Soviet Pulse Jet Spitfire

[McGreig]

As part of the ongoing Great eBay Stash Reduction (approx 800 kits sold since May '09  ) I was going to sell this Matchbox Spitfire IX. However, it turned out not to have a canopy or decals  . 

I was about to bin it but then I thought that it might be interesting to see what could be done with it. This thought was partly inspired by noticing Falcon's Clear-Vax RAF Fighters set on my desk (I'd got this out to replace the hideous canopy on the Hobby Boss Typhoon) - if the canopy could be replaced, why not try building it as a quick project?

After a bit more thought, I decided that, rather than try to fit the normal Spitfire canopy (which wasn't designed for this kit), I'd cut down the rear fuselage and use the bubble canopy for the Mk.XVI. I'd also got a couple of spare Omega pulse jets lying on my desk from a Real World build of an La-7 test-bed and suddenly the idea came into my head of a Soviet pulse jet test-bed Spitfire. And from there to deciding to paint it white - - - 

[McGreig]

Well, this is where I've got to so far, except that it's not exactly been the "quick project" originally envisaged.

In the words of that great Scotsman, Robert Burns, "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, gang aft agley" and, while I can't speak for the mice, my Spitfire scheme has been ganging agley at a furious pace.

Now, while you might not want to start from here to build an accurate Spitfire kit today, my memory of this kit, from its initial 1973 release was quite good. I remembered a kit that may have had some exaggerated engraving and no gull shape on the wing under surface, but that still fitted together well and was a major advance on the Airfix "JE-J". However, when I came to build this one, I found that nothing fitted properly to anything else. Filler was needed everywhere (except possibly the tail planes) and the fuselage/wing root join was particularly bad. The raised detail on the wings looked more like a series of low walls and had to go.

And then, just when I'd got all that done, the Cat knocked my newly trimmed vacform canopy on to the floor and, before I realised what had happened, I managed to stand on it (the canopy, not the Cat), leaving a large crease just off centre from front to rear. Fortunately, I was able to press it back into shape and, three internal coats of Klear later, the damage is almost invisible.

In the end, the easiest bit turned out to be the conversion work cutting down the rear fuselage and adding the pulse jet mountings.

Next stage, fixing the canopy in place and adding the pulse jets.

[Taiidantomcat]

Great so far 

[McGreig]

Canopy fixed in place and pulse jets and cannon added. Next step is painting.

[lancer]

thast is one great looking kixed propulsion spitfire McG, Looking forward to the finished product

[Mossie]

Looks good to me.

[kitnut617]

This is interesting ----

Reading BSP-Hypersonics, Ramjets and Missiles I was very intrigued with the plan to put a ramjet on a Spitfire ----

[Brian da Basher]

Looks like it goes all the way up to "11"! Outstanding concept, McG!

Brian da Basher

[John Howling Mouse]

Sure looks good; any updates on this one?

[Weaver]

This is an interesting one - like it! 

[pyro-manic]

Note to self: Must do a Spit in racing green with a white spine!

Looking interesting, awaiting progress.

[McGreig]

Thanks for the positive feedback.

As far as updates go - anybody know the Russian equivalent of Murphy's Law? This model has been a struggle from the start - not so much Burns' "schemes gang agley", more McGonagall's "Tay Bridge Disaster" (terrible poetry but bizarrely compelling)

Amongst other things:
Rescribing the inboard flaps destroyed the filler under the wing roots (I ended up drawing them on with a pencil); after fitting and blending in the canopy I managed to crack the seal at one side and had to do it again; I used an old Games Workshop rattle can for the white and it's variable pressure led to a gritty paint surface which had to be sanded and resprayed; the undercarriage legs went missing and had to be replaced with a set from an Airfix Spitfire V; the masking of the undersurfaces went wrong and put the demarcation line in the wrong place; after unmasking the canopy I found that the paint had bled under the masking tape; and I forgot to undercoat the propellor spinner, so getting the red paint to match the red on the nose seemed to take forever. I'm also not happy with the windscreen/canopy/fuselage join but I'm going to leave well alone!

These are the most recent photos. Since they were taken the wheels and exhausts have been added and the painting is now complete. The next stage is to varnish the model prior to adding the decals.

[puddingwrestler]

You bin kits for having no decals or canopy? Dammit man, send them to the starving kit bashers relief fund, they care not for such niceties!

[ysi_maniac]

WOW looks really neat!

[McGreig]

From 1939 onwards, the Soviet Union developed and tested a variety of ramjets, pulse jets and rockets for use as boosters on piston engined fighters (including the I-153 and I-207 biplanes!). In 1946 the first of V.N. Chelomey's D-10 pulse jets were cleared for flight and were fitted initially to an La-7 fighter.

At that time the USSR also had a considerable number of Mk. IX Spitfires - 687 of the 1337 Spitfires delivered under lend lease were only delivered in 1945 . These had largely been used for high altitude interception of reconnaissance aircraft and the air defence of cities away from the front line and many were in almost "as new" condition. As contemporary Soviet fighters were not particularly suited for the high altitude interception role, it was decided to retain the Spitfires and to include them in the booster tests.

Consequently at least one aircraft was fitted with D-10 pulse jets and it was intended to fly this in formation with the similarly equipped La-7 at the annual 7 November parade and flypast in 1946. Unfortunately the flypast was cancelled due to bad weather and by 1947 the pulse jet booster programme had been abandoned as the boost of the pulse jets was found to be outweighed by the increased drag and reduced manoeuverability.

During practice for the November flypast the pulse jet Spitfire was seen by the Assistant British Air Attaché in Moscow. He had spent the last year of the War in command of a Pathfinder Lancaster squadron and immediately identified the aircraft as a rocket powered, winter camouflaged Hurricane. Fortunately, his 12 year old son was visiting him at the time ("but Daddy, Hurricane wing tips don't look like that and those engines sound just like the Doodle Bugs that used to fly over our school after D-Day") and the aircraft was correctly identified in the report sent off to London. This report led to a series of Parliamentary exchanges as to why "Our Brave Boys" were flying obsolete Spitfires when the "Evil Communist Threat" had new Super-Spitfires, but the topic died away when the renewal of Irgun terrorist attacks in September 1946 diverted the attention of the "Our Brave Boys" brigade to the Middle East.

Apart from a brief mention in Gunston's "Soviet X Planes", no more was heard of the pulse jet Spitfire until Eric Pilawskii published a photo and colour scheme details in "Soviet Air Force Fighter Colours", suggesting that, because the aircraft was in pristine condition and winter camouflage wasn't generally used from 1943 onwards, the aircraft was in a special parade scheme and was, in fact, painted in Appliance White by workers at Zavod-1 which had moved into post war domestic appliance production. Almost immediately counter arguments sprang up  on the Web suggesting that the white on the Spitfire had to be MK-7F temporary winter finish because, of course, (a) this looked completely different from appliance white in black and white photos and (b) any suggestion made by Pilawskii had to be wrong. The waters were also muddied by Friedrich Georg whose "research" showed that the white was clearly captured RLM-21 Weiss, although he also insisted that the pulse jets were actually based on captured German nuclear technology - - -

The controversy of the pulse jet Spitfire continues today with a rumour that Airfix intends to produce it as a limited edition kit. There is already a 17 page thread on Britmodeller heavily criticising the rumoured kit on the basis that rumours suggest that the ailerons will be 0.01mm too far inboard and that the engraved detail on the pulse jets will not match the panel lines on the real things. It is also definitely rumoured that, if the kit is ever produced, the tail wheel will be the wrong type. The latest posts are calling for the resignation of the entire Hornby Board in anticipation of their future failure to deal respectfully with an "Icon Of British Aviation" - - -