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RC MODEL WORLD ( DECEMBER 2000 ) |
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RC MODEL
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| In part one of this comprehensive feature on the 'Bristol F2B Fighter: Ian Perry charts the history of the 'Brisfit' and begins the process of building one of his 'must make' aeroplanes | |
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K&W Aircraft Bristol F2B Fighter The Bristol F2B Fighter has always been on my list of 'must make' aeroplanes. My 'green folder' being populated with F2B literature since 1988, when a plan and review appeared in the June edition of Radio Modeller of that year. At some point a 26 page Air Enthusiast special feature on the 'Brisfit' was added, along with some photographs of the Shuttleworth Collection and Hendon examples. So, with a full information pack assembled the question was simply "when"? In 1999, Richard Smart of Flair, used pictures of my son's (Robert) Fokker DVII and my own Fokker Drl within their new catalogue and web site. Subsequent emails from Richard indicated a forthcoming Bristol Fighter from the Flair stable, which somewhat whetted my appetite again for this aircraft. A few weeks down the road, Shrewsbury Model Centre placed an advert in RC Model World for a new range of kits (the word 'kit' is somewhat of an overstatement!). |
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| Included in the range was a 94" span, true scale Brisfit suitable for a 120 4-stroke. With a large 'Wow' factor and a spare Laser 120 in my Laser Engines cupboard, all that was needed was a call to Shrewsbury Models to conclude the deal ...sorry Richard! When the planets are in alignment. ..do it! Shrewsbury Models sent me a very nice coloured pack on the whole range of aircraft. These are imported from the manufacturer, K&W Model Airplanes Inc of the Philippines, via Kavan the European distributor. Shrewsbury Model Centre being the UK distributor. | |
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A wonderful web site is available via http://kwmairpl.com.ph a link from Shrewsbury Models website http://www.shrewsburymodels.co.uk is also provided. Twenty minutes of surf time had me hooked on the full range. I was in total awe of the quality. Definitely a high WOW factor! Each model aircraft has an Adobe Acrobat download available comprising 10-15 pages of detailed information and pictures of the full size aircraft and model. These are excellent in there own right and are definitely worth a look. So lets have a quick look at K&W and their range. |
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The aircraft are designed by the former world championship contestant
Goeran Kalderen and are specifically developed for Kavan. All aircraft
are to 1:5 scale which creates some mouth watering sizes. The range
focuses on the early 'sticks and string' days and ranges from 1909 to
1939. Many of the aircraft are of a less commonly known type. The
range is available in 3 versions: ARC -Almost Ready to Cover, ARF
Almost Ready to Fly and strangely, RNF Ready for NOT Flying (i.e. STATIC ONLY). The RNF range is museum
quality and takes K&W an extra 500 man hours to complete! The
general production aircraft are 'stand-off' scale models, where detail
is not applied, if not visible at 10 feet (3 metres) distance. All
models are exact in shape and measurement with accurate finish and
markings. Construction is traditional balsa and ply, direct from the local balsa plantation with assembly being carried out by a number of traditional Phillipino cabinet makers. All aircraft come with rigging wires factory fitted, scale wheels, guns, metal cowl, clevis and closed loops where appropriate. The ARF version comes with an airframe covered in Solartex and painted. Only Radio, Engine and 'setting up' is needed. The range comprises 18 aircraft (with new designs on the way), these include many less known aircraft. The current range includes: Bristol Fighter, Morane-Saulnier L type, Nieuport 17, Blackburn monoplane, Bleriot XI, Albatros CI, BE2c, Spad XIII, Fokker DV, Pfalz El, Thomas Morse Scout, 0-1 Tummelisa, Thulin K, Thulin D, FW44, Morane Saulnier H, Phonix DIII and Macchi M7 flying boat. Even if you are into this era, I would be surprised if you can identify more than 8 of the 18! During July, I found out that delivery had been delayed by a few days due to the German Customs not clearing and releasing the kits to Kavan. My sense of humour kicked in -with the thought of the aircraft having been doped. ..explain that one to the customs officer!! 'Traditional balsa and ply' |
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Mid July saw the arrival of a rather large and very substantial (64 x
20 x 20 inch) cardboard box. This contained 10 wellprotected bubble
wrap packs. These included 4 wing sections, 2 tailplane/elevators,
fuselage, strut pack, Lewis gun and static propeller, but before we
look at the kit, let's take a brief look at the full size version.
The 'Brisfit' -full size The Bristol F2B was designed as a joint fighter and reconnaissance two seat biplane. The F2B being the more powerful Rolls Royce Falcon engined variant of the original F2A design. The F2B became universally know as the Bristol Fighter following major success in the fighter role. Squadron nicknames shorten this to the 'Brisfit'. The layout of the aircraft is slightly different to the norm, with the fuselage being slung midway between the upper and lower wings. Unusually, the Brisfit benefited from dual control. The control column being duplicated in the Observers cockpit offering elevator control and two handgrips attached to the rudder cables, offering rudder control. Typical armament consisted of one .303 Vickers gun firing through a duct within the fuel tank and cowling. A scarff ring was mounted around the Observers cockpit, allowing the attachment of either a single or dual Lewis gun which had a full 360 degree arch of fire. A number of engine types were used, with the Rolls Royce 275 bhp Falcon III being a primary choice. This adequately turned a 9 foot 8 inch prop at 1220 rpm. This combination gave a top speed of 125 mph at ground level. This was faster than many Allied and Axis fighters of the day. Climb to 5,000 feet took approximately 5 minutes. A further 16 minutes would see the 39 foot span 2,800 pound aircraft at 15,000 feet on a wing loading of 6.92 Ib/sq. ft.
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| The original F2A aircraft was designed by Frank Barnwell in 1916 around the new 190 hp Rolls Royce water cooled V12 engine. It was intended to compete with the Royal Aircraft Factory RE8. Two prototypes were flown on 9th September 1916. Some 12 days earlier, an order was placed for 50 production machines. Forty-eight Squadron received the first F2A deliveries on 13th April 1917 and were flown to France on 8th March. These initially re-equipped all of the RFC reconnaissance squadrons. A total of 5308 Bristol Fighters of all variants were produced between 1916 and 1932. | |
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RC MODEL
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RC MODEL WORLD ( DECEMBER 2000 ) |
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