Trumpeter 1/32 Bf109E-3

[Guest]

looks awesome so far Tony,do'nt ya just love seat belts

[stona]

The 1/24 Airfix Bf109 isn't a bad kit at all and it will certainly look like a 109. As with many of these kits,which are after all more than 30 years old,it is seriously lacking in detail. The cockpit isn't too visible but the lack of anything at all in the wheel wells can be easily addressed. I haven't made one for more than twenty years but I'm finding myself tempted!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks to Johns' ultra fast delivery and good prices I will carry on with this 109 again.

[spanner570]

Very nice Tony, neatly built and painted too.

In my ignorance of most things aeronautical what is the large wheel at the side of the seat for?

Let me have a very uneducated guess, anything to do with...

Trim tabs

Emergency landing gear lowerer

Seat adjuster

Ron

[Guest]

Its the tail trimming wheel and undercarriage emergency hand control. Ron you wasnt too far out.

[stona]

You are both close!

There are two 30 cm diametre wheels.

Wheel 1 controls the trim of the tail plane. This had a 12 degree range from +3.5 to -8.5 degrees. It took 5.75 turns of the wheel to move the tailplane through the entire range.

Wheel 2 controls the flaps. It took four turns to lower the flaps fully down,42.5 degrees. As the flaps came down so did the ailerons,something modellers always miss. With the flaps fully down the ailerons would be 11 degrees down too. The flaps could of course be set in an intermediate position.

The advantage of having the two wheels so close together is that by winding both wheels together the pilot automatically compensated for changes in trim caused by lowering the flaps. Lowering the flaps gave rise to a fairly large nose-down pitching moment. This could be achieved using one hand. It's a very clever system and one of the things that British test pilots who flew the Bf109 all remarked on as a positive feature.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Cant believe I let a 109 go under the radar, looking spot on Ian, I have this kit so reading with interest, a sharp build going on here.

[Guest]

Who is Ian? I have a few 109s on the go at the mo,ranging from 1/144 up to 1/32 scale.

[Guest]

oops, brain dried out sorry Tony...oster_oops:

[AlanG]

Who is Ian? I have a few 109s on the go at the mo,ranging from 1/144 up to 1/32 scale.

Bob, you are Ian

[Guest]

Lol rofl

[Ian M]

Who's Bob?

Looks great by the way.

Ian M

[Guest]

Lifes little mystery Bob...