Gloster Gauntlet - Silver Wings + AIMS

Started by Max Williams · 216 · 1 year ago
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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    I only have to strongly agree with you Gents @maxw and @gblair : indeed, the more (closely) you look at, the more you see. Really amazing.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Max (@maxw): I am always amazed that I can check a model 3 or 4 times, take photos of it, and then find a bunch of stuff I missed when I look at the photos. I think the contrast in photos allows us to see things that aren't that obvious when we are looking at the model with our eyes, at least that's what I tell myself. I think I would appreciate your eye for detail on some of my kits.

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    Max Williams said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Happens all the time with me too George, something about the camera’s eye! It’s unforgiving.

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    Max Williams said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    A fellow Gauntlet modeller has checked his references which state “emergency flare housing”. Seems to settle it in my mind.

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    Christopher Amano-Langtree said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Sorry for the delayed response. Generally Holt flare brackets were just stuck on the underside of the wing and weren't retractable. There was a reason for this - Holt flares when lit were very dangerous and were known to ignite spontaneously. Aircraft which landed using them frequently had to taxi around the airfield until the flare extinguished otherwise there was a high risk of the flame from the flare catching the wing and setting it alight. RAF practice was to fix the brackets down when they were needed and at no point have the flare in contact with the wing. I am sceptical about the emergency flare housing explanation. Emergency flares would be housed in the cockpit where it was easy for the pilot to reach them not under the outer struts. Your point about the inner struts is a very good one and a more detailed look at the panels suggests access panels for the Frise aileron control mechanism. These were controlled via the lower wing and the location of the panels would be appropriate for this.

    Anodizing was done at the factory. The first series Gauntlets weren't fitted with anodized panels but once the decision was made to abandon polishing it was agreed to anodize the metal panels and Glosters would have done it as part of the production process.

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    Max Williams said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Thanks Christopher, invaluable words of wisdom as ever.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    @christopher, thanks for sharing this valuable historical information.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Amazing info, my friend @christopher!

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    Max Williams said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    The plot thickens!

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    The plot thickens indeed, my friend @maxw!

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    Christopher Amano-Langtree said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    If I may add a note of caution here. Be very careful with cutaway drawings. Like plans they weren't always accurate and frequently I've come across features in a cutaway which don't actually match reality. The talented illustrator of a cutaway will often make a guess as to how things are which can be right but also wrong.

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    Max Williams said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Indeed you're right Christopher, 2+2 sometimes appears to equal 5! One of the earliest lessons that I learned as a researcher is to always check and re-check secondary sources which can so often be like Chinese whispers. I remember Harry Holmes saying to me how fallible memories of those who "were there and did it" could be, and even my father couldn't clearly recall the internal colours of an Anson, having flown hundreds of hours in them!

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    Max Williams said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    So we move on! Literally 5 minutes with some 5 thou plasticard and the Silhouette cutter and we have the strengthening areas around "those" wingtip panels (I'm wondering if they are not just solid areas for tie-downs) and the rear fuselage hand lifts. Then fitted along with some panels just for'd of the hand-lifts. Followed by a couple more interesting Gauntlet shots!

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    Nice job, my friend @maxw!

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    Erik Gjørup said 2 years, 2 months ago:

    For what it's worth @maxw: As far as I can tell from the drawings, the flares might be extendable, not retractable. The reasoning is the elastic cord fastened to the leading edge in your drawings, and some sort of release will pull them from the housing. Does that sound plausible to you Max? In my opinion it would make sense to have them out of the airflow for normal operation and then let them out when coming back for a night-time landing, illuminating the ground.