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Speed,Combat,Scale,Racing => Scale Models => Topic started by: Paul Smith on November 09, 2007, 01:15:40 PM
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As advertized, our club was able to penetrate security and get a tour of the Selfridge Air Museum. The highlight, of course, is their 1' = 1' S.P.A.D. project.
The current star attraction is the F-86 Sabre jet, but will change soon, very, very soon.
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Paul;
Is that an A26 tail in the background of the F86?
Leroy
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Yes, they have an A-26C.
The primary purpose of our mission, and that of many model clubs in the area was to check progress on the FULL SCALE S.P.A.D. under construction.
Thus far, the fuselage, tail, and bottom wing are done. Ailerons are under construction, and the top wing is still in the future.
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http://www.selfridgeairmuseum.org/page1aircraft.htm
Check it out on line.
They're building the S.P.A.D. purely on voluntary donations, so if you haven't seen it yet, get your club or group to schedule a tour. And put a few bucks in the collection tray while you're there. Some hard core scale builders got some schooling on the REAL details of an old biplane.
The biggie is fun raisin for the display hanger for the finished product. They want $100 to have your name or club displayed on a doners' plaque. A real patron of the art could just kick up $40,000 and have HIS NAME on the hanger, thereby thumping all the 100-bucks's.
The museum has no regular bidness hours in winter, but if you call the director (best on Tues or Friday) you can set up a special group tour just about any Tuesday or Friday.
While you're there, you can get into the reference library and maybe find some rare documentation to fo-graph.
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The display building is under contruction. Just a plain off-the-shelf steel shed now. But no doubt, it will be dolled-up later.
The cowl is being laminated of genuine Dow Styrofoam, a product of Midland, Michigan. It will be hot wirc cut, then hand-sanded, then fibreglassed.
The last major part is the top wing, of which the ribs have been cut.
Also attached is an archive photo of Eddie's ride.
And., last but not least, FUN raising. It's turning into a $50,000 project, of which only a small part is in hand.
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In June of 1968 my Dad attended the Tallmantz auction to settle Paul Mantz's estate.
His restored original, flyable Spad went for a record warplane price of 40,000 dollars. (The highest priced WWII fighter went for around 8,000 a flyable and pretty nice P-40.)
Oh, the dollar!
Chris...
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Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés, S.P.A.D. fans need to learn to, pronounce that one, any hints?
The company came to a sad ending. The French government tried to resolve it's war debt by imposing an 80% excess profits tax on the very suppliers who had staved off the Germans (terrible Huns). The SPAD company went out of business, as did several French governments, which were eventually replaced by a stronger one (see above).
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I saw that show. Pretty good.
Bleriot couldn't get anything in the air until after he talked to the Wright brothers. He got all their technology, and proceeded to do everything the opposite: monoplane, tractor, flippers in back, single prop, wheels not skids, pilot sitting upright.
What he did accept was the belief that it was possible.
There are those still who think Bleroit was really the first to fly and that Wright rode on a bench thrown by a catapult.
The centenniel reactment of the Wright flight went worse than the Bleriot. It didn't fly either (at least not on the anniversary day).
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Ty,
One very small correction on the origins of the SPAD company.
The company was set up in 1911 by Armand Deperdussin as the Société des Aéroplanes Deperdussin.
In 1912 the name was changed slightly to the Société Provisoire des Aéroplanes Deperdussin .
Armand Deperdussin was arrested for fraud in 1913, which opened the door for a consortium led by Louis Blériot to buy up the company's assets. At that time the name was changed to the .
I had fun researching this back when I designed the SIG Deperdussin R/C electric model. Up to that point I hadn't been aware of the interesting connection between Bleriot and SPAD.
Mike
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Ty,
One very small correction on the origins of the SPAD company.
The company was set up in 1911 by Armand Deperdussin as the Société des Aéroplanes Deperdussin.
In 1912 the name was changed slightly to the Société Provisoire des Aéroplanes Deperdussin .
Armand Deperdussin was arrested for fraud in 1913, which opened the door for a consortium led by Louis Blériot to buy up the company's assets. At that time the name was changed to the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés.
I had fun researching this back when I designed the SIG Deperdussin R/C electric model. Up to that point I hadn't been aware of the interesting connection between Bleriot and SPAD.
Mike
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The "History Detectives" is worse.
Mike
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I made another visit to the Selfridge Air Museum. Here's more on the S.P.A.D. XIII.
They still need donations to complete the project.
http://www.selfridgeairmuseum.org/