Airdrome Sopwith Tabloid

RobW · 6 February 2011, 07:46 AM

It all began in September 2009, during the Dayton Dawn Patrol Rendezvous; Great War Aerodrome (Rob Waring & Shelly Wells) met with Robert Baslee of Airdrome Aeroplanes to discuss the possibility of working together to build a two seat WWI replica. After talking for a few minutes we ran over Bill and Barbara Byrd’s ( BYRD AVIATION BOOKS ) booth and quickly found the Windsock mini-datafile on the Sopwith Tabloid. The wheels in Robert’s head were turning now and he agreed to consider the Tabloid as a project once he completed Russ Turner’s Camel project. We set a tentative start date of January 2010.

We’ve all enjoyed Russ’ Camel thread here, and as you know the Camel sort of took over Russ and Robert’s lives for the better part of 2010. So, starting work on the Tabloid was delayed a bit.

A benefit of this delay, however, was that Robert told Russ about the Tabloid concept. Just like with the Camel… Russ dived headlong into the mix. With two interested customers, and the Camel project on display at Oshkosh, Robert switched gears to the Tabloid. When Robert becomes focused on a project, he becomes a burst of energy… nearly unstoppable. It is a pretty amazing thing to watch and participate in this process.

It was Robert’s desire that we keep the project quiet for a while to give him time to work out the details and most of the structure. Therefore, the Tabloid became known as Project X. In reality, I think there are several “Project X’s” going on, but that is another story. At any rate, Robert is now comfortable with the design and progress of the project and has agreed to let us tell you all about it.

Like all Airdrome planes, this project does not use authentic materials and is not really an exact replica, but instead it provides the appearance of a WWI aircraft and we expect that it will generally provide similar performance. The purists out there will probably object, but we see this plane as a way to expand the interest in WWI aviation and bring more folks into the hobby.

The kit that Robert will provide from these prototypes will have enough flexibility built into them to allow one to build any one of the wheeled variants of the Tabloid / Schneider family. All of them fall into the same dimensional box with minor variations.

So... here is the story. We would like to give a special thank you to Robert Baslee for his endless energy and creative abilities and Russ Turner for his drive and desire to make it happen.

Dart · 6 February 2011, 04:30 PM

Sweet!

I was telling my wife the other day that in many ways we're in the butter zone of the Golden Age of WWI replicas/representations.

Someday I'm going to be telling my grandkids how I worked with the Baslee crew building an airplane*....and their grandkids will be super impressed as well.

* Well, I will be this summer. May kit purchase, builder assist at the end of June if the Good Lord will allow.

RobW · 6 February 2011, 04:52 PM

The fuselage is fairly typical of Baslee designs... goes together fast.

It is about 37 inches (0.94 meters) across. About the same as a Luscombe. It is a snug fit for two, but not bad.

This view is from the firewall back.

1eyedpilot · 7 February 2011, 06:21 AM

The Tabloid/Baby is one of my favorite airplanes. This is interesting.

It would be nice if there were a number of flight schools located at grass "aerodromes" where you were taught to fly the airplane the pioneer way, i.e., by feel and sound as well as sight, and with minimal instrumentation. Tabloids with 0-200s or 0-320s would be perfect for that. I don't know how one would certify such an aircraft, though. Just a daydream.

RobW · 7 February 2011, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1eyedpilot

It would be nice if there were a number of flight schools located at grass "aerodromes" where you were taught to fly the airplane the pioneer way, i.e., by feel and sound as well as sight, and with minimal instrumentation.

We'll get into what we plan to do with the plane a bit later. First we have to build it and fly it... We do however, have bigger plans for it..

snj5 · 7 February 2011, 01:28 PM

Great avatar!!

RobW · 7 February 2011, 05:17 PM

Fuselages up on wheels

Did you notice the aluminum skids? They have since been re-done in wood...

This shows the new style spars that Robert is using to carry the load of two passengers.

snj5 · 7 February 2011, 06:27 PM

Do you have a photo of the new wood skids? I am sure it adds a lot.

IF the Tab is like the Baby and if you plan to keep the skids there is a lift wire from the front skid joint to the bottom of the lower wing at the strut. That is something outside the usual AA paradigm he might not do unless prompted.

RobW · 7 February 2011, 07:27 PM

Hi Russ,

I don't have a good picture of the new skids, but yes... the tab for the wire to the wings is there. The wire has not be run yet, but that is understandable. It would simply get in the way at this stage. Additionally, the skids are now bolted in place therefore making them removeable.

Rob

Dart · 7 February 2011, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Additionally, the skids are now bolted in place therefore making them removeable.

I would have expected this, as the trend of design from the shop is to make everything more trailer-friendly with every model.

What is the intended powerplant?