Airco DH2. Finished Pics Pg 10.

[zenrat]

Biggles wandered into the back of the hanger and stopped short with amazement.
  "Bertie!" he exclaimed "by the anti clockwise propeller of my sainted aunt, what the deuce has The Professor done to this poor old DH2?"
  "Well old chap" Bertie replied adjusting his monocle "he's jolly well gone and fitted it with what he calls a 'jet' engine.  Says it's going the be the coming thing and pretty soon every bally kite will be flying around looking like its tails on fire".
  "Hah!  That'll be the day.  I'm sure this'll just be another flash in the pan.  That's if it even works at all.  Shall we take it up?  Come on, give me a hand pushing it out.  I don't suppose you know how to start it do you?"
  "I suppose we just light the blue touch paper.  Here, take my lighter..."

The starting point.  A bagged Revell 1/72 DH2 and an almost built A&A Klimov VK-1

Airco DH2 + Klimov VK-1 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

And here is todays progress.  You can see that the engine is in three large parts - not completely built.

DH2 Jet WIP 05-08-2023 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

First issue is engine positioning.  In order to retain a CoG roughly similar to that with the original rotary engine I shall have to make room by removing the rear portion of the fuselage nacelle.
The rudder will also be an issue being directly in line with the jet exhaust.

[PR19_Kit]

The rudder will also be an issue being directly in line with the jet exhaust.

It won't be for very long................. 

[Old Wombat]

Reckon I have a pretty good idea of where you got Klimov's Nene.  

I thought the original use was the waste of a good engine, too. Mine's floating around in the spare parts, somewhere.

[NARSES2]

  

[Rheged]

Unusual, most creative but not totally unexpected;  this being whiffworld!   

 Can we expect  "Biggles Baffles the Boche" (1915) "Biggles Bewilders the Bolsheviks" (1919)  or possibly  just  "Biggles Flies Apart"  as a result of this creation?

[PR19_Kit]

Possibly "Biggles goes into Orbit"?

[Wardukw]

Holy crap Fred ..this will be the fastest DH2 ever built..admittedly not for very long but I love this     

[zenrat]

Biggles Burns Up?

You are correct Womby.  No way I was hiding such a nicely detailed little gem inside that fuselage.
Trouble is the DH2 doesn't do it justice being fairly crude (and having ejector pin marks everywhere including on the wing undersides).
I'm hoping adding detail and rigging will help.

[NARSES2]

Biggles Burns Up?

Biggles Last Flight ?

[zenrat]

Today I cut down the cockpit nacelle and painted the engine silver (as a base coat for various metalisers).

Cockpit detail is completely non-existent so I need to find a suitable seat (whicker not bang) and instrument panel.

[jcf]

Are you going to add a few more instruments to the panel?

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[perttime]

Apparently, there were at least 3 ways to put a fuel tank on a DH.2. Which one are you going to pick - or all of them?

[loupgarou]

Apparently, there were at least 3 ways to put a fuel tank on a DH.2. Which one are you going to pick - or all of them?

With a jet engine, maybe all 3 will be necessary.
I am curious about where the air intake will go, and hope for Biggles safety that the wing structure had been suitably reinforced...

[Wardukw]

Apparently, there were at least 3 ways to put a fuel tank on a DH.2. Which one are you going to pick - or all of them?

Jet powered..all three I think 
Maybe even more.

[frank2056]

Compared to the Opel Rak.1, this DH.2 sounds like a rational design.