Simon Chaddock Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I must be barmy but I have decided to build a P1052. Strictly it should be the P1052 as there is only one and it still exists 'in storage' at RNAS Yeovilton. 3 were built (2 to fly, 1 for structural testing) however after the first was flown structural testing suggested the rear fuselage in particular needed strengthening. As a result the second P1052 (although it had flown) was given a completely new rear fuselage with single 'straight through' exhaust. It was renamed the P1081. The removed rear fuselage was suitably strengthened and retro fitted to the first P1052. Basically a standard Sea Hawk fuselage with smaller span swept wings. With an arrestor hook added is actually undertook carrier landing trials on HMS Eagle in 1952. At a later stage a swept tail plane was added. The inlet duct on my Sea Hawk has a very restricted path so to take account of the rearward CofP movement from the swept wings I decided to move the EDF aft to allow a better inlet duct geometry and accept the small loss from a shorter 'trouser' exhaust duct, otherwise the fuselage would be built identically to the Sea Hawk. The 'long inlet' P1052 duct with a new 55 mm EDF. Now I have just got to build another fuselage to fit it into. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan p Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I like some one who is up to a challenge?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Certainly showing dedication.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 Just a quick update. I tested the duct and to my surprise it was sucking so hard that it started to 'pull in' the flat areas of the inlet. Obviously the sharp edge is far from ideal both for flow and stiffness. To overcome the problem I printed a 5mm radius bell mouth to fit the inlet. Mainly for stiffness but it should also improve the flow. With this in place on both inlets the thrust rose to 410 g and it was still not at quite full power. I chickened out going any further simply because with the bare duct there is not much to hold on to! Note the Sea Hawk duct with a similar EDF peaked at only 350 g. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 The start of the foam build The centre section half shell with the duct inserted half way in. . It was only at this stage I realised the former location had been set up for the original Sea Hawk duct The different shape of the p1052 inlet duct mean some rather drastic former 'adjustment' Got there in the end though. Next is to add the other half of the formers and some more planking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 26, 2021 Author Share Posted June 26, 2021 The centre section substantially complete. ' The motor wires have been brought forward to allow the ESC to be mountedin the cockpit wall just ahead of the RH intake. The underside of the wing root has been left open to allow the aileron and elevator servo wires to be run through the centre section but before that happens the wings and tail section have to be built first.? As for the Sea Hawk they will be just 5 mm top and bottom skins with no spar just two XPS shear webs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 (edited) The wing itself is pretty simple just top and bottom 5 mm XPS skins flexed around two XPS shear webs to give a streamlined semi symmetrical wing section. By far the biggest task is sanding down the inside of the rear portion of each 5mm thick skin give a fine 2mm trailing edge. The aileron servos are let in through the underside and glued in place and the skin made good. The aileron servo wire funs through each fuselage former to where the cockpit will be. Edited June 27, 2021 by Simon Chaddock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted June 30, 2021 Author Share Posted June 30, 2021 With both wings added but the underside of the wing roots left open It is time to start the rear fuselage. This will ultimately include the elevator servo so before the tail is fixed on its wire has to lead through all the centre section formers. Only then can the skin on the wing root be completed. With everything but the battery and rx permanently built in the sequence of the construction is important as indeed are these construction pictures as you can work out exactly where things are if you even need to cut them out. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 A modest start on the rear fuselage. The tight radii on the top and bottom of the fuselage are a pain to plank in 5 mm XPS as it means lots of very narrow and tapered planks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 Slowly ploughing on. The rear fuselage half shell complete and the other side of the formers added. Now to start the fiddley planking all over again! It is amazing when repeating exactly the same process again how much of the tedious bits your brain conveniently forgets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 Making slow progress on this one but the rear fuselage is complete and glued on to the centre section. It actually a rather better fit that I did for the Sea Hawk where I had to adjust quite a bit of the upper rear fuselage to achieve a smooth top line. Perhaps you do get better doing the same again. Tail feathers next. Fin/rudder are the same as the Sea Hawk but the tail plane is quite a bit smaller and swept back 30 degrees. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 The tail feathers added. The next issue is how to operate the elevators from a single servo which is already mounted in the fin under the tail plane with the servo arm protruding on the right side. So far all the attractive and mechanically efficient ways of doing it all seem to involve ether moving the servo into the fuselage or simply using two servos, one for each elevator half. Obviously I should have worked out how I was going to move the swept elevators before I built in the servo. ☹️ Still thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 Eventually solved the elevator problem by adopting the 'dirtiest' geometry but it works well enough. A single rod from the servo to one elevator half which is extended through the fin to the other horn. Due to the angled hinge lines it relies on 'give' in both of the horn bearings towards the travel extremes. It also needs a circular 'slot' cutting in what would be the rudder, if it moved! Just as well it is a lightweight. So its onto the fuselage nose section which should be identical to the Sea Hawk so there should be no problems. We shall see. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 19, 2021 Author Share Posted July 19, 2021 The fuselage nose section built as before and glued on. It almost exactly follows the Sea Hawk original. The next task is to install the 40 A ESC in the cockpit wall with its cooling fins just ahead of the right hand inlet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 The cockpit canopy is first built in situ. And then cut free. note the offset hatch shape to allow the battery to be placed left of centre to counter the weight of the ESC on the right cockpit wall. With the canopy hatch complete painting can be started. Sky blue underside first. Two coats of match pot emulsion. A Lemon stab Rx fitted but not yet connected up. A bit of a story behind this. The Lemon stab uses the Aux1 channel to switch the gyro on/off. The Spectrum DX6i uses Aux 2 for the left hand aileron in its 'dual ail' setup so Aux1 is available, however my new Hobbyking TX6i uses Aux1 for 'dual ail' so the Lemon gyro is disabled. It took me some time to identify what was happening. If and when the P1052 proves to be a good flyer I will replace the gyro Rx with a basic 6 channel so the Hobby King TX6i can be used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 The grey top coat and alongside the Sea Hawk for comparison. It has been given a light spray of clear acrylic to give a slight sheen to the very dull emulsion. Once it is hard I will apply the decals and the underside number VX272. The number the full size is currently wearing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 It is sooooo swoopy.... great stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan p Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Sidney Camm would be impressed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 All credit to the air ministry for ordering the 3 prototypes but it did rather show that with the large diameter of RR Nene just adding swept wings did not take it much further into the transonic region. By the time it was flying in its final configuration with the swept tail in 1953 it maximum speed was still no faster than the Sea Hawk. In reality the speed was limited by the critical Mach characteristics of the portly fuselage rather than the wings, be they swept or not. What tends to be over looked is that the fantastically successful Mig 15, which was a transonic jet, did so using the same RR Nene, albeit unlicensed, courtesy of samples with full technical details exported to the USSR by RR at the request of the 1948 Labour government. A decision likely influenced by the initial P1052 results which showed the Nene was not a transonic capable jet engine. Stalin of course ignored the associated manufacturing license! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 The completed P1052. To my relief it flies nearly as well as the Sea Hawk but noticeably faster so you have to concentrate a bit more. It has a significantly better thrust to weight ratio due to a better fan (the motor is the same), improved ducting, and a smaller lighter 1500 mAh battery yet with better throttle management the flight duration is the same (about 5 minutes) but the extra thrust does allow it a "party" piece! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPX54hVu1Xg I also found a You Tube video of the P1052 flying at the 1949 SBAC Farnborough Air Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3J73O03IGM&t=300s The P1051 bit is from 6:37 to 7:01. It was still in a prototype paint scheme and with the original 'straight' Sea Hawk tail plane. There is also another very short clip of it at 7:41 to 7:44 inadvertently included in the Supermarine 510 (Swift prototype) clips. I am such a nerd! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Very nice Simon. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 (edited) Very nice! Wonder if my Viper will do that off our very short grass runway...... will try tomorrow ? Edited July 24, 2021 by GrumpyGnome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted September 3, 2021 Author Share Posted September 3, 2021 The repairs underway after its 'excursion' and retrieval at the DVMFC at the Bank Holiday fly in. It always looks alarming when you cut away such damage to give something you can work with. Virtually cut through half the wing chord and the most important part too! New skin inserted. You just have to trust that the thick skin butt joint will be as strong as the original! ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 Its all back together. Really for John S whose help last week end made a repair even possible. Not perfect but it will certainly do. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 Looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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