Saturday, February 2, 2013

Flying Scale Models 07/2011


Designed as a pre-war racer, the Morane Saulnier Type N sacrificed nearly everything for speed, (just over 100 mph was blisteringly fast in 1913). Built for straight-line speed, stability and manoeuvrability characteristics suffered. The ‘N’ were a handful to fly, but was fast for its time. When war broke out the following year, aircraft were used for observation and proved invaluable in that role. Shortly thereafter, the need yo deny the enemy the benefits of aerial observation became important.  The Germans soon introduced the Fokker Eindecker with its single synchronized machine gun firing straight ahead through the propeller. While lacking a synchronized gun of their own, the French began experimenting with armoured propellers designed to deflect bullets fired through the propeller arc. First tried on the parasol wing Morane Saulnier Type L, bullet deflectors were soon fitted to the propellers of the Type Ns, which had been pressed into service as fast scouts.

Modelling Scale Aircraft

Building scale model aircraft is an absorbing pastime that can encompass a broad range of interests and skills. A proficiently created scale model can vividly evoke a key moment in history, and be an attractive addition to a mantelpiece or display cabinet. Despite competition from hi-tech leisure pursuits and the spiralling cost of mainstream manufacturing, the hobby of scale aircraft modelling has reached a pinnacle of variety and quality. Thanks to new short-run plastic injection moulding technologies and the superiority of resin details, modellers in the 21st century can build impressive replicas of almost any military aircraft that has ever taken to the sky. With the emergence of the internet, scale modellers now have access to technical and historical resources that earlier generations could only dream of. It has also put them in real-time contact with other modellers and historians across the globe. For all of these reasons, there has never been a better time to build plastic models.