Replica / Restoration Poll (attempt #2)

hoodoo · 9 January 2008, 09:16 PM

Well, I am not doing anything, so I guess I don't really qualify here and I don't have any idea how to answer the poll, but I am a volunteer at Kingsbury Airdrome in Texas where the following are being built (and of which I am learning a lot), some are aircraft projects by Roger Freeman financed by others (don't touch those but get to watch the pros occasionally work) Buck's DVII, Javier's Spad XIII, but will eventually hopefully doing work on the Brisfit under construction, and the Se-5 which has a very advanced fuselage which will morph into a flying plane one day, have dabbled a little with the DR1 that is about to fly on specific applications, will be participating in the engine installation of the museum DVII (I hope I will be able to get involved in the installation of the Gipsy Queen)and Canuck, will also be assisting with the recovering of the two Tommies that will once again be flying, although I anticipate a lot of my future work will be getting my hands dirty with the WWI Model T's on site as well as the 1916ish Nash Quad and 1918 Indian Motorcycle. Have started the building of a Renault FT-17 (my project) Tank working model (full scale) that will hopefully be 1/2 as nice looking as the Mark IV working model in New Zealand. Have gotten to work around the LeRhone rotary engine which is a hoot (my work was mainly helping the metalsmith modify the cowling for better fit) but got to participate in the starting and tweaking of the engine...and we have the two LeRhones on the Tommies that will probably need some tuning and tweaking.
Can always take pics for folks and find out information regarding details of the aircraft in the museum collection to assist in your builds (those of you that know Roger Freeman are aware of his interests, ability, and willingness to help folks--it rubs off)...that is one of the reasons for a museum an why Roger is so dedicated to it (and I am sure other volunteers that visit this forum would also be available). In short, I am around a lot of really neat stuff and am slowly learning this and that...too old at 53 to become a technical expert on anything. I have been bitten by the bug pretty hard though. I hope when I retire I can start my own project but right now there are so many projects at the museum in which to participate and with kids in college a personal aircraft project is out of the question (I have about a half dozen other personal interests commitments to be truthful). I am most interested in German inline aircraft other than the DVII and if a personal WWI project ever grabs me, it will be one of those as so few of those are flying in North America...although the numerous projects at Kingsbury are fascinating and if they are all I get to work with, that is more than I ever dreamed of doing.
Our next fly-in is in May 07. Of course the Museum also has 1920's and 30's aircraft but of course that is outside of the scope of this forum.

nieuport fan · 10 January 2008, 02:27 PM

Hi Rob,
The fuselage core is steel tube. The fairings and stringers are wood. Plans call for steel tube empennage, but I may opt for more "authentic" wood construction. Wings are wood.

Your right, Clermont is not far at all. Your welcome anytime. Not much to see yet but there will be soon!

Bryant

JohnReid · 11 January 2008, 10:37 AM

Forty years ago I had the wonderful experience of helping my dad and artist/craftsman,Al Pow,build a 1929 Beech Travelair 4000,known at the time as the Hollywood Fokker, mostly because of the similar tail section.The 2000 with the in-line engine looks even more so.

RobW · 11 January 2008, 12:58 PM

So... looking at your web page... and describing your project

Nieuport 28
scale (1:16)
from a kit (sort of)
and you are an experienced builder... wow!

thanks for the response!

RobW · 14 January 2008, 01:32 AM

The Poll is going pretty well, with the rate of response similar to last years. Overall I'm very pleased at the response to the poll, I think it says a lot about the folks we have here at The Aerodrome.

Again, I'd really like to reiterate my call for a short summary of the project you are working on or thinking about working on... I'm hoping this to be a real info sharing event but need your help... There are 17 of you working on projects and very few have contributed info... please???

I've been digging through the FAA registry database looking for WWI type aircraft... originals, replicas and wannabes. What an amazingly difficult task. You would be amazed at all the different combinations folks come up with for naming their planes.

Here is a summary of my initial results from the FAA Database (remember, this counts original and replica (scale, kit, otherwise) the quality of replica is in the eye of the beholder...:

Over 550 so far...

Nieuport: 128
Fokker: 116
Curtiss: 94 (89 Jennys of various flavors)
Royal Aircraft Factory: 56 (mostly SE-5a)
Sopwith: 41
SPAD: 16
Bristol: 9
Albatros: 6
Siemens-Schuckert: 5

And there are more... but I still have a lot of work to do.

Thanks

Rob W

hoodoo · 14 January 2008, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobW

I've been digging through the FAA registry database looking for WWI type aircraft... originals, replicas and wannabes. What an amazingly difficult task. You would be amazed at all the different combinations folks come up with for naming their planes.

Here is a summary of my initial results from the FAA Database (remember, this counts original and replica (scale, kit, otherwise) the quality of replica is in the eye of the beholder...:

Over 550 so far...

Nieuport: 128
Fokker: 116
Curtiss: 94 (89 Jennys of various flavors)
Royal Aircraft Factory: 56 (mostly SE-5a)
Sopwith: 41
SPAD: 16
Bristol: 9
Albatros: 6
Siemens-Schuckert: 5

Rob W

Rob:

An extremely valuable endeavor. Would it be impossible to differentiate in the types by manufacturer (Dr1, DVII, Pup, Camel) etc...that would really be useful?

RobW · 14 January 2008, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoodoo

Rob:

An extremely valuable endeavor. Would it be impossible to differentiate in the types by manufacturer (Dr1, DVII, Pup, Camel) etc...that would really be useful?

Yes, that is exactly what I'm doing... for instance there are 52 Dr.I and about 15 N-28 of various flavors out there. Some are current registrations, some are new, some appear to be old dead ones.

The trick is finding them... I've pulled down the entire database and am slowly going through it... all 377,000 records... sometimes they are easy to spot (COUGHLIN FOKKER D-8)... othertimes, not so easy (BAUER ERLY BRD 2/3JN).

Some would say that the scale replicas don't count... but they all contribute to the hobby so I'm even including the Wolf Boredom Fighters and the Der Jaegers... since they too represent an interest in the WWI era.

Anyway... in the spirit of Leo Opdyke, when I get this in some sort of usable format I'll post it where you guys can reveiw, comment, critique, and hopefully use.

So help me out here... toss me a bone by telling me about your project!!!!!

AAC Cadet Leader · 14 January 2008, 04:31 PM

rob,
sounds like a great list. wish you the best of luck.

i'm curious as to how many duplicate registrations are in those totals you have so far.

on the jennies count - i know we tried here a few years ago - forgot which thread - to name them all and we came up with about a dozen. that's no where near 89 of them.

Fokker210 · 14 January 2008, 07:19 PM

1. Andrew L.
2. Fokker Triplane
3. Full Scale
4. Ron Sands Plans
5. Stockbridge, GA USA
6. 40-45% complete
7. Registration Number TBD

Ribs done and spars nearing completion. Lots of time has been spent thus far fabricating various fittings and creating some of the more complex parts while access to the needed machinery was available. My wood work has taken a little longer than normal, being slowed by work on such things as guns, wheels, control column, etc.

RobW · 14 January 2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AAC Cadet Leader

rob,
sounds like a great list. wish you the best of luck.

i'm curious as to how many duplicate registrations are in those totals you have so far.

on the jennies count - i know we tried here a few years ago - forgot which thread - to name them all and we came up with about a dozen. that's no where near 89 of them.

It is by N-number and Serial number, so none are duplicates. I does however contain the Early Bird 2/3 scale Jenny and other replica variations.

You would think you could pick out the original by engine model, but here again, not so easy because the engine model is frequently left blank. For reference sake there is one Hisso powered and 9 with OX engines... which is not too far off of the dozen you mention.

Of the one's with either blank or unknown engines you have Kermit Weeks', the one at Owls head, the one at Creve Coeur, and Ken Hyde's JN4D... and more with serial numbers with 4 or more digits, and real looking manufacturer and or model names. I'm sure I could easily beat 12 real Jennys... But it gets hard to tell the deeper you go into the data.

The first step is to get it all into one place, sort it, and then let the folks who really know critique it.