Short Sunderland developments...

[The Rat]

Which brings me to an aerodynamic fix - taking the 4° sweep out of the wing. Due to the rearward sweep (it was introduced to counter the C of G effects of the 4-gun Fraser Nash tail turret) the Sunderland had the unusual habit of suddenly pitching up if power was quickly reduced, so I imagine that trait might be exacerbated if the aircraft is given more powerful engines.

Should clarify that point. The pitch-up was not caused by the sweep, but by the fact that the engine mounts were never aligned after it was done, so they pointed outward at a 4° angle. It was that quirk that induced the pitch-up. It would take a bit of surgery to re-align the mounts, but it might be one way to go.

[kitnut617]

Which brings me to an aerodynamic fix - taking the 4° sweep out of the wing. Due to the rearward sweep (it was introduced to counter the C of G effects of the 4-gun Fraser Nash tail turret) the Sunderland had the unusual habit of suddenly pitching up if power was quickly reduced, so I imagine that trait might be exacerbated if the aircraft is given more powerful engines.

Should clarify that point. The pitch-up was not caused by the sweep, but by the fact that the engine mounts were never aligned after it was done, so they pointed outward at a 4° angle. It was that quirk that induced the pitch-up. It would take a bit of surgery to re-align the mounts, but it might be one way to go.

Something I'm rectifying as I put RR Darts on mine.



As the rotation occurred at the rear spar joint, I've attempted to correct it at the same point.  The rear end of the alignment tab is in line with the rear spar, forward of that I cut 4 degrees out of the wing, to the rear of it I added four degrees of more wing.  Being able to retain the lineup tab is a bonus.

[Rheged]

A   DART  engined  Sunderland development.    A Short Salcombe, perhaps, as the nearest Devon "S"  seaside town I can find to the River Dart.

[The Rat]

Beautiful Robert, just BEAUTIFUL! 

[kitnut617]

You've just given me a name for it Rheged, Short Salcombe thanks     and to think the family used to holiday there every year when I was young and I didn't think of it  

[TallEng]

A Dart engined Sunderland now that is a neat (if noisy) idea
Is that your own resin casting?

Regards
Keith

[kitnut617]

It's a copy of a Dakota Dart conversion which I made.  I then heavily modified the result into something I was looking for.  I'm about to remould the result so I can make four engines for the Sunderland.  I've got a number of other plans for the engine nacelle, Lancaster, Halifax etc ---  The idea came about because the Dakota uses an R-1830 and a variant of the Sunderland did too, so if the conversion fits a Dakota, it should fit a Sunderland (which it did)

EDIT: I will have a thread going on the forum here for this build, it will be a Short Sunderland (Salcombe now) Turbo-Prop Amphibian Fire Bomber.

[McColm]

Dam!! I knew I should have cut the engines out and added turbojets. I'll check and see if I kept the wings.
Great work!!

[kitnut617]

It's progressing, I also moved the cockpit forward

[NARSES2]

That really does look like a natural development, really well done 

[Radish]

Looking excellent.
My requirement to build a "Biggles" Sunderland has passed down the line....a friend has done the new Italeri kit

[kitnut617]

That really does look like a natural development, really well done  

Thanks Chris, here's another part of the build almost complete and I've now chopped out both front and rear turrets  ----

[PR19_Kit]

Whoah there Robert! 

You just sort of slipped the 'amphibian' bit in there, didn't you? 

Where did that hefty landing gear come from?

[The Rat]

Whoah there Robert! 

You just sort of slipped the 'amphibian' bit in there, didn't you? 

Where did that hefty landing gear come from?

Looks like PBY gear.

[kitnut617]

Yup! PBY gear, only it's 1/48 scale and I had to modify the geometry slightly to suit the almost vertical sides of the Sunderland (the sides actually lean out at the top as opposed to the Catalinas which curve inwards), I got them from Scale Aircraft Conversions. The main wheels thought are from a 1/72 Manchester (Aircraft in Miniature vacuform) and the front wheel is really a 1/72 Blenheim main wheel.