Zenrat's Flying Circus

zenrat · November 19, 2019, 02:47:07 AM

Thanks folks.

Currawong looks even better with satin clear on it.
Mitch is ready for transfers but I need to print them first.

zenrat · November 22, 2019, 02:38:19 AM

Currawong is up on her feet.

Gully Currawong WIP 22-11-2019 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Looks very Soviet from that angle. Bort number doesn't help of course.
I can't help thinking there is room for lift engines behind the cockpit (despite my dislike of that method of VTOL). That or enlarge the intakes, fit Harrier nozzles and call it Pegasus powered.

Old Wombat · November 22, 2019, 02:42:27 AM

NARSES2 · November 22, 2019, 05:56:08 AM

Quote from: zenrat on November 22, 2019, 02:38:19 AM

Looks very Soviet from that angle. Bort number doesn't help of course.
I can't help thinking there is room for lift engines behind the cockpit (despite my dislike of that method of VTOL). That or enlarge the intakes, fit Harrier nozzles and call it Pegasus powered.

I have to agree with both of those statements.

I think the outriggers give it the VTOL look personally. I'd go for a lift engine behind the cockpit, would suit the airframe to my mind. It is looking the business though mate

Rheged · November 22, 2019, 08:03:07 AM

Agreed it looks Soviet and VTOL ish, (and a very fine piece of work too) but if you fit a lift engine, do you have room for fuel?

scooter · November 22, 2019, 10:05:04 AM

I don't remember, is it bicycle or tricycle gear? Because it looks very bicycle gear-y

jcf · November 22, 2019, 12:48:15 PM

It looks very Yak-38.

zenrat · November 22, 2019, 07:35:01 PM

]

Quote from: Rheged on November 22, 2019, 08:03:07 AM
Agreed it looks Soviet and VTOL ish, (and a very fine piece of work too) but if you fit a lift engine, do you have room for fuel?

There's not much room for fuel anyway in a Starfighter.

Quote from: scooter on November 22, 2019, 10:05:04 AM
I don't remember, is it bicycle or tricycle gear? Because it looks very bicycle gear-y

This is bicycle, using extended Harrier parts.

Design is locked in on this one but I have plenty of Hasegawa Harriers to get parts from and early-Hasegawa/Academy F104s are cheap and no good for anything but whiffing.

NARSES2 · November 23, 2019, 02:18:45 AM

Quote from: Rheged on November 22, 2019, 08:03:07 AM
but if you fit a lift engine, do you have room for fuel?

Did any aircraft designed to use lift jets ? It's always seemed to me that achieving VTOL was the ultimate goal and that anything else, like the ability to fly more then a few miles without refuelling, was purely secondary to that ?

PR19_Kit · November 23, 2019, 03:40:43 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on November 23, 2019, 02:18:45 AM

Did any aircraft designed to use lift jets ? It's always seemed to me that achieving VTOL was the ultimate goal and that anything else, like the ability to fly more then a few miles without refuelling, was purely secondary to that ?

What they REALLY needed was longer wings!

jcf · November 23, 2019, 12:47:09 PM

Ryan Model 190, F-104G based, two GE-1 engines and fold-out bleed-air driven lift-fans,
fan-discs edge driven like the XV-5.

PR19_Kit · November 23, 2019, 01:01:41 PM

And its combat radius was how many yards?

jcf · November 23, 2019, 01:23:59 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on November 23, 2019, 01:01:41 PM
And its combat radius was how many yards?

Same gross weight as the F-104G, Mach 1.9, useful load 4,508 lb.,
total propulsion system weight of 4,783 lb. versus 3,850 for the
F-104G.
So two engines instead of one, plus eight lift-fans for an increase in weight
of 933 lbs., not bad all things considered.
Looking at an F-104G cutaway it doesn't appear that the conversion would
have that much effect on the internal fuel tank arrangement, and as they'd
probably be using the wingtip tanks, it may have been OK.

zenrat · November 24, 2019, 03:58:31 AM

So I was just sitting down to go through the forum when there was a series of bangs from outside and Mrs z said "what was that?"
Oh joy. Some <expletive deleted> has driven into my ute.
It was parked outside stately zen manor when a car came round the corner, hit the neighbours SUV (pushing it 6' sideways into the fence) before hitting my ute just behind the drivers side rear wheel.
Kim's SUV absorbed most of the impact energy but on mine the bodywork has been punched inwards, the bumper end mangled and the rear light cluster smashed. Worst damage though isn't immediately obvious - pushing in the bottom of the bodywork has moved the upper side of the tub outwards by about 10mm. The tailgate latch no longer engages on that side.
This is a write off given it has done 350,000 km and the whole rear bodywork would need to be removed and straightened or replaced. Work to repair it to a roadworthy state will be more than it is worth.
I'll bend the bumper roughly back into shape and gaffer tape a replacement light cluster in place (already ordered thanks to evil-bay) but it's time to look for a new (to me anyway) car.
Shame as i've had this for at least 10 years and was set on getting this one to 500,000km.

The car that did the damage made it halfway round the block before it died. It had no number plates on it. The driver ran off through the cemetery.
The police however identified it from it's VIN and told me they have the driver.

It could have been much worse as Kim's kid regularly play basketball in the driveway. If they had been doing that when this happened...

DogfighterZen · November 24, 2019, 04:58:34 AM

In danger of being called an extremist, i know what that guy deserves... a good treatment of being slapped around for an hour!

Sorry about the loss of your car, mate.
Was that guy drunk or high on drugs? Or just plain stupid? Some people just should never be allowed to ride a bike, let alone drive a car, that piece of **** could've killed someone...