75th Anniversary of the MacRobertson London to Melbourne.

[salt_air]

Well I got busted testing the FM and was asked about the model, here's a pic of the Fairey Fox Mk3 I'm trying desperately to get ready for the race. Still no textures, no cockpit of any kind, and no animations, but I figure to have a decent FM by this weekend (or so is the plan).

Awesome!,

Looks good so far MaddogK,,,,be curious to see the finished product.

Been trying to slip a "Crate" motor in the ol' Wright Flyer, but it keeps falling through the canvas on the wing....:isadizzy:.

Best,

 

[Dangerousdave26]

Awesome!,

Looks good so far MaddogK,,,,be curious to see the finished product.

Been trying to slip a "Crate" motor in the ol' Wright Flyer, but it keeps falling through the canvas on the wing....:isadizzy:.

Best,

There's an idea a Wright Flyer with a 1959 Porsche 356A engine on it.

 

[MaddogK]

Awesome!,

Looks good so far MaddogK,,,,be curious to see the finished product.

Been trying to slip a "Crate" motor in the ol' Wright Flyer, but it keeps falling through the canvas on the wing....:isadizzy:.

Best,

Crate ? like small block ? Bailing wire and duct tape should keep er in place.
:ernae:

Anyhow, got the FM together for review, can a committee member PM me with an addy I can send the 'package' to ?

 

[Drzook]

I'm not sure if I will be able to compete in the race but for those that would like to fly the Northrop Gamma here's what I got:
Start with Paul 'Put Put' Clawson's Gamma over at Simviation:
http://www.simviation.com/fs2004vintage59.htm
Don't forget to get the updated face texture.
Add Bob Irwin's panel update:
http://www.simviation.com/fs2004vintage91.htm
This should be enough to get you going;
at this point I had put on a BananaBob prop (inteneded for Alphasim's Blenheim but it looks good on the Gamma), added an Autopilot (just hit shift-6 to get to it) and found out just how much gas can fit into the cargo compartment (total fuel is around 330 or so gallons). I have enclosed the updated panel.cfg and the aircraft.cfg files (in txt format). She can be a bit difficult at startup; just give it a bit of gas on startup and after a few seconds you can throttle back to idle. Hope you like it.

 

[Moses03]

The virtual Lockeed people were nice enough to ferry over a Orion 9 cargo ship for evaluation. The first Model 14 Super Electra off the line has been promised to Howard Hughes so I don't know if we will get to test one in time for the race.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Just an update. The rules are near completion and just need a hair more tweaking.

We are trying to get the Puss Moth ready and I think we will have a beta package released next weekend.

About those rules, when must this be available and released to make the cutoff? Fliger_747 has the flight model about wrapped up and I want to make this available for some testing to you guys.

I need to know if anyone has the Melrose fuel specs that were on-board for this race. Setup as factory, she has 430 miles available with the small tanks, but two larger options existed (approx. 650 and 800 milers). What do you want?

Anything else I need to know?

Who has time to do some testing?

Average speed is 108mph or 94kias ... she is very forgiving on landings, you can 3-point her at 39 kias, very trimable, a joy to fly.

 

[Highmike]

Who has time to do some testing?

I'd be honoured to assist in this regard, Milton. Should I PM my email addy?

 

[Milton Shupe]

I will post a link to you (and anyone seriously interested) in PM once I have her packaged and uploaded. It will be mid-week.

Thank you

 

[Moses03]

Looks fantastic Milton.

The race starts at dawn on Oct 20th. If we could get something a week out I think that would be plenty of time to test and for any pilots to decide to take her the distance (other than the team effort we have planned for it). So maybe a beta release next weekend and then a few days of tweaking (if any) would get us in line for an initial release and then the race. Since you, Scott, Damian and Tom have been so accommodating, I'm sure we can make an exception with the Puss Moth right up until race day.

As far as the specs for the Melrose ship, I think it would be safe to give it a 800 mile range. From the accounts I have read , Melrose traveled that distance many times. Besides it needs all the help it can get to be competitive.

My 2 cents anyways. See if anyone else from the rules committee wants to chime in.

Thanks- Moses

 

[Milton Shupe]

Thank you Moses. Looking over the distances between fuel stops (posted on page 2), none are over 600 miles. That being the case, it may be better from a speed standpoint to use the 650~ mile tanks. I don;t remember if they are mandatory or optional though.

Also, will have to check with Fliger_747 on fuel consumption and setup but should be no problem. I can throw in temporary tanks in the VC if necessary for the visual enhancement.

 

[salt_air]

Happy to test

Hello Milton,

It would be a pleasure to test this aircraft out. It looks fantastic!

Please feel free to add my name to any list of testers that you may have.

I check the forum daily for PM's and new posts.

Best regards,

 

[Drzook]

The virtual Lockeed people were nice enough to ferry over a Orion 9 cargo ship for evaluation. The first Model 14 Super Electra off the line has been promised to Howard Hughes so I don't know if we will get to test one in time for the race.

Actually, Lockheeds were supposed to be very well represented in the Great Air Race. In addition to the metal bodied Vega Puck (which was the only Lockheed to participate in the race) both Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart were going to bring their Vegas to the party.
From Revolution in the Sky:
'...Early in 1934 the MacRobertson Race from London to Melbourne was announced, a classic sporting event which has never been equaled in aviation history. It was thought that transport aircraft with good long-distance performance would be the sure key to success in this great contest, and American planes were hurriedly sought as entries. By August, no less than nine single-engined Lockheeds were entered. Prepared to compete were Wiley Post, with his world-famed Winnie Mae, and Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, with his blue-and-silver Altair. Another Altair was to carry Ruth Nichols, and further entries included Orions to be flown by Laura Ingalls, Frank Rose, Russ Thaw, and Harry Lyon. French pilot Michel Detroyat announced intentions to compete with a specially built Orion on which he had planted a powerful Hispano-Suiza radial engine....'
In fact IIRC one of the Varney Orions was going to compete in the race but the king of Romania was so impressed by a flight that summer he bought the plane outright.

 

[MM]

Hi Milton and Tom,

More information on the Jimmy Melrose Puss Moth VH-UQO (My Hildergard)

From Flight (the weekly magazine of the Royal Aero Club), October 18, 1934.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1934/1934 - 1069.html

This is part of an article that describes the competitors and their aircraft on the eve of the Race.

C. J. Melrose had arrived with his cleaned-up "Puss Moth"—
actually the machine in which he had flown from
Australia in record time. In racing form My Hildegarde,
as it is called, is fitted with spats, a Fairey metal propeller,
and an extra tank giving a range of 1,200 to 1,300 miles.
Both air brake and wing-folding fittings have been removed
and the engine is a Gipsy Major—unusual in a "Puss
Moth "—with stub exhausts.

Mr. Melrose claims that his "race" will be a sightseeing
tour, and he proposes to take twelve or thirteen
days over the trip. His machine is considerably faster than standard.
​

And this on the horsepower, from the "Australian Dictionary of Biography."
http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100467b.htm

Jimmy purchased a DH Puss Moth fitted with a powerful 120 horsepower (89 kW) Gipsy Major engine. He named the plane 'My Hildergarde' and in August 1934 flew 8000 miles (12,875 km) solo around Australia, reducing the previous record by almost two days, to 5 days, 10 hours, 57 minutes. A skilful and courageous natural flyer, Melrose was tall, flaxen haired and blue eyed; while conforming to the popular ideal of a hero, he avoided lionization. He exercised seriously, swimming at Glenelg where he and his mother lived; he kept early hours, neither smoked nor drank alcohol and ate 'Oslo' lunches.
​

Hope this helps.

Best,
Mike MacKuen

 

[Milton Shupe]

Ah, great info Mike ... thank you for that effort. We have added several standard and alternate tank configurations including the 160 gal version that should get you in the neighborhood of 1250-1300 miles at 8.23 MPG which you can get running at full allowable continuous RPMs.

The Puss had no battery, lights or generator that I can find but we may add a small wing strut mounted one for gauge lighting if needed.

The dh-80A, the most prolific of the Puss Moth series, ran the Gipsy Major engine and I will be happy to cut the exhausts back to a set of header pipes.

Not sure at this time if Damian will have a VH-UQO ready for us or not but we will have something available.

Thanks again

 

[MM]

This is all great stuff, Milton. A true delight.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Thanks Mike. Damian is working on the paint scheme as we speak. We have probably unanswerable questions regarding colors of lettering and wheel pants. I am guessing true Aussie colors, maybe blue, and he is thinking red lettering. Any ideas?

 

[MM]

Hi Milton,

Sorry, I don't know the color of VH-UQO. I have seen only Black and White photographs. However, it appears to be either white, or more likely, a light matt aluminum finish. Note that the wing struts and pants are of a darker color.

You can look at the clear photographs below. To get a sense, you can push the "arrows" in the slideshow (the first two) to see other aircraft that are either white (the Bellanca and perhaps the Vega) or aluminum (the DC-2 & Miles Falcon) in color. Note that the Dragon Rapide is orange!

VH-UQO Taxiing
http://www.flightglobal.com/imagear...yName=Photo Archive/Air Races&Image=FA_10926s

Melrose standing next to VH-UQO
http://www.flightglobal.com/imagear...yName=Photo Archive/Air Races&Image=FA_10949s

Melrose in a later triumphal pose
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_c...n/aviation/crossing_oceans/air/airviewer.html

For what it's worth, in the Australian made movie "The Great Air Race," VH-UQO was portrayed in a matt aluminium finish. (I recall the lettering being black, but am not sure.)

Perhaps someone in our forum actually knows the answer.

Best,
Mike

 

[Moses03]

From the movie MM mentioned:

I also just got a response back from the UK Moth Club:

"Silver overall and black lettering….

Good luck.

Stuart McKay"

 

[Milton Shupe]

Excellent investigative work Gentlemen

We are on it.

BTW, the aircraft pictured here in th emovie of course is a Leopard Moth .... but this works. :ernae:

 

[Milton Shupe]

The Melrose paint scheme will likely be completed Wednesday or Thursday. I have many small things to do to sync the exterior and VC models with all the changes of the past week.

We are doing our best to have a package (first beta) to you this week. I appreciate your interest.