Progress....

Hi Mike...hope you're not disappointed when you finally get across the border at those Michigan hobby shops.  You may find the stock is limited there as well.  I haven't been to Michigan lately, but I found things getting scarce around here just the same.  Recently procured some sheet balsa online...had to settle for 36" x 2" x 1/16"...instead of the usual 3" width.  Oh well...will make do.  This is something of a throwback to all those wartime Joe Ott kits.  "We did it before...We'll do it again!" 

These two pilots are so well known that virtually little more need be said….

Adolf Josef Ferdinand Galland (19 March 1912 – 9 February 1996)   Generalmajor der Jagdflieger, Battle of Britain Ace (35 enemy aircraft destroyed, Nr. 2 behind Wick), 104 (WW2) enemy aircraft destroyed.  Holder of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.  Formed and commanded jet fighter unit, JV44.

Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, Group Captain, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, DL, FRAeS; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged. Commanded No. 242 Squadron, Tangmere Wing, Duxford Wing.  Battle of Britain Ace. POW.

Beginning construction with the Hawker Hurricane leading off….  When I was a kid I found myself asking why the British wasted all those Merlins on such an ugly obsolete airplane as the Hurricane?  Ahhh...I was a kid.    Hurricane was the "destroyer," Spitfire was for air-superiority...like the Thunderbolt and the Mustang were later on.  They all played their parts very effectively.

Neal

Getting my head into the right place….

Robert Stanford Tuck, Battle of Britain Ace, Hurricane pilot, Wing Commander, DSO, DFC & Two Bars, AFC , 1 July 1916 – 5 May 1987,  credited with (WW2) 29 enemy aircraft destroyed, two shared destroyed, six probably destroyed, six damaged and one shared damaged, POW.  Escaped German captivity and successfully worked his way eastward into Russian hands.

Helmut Paul Emil Wick (5 August 1915 – 28 November 1940), wing commander JG2, and the fourth recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, credited with the destruction of 56 enemy aircraft in aerial combat and Top Ace of the Battle of Britain, KIA.  Ditched off the Isle of Wight, observed in water…not rescued, body not recovered.

Adolph Gysbert Malan, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (3 October 1910 – 17 September 1963), better known as Sailor Malan, South African Spitfire pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force (RAF), led No. 74 Squadron RAF during Battle of Britain, credited (WW2) with  27 destroyed, 7 shared destroyed and 2 unconfirmed, 3 probables and 16 damaged. At the time he was the RAF's leading ace, and one of the highest scoring pilots to have served wholly with Fighter Command during the Second World War.  Concluded War as Group Captain, Malan was a contradiction to himself, being something of a sociable hell-raiser and a strict disciplinarian at the same time.

Look into those eyes...they're all the same!  Sportsmen in a deadly game...no hate...only enthusiasm.

Ready to go…have plans in hand….

Neal

Note the diagonal bar inside Sailor Malan’s Spitfire access door…a readily available tool just in case the canopy would not open during an emergency…crowbar on one end, pike on the other.

Great choice Neal - look forward to watching them come together.

Mike

Oh how I love those old Comet dimer designs.  Got to declare that dimer kits had to be one fantastic marketing approach....

What I'd like to eventually accomplish...I'd like to construct as many dimers as I can, and with that in mind, it's time to pursue Comet Model's Battle of Britain Trio...the Spitfire, Hurricane and Emil (109E).  Should keep me building for a while....

Has anyone encountered a scarcity of 1/16" sheet balsa?  Seems to be fading away...at the retail outlets as well as on the net...at least the widths seem to be more restricted than in the past.  Specific sizes are available...but at a price.  Just my observation.

I have constructed the 1974 Comet Emil once upon a time...but the balsa was in such terrible condition...that I junked everything but the wing and used the dimer plan to construct an appropriately-sized fuselage and empennage.  This time I'll do the 16"ws version justice...I hope. 

Neal