1/72 Short Bipane No 2

[lone modeller]

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:

http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft28384.htm

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

https://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.

Stephen.

[kensar]

This should be good.
Are you going to include the pig in the basket? 

[Rookie]

If this build is performed with the same love and skills you built the Schooner with, it will be great seeing it come together bit by bit!

Another extraordinary aircraft  Stephen, nice choice!

Willem

[torbiorn]

Nice. Having not seen an image before I checked it up - it’s indeed closely resembles a Wright flier. Interestong to see what you do with it - there is nothing to hide on this one, except maybe wing structure...

[DaveB]

Great!

Another one of your interesting projects, Steve

Will follow with interest

Regards

Dave

[Borsos]

That looks very cool! You could use the photo of the field (No matter of the cereals) as a backdrop for a photo of the finished model?
Andreas

[Skyhook]

Hi!

This looks very interesting! Cool work so far. This is of particular interest for me as I have had four different Short aircraft on the bench lately. Great and varied subjects, that seem to be somewhat underrepresented today if one thinks about their importance.

Cheers, Skyhook

[RichieW]

Another fantastic project, I'm excited about this one Stephen. I learn so much about aviation history as well as scratch building techniques from following your builds.

Richie

[Bughunter]

Very interesting Stephen! A seat in the front row for me, please!

I know this "first pig to fly" picture from a book. I hope you will add the pig too?
I have a very little one, from a New Year's Eve surprise. But with 13mm may be still a little to big. There are also pigs in 1:87, may be with hoglet?

Cheers,
Frank

[Alexis]

Excellent subject Stephen , will be tagging along if you don't mind .

Nice start on the wings !


Alexis

[RAGIII]

You are off to your usual terrific start Stephen! Looking forward to more!
RAGIII

[lone modeller]

Evening All,

Thank you all for the very encouraging support - it is very much appreciated particularly at the moment when I do not seem to get 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 from 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.

Stephen.

[DaddyO]

Some really nice work there so far Stephen looking forward to how it comes together

Cheers
Paul

[DaveB]

Nice progress, Steve -

Love the idea of using a knitting needle for a fuel tank!

Regards

Dave

[Rookie]

I have also made a fuel tank form an old plastic knitting needle which was exactly the correct diameter:

Materials are where you find them Stephen! 

Willem