Scratch build 1/72 Short Biplane No 2

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

The subject for this build came to my attention last year when I was walking with a friend on the Isle of Sheppy in Kent. I was unaware that Sheppy has an important place in the history of British aviation, as it was the site of the first successful flight by a Briton of an all-British aircraft. The machine in question was the Short Biplane No 2, an original design which drew heavily on the Wight Flyer and the experience gained from the Wright brothers' attempts to develop their design. 6 Short Biplanes No 2 were built: one of them was bought and successfully flown in 1909 by J. M. Brabazon (later Earl of Tara), from a grass field next to some sheds owned by the Short brothers:

The field today has a cereal crop.

As I have been unable to find any line drawings of the Short No 2 I have had to make up some of my own, based on the Biplane No 3, (a smaller version of the Biplane No 2), for which there are drawings, and photographs of Brabazon's machine which were taken in 1909 which show a good deal of detail. I cannot be certain that I will have every feature of the aircraft 100% correct, but I will try my best to do so. I am led to believe that there was/is a model of this machine in the Science Museum in London: I am still making enquiries if this is so, but I do not fancy going up to Town to look at it so I will fall back on modeller's licence and intuition if am in doubt.

The following site shows some good photographs and drawings of the Short biplanes:

flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft28384.htm

Excellent photographs of the Biplane No 2 taken in 1909 can be found at:

www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/short-biplane-no-2/

and there are many other photographs of the machine on the net, some of them being of very high quality indeed.

As usual with my scratch builds I have started with the flying surfaces which have been cut from 30 thou card. The card for the wings had been bent using a pipe filled with hot water:

I have also started to make the Green engine which replaced the original Vivinus: Brabazon wanted to fit the Green but late delivery meant that the earliest flights were made with the French engine. I cannot find any photographs of the Vivinius so I am opting for the Green instead. The engine block is laminated card and the cylinders are rod. Paint and pipes are still to be added. The struts are leftovers from earlier projects which can be used for this one.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

Recently I have not had much time to keep my tray company, and even when I do I do not have the urge to do much. However in the past few days I seem to have gained a little momentum, which is just as well because this is part of a GB and the deadline is fast approaching.

I have put the ribs on to the flying surfaces - Evergreen strip (10 x 20 thou) which I sand down until it is nearly flat and then add Mr Surfacer to the edges to smooth them out. Further sanding gives a slight ridge:

The Short biplane was different to most aircraft in that it was basically a pair of wings on skids with a canard structure and a fin on poles at the rear. Therefore I decided that the next step should be to make the skids. I constructed these from 20 x 30 thou Evergreen strip which may be a little over-scale but has to be strong enough to support the wings and front elevator. The upper and lower frames were bent by marking out the curves on a block of wood, pinning the strip to conform to the curves and immersing the strip in boiling water for about 10 seconds:

With the top and bottom frames bent to shape I could pin them to a plan and insert the uprights that held the structure together:

The gap between the rear of the skids and the wing was filled with a sheet of fabric - this was simulated with some plastic card. I have also made a fuel tank form an old plastic knitting needle which was exactly the correct diameter:

I have done some more work on the engine but I will not take any photos until it is finished. The next stage will be to start painting as most of the parts will have to be fixed directly to the lower wing or frame.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

This is taking longer than I had anticipated, in part because I do not like painting. (There is no decorating on this model so I am relieved of trying to find suitable transfers or having to print my own). However I have at last painted the flying surfaces a mix of Revell white with a small dash of beige (314) to take the brightness out of the white. The wooden skids are Revell SM 382 enamel. I also painted the fuel and oil tanks in Humbrol copper and the radiator block matt black:

Prior to painting I epoxied the booms to both wings. These are florist's wire and were held in place by my usual sophisticated and expensive jigs while the epoxy set:

With the skids and wings painted I could cement the former to the lower wing and add the cross strut at the front of the skids:

[

Now I could start on the "cockpit" and add extra details to the engine. Because I have excellent photos of the model in the Science Museum in London, I have been able to make reasonable representations of the seat and Vivani engine:

I am now pondering the next stage(s) in the build sequence, because the engine, seat, radiator, oil and fuel tanks will all be a bit fragile and in the case of the oil and fuel tanks, potentially difficult to mount. I may have to use some modellers licence with those parts just to be able to put them in their correct positions and keep them there. I also wish to avoid knocking things off at a later stage of assembly and rigging, so I am working through different possibilities. Hopefully I will be able to post results before too long.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

Well the best laid plans of mice and men..... Sometimes life offers distractions which we do not want or would prefer to come in an orderly, rather than disorderly manner, but then we rarely have a choice in such matters. Consequently I have either been unable to do very much or simply not had the energy until recently, and then I hit one or two tricky problems which have caused further delay. But to the model...

The first thing to do was to attach the top wing. Given that I do not have proper drawings for this one I used the wonderful model in the Science Museum and contemporary photographs to guesstimate the gap between the wings: it worked out at close to 6 feet (1.9m). I cut 2 pairs of struts and cemented these to the underside of the top wing, one bay inwards from the wing tip. I used Revell Contacta for this. When the cement was partially set I inverted the wing and dropped the lower ends of the struts into the holes in the lower wing into which I had placed drops of cement. I rapidly assembled a jig to hold everything steady until all of the cement had set:

[

Note how my modelling tray is being used for the purpose for which it was designed, and the range of expensive and sophisticated tools on display!

With the 4 struts in place I could insert two pairs of struts on either side to help stabilize and strengthen the wing structure:

[

The inner pairs of struts have been left off to allow me access to the centre section where the engine and seat will be inserted at the appropriate times. Now I could add the radiator to the centre section: this extended the full space between the wings on the Short No 2 biplane. This was followed by the engine and flywheel (at the rear), and a return water pipe from the bottom of the radiator to the engine. I made the pipe from 20 thou rod:

To stabilize and strengthen the structure I added the fin between the rear of the booms:

With the struts, radiator and fin in place the model is robust and can be easily handled, turned or rested on the skids or top wing as necessary.

The drive shafts for the propellors were mounted between the rear struts of wing bay 2. I made these using 30 thou rod for the drive shafts, 25 thou rod for the supports and the wheels were cut and shaped from pieces of 40 x 125 thou strip:

It was at this point that I went on a fool's errand. I thought that the plastic structure might not be strong enough to hold the large propellors, so I tried to make up a structure using brass rod. Having cut the rod I found that everything was so small I would have had a major problem keeping it all aligned and inserting the tip of the soldering iron between all of the stabilizing pins. I gave up in exasperation, only to discover that, when I had assembled the plastic structure and allowed it to set it was more robust than I had originally thought. The drive shafts have been duly inserted between the wings:

I will put in the (motorcycle?) drive chains next - these will be made from waxed black cotton thread. The waxing stops the thread absorbing moisture and slackening over time, but more of that next time.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

I have been incredibly slow with this build recently as I have been distracted by other things in life, including having a bathroom revamped. That has sapped a lot of time and energy but is at last nearing completion. In addition some of the model has proved more tricky than anticipated so a combination of tiredness and awkwardness has hindered constuction.

I used black cotton thread which I waxed from a candle to stop the thread from absorbing moisture and slackening later. The thread was wound around the small "wheels" on the drive shafts between the wings and the drive shaft at the rear of the engine. I secured the ends with superglue. The right side was just a little slack when fitted but that was corrected easily when I inserted the chain guides:

[

Apologies for the second photo but I could not quite get the image in focus. My model differs here form the Science Museum model because the latter does not have the chain guides: why this is so I am not sure because all of the contemporary photographs of the aircraft clearly show them to be present. In addition the Wright Flyers (upon which the Short design was based), also had these guides. A mystery indeed.

The front elevator was constructed by putting in the numerous struts:

[

The control rod and supports under the elevator was made from strip and rod:

This was attached to the underside of the elevator and the struts and mechanism painted:

Further progress is likely to be hampered because I have to visit a family member next week - more time lost! However further updates will follow when I have made more progress.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

I have been very slow recently - life has rather got in the way and I had a setback as I had to make a completely new elevator. I had rigged the original elevator and was looking at some of the photos of the model in the science museum when I noticed that there were three lines of transverse struts and not two as I had made..... I decided that it would ultimately be easier to make, paint and rig a new elevator. The struts were placed in the sequence:

outer struts first - allow to set;
the under frame was transferred from the original elevator to the new one;
inner struts which were rigged with 40 SWG rolled copper wire when dry as they were easier to access at this stage;
the remaining struts were added from the centre outwards:

The inner struts were rigged first, followed by the front and rear sets:

The wings were rigged and the wingtip struts put into place:

The pilot's seat was glued to the leading edge of the lower wing:

Finally I have made the "elevators" - unusual structures which were attached to the wingtip struts and were intended to give a degree of lateral control:

I hope by the next post to have completed the model, but at the current rate of progress that could still be a little longer yet.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

I fixed the elevator to the front of the skids: the contact between the skids and elevator is not large so this had to be done with care and a little license used to make a secure union. The two control rods were fitted from the levers at the sides of the pilot's seat to the base of the rudder and under the elevator:

The rudder was fixed with the support arms on the top of the elevator:

Finishing the rigging was straightforward and was completed before I put on the "balancing planes" on the outer struts. When the latter had been fixed the control wires were rigged too. Finally the propellors were fitted and the model is complete.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/vhosts/gmms.org.uk/httpdocs/libraries/kunena/external/nbbc/nbbc.php on line 2819
Evening All,

In 1909 at Shellbeach on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, the first flight was made by J.T. C. Moore Brabazon in a British manufactured aeroplane:

I have finished at last this model of this historic aeroplane which was started as part of a group build on another site but I failed to finish it on time because life got in the way..... A full build log can be found in my Workbench Window on this site if you wish to see behind the smoke and mirrors.

Oswald and Eustace Short started to build balloons at Battersea Arches in London for the Ministry of Defence in the early years of the 20th century. In 1908 the Wright brothers visited France and England to demonstrate their successful Flyer machine and the Short brothers became interested in powered flight. They persuaded their elder brother Horace to join them to form a company to build powered aircraft - Short Brothers. They set up an aircraft manufacturing facility at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent and started to build 6 Flyers for members of the new Aero Club and thus became the first company to mass produce aeroplanes.

The Short brothers built a number of machines based on the Wright Flyer which incorporated some changes, including using “balancing planes” instead of wing warping for lateral control: these were called Short Biplane No 2 because their first design, Biplane No 1 was unsuccessful. Like the Wright Flyer from which this design was derived, this was a canard machine - the tail was at the front. Control of the elevator and rudder was by levers on each side of the pilot, and the “balance planes” by a bar controlled with the feet. It was launched via a wooden rail and counterweight like the Wright Flyers, but I have not included this feature on my model.

The Aero Club bought a farmhouse to the south of Leysdown called Mussel Manor, (now known as Muswell Manor), in February of the same year. The club also bought land around the manor including a golf course from which early flights by members of the club were made.

J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon bought a Short Biplane No 2 and between April 29th and May 2nd carried out three flights at Leysdown, achieving a distance of 500 yards on the third flight. He thus became the first Briton to fly a British built machine. The machine was powered by a Vivinus engine which he had taken from a Voisin biplane but In October the engine was changed to a 60 hp Green, a British built engine. The aircraft had two propellors which were driven by chains. With the Green engine installed, in October 1909 Brabazon flew from the launch rail to a marker post set at over 800 yards away and back, in doing so winning the Daily Mail £1000 prize for the first Englishman to fly a mile in a closed circuit in a British built aeroplane with a British engine.

On November 5th Moore Brabazon put a piglet which he named Icarus II in a waste paper basket which he tied to the front strut above the skid and flew with the animal to make it the first pig to fly, thus disproving the old proverb!.

Moore Brabazon was awarded the first pilot’s license in Britain by the Aero Club, (which became the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain in 1910), and was to become a leading figure in the history of British aviation, including becoming the Minister for Aviation. It should be remembered that when Brabazon made those first flights in 1909 there were no training manuals or flight simulators - one learned to fly the hard way - by experimenting with the real thing! An indicator of the dangers involved was that of the first four of Brabazon's contemporaries in the Aero Club to be awarded pilot’s licenses in 1909, two were killed in accidents in 1910, including C. S. Rolls (of Rolls Royce).

Bad weather stopped flying later in the year and by 1910 the Short brothers had so modified their design that they called the new machine Biplane No 3: the service life of No 2 was over.

This model was made from a variety of sources as I could not find any plans. I used the later Short No 3 biplane plans to start and modified them by increasing the wingspan, (which is published), and adding the chain drives and extra propellor. Other details were taken from contemporary photographs and photographs of the 1/10 scale model in the Science Museum in London which were Kindly provided to my by Arpie on Airfix Tribute Forum.

Thanks for looking.

Stevef.