# Checking in



## Tony Hill (Nov 21, 2008)

Well, I needed an answer to an obscure question, posted here and got most of what I needed in 12 hours...can't complain about the service..!!!!!

Glad to be here. 

I first got hooked on aeroplanes when I was 7 years old. We moved near to a small regional airport. After a short while I got the opportunity to go for a joyride. I was hooked. 

Reading about them was the most I could do for years more. In the mid 70's when the 30 year rule expired, all sorts of interesting information started to flow. "Biggles" had whet my appetite on WW1 aviation but I strayed to the Battle of Britain as my first real love in history. AND of course, the Spitfire. 

The 1976 series "The Secret War", four parts, on the tech side of WW2 got me interested in that side of things. Dr RV Jones, with his dry wit and talent for classic understatement, always appealed.

I collected as much as I could in the way of books on that Secret War and the Battle of Britain, given my "pocket money" budget. 

Then real life got in the way for a few years. The birth of the internet, the old Sierra Red Baron "Hangar" days, seduced me back to WWI aviation and for 10 years I specialised in Sopwith Camels, Fokker Triplanes etc with scant time for my first love. I researched for authors and built up quite a library. I still do a bit for a couple of authors. 

I also realised my dream of learning to fly and spent more and more time flying aerobatics. I now have aerobatic time on C152, Fuji, Super Decathlon, Tiger Moth, Nanchang, and Extra 300L. 

Then after the loss of my best mate, some responsibilities made me give up aero's. I built a flight simulator (F-16) for three years and have now started a Spitfire. 

I have also developed a passion for extreme trekking and have crossed Kokoda 4 times on the longer, wartime track including Myola and the eastern side of the range. (155km or 97 miles). One trip was a double stretch out and back. 

I still fly occasionally and fly a few aeros whenever I get the chance. 

I am looking forward to getting back to the WW2 airwar and particularly the PRU, technical and performance stuff. 

I have now officially bored you all long enough!!!



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## 109ROAMING (Nov 21, 2008)

Welcome

You'l fit in well

any possiblity of some photos of the Simulators you've built/building??


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## Tony Hill (Nov 21, 2008)

109ROAMING said:


> Welcome
> 
> You'l fit in well
> 
> any possiblity of some photos of the Simulators you've built/building??




Thanks mate, 

Your avatar looks much like my rear view mirror in BOBII !!!

I'll organise some photos of the '16. The Spitty is still a collection of bits, switches, Sutton harness, starter button, gunsight, globes, Spade grip etc. 

Thnaks for the welcome.


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## GrauGeist (Nov 21, 2008)

> ...Your avatar looks much like my rear view mirror...



Better his than mine! LOL

Anyway, glad to have you aboard, and I'd sure like to see some photos of those simulators too!


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## Airframes (Nov 22, 2008)

Hi again! I second the above!
Terry.


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## Wayne Little (Nov 22, 2008)

Welcome Tony!


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## Njaco (Nov 22, 2008)

Sounds like you would fit in here rather nicely!! Welcome from the Right Coast!


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## Wurger (Nov 22, 2008)

Welcome to the hell Tony  .Greetings from Poland.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Nov 23, 2008)

Welcome to the forum.


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## rochie (Nov 23, 2008)

hi and welocome tony


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## Tony Hill (Nov 23, 2008)

Thank you all for the warm welcome and espcially to Terry for the details of the PRU Spitfires.


A couple of photos (not sure if this is the right place, sorry to the moderators if not)

The F16. basically complete and flyable.












As I said, the Spitty is a collection of bits ATM but I will post in the applicable section when I have something worthwhile to show.

Thanks all again


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## GrauGeist (Nov 23, 2008)

Nice work, Tony!

Awesome job on the details!


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## Tony Hill (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks mate,

I am just waiting now to get some night shots with the NVG lighting cranked up and all the warning lights turned on. 

My estimate in 3 years' building is 2000 hour's work, 5000 soldering connections and I only went over budget by a factor of 3.5 !!!

She is fully functional except for the classified ECM stuff and the HUD is "on screen" not "live".



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## Lucky13 (Nov 24, 2008)

(censored)  Awesome work buddy, impressive and all that! Welcome to the family and enjoy the ride... The bar's opening hours are....oh h*ck...it's always open, ask Njaco for details...


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## chook (Nov 24, 2008)

I'm with lucky i.e. a whole lot of expletives followed by amazing. Where in Aus are you?


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## Gnomey (Nov 24, 2008)

Welcome.

Awesome work!


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## Messy1 (Nov 28, 2008)

Welcome! The more the merrier!


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## Airframes (Nov 28, 2008)

Er........Blimey! Only just spotted your sim pics Daryll, b****y marvellous!!
Terry.


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## Njaco (Nov 29, 2008)

WOW! Drinks are on the house!


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## Matt308 (Nov 29, 2008)

Looks great, Hill. Keep 'em comin'.


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## Tony Hill (Nov 30, 2008)

Thank you all,

I've had some small progress painting over the weekend (in between getting some proof of concept stuff done on the Spitty) and will post some pics when I get a moment later this week,

Thanks again for the warm welcome. I think I'll enjoy it here...

Darryl


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## Tony Hill (Jan 21, 2009)

Just thought I would share with you the fruits of Terry's research and several hours of me bumbling along....

The Type 35 is now finished and is awaiting a home on the left cockpit wall above the elevator trim wheel.











































The more observant will notice that the line on the counter window moves in relation to the numbers in different shots. This because the footage counter window is three dimensional with the line engraved on the front and the numbers etc engraved on the rear as a flipped image...fill engraving with required colour and voila....

I'm pleased. Also a photo of the Undercarriage lever I have had built by Aerosim over here. The mechanics were beyond me even though I would have loved to give it a go. 






More soon hoepfully,





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## Airframes (Jan 22, 2009)

Great stuff mate, glad I could help.Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Terry.


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## lesofprimus (Jan 22, 2009)

Frickin marvelous work Darryl....


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## Tony Hill (Jan 23, 2009)

Thanks Gents,


I am looking forward to receiving some 1:1 plans for the fuselage next week. Then the real fun begins.



regards


Darryl


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## Lucky13 (Jan 23, 2009)

Holy cr*p!  Outstanding work mate!


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## Geedee (Jan 23, 2009)

Echo the above comments !. Welcome to the forum as well.

I shall have to watch this thread closely to see how you get on with your build...might get some ideas from you !


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## Gnomey (Jan 23, 2009)

Excellent stuff Darryl, looking forward to seeing more.


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## gijive (Jan 23, 2009)

And there I am saying I only have room for 1/72 scale not 1/35. Never mind life size! Welcome.


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

I'm with you GI!! 

Welcome to the forum!


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## Tony Hill (Jan 23, 2009)

Thanks guys!!! 

I hope to get to know the various names above and "talk" personally. Forgive me if I don't address your individual comments initially...I DO appreciate all replies though. 


I am really looking forward to getting started properly. I collected bits for the F-16 over 18 months without being able to do much, so the Spitty should be good with a much shorter lead time. Main problem at the moment is that Flight illusions (the guys doing the gauges, which will almost all be functional) are very slow. The quality of their gear looks worth it though.

The spade grip is a flightworthy copy made by a guy out here, so it deserves a good set of controls built arounds it.

These are well on the way to being done. My mate at Aerosim has all the ability with welders, mechanical theory etc that I don't have. So when I decided to make the thing pretty much scale, I also decided not to do the mechanical work. The control column will operate elevators from the its full length and ailerons from the base of the spade, as per the real aircraft. The Trim for rudders will be mechanical and actually move the pedals, the elevator trim will be electronic. The controls will be "unharmonised" with the elevators very light and the ailerons heavier to represent operations at 250-300mph..the types of cruising speeds I will opeerate the sim at most of the time. Whilst I have never flown a Spitfire, I have limited experience flying high performance aircraft (Nanchang, Extra). The nanchang is very light in pitch, heavier in roll. So I have some idea of how it "should" feel. The guy building the controls has also flown a nanchang. The ultimate would be to find an old Spitfire pilot and get it really tested. The Extra is of no use to the project really (400deg per second roll rate!!) but is FUN!!! 

I could have bodgied something up on the controls but this way I can concentrate on what I am reasonably good at : detail and generally making silk purses out of sows ears. 

Access to a laser cutter means I can make all the non functioning stuff look "pretty" (eg the Remote Contactor, Triple brake gauge, Cockpit Placards) and things like the de icing pump etc can be made to look close with plumbing fittings etc. 

I am quite excited about the whole project! 

The latest acquisition:








Oh, and I haven't forgotten my promise of more up to date F-16 pics, just got a lot of crap piled around it at the moment and it is all pulled apart doing the last of the wiring. Pics soon.

I am surprised and flattered by all the interest in my work..THANK YOU!!



Darryl


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## Njaco (Jan 23, 2009)

No worries...I think you'll fit in here rather NICELY!


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## Tony Hill (Feb 17, 2009)

Hi Guys,

Sorry, I've been buried at work for a while but thought I'd share some progress with you...if anyone is still interested?


The guy building the main controls has been hard at it and the picture below is the result so far....











I am looking forward to seeing it finished!


Also, I have been buying plans and the wood..all of which are now ready to go, hopefully this weekend. I spent last weekend getting the gauges that i have so far received to work, properly calibrated with FSX. Not an easy job as the RealAir Spitfire IX does not really mimic the ooil and radiator temps acurately through the range. The critical temp in the oil is correct but how it warms up is suspect and the radiator just heats to 100 odd degrees and stays there. By fudging some "offsets" I now have it following real limits but it still blows up if you exceed RealAir's limits (which are correct) for any length of time.






















A few other bits acquired recently:







Ki-Gass priming pump and mounting kit (for a total cost of two goats and my first born!!)













Gunsight bracket.






Also the gunsight:






(oh, for the "rivet counters", yep, I know it is a rocket modified gunsight....c'est la vie...


A dozen other switches and bits, enough to populate the instrument panel and a really lucky pick up...an original gunsight power plug and mounting connection for the panel!


Anyway, hope you like the pics and happy to keep posting progress as long as you will put up with me.

Thnaks to all for their help in getting this far.





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## Airframes (Feb 17, 2009)

Great stuff Darryl - you're really going to town on this one mate!
Sorry, I forgot to let you know, the Air Nav chart in the book wouldn't scan very well at all. I'm afraid the original was fairly feint, and across two pages; even altering resolution etc didn't help. I was going to photograph it and try that way, but the book was already overdue at the library!
Terry.


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## Tony Hill (Feb 17, 2009)

Hi Terry,

No problems, I'd guessed as much. I am still without "the book" but have a couple of people chasing it down for me. Given what I have had to spend on "bits" already, I don't want to overspend on reference. I'll get a good priced copy soon.

Hopefully tonight I will get a chance to cut the temporary panel. The final is hopefully going to be plasma cut aluminium. The temp is not quite "right" at the bottom but will allow me to shape the cockpit around it and mount the instruments for soem "oh, aaah" moments....


cheerrs


Darryl


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## Heinz (Feb 20, 2009)

Wow that is some master craftsman ship mate!


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## Wurger (Feb 20, 2009)

I'm very impressed.Well done.


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## Tony Hill (Feb 22, 2009)

Thnaks Guys, I am impressed too...just remember none of the photos on this page are MY work. 

The controls are being built for me, the gauges are Flight Illusions and the rest are real or professional, flight worthy copies of originals. 


My part (apart from the Type35 Camera Controller) started on the weekend with teh first of the fuselage ribs cut and shaped.

I am going to move this to the Start to Finish Builds under Modelling, which now i have looked around the site some more, seems to be the approprtiate place. 


Thanks




Darryl


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## Tony Hill (Mar 24, 2009)

Hi guys,

for anyone interested...and who doesn't already know, I'm now posting the progress on the build here:


Start to Finish Builds - Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums


AND..hello and welcome to all new members here. It is a FANTASTIC site.



Cheers


darryl


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