BIPLANES and BLERIOT
[UPDATED ............JUNE 2010..............]

Video links
watch-v=6NT6XoUlPm8&feature=player_embedded
CTRL + Click to follow link Strutter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_pJqqH2r-8 Fork ends
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=1250 our customers heavy Camel at Top Gun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrFFKCbzh7w Electric bleriot test flight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeyD2nW3IKc Bleriot 1/3

New Pilots by Jim Reeves 1/3.6 scale          £50.  post £4
Height. 46 cm,  18".    Weight 165 gm, 6 oz.		  

'Alistair' (strutter pilot).

Capt. Blotto (strutter gunner)

1/3 scale £60		    
1/4 scale - coming.    


NEW Strutter kit.
Scale 1/3.6       112" span. (2.85 metres).        Weight 12.6 kg.

My Strutter is flying really well. It won the contest at Warboys, getting the best static score
and also beating all the 'Flying Only' models flight scores. At Merryfield
it was quite windy and mine was the only biplane to risk flying. It got the second best score
and other pilots were impressed with the models ability to perform in gusty conditions.
It won the next contest in gusty conditions, and scored 10's for landing and touch & go.
Laser 360. 22 x 10 prop at 6000 rpm, 10 kg thrust.
Cowl is 300 mm inside diam.

1. Plans on 4 large sheets, plus
Nineteen laser cut balsa sheets and
Three laser cut ply sheets. ...........£80
2. Epoxy cowl £35.
3. Wheels kit £30
4. Stainless fittings kit £27.50
5. Rigging wires £21.50
6. Fork ends (37) £55.50.
7. Streamlined tube £22.50
8. Carbon tube £16.
9. U/C tube £10		 10. Glass leading edge £5
11. Laser & vacform parts. £5.
12. Dash kit... ..............£7
13. Lewis gun kit .........£12
14. Data file book .........£9
15. Photo CD (200+).. £10
16. Vickers gun kit -... £15
17. Scarff ring kit-........ £5
TOTAL £366
ALSO Solartex. Flair paint
Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter
             1/3 scale

By request of the DAWN PATROL team.

Span 134".   Length 101".    high 41". Cowl 13.25"

1. Enlarged plans to 1/3 scale, Laser cut wing ribs
and laser cut ply formers.                           £20
2. Spun alloy cowl                                     £35.
3.Stainless fittings kit                                £27.50.
4. Rigging wires                                         £25
5. 37 pairs forkends                                  £55.50
6. Glass leading edge                                   £6
7. Dash kit + brass plates                             £12
8. Lewis gun kit.                                          £12
9. Vickers gun kit                                        £6
10. Scarf ring kit                                           £6
11. Datafile book                                          £9
12. 200 photos on CD                                 £10
 
   
     
       

 


   
     

New Lewis gun kit . Scales -1/3, 1/3.6 ,1/4. £12

Vickers gun kit   1/3.6    £15
My starter. Kavan epicyclic with hex socket.
Engages the prop nut. No slipping, no heavy
push needed. Less power wasted in rubber
slippage - better power to the prop. Two cell
lipo lasts for many starts.
  SOPWITH CAMEL
  The ‘Spitfire of World War One’ -
The pugnacious Camel was the highest scoring allied fighter.
This exact scale model is easy to fly.    
The wings can be removed in four panels in about 5 minutes.
Plans  and parts are available in two sizes.
 1/4  SCALE         National Champion I989
 Wing span - 84 in. (2.13 m)
 Engine - 15cc to 30cc     Weight - l5lbs . (7kg)
 1/3  SCALE
 Euro Champion 1989/93/94.    National Champion 1993/94/95
 Wing span -112 in (2.84m). Engine - 50 to 100cc.
 Weight 30 lb. (14kg)

SOPWITH PUP
 This was an earlier fighter than the Camel
and was a delight to fly.  
Easy to dismantle as with our Camel.
 1/4  SCALE      
French and Spanish National Champion.
 Wing span - 79 ½ in (2.02m)        Engine - 15cc to 30 cc
Weight - 151lbs (7kg)

  1/3  SCALE      3rd at Euro Champs 1993
 Wing Span - 108 in (2.74m)
 Engine - 50 cc to 100 cc
 Weight - 301bs- (14kg)

SOPWITH 1½ STRUTTER
National Champion 1994/95/01.  
4th World Champs 1992 .
6th World champs 2002
Scale 1:4.5      Span 89½ in (2.28m).
Engine 15 to 30 cc. Weight 15 lbs (7 kg)
   
     



FULL KITS.    

1/4 scale. SOPWITH CAMEL, PUP, or STRUTTER    
£355.00.  Export   £302.00.

1/3 scale. SOPWITH CAMEL or PUP
 £555.00  . £472.00..
Post £(ask)
                       
Kits are 100% scale. Many times contest and championship winners.
They feature working scale rigging, and quick assembly for flying with no loose screws to get lost..
The rigging wires are made from stainless steel spring wire, to scale width and thickness.
Very strong, rustfree and does not get kinked in handling. The scale forkends are fitted in
pairs to each end of the rigging wires. Tension is adjusted as on the original, release the
lock nuts and rotate the wire to adjust. When dismantling the model the tension setting is
not touched. Each time you assemble the rigging setting remains constant. The lightweight
scale wheels are mounted on scale split axles with scale bunjee elastic for springing.
Our original models used 30 cc Laser V twin engines. They will fly on a calm day on a
wisp of throttle, but the larger engine size allows for a big propellor to be used at low RPM.
This gives a more realistic sound and extra power is in hand for vertical climbs and for flying
in very strong winds, which is necessary for a contest model. Our kits have been flown in
the scale world championships by pilots from France, South Africa, USA, Spain, Sweden,
Norway, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, and England.
Kits contain:-Plans, Balsa strip & sheet, hardwood Spars, Longerons, Glassfibre leading edges,
hardwood Struts, CNC cut Wing & tail ribs, Ply formers, Ply deckings, Light alloy sheet for panels,
Piano wire, Doweling, Wire U/C with axles, Bunjee elastic, Hinges, Plastic sheet, Scale wheels,
Alloy cowling, Dummy Clerget engine kit, Machine gun kit(2 for Camel), Stainless Steel fittings kit,
Rigging wire, Forkends, Control cable, Silver solder & flux, Eyelets, Bolts, Screws.

PLANS can be bought seperately.
1/4 scale Camel, Pup, 1 1/2 Strutter, £18.
1/3 scale Camel or Pup. £ 22.


Windsock Datafiles. Lots of good info. Camel £12. Camel squadrons £19.00
Pup Special £12.95. Strutter £9.        Photopacks on CD. £5.
New Sopwith Scout (Pup) perspective sketches. £10. This slim book shows shows all the
structure of the Pup, and is a great help to any builders of any Sopwith. It makes the plans
much easier to follow. I recomend it.
SOPWITH fin logo . Waterslide transfers.
1/4 Sutter. 1/4 Pup. 1/4 Camel. 1/3 Pup. 1/3 Camel.
All £3.00 pair		    
       
   

BIPLANE PARTS


£1.50 a set. for each wire. Our models use about 30 pairs
4 mm diam x 14.25 mm long. M2 thread.
These are strong enough to hold the wings on our Sopwiths with 100cc engines.
Spare cross screws £1 pkt 10.
see U-Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_pJqqH2r-8
M2 x 5 mm screws.and M2 x 16mm. Specially made for our fork-ends.
Very small head with phillips slot.
Useful for scale models.
£1 packet of 10.
   

Vickers gun kits. 1/4 - £16.00. 1/3 - £6.00. 1/3.6 £15

Anchor plate. Useful for rigging etc. Will take our forkends. 15p		  

1/8" Bunjee shock chord for scale springing. 60p. metre
Hard Stainless rigging wire. Does not get kinked in use and is very strong.
1/16", 3/32", or 1/8" wide. £4.50 - 5 metres
Our 1/4 scale Sopwiths require 3 rolls 3/32" wire and 1 roll 1/16" wire.
1/3 scale need 5 rolls 1/8" and 1 roll 3/32".

Hard Stainless fittings set.1/4 or 1/3 scale. aprox 100 pieces £27.50
Dashboard. Laser cut plywood .Printed dials, laser cut glass and rims,
with fixing screws. Camel or Pup, 1/4 scale.-  £6. 1/3. scale.  -£7

A set of self adhesive brass plates for your Sopwith.
Scales 1/3, 1/3.6, 1/4. £4.00 other sizes to order.

M2 Cable
anchor.50p.		 0 self tapper.
2 x 8 mm
csk phillips		 00 self tapper.
1.6 x 6 mm
csk phillips		 000 self tapper.
1 x 4 mm
csk phillips		 Tiny Eyelets.
£1.50 ,100

Tiny self tapping screws. One of our most useful and unique items.
Opens up new possabilities for scale model. Hinges,canopies, and scale
fittings can be held in place with screws instead of gluing on.
Easier to service and more realistic. I also use them for practical things,
mounting servos, rigging brackets, hinges, etc.etc. Buy a packet of each to try.
£1.00 pkt 30.   Mini screwdrivers set to suit. £3.

'Colonel Blimp' 1/4 scale. £3.00
In my old Strutter, very dusty.		  

1/3 scale Sopwith wheel kit. 10" diameter. 500 gm pair.    £30
Wheel kit. For small Strutter. 6" diam. 250 gm pair.    £30		 .

Solartex LINEN colour. Specially made to our colour.   
2 mtr. £13   10 metres £64.

Fine silver solder. A must for our forkends and delicate work.
32" x 1/32" £ £3.     Flux 50p
Kevlar thread for controls. Won't stretch. 10 yds £4.
Spun Aluminium cowls. £35.00
10 1/4" .    9 3/4".    13 3/4" .    12 7/8".
Dummy scale engine kits.
1/4 scale Clerget. 1/4 LeRhone. £16.50.
1/3 Clerget. £9.00 		 
  Light alloy sheet.    24 swg x 12" x 24".        £3.00. .    
Wing rib set for 1/4 Camel, 1/4 Pup,  1/4 Strutter £30.1/3 £45
 Authentic paint. see accessories page        

Three of our 1/4 Pups and the big Strutter at the 2006 World Scale Championships in Sweden.
Neil Schrader, NewZealand.   Mick.      Victor Estrada, Spain.        Stefan Olsson, Sweden

WILL IT FIT IN YOUR CAR

  Span length length
less tail		 Fin height Fuselage
height		 less wheels Fuse width tail span wing
Long		 wings
wide		    
Pup 1/4 80" 58" 54" 12" 27" 24" 14.5" 30" 37" 14"
Camel 1/4 84" 56" 51" 11.5" 27" 24" 21" 24.5" 39" 14"    
Pup 1/3 90" 68"   13" 25" 22" 9" 36" 45" 21"    
Camel 1/3 108" 78" 71" 17" 35" 32" 21" 21" 48" 21"    
Strutter 1/4.4 112" 75" 75" 15" 36" 32" 28" 33" 45" 15"    
Strutter 1/3.6 112" 85" 79" 16.5" 33" 30" 12" 45" 55" 18"
Bleriot 1/3 115" 102"   19" 34" 31" 22" 48" 54" 27"    
 
     


BLERIOT XI . 1/3 scale. 115 inch span. Video link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF92vukPvMM
The plans, an accurate three view drawing and photographs for detail, of the Shuttleworth machine. £25 plus postage
CNC cut wing and tail, ribs and tips sets, £35.
Cable for controls £9.60 (3 x 12 ft)
1.2mm cable -wing warping £6.
Flat stainless steel wing rigging strips (6) £10
Bunjee £1.20 (2). Eyelets for wheel spoke nipples £1.25.

Plans also available printed at -
1/2 scale , 172 inch span £50. Cut parts £75
1/4 scale, 86 inch span. £23. cut parts £30. other parts the same as 1/3.
1/5 scale, 69 inch span. £20. Cut parts £20.
1/6 scale, 57 1/2 inch span. £15 . Cut parts £15
( UK post £10 , europe approx £25)

 

 
   



Wooden scale engine.then rebuilt with aluminium case to mount the Laser 360 V.


Battling the gale at 2004 Nats


.                                                              

My 1/3 scale Bleriot.
Span 115". length 101". weight 10.5 kg [glow power]

I had the first flight with this model, powered by Hacker B50 17XL brushless motor with 6.7:1 gearbox and 32 x GP3300mah
cells which fitted exactly inside the scale brass fuel tank..
The model had 4 kg of nose ballast with total weight of 14 kg. Thrust on a 24 x16 prop was 15 lbs at 4000 RPM. CG was 35%.
Model flew well with enough power, but batteries ran out after 4 minutes.
For the second flight I removed 11/2 kg ballast and flew with less throttle than before. Duration was then 6 minutes.
I expect I could have improved a bit on this time, but for contest flying at least 12 minutes are needed, so I decided
electric power could not do the job without more battery capacity. [now lipos are getting cheaper, this would be the way to go.]

I fitted a Laser 360. This gave 20 lbs thrust at 5000 rpm on 24 x 12. With the ballast removed the model was only 10 1/2 kg and flies very well.
With 860cc of fuel in the the scale brass tank I think it could stay airbourne for more than 20 minutes.
It will float along on a wisp of throttle, but with nearly 1:1 thrust to weight it will deal with 25 mph winds easily.
The model lands very well and is very stable on its wheels. I did not try it, but I think it might loop!

The wings come off for transport. The tail can be removed, or the rear fuselage with the tail, which takes less length in the vehicle.
We carried the whole fuselage with rudder in a Mondeo estate, the rudder resting on the rear view mirror.

I noticed that photos of the prototype at Old Warden show about 30 degrees of UP elevator being used. My model requires
quite a lot of DOWN elevator for level flight, which suggests to me that the full size machine is flying much slower. I wonder if the engine
is lacking power. The wing warping is said to be no good at all, but my model works well with the warping except when the
airspeed is very low.
I have since seen of photo of the full-size in normal flight- Yes, it had down elevator just like my model!

Assembly of Sopwith Pup for flying. Takes about six minutes.

 

Lower wing panel is plugged in.
The first landing wire is connected
And the second - No loose screws.

Aileron linkage to servo.
Strut plugs in.
Then top wing plugs in.

Front flying wire- tension is automatic.
Second wire through the wing
Aileron link wire.

Ready to fly

Rigging our Biplanes

1. Wings are carried in four flat panels, easy to transport.
2. On assembly the rigging tension is automatically set.
3. All screws are captive on the model.
4. Tail and U/C are also removeable.

  


     
     

Dave Hancock, South Africa		    



Todd Bixby, Zenoa 62/Torquemaster, 32 x 14. CG 1/4" in front of plan.
Mike Praetor. 1/3 pup, built 1991, "still right on form"		  


Marvin Erbesfeld from Florida. Did well in TOP GUN 2009		  

Ralf Muskens. Netherlands. First flight May 2008.
Torquemaster with 30 x 8 prop. 17 kg ,with 1200 gm ballast.
"felt good..Easy to fly"    "made my dream come true"		  

 



Alec Kennedy. 1/3 Camel. King 80 boxer engine. Flies superbley
 

Per Anders Ekdhal

Don Coe's Bleriot. Laser 360, 28 x 7 prop.		  
 

Charles Morgan with his 1/3 PUP.
"delight to fly" "great kit". fitted with SC five cylinder engine.
Charles Morgans Pup was flown with extra 10 lbs ballast to prepare
for flight with this scale rotary engine. Will this be a first?
We await news. Has now flown very successfully.		  


    
My Strutter at 2004 Nats                                                                      
Best flight at 2006 Nats. 		 

Tim Stingle

Oskar Groth from Germany

  

 


Don Coe		  
     

Colin Parkin		  
.
Uwe Geleschun from Virginia USA. His first model aeroplane
Dave O'Brian. Contest winner.

Mark Crawford from Australia
Alan Dobbins



Lorne Hansen, Canada.
Don Coe's 1/3 Bleriot

Peter Hewson. New Zealand.

Alan Yendle
Alan Yendle
Peter Hewson

Neil Schraders Pup. New Zealand champion 2004.
from Kevin Lecardonnel, France
 
Glen Roberts, South Africa Kim Foster, USA Humphrey leGrice, South Africa  

Marc Levy, France. 6 times French national champion.
The late E.Stromquist, Sweden
We were told that he died flying his Camel,but managed to get the model
down safely.
Jesus Comarero, Spain		  
       

7 Sopwiths in South Africa. 6 are Micks designs.
PUP, Glen Roberts. TRIPLANE, Pete McDermott.
PUP, Jim Reeves. PUP, Marc Levy. PUP, Humphrey LeGrice.
STRUTTER, Jesus Camarero. STRUTTER, Mick Reeves.
Mick and Jim with 1/3 scale models at Euro champs in France.
   

I have this genuine piece of fabric from a Sopwith Camel

Camel news. June 20th 2001. I took down my twelve year old 1/3 Camel and shovelled off the dust.
The model weighed over 14 kg and I wondered if I could cut the weight down to meet the new FAI limit of
12 kg for F4C competition. I made calculations several times, but it always seemed impossible. Finally I started
the attempt. The metal dummy engine weighed 875 gms. I remade this in plastic and got it down to 200 gms.
The steel axles with cross-over drive were put back to the original alloy ones. The broken metal guns were
redone in plastic. Pilots body and dash were removed. The spark ignition system was removed and I fitted
glowplugs and small battery in its place. Lots of odd bits were removed and some wood cut away. .
I cut away some parts of the homemade 80cc V twin engine to save 400 gm. The model is now under 12 kg.
What about the CG? I made a balsa box above the engine, weighing 6 oz. This carries two polythene bags
which hold 3 1/2 lbs of fuel to bring the CG forward. In competition, the fuel is drained out before the
weight is checked. Crafty!
Strutter news. Sep 2002. At the Team Trials 2002, the wind was strong, about 15 MPH.
We needed to fly so that the Britsh team for next year could be selected, so we began the contest.
My 12 year old small Strutter was the last to fly. By then the wind had risen to 25 MPH, too windy for most sports models.
I was thinking 'I must be mad to risk a slow flying scale biplane in these conditions, wish I had the Spit or Hurricane
which were also competing, or better still my jet Lightning.
The model would not stand still on the ground. I had to put on quite a lot of throttle to prevent it rolling backwards, and
the tail came up. The model was at flying attitude and speed on the ground. I waited until the model stopped moving around
for a moment, then opened the throttle further for take-off. Holding the Strutter on the ground at higher than its normal flying
speed gave a good take off. Having plenty of power from the Laser V enabled a good flight including a touch and go and a
long straight landing for the best flight of the day.
In future, when we get a windy flying day, I wont say "wish I had my Jet model" but instead "wish I had my old Strutter!".

2005 My big Strutter now comes into the F4c class at just under the 15 kg limit. It has been decided that the Strutter must be
considered as aerobatic, so I have rearranged my schedule accordingly. I am happier doing aerobatics.

2008. The big strutter met its end. I got out the old 1/3 Camel. Fitted a 100 cc flat twin petrol and the model flew well at 14.7 kg.

2010. Now building a new Strutter, slightly smaller to keep under 15 kg. 3.6/1 scale, 112" span. Looks like it will be 3 kg Under the limit!

Plans and part will be available.