Final paint and weathering.

Added salt mixture to simulate chips and scratches. Final paint coat is applied over the top of salt mixture leaving the metallic silver below. 

Salt mixture is removed to reveal silver below.

Sprayed with scratch filler primer in the home made spray booth.

Filled the low spots and remaining wood grain.

Next step is to do a final sand and start doing the finish coats of paint.

Finished rough sanding and added a layer of automotive scratch filler. Next step will be to prime (Should be able to see the imperfections more clearly)

Decided to enter the Typhoon into the WRAM static competition. Therefor I have started work on a scale static prop.

The prop turns the opposite way due to the Napier Sabre engine.

I have cut out the wood and just have a lot of carving ahead!

Below shows the difference between the working prop for the O.S. FS-120 engine versus the scale prop.

Rudder Repair

Removed the damaged fabric and identified any broken structures.

Glued original parts back in place where they had split along the wood grain or come away.

Covered with new fabric using Balsarite, to prime the wood surface, and then adhered the light weight Coverite using a finishing iron.

Used the iron to heat shrink the fabric to the structural frame.

Painted the new installation using thinned enamel paint sprayed from an airbrush.

The Unsuccessful Maiden Flight

Well the time finally came to get the Hawker Typhoon in the air......

Everything lined up and ready to go. All systems were checked and in working order.

Time for some last pictures (Just in case).

The Flight

Rather than jeopardize the tail wheel taxiing, I walked the Typhoon to the take off position. In hind sight, if we had allowed the plane to taxi normally, it would have given us a better feel for the control of the rudder and tail wheel.

Once lined up, the throttle responded reliably and tracked the inputs as designed. Trouble started as the Typhoon gathered speed. The throws set on the rudder and tail wheel were not enough to correct the alignment down the field. The plane did hit a bump and very briefly became airborne. At this point the rudder correction appeared to get worse and the plane turned further to the left towards the rough undergrowth at the side of the field. Due to the weight of the plane and the relatively 'resistance free' wheel rotation (due to their large diameter on the rough grass), the plane did not slow down once power was reduced. 

The undercariage hit the thicker undergrowth and the left gear became detached followed by the right. The plane then flipped over, presumably from the impact of the undergrowth hitting the large scale air intake under the propeller.

 The damage:

- Both main landing gear mechanisms where ripped off. Luckily the blocking used to set them in position came away from the main bearers cleanly.
- The access panels to the gear mechanism came away at the fasteners.
- The top of the rudder structure and fabric was damaged.

All the damage is easily repairable. The lessons from the first maiden attempt will be applied to the second. Special attention will be taken to make sure the rudder control is improved and the undercarriage tracks correctly.

Tail Wheel Repair

After many attempts with soldering irons I finally just used a plumbers torch to attach the brass tube to the bracket. I first protected the plane with tin foil, as best I could, generously tinned the parts and then gave them a quick blast. This reduced the chances of a cold joint which I believe has been the problem. I then used JB weld to add another layer around the parts. Hopefully thats it!

Last meeting of the year at the Boyce Park field with the gateway flyers. Managed to get the Typhoon on the field and taxied up and down with a few turns. Then...... the tail wheel failed again.

There seemed to be plenty of power (did not get up above 1/3rd throttle) and the Typhoon picked up speed very quickly.

Engine Test and Tail wheel

Managed to take the Typhoon to Boyce Park to work out the engine problems. (Only reaching around 6300 rpm when it should be 8000-9000rpm).

Turns out it was a simple fix. The needle valve was just set way to rich. Once it was adjusted down one whole turn the engine was producing around 8800 rpm no problem at all. (Thanks Jeff for your experience and help).

Managed to get the tail wheel re-soldered to. Looks like it will be a much stronger connection. Next step, final balancing (again) and its ready for the maiden!

Looks like I am going to need a bigger car. Thanks Sandy for the minivan!

Flying with Devon Somerset Gliding Club

Thanks to Devon Somerset Flying Club for taking me up for a trial flight including a three month membership. Greatest birthday present ever from my wife!

Second Engine Test

After installing a larger diameter fuel line and a slightly smaller propeller, a second engine test was performed. Max revs reached was about 7900rpm.

As expected the O.S. engine started no problem, and held a good idle. Max revs however, were harder to achieve. I am hoping that as the engine and fuel pump break-in, the revs will climb, allowing it to reach maximum power.

After taxing for a couple of runs, the tail wheel broke off and will require soldering. In constructing the tail wheel, I had epoxied a brass tube to a brass plate,  while the plans called for soldering it. I should have followed the plans, as the soldered joint would have been much stronger and probably would not have failed.

Once the tail wheel has been repaired the Typhoon is ready for flight. The engine is transitioning nicely between low revs and high and the idle is reliable and low, giving me confidence that there will be little chance of an engine stall on the maiden.

Undercarriage Finishing

DIY exhausted spray booth

Testing and Installation of Fuel Fill Indicator

I realized when performing the engine tests that when the cowl is installed over the engine and fuel tank, it would be difficult to tell if the fuel tank was full. 

The easiest method is to pump in the fuel and wait for it to overflow out of the vent line. However, in an effort to reduce the amount of mess on the underside of fuselage I decided to purchase a fuel level indicator from RAM. 

The product is advertised to be installed with the sensor at the bottom of the tank and therefor the lamp would turn on when the fuel level is getting low. The lamp would be placed in a visible location on the plane and therefor indicate the need for a swift landing before running out of fuel.

In my case the sensor leads where placed in the top of the tank to indicate when the fuel level reaches full. 

As a result the lamp is on when the tank is empty and turns off when the tank is full. I decided to not tie in the power to the battery controlling all the flight systems to minimize the chances of an electrical failure and battery drain. As the sensor is only needed during tank filling the external battery connection makes sense. 

The indicator lamp is visible through the front scale air intake in order to preserve the scale appearance.

Exhaust Pipes

Moulded the remaining exhaust stacks and mounted them to a some plywood ready for priming.

Mounted the exhaust stacks using spacers to allow ventilation air a route around the stacks. 

This creates a path for air to cool the engine and gives a shadow around the stacks, creating more depth and a better scale appearance.