leave since

1757. Anyone who has

spent even a minute in a

Committee meeting will

appreciate his ‘way with

numbers’ , especially big

ones with decimal points.

His remarkable ability to

generate counterarguments

faster than Tim can sign his

name on a cheque will also

be missed.

Colin is also the only Committee member who can remember the

passwords for the Zurich accounts, so rather than risk offending him by

saying anything about his flying, I thought this page should celebrate

Colin’s legendary choice in hats. Copies of Gladys from the early 2000’s

show Colin sporting a white sunhat (above). It didn’t take long though

before the inevitable caption appeared : “Where did Colin get that hat?”

Always sensitive to the views of his public Colin took a new direction in

headwear and the Mickey-

taking stopped. The most

recent photo (right) shows him

in a more robust wool affair,

aerial extended and with

counterargument at the ready,

to 3 decimal places.

Colin, for all your contributions

to the club, we take your hat

off to you. ( Think about it ! )

One Man and His Hats: Ed.

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Cold outside? These shots were taken on one of those warm, calm, to die

for summers evenings last year. Remember them? Whatever was on the

box must have been good as Tim and I were the only folks flying. Tim

celebrated his second hand purchases of Mustang and Stearman and I

pottered around with my Parkzone Stinson Reliant. It really does potter

in a very

relaxed and

scale like

manner.

Now if only

they if they

made a Vega…

Summertime, (and the flying was easy): Ed.Lock

I don’t quite know

how, but some trick

of the light makes

the Mustang look as

if it is parked outside

the USAAF hanger at

Duxford.

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Many readers of a certain age will know what I mean when I say I

devoured all of the Biggles books I could get my hands on in the Upper

Third. Well, after 60 years Biggles was to fly again. For my last birthday

my son and daughter bought me a sampler flight in a Tiger Moth with

Blue Eye Aviation. Although this was to be a taster flight (10 mins) from

Nether Thorpe airfield when the time came I upgraded this to the much

longer ‘Dams’ flight. The first attempt was aborted due to low cloud over

the hills and we received the call to cancel when only about 2 miles from

the airfield. Very disappointing. My second attempt was made about 6

weeks later.

The weather was

perfect, brilliant

sunshine with just a

light breeze and a

perfectly clear sky.

We arrived at the

airfield in good

time due to Marge

thinking the flight

was an hour earlier

than it was (not

unusual!) and

registered with the

organisation. A short briefing with a couple of other chaps waiting to fly

filled in 10 minutes whilst waiting for our slots.

It was all very atmospheric, sitting in old striped deck chairs outside an

old khaki tent with strains of Vera Lynn singing old war time songs in the

background, I could almost imagine myself as one of the few awaiting for

the order to “scramble chaps” . Soon enough the order to don the flying

jacket came and I mounted the wing of the Tiger Moth to climb into the

Biggles Flies Again : T. ‘Biggles’ Gregory

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front cockpit and commence my flight. We flew down to Owlerton and

up the valleys and out over the dams: Howden, Derwent and Ladybower,

then up the Hope Valley. We

passed over Stannage Edge

and Callow Bank, followed

Ringinglow Road and flew

over Birkdale playing field.

Finally the flight took us

down High Storrs Road and

over our house before

cruising back to the airfield.

The landing was a classic,

gently skimming the grass to

a perfect touch down.

This ended a most memorable flight for one 75 year old in a 75 year old

aeroplane. It had been much more than I could have hoped for. I might

add that as soon as I was up and away on my flight Marge headed for the

club house for, as she said, a well needed gin and tonic .So you could say

a good time was had all round!

In a strange coincidence no less than 3 pretty much scratch built Tiggers

turned up at the indoor hall built by (left to right) David Tayler,

Tim Scowcroft and John Broadhead. All we need now is a scale Terry.

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“I went for scheme 2 to match my plane.” said Danny. “The Pink

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I have even offered my PPPPP a biscuit by mistake! You might say my

Penton Products Patent Plane Propelling Platform picked up a

Penguin !”

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Building The Versa Wing : Andy Timmons When I joined the club, I think I must have confused a lot of people by

the way I took great delight in crashing my planes. Not that I did it

intentionally you understand (OK, I did once, when I was fed up with that

particular plane) but people couldn't understand why I wasn't more

upset. The fact is, that's how I learn. I try things to see if they work and

if they do, I remember. If they don't, I try to work out what went wrong,

and then have another go.

And it was because this is how I learn that I chose to fly really, really

cheap planes. Discounting the electronics that can always be re-used,

each plane might cost a fiver because I build them out of Depron or

foamboard. When I explained, many people still believed that the planes

crashed because they were built out of foamboard, so I thought I'd offer

to show them how easy it is to build truly fun and relatively robust

planes in an evening.

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I chose the Versa Wing (opposite) because it can be easily built in an

evening, can be made into a pusher, tractor or slope soarer (and

swapped between), used many of the standard Flite Test build

techniques, could be powered by any motor from 80W to 800W, and

w a s a l m o s t

guaranteed to fly.

Once again Gordon did

his organizing bit, and

of course decided it is

impossible to build on

an empty stomach. So

freshly stuffed with

pie, peas, chips and

beer, scalpels flashing

in the moonlight, we

began work at just

before 20:00 on 23

October 2014.

I stood at the front

and tr ied to

demonstrate clearly

what the next part of

the build process

involved and then

everyone tried to copy

me.

Thankfully, no-one

else tried to copy the two times I stuck the scalpel into my hand and the

subsequent decoration of the wing. Nor, I hope, did anyone emulate my

gluing of the servo wires to the wing spar, which meant I had to cut a big

hole in the wing to dig them out.

The SSA version of The Last Supper

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I tried to progress at the rate of the slowest builder, but it became clear

that we'd run out of time before the pub closed, so I picked up the pace

a bit and encouraged the onlookers and faster workers to help. This

seemed to work well and soon everyone was either cutting, gluing,

taping or looking confused.

Some of the eager types tried to get ahead, which made for a couple of

fun moments when I announced loudly things like 'Now at this point you

might think you stick this bit here, but don't otherwise the next bit won't

fit.'

By 22:00 we had a couple of finished planes and several well on their

way. By 22:30 most people had something they could take home and

finish easily at their leisure. I'd taken three extra kits, and they were

bought by doubters who had become believers during the evening, and I

Hard at work… David looks very comfortable with a scalpel.. Can’t think

why.

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had requests for another five wings, one Spitfire, a Mustang and a

Storch.

I'd contacted Flite Test to tell them what I was proposing to do and they

had generously donated stickers and decal sheets. I say generously

because we'd effectively done them out of $600 of sales (they make and

sell the kits as well as providing the plans).

I sold the decal sheets at the end of the evening and raised a few quid for

MacMillan Cancer Support, which made it all the more worthwhile. Like

a proud midwife, I've subsequently attended the christening of two of

the wings and hope to be there for many more, so If you made one, let

me know when the maiden is, and I'll be there.

A few people have asked 'What are we building next? Anyone fancy

making a Scout for indoors?

Once again club members foil the authorities by carefully protecting the identity

of Mr Big ( far left)

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It might be an odd thing to say, but articles on airshows at Old Warden

are like number 52 buses. You don’t see one for ages then two turn up at

once. For reasons best kept to myself as editor, Phil Barrett is up first.

I am sure many of our members have visited the Shuttleworth Collection

at the Old Warden airfield near Biggleswade. It has an unrivalled

collection of flyable aircraft from the Edwardian era through to the

1950s.The final airshow of the season was held on 5 October, and was

titled ‘Race Day’ to honour the 80th

anniversary of the London to

Melbourne air race, which was of course won by the DH 88 Comet in the

colours of Grosvenor House. The Comet is part of the Collection, but only

flew again on 1 August this year after a 12 year programme to repair and

strengthen the undercarriage.

I firmly believe this aircraft lays a claim on being the most beautiful ever

built, so I had to take the opportunity to see the original which was being

A Shuttleworth Summer : Phil Barrett and Ed.

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given pride of place in both the static and flying sections of the air show.

I was not disappointed! The Comet was flown by the Collection’s Chief

Test Pilot, and he displayed it to great effect. He obviously has

confidence in the new undercarriage, as he completed a touch and go to

great applause from the crowd.

Continuing the theme of air races, the Shuttleworth Collection had

assembled the most amazing collection of aircraft that would have taken

part in the National Air Races in the 1930s. These included:

● Miles Hawk Speed Six

● Miles Falcon Major

● DH Puss Moth

● Percival Mew Gulls

● Spartan Executive

The Spartan Executive amazed me, an American design of the 1930s of

which only 34 were built for luxurious personal air travel. The aircraft

had a range of 870 nautical miles, and its 9 cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-

985 radial engine gave it a top speed of 223 knots. Featuring a

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retractable undercarriage and all metal construction, it clearly was the

Lear Jet of the 1930s!

The highlight of the meeting was a five lap handicap race around a

triangular course centred on the Old Warden airfield. The DH 60 Moth

chugged away first, with the Miles Hawk Speed Six and the Spartan

Executive giving away a whole lap. The handicappers almost got it right,

with the DH 60 only overtaken halfway round the last lap but with the

favourites pipped by a Chilton DW-1 monoplane.

There was a really good R/C display in the lunch break, with the Dawn

Patrol lads fielding their Fokker D7 and Sopwith Pup supported by the

English Electric Wren from the LMA. Interestingly, the original Wren

should have flown, but with only around 7hp it struggled to take off. The

half scale R/C version substituted really well, aided by around twice the

power of the original and no pilot! The crowd was very appreciative of

the R/C display, which has to be good for all of us.

The final aircraft on display was an Edge 540 flown by the current

National Aerobatics Champion. Whilst we have all seen the R/C versions

at the Nationals, seeing the same manoeuvres with a full size plane and

pilot was just amazing. With copious use of smoke he put on a superb

display. There was an excellent crowd for this final event, and the

weather was remarkably kind for early October. Overall, this was a fine

swansong for the 2014 season.

Thank you Phil ! Over to me…

Unknown to Phil was that several weeks earlier to his visit, and blessed

by equally good weather Tim and I had also found our way to Old

Warden. We had set off to go to Durham but with Tim navigating it was

of course likely we ended up somewhere else. It was of course very good

luck that ‘somewhere else’ turned out to be The Shuttleworth Trust and

even better luck there as an airshow taking place on that very day.

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Tim and I celebrated this good luck with a bacon sarney before sampling

the delights of the trade stands that occupied a hanger along with a

dapper Aeronca (below). If you like old aviation books the stands at

Shuttleworth are some kind of browsing heaven.

I have to confess though I was mildly distracted from my task by a the

cover of a new glossy graphic novel by one Romain Hugault. When I say

graphic novel I mean of course ‘well-illustrated comic’. Now, all I shall say

for the moment about this graphic novel is that the tale of fighter

combat in WW2 is both a little bit rare and a little bit racy. And graphic in

more ways than one. In fact the stallholder enthusiastically shouted;

‘Woah – we should have put that on the top shelf !’

This comment led to the kind of public attention my lawyer has always

suggested I avoid. I fled and led a bemused Tim to the not so fleshy, but

nevertheless wonderful distraction that is the ‘Shuttleworth Fightline

Walk.’ There are of course various approaches to doing the ‘Flight Line

Walk.’ For most it is but a pleasant stroll to view 20 or so old air frames

and learn a series of interesting facts about them, recounted by a

wonderful hugely knowledgeable chap who has been a ‘Volunteer’ at

Shuttleworth for years.

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You may however be of the view that the ‘Flightline Walk’ offers a rare

chance to get the close up shot of that Comet – with no distracting

crowd and no pylons or modern vehicles in the background. If so you are

someone the Volunteer knows as the ‘Photographer’. Both Photographer

and Volunteer know they are engaged in a never to be acknowledged

game of cat and mouse. To win, the Photographer must stray from the

group just far enough to get that shot. The Volunteer however is all too

aware of the damage that can be caused when the telephoto lens of a

straying Tour Member meets the revolving propeller of a Visiting Pilot. To

win the game he must limit the wanderings of the Photographer and

return him safely and intact to the crowd enclosure. I’m pretty much

sure it was a draw this time round.

The first plane encountered on the Walk was the 1955 Fauvel AV 36

(above) Later on we were treated to a surprisingly aerobatic display by

this wonderful French glider, flown by one Graham Saw. He also flew the

somewhat frail looking reconstruction of the 1938 Schnieder SG 38 ( EoN

Primary). This most basic of airframes (opposite) was used to train

German pilots allegedly for commercial pilot roles. In reality many of

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these pilots were preparing to fly for the then banned German air force

Fantastic as it was it didn’t quite whistle like the Fauvel whistled. And

boy did it whistle. You may by the way have noticed Tim’s hat (opposite).

He had forgotten his proper hat (see page 8) and had to purchase this

from the Tombola stand in the interest of sunburn prevention. It cost £1

and he reckoned he could sell it on to Colin Troise for, “at least a tenner

and 2 servos”.

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After the Flight Line Walk came

lunch and the flying display

proper. This year Shuttleworth

pulled out all the stops with an

inverted flypast of every known

airworthy Spitfire in the world.

Tim sadly missed this as he was

‘resting his eyes ‘in a post lunch

torpor. Don’t tell him though. He

will be furious at missing such a

rare event.

Tim finally woke up to be treated

to a what could only be termed

a classic Shuttleworth display of

no less than 5hrs of flying… yes

5hrs. No RC this show, but no-

one was complaining. As well as the gliders there were numerous

highlights, including an impossibly low and slow display by the Fieseler

FI156 Storch. It seemed to spend most of its time going sideways and

even spent a little time in reverse (or was it just me)? Oddly enough I

came across this quote from UK Airshow reviewer Dan O’Hagan who was

otherwise wowed by the event.

‘The only gripe, and it's a very minor one, would be that Chris Huckstep's

Sea Hurricane routine was rather wasted by displaying at the same time

as Pete Holloway in the Fieseler Storch. Both aeroplanes are impressive

enough to be worthy of their own slot - as Holloway found when he

removed his helmet to be greeted by spontaneous applause, which he

acknowledged with a theatrical bow and broad smile!‘

He has a point. So struck I was with the Storch I had forgotten the

Hurricane displayed with it. Even weirder was that I (and apparently Dan)

had also forgotten the Lysander was in the air at the same time as well.

Either way I think the genuine affection between Hurricane and Lysander

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is evident in the shot above. I’ll leave you to guess the direction of travel

of the Storch ( as it were).

It isn’t hard to see the dilemma of the Shuttleworth show organisers

however. A fair few of their planes are limited in terms of display

potential. Even the most diehard of enthusiasts would likely suffer

Flightline Fatigue if everything displayed on its own. I don’t think I am the

only one (in my pre-digital days) to have experienced Zoom Lens Droop

half way through a show – when you realise that you have just taken

exactly the same photo of every plane that has flown. It is to

Shuttleworth’s credit that they theme their shows and manage to create

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variation and spectacle out of even the most unlikely of combinations of

planes. Here a 1940 Polikarpov PO2 pursues a 1930 Hawker Tomtit while

the 1930 Blackburn

B2 and a Tiger Moth

turn in for their pass.

One mid afternoon

highlight for me was

seeing two 1938

Gloucester

Gladiators in the air

at the same time.

One is a

Shuttleworth,

resident. The other

was from the

Duxford based

Fighter Collection.

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Another pair that made a great impression were 2 BE2s. These were new

builds , from New Zealand. By now they are hopefully housed in the UK

at Stow Maries, the preserved First War airfield and home of the WW1

Aviation Heritage Trust (http://ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk)

As the afternoon wore on it was evident there was doubt about whether

the Comet would fly due to a slight crosswind. But around 7pm, with the

sun almost setting, Collection Chief Pilot ‘Dodge’ Bailey took off. It was

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the first public flight of the Comet in 20 years. Its not hard to see why

Phil rates this plane so much. It looks fantastic in the air. Given the

fading light it is a small miracle I got any shots but I am rather chuffed of

the pic above, with a huge pale moon in the evening haze. After a

dazzling display the Comet landed fast. In fact it landed very fast. The tail

kept lifting and it ran on and on and on, to the very end of the strip.

It is hardly surprising that

there is talk of basing this

miracle at a larger airfield.

I hope not though. It

really is a Shuttleworth

animal and seeing it fly

was worth the price of

admission alone. Times

ten.

It even kept Tim awake.

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The annual SSA ‘Bring and Buy’ took place in the Abbey in early

November and was a great success. Many thanks to Gordon for

organising the event and to the staff of the pub for the chips,

sandwiches, pork pies and sausage rolls and for putting up with us rowdy

people again. There were many items for sale, from tubes of glue to

Andy’s foam board kits and a range of completed models. Something for

everyone. There was even a bit of an auction part way through where

donated models were sold off for the best price. I myself got a nice

rubber powered kit, full of nice balsa cut ribs and string fuselage. This

will make a nice change from just sticking some foam pieces together.

As usual there was plenty of chatting about models, lots of information

about what to buy, how to build etc. and many technical people around

to answer just about any question. There was a concern that the Abbey

Pub wouldn’t be big enough to accommodate the Bring and Buy, but on

the night there was enough room. Maybe if the event is publicised

outside the club or we get a definite list of who is bringing what, then the

church hall would be a better option. Any thoughts?

Thank you to all that attended and bought or sold. I hope you have all

the bits you need to finish off your models and don’t forget to start

saving those pennies or surplus planes and equipment for this year’s

event.

Only weeks later 13 hardy souls braved the icy conditions and turned up

for the après Xmas indoor flying at Dronfield. The hall staff were enjoying

a festive lie in and we couldn’t get in till 9am so we assembled in the

deserted snowy car park. As it was calm and quiet Ron flew a Slowfly1

and Barry a Shockie. A few bemused passers by stood and watched the

flying.

(Is it true one of them gave Barry 10p for a cup of tea? Ed)

Club Bits : Ron Mallett

26

At 9am we all trooped into the hall to discover the floor has been

repolished and was very, very shiny. As there were so few of us we put

the tables up by the end wall. No shortage of tables that day! Terry

honoured Colin’s tenure as Membership Secretary by wearing a dodgy

orange hat throughout the session (see below). Even with so few of us

we followed the usual pattern of flying slots, but as there weren't many

people, we tried to fly clockwise. Tried is the word. It proved so difficult

to keep going folk quickly reverted back to the normal direction. Even

with so few planes in the air there was still contact between models and

the wall still claimed its share of

victims… mostly flown by Terry.

It was nice to fly with so much

space though, and to see so many

people turn up, despite the

conditions.

Andy (centre-right) is pictured in the

Slow Fly 2 slot using his

revolutionary new ‘no transmitter’

control method. The plane is

controlled using a mix of telepathy

and small nose movements.

27

Well, it is with great regret that I report no one has won this run of Spot

the Plane. I have cropped and blown up last edition’s photo. Adrian's

Trex can be seen just below the far horizon. Most entries went for the

sky to the right. Phil Clayton and Ron Mallett came closest. Thanks to all

of you for entering. It has been fun...but from Spot the Plane, bye for

now.

Ps. None of the hats worn in these photos belonged to Colin Troise.

Spot The Plane : Ed Endum

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Endpiece

Santa couldn’t believe his experiment had worked. He had finally found

a labour supply that would work for free. No more unionised elves, no

more strikes, no more working to rule. Alright he didn’t get to wear the

outfit and the Santa hat, but it was a start. Sheffield didn’t seem much

warmer than the Pole but Rudolf liked it on the moors and the beer

wasn’t bad either. ‘Yes,’ he thought ‘I might just pull this off. I just have

to persuade this lot to give me back the planes after they built them.’

Editors Note 1: Look Colin… Martin Aspinall made me write that stuff

about you. I couldn't refuse… he had that look in his eye... you know the

look when he crashes and says ; “lend me some Por”. Scary. Anyway, you

know those Zurich based accounts….

Editors Note 2: I am beginning to suspect Geo T. Ryder might be a

pseudonym. Anyone any ideas?