RN Autogiro - finally finished a kit

[Joe C-P]

The concept being that the RN tested the Pitcairn Autogyro for shipboard use early in the war. I have it carrying an extra fuel tank and two small bombs.

[pyro-manic]

PLEASE re-size those pics. They're 3200px on the long side. Most people's monitors will be less than half that.

Nice build - anti-submarine patroller? Would be an interesting option for the "fleet shadower" too, if you could get enough fuel in there....

[PR19_Kit]

What pyro-manic said, I had to Ctrl - three times to get them small enough to see.

But I love the idea, and a RIGGED autogyro for goodness sake!

[jcf]

Rigging was a feature of the pre-direct control Cierva four-blade rotors.


Pitcairn received a contract from the British Air Purchasing Commission for seven PA-39
(reworked PA-18s) for antisubmarine work on November 5, 1940.
In May 1942 one of the PA-39s was used for shipboard trials, first from the escort carrier
H.M.S. Avenger anchored in Long Island Sound, then from a stern platform mounted
on the Empire Mersey off Newport News, Virginia. Of the seven aircraft only two ever
made it to the UK, but they saw no service.

The Japanese experimented with autogiros in the anti-sub role, but found that the fixed
wing Ki-76 was better suited to the task.

[Joe C-P]

Right, sorry about the size.  :roll eyes: All fixed!
The idea was for a seaborne anti-sub patrol, able to land on a ship without a long runway. I did consider a USN version, but thought it looks better in those colours, based on the Swordfish.
Once I was nearly done I did find this link:

http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Pitcairn%20PA-39%20Autogiro.asp

The rigging, while sometimes frustrating, was good practice for future projects, both real and whiff.

[NARSES2]

That is really nice.

I've a long stalled project for a FAA anti submarine autogiro. Basically finished I just have to get up the courage to fit the injection blades to a tiny resin rotor head 

[Captain Canada]

Now the pics are too small !



Very nice ! Love the colour scheme on it ! Great to see you building again Joe ! JOE !

[Weaver]

Nice one - it looks really good in those colours.

What kit is it and what scale?

[Joe C-P]

Williams Bros., Inc.
1/48

And very soon another will be published, as soon as I fix the darn rotor that snapped off, again.

[sandiego89]

Nice work! Well done.

[KiwiZac]

Lovely job! I've never been a fan of that scheme but it seems to work very well on the giro. Nice work.