Prone Pilot Hunter

[PR19_Kit]

As is well known (well reasonably anyway....) the RAE became interested in the prone pilot position in order to alleviate the high G loads on air crew that were expected to be encountered with the more modern high speed jet aircraft then coming into service.

The initial trials were carried out with a specially modified  Meteor F8, WK935, which was fitted with an extended nose with an extra prone pilot position located right forward. While these trials proved to be moderately successful in that the trials pilots were able to control the aircraft quite well, the Meteor F8 could hardly be termed 'high performance' at that time and a more potent trails aircraft was obtained.



This was am ex-67 Sqdn. Hunter F6 that had suffered in a collision with a fuel tanker at RAF Bruggen, and the nose and cockpit was considered beyond repair. The airframe was shipped to RAE Farnborough and the prone pilot nose unit used for static tests prior to the flight trials of WK935 was adapted to fit the Hunter in place of the original cockpit. In this case it was not considered necessary to have a safety pilot seated conventionally as the general principles of prone piloting were well established by now, so the upper fuselage of the Hunter was faired down to meet the new, much lower nose.

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Naturally the Hunter HAD to be modelled, so I did, quite a long time ago. Having got the Special Hobby Meteor F8 Prone Pilot kit, I assembled the nose section on its own to see how it would fit to a Revell Hunter F6 which was handily close by, and it fitted like a dream.

Then, suddenly, the prone pilot section fell into some silicone rubber, what a shame, eh?

Equally suddenly the rubber then had a whole of resin fall into the space previously occupied by the prone pilot nose, another shame.

So this extra reson nose was bonded onto the Hunter's nose, as it would have been shame to waste it, and the rest of the airframe finished off to suit, after a little PSR of course. Then disaster occurred as the canopy moulding split in half on its centre line, leaving an all too visible crack, and by then the Special Hobby kit was unobtainable!

So the project went on the 'Pending' shelf until earlier this year when SH announced a re-pop of the Meteor kit!



So that's as far as it's got now, with the new canopy perched unglued on the Hunter's loooooong nose. When I can find the rest of it, landing gear etc. I'll finish it of, probably in some variation of the early red/silver or red/white schemes so beloved of the RAE.

[Dizzyfugu]

This is a sick looking variant - but it works disturbingly well. 

[AeroplaneDriver]

A very cool looking Hunter!! 

Always thought the "prone pilot" concept would make it very hard to "check 6" though. 

[Tophe]

Good!

[ericr]

 

[scooter]

But the wings are so...small

[PR19_Kit]

But the wings are so...small

Yeah, can't have everything though.

[Tophe]

When I can find the rest of it, landing gear etc. I'll finish it of, probably in some variation of the early red/silver or red/white schemes

If I were you: no need of landing gear (like in flight) and direct to paint...
But I am not you
So do as you prefer, of course

[JayBee]

But the wings are so...small

Yeah, can't have everything though.

There is an old saying "If you can't have long wings have a long fuselage/nose". I can not remember who suggested this idea but I am sure it was to do with a VERY long fuselage on a Boeing 767, or something like that. 

[Gondor]

I would have extended the "duct" from the back of the original cockpit to the rear of the new cockpit to help tie the new cockpit into the airframe and design.

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

I did try that with the original canopy Alastair, but it looked too 'contrived' so I filed the extended duct off again.

As it is, it matches the backstory a bit better too. They just used the spare prone pilot nose from the Meteor structural test specimen.

[Mossie]

Brings up a whole new line of development,, great work Kit. 

[PR19_Kit]

I've been working on the PP Hunter over the last few days, with a view of having it on the SIG table at Telford.

For some reason I've got a Revell Hunter F6 box with no less than THREE wing sprues in it. Which makes me wonder what I did with the fuselages! OK, one of them went into the T12 with the Super Hunter wings, but where are the others? 

I've sorted out a well OTT colour scheme, but quite typical of the period, and I doubt you'll miss it. 

It'll be assigned to the PPEU at Farnborough, that's the 'Prone Pilot Evaluation Unit'..... 

Working on the landing gear now, and then it'll be onto the proper paint stage.

[Gondor]

I've been working on the PP Hunter over the last few days, with a view of having it on the SIG table at Telford.

For some reason I've got a Revell Hunter F6 box with no less than THREE wing sprues in it. Which makes me wonder what I did with the fuselages! OK, one of them went into the T12 with the Super Hunter wings, but where are the others? 

I've sorted out a well OTT colour scheme, but quite typical of the period, and I doubt you'll miss it. 

It'll be assigned to the PPEU at Farnborough, that's the 'Prone Pilot Evaluation Unit'..... 

Working on the landing gear now, and then it'll be onto the proper paint stage.

Did you build a Hunter with a set of Colin's very nice supersonic wings? That would cover one of the sets.

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

Yeah, that was the T12 I mentioned above.