Avro-Cierva Dragonfly

Weaver · July 03, 2009, 03:27:17 PM

Jaybee - that's a good idea: I might try to local fishing shops to see if I can get a similar deal!

Any more info on the plane itself, or is it a "Telford Secret"?

Weaver · July 03, 2009, 03:38:35 PM

Well by the time I was free, natural light was a rapidly diminishing asset, but I did manage these:

Since I was using long exposures for these, I had a go at "rotors turning". They don't turn freely enough to blow on unfortunately, and it proved very difficult to move them quickly without disturbing the fuselage in some way, the blurry results implying that the rotor is SERIOUSLY out of balance! Here's the best of a bad job:

And here it is in sone extremely unnatural, but quite revealing light:

All this was, of course, supervised by Max, who sat perfectly still while I took any number of incompetent, wrong-settings pictures of him before getting this:

His co-operation then encouraged me to set the tripod up and try a long exposure shot, which, of course, got me this:

Ever felt set up?

JayBee · July 07, 2009, 02:44:55 PM

Any more info on the plane itself, or is it a "Telford Secret"?

[/quote]

Hi Weaver,

Sorry for the delay in replying, I have just spent four days with our son in a foreign land (England!).

Not so much a Telford Secret as I have posted info in a thread somewhere else here, I just can not find it now.

The aircraft is the SALSA.
GTX posted a question a wee while ago and asked "What if Pavel Sukhoi, had come to the west, where would he have gone?"
I suggested that he would have come to Scotland and worked with/for Scottish Aviation here at Prestwick.
The most succesful of the designs to come from this partnership was the SALSA - Scottish Aviation Ltd. Sukhoi Airtruck, better known to the WhIf world as a seriouslly reworked Matchboc Do-28 Skyservant, with T tail, Fixed tricycle u/c, and jets!.

Watch the Current and Finished forum for more.

JimB

frank2056 · July 07, 2009, 03:35:30 PM

The Dragonfly looks great - especially in the outdoor photos. The indirect natural light really brings out the details in the engines.

And yes, I think your cat was messing with you. Or reminding you who's really in charge...

Weaver · July 08, 2009, 04:54:34 AM

Cheers Frank and Jaybee!

ysi_maniac · July 08, 2009, 06:31:49 AM

This is a wonderful idea.

Weaver · July 10, 2009, 03:14:57 AM

Okay, now that comrade Anatoly is back, I'll re-ask a question I asked earlier: is it fair to put this in the voting?

It not only missed the original deadline by a mile, but also the end of the two-week extension I asked for and got no reply to. Had either of those deadlines been imposed, it wouldn't have been finished any sooner, for personal time reasons, rather it just wouldn't have been finished at all.

Weaver · July 26, 2009, 06:49:59 PM

Quote from: Weaver on July 10, 2009, 03:14:57 AM
Okay, now that comrade Anatoly is back, I'll re-ask a question I asked earlier: is it fair to put this in the voting?

It not only missed the original deadline by a mile, but also the end of the two-week extension I asked for and got no reply to. Had either of those deadlines been imposed, it wouldn't have been finished any sooner, for personal time reasons, rather it just wouldn't have been finished at all.

Anyone, particularly comrade Anatoly, got any thoughts on this? If no one has any objections then I'll put it in before the end of the week, but if they have, then I won't.

BrittMac · July 31, 2009, 03:57:39 PM

Weaver, I gotta say......this is cool! It went together better than I expected. What I mean by that is that it looks better than I expected, not that you don't have the skills. I would imagine that thing would be quite the powerhouse........(this is me saying a D/H big fuse model should be built now, hint hint).

I need to get to work and make some fun stuff like you are doing!

Weaver · August 03, 2009, 04:14:59 AM

Cheers BrittMac! I enjoyed this one: it did take lots longer than expected, but then the extra time got extra results. I think the first generation helos with exposed engines have a certain retro-cool: there's nothing there that doesn't earn it's keep...

I won't be making a bigger one any time soon though: I'm not buying a couple more of those bloody Iskras for anyone!

Captain Canada · January 22, 2014, 04:38:21 AM

From the " how did I miss that files "Wow ! That is awesome stuff ! Great job on all the details. Love the engine ! And the idea of using the stick-on anti skid stuff...can't wait to go back and check out the walk-around as well.

Weaver · January 22, 2014, 10:50:24 AM

Cheers Cap'n: it's one of my favorites too, and it's amazing how well it stands up to being carted around to shows as well.