AEROGRAMME HOME > AEROGRAMME #10 [Sent 7th December 2024]
Hello Friends
Let’s start this week with a bit of house-keeping.
LAST ORDER DATES FOR CHRISTMAS DELIVERY
It’s plastered all over our website, but in case you’ve missed it, the last date you can order from us for UK delivery in time for Christmas is Tuesday 17th December.
The last order date for international deliveries has now passed - sorry.
We are not Amazon and so we need to have a reasonably early last order date if we’re not going to disappoint people - I hope you understand.
CANADIAN ORDERS
Unfortunately, the Canadian Post Office is still on strike and so Royal Mail are not accepting parcels for delivery to Canada.
Although FedEx and DHL are still delivering to Canada, shipping costs via these couriers are fearsomely expensive for smaller kits.
We can only apologise and hope that the dispute is resolved soon.
WORKSHOP CLOSURE
The VMC Workshop will be closed from 12pm Friday 20th December 2024 until 9am Monday 6th January 2024.
We’ll try to keep an eye on email but we won’t be answering the phones or open for visits.
The team need a well-deserved break, especially Yvonne and Ash who have worked their socks off over the last couple of months. We really couldn’t do this without their huge dedication.
Right then…
A couple of interesting bits for you.
DOCULAM
Barry Scollay, now notorious for his ridiculously excellent RC conversions, has produced a great little article on how he uses Doculam to cover his models.
See this photo of his recent Aerographics Gloster Gladiator build using Doculam covering:
If you didn’t know, Doculam is a self-adhesive plastic usually used for laminating paper or cardboard and is available in a variety of thicknesses and finishes. It turns out to be an excellent medium for covering model aircraft, especially smaller planes, and Barry shows us just how to use it in this document.
You can download the guide in pdf form by clicking this link: https://www.vintagemodelcompany.com/user/downloads/help-centre-resources/DoculamCovering.pdf or clicking the image below:
Thank you very much for producing this Barry - I can see some of our community jumping on the Doculam bandwagon very soon.
We will endeavour to supply Doculam from our website as soon as possible in the new year.
WESTLAND LYSANDER
I think it’s safe to say that Andrew Darby’s Westland Lysander kit has been a roaring success.
Despite trying to warn off beginners from starting with a Lizzie at Chatsworth Christmas Market, we sold loads of them - and it’s no wonder given that we used Andrew’s build in our display unit!
On the Lysander theme, just yesterday I received a wonderful email from Brian Lever - a stalwart of Peterborough Model Flying Club and well known to everyone in the UK aero-modelling scene.
With his permission, here is his fascinating story:
I have received today my Lysander Kit. Many thanks for this excellent and iconic kit.
My father served in 138 Squadron throughout the war.
Because the operations were so secret, once you were in 161/138 you never left.
It just so happens that although my family lived near Manchester, I was born in Bedford hospital on 4th December 1942.
The reason?
The only chance to see any imminent baby arrival was if the mother was prepared to travel to Bedford to have the child. My father was escorted by RAF police from the Tempsford aerodrome to Bedford Hospital to view the baby Brian Lever and then escorted back to the base.
As for me I was taken back to Manchester by train with my mother and spent the rest of the war living in my grandfather’s Anderson Shelter!
I attended the squadron reunions each year with my father (always emotional affairs) until the final one in 1997.
The attached photos show the special commemoration for the final reunion where after a special lunch we visited Tempsford Aerodrome and were treated to several low passes by the Lysander based at Duxford.
It just so happed that the pilot on the day was Andy Sephton my fellow member of Peterborough MFC.
For those watching there was not a single dry eye on the aerodrome.
The Lysander pictured is the aircraft my father serviced throughout the war for 138’s most experienced nighttime pilot.
Thus your kit has a very special meaning for me to build in honour of my father and all the exceptional young men and women who served in 138 squadron.
Thank you for sharing this Brian and good luck with the build of your very special Lysander.
ANDREW DARBY FOKKER DR.1
Following on from the sneak peek of his latest Magnificent Flying Machine, the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane, Andrew has sent through some pics of the model now ready for flight trials indoors tomorrow (Sunday).
He hasn’t bothered with engine details/guns/wheel covers, etc. as this is very much a proof of concept and according to Andrew, the already 20% larger fin may not be large enough…
I can’t wait to find out how this fairs next week.
I also can’t wait to sell shed loads of these next year!
VMC MODELS AT NIJMEGEN
Pete Fardell contacted us earlier in the week and included links to three Youtube videos showing VMC models in action at the Nijmegen international indoor competition.
The videos were made by Vladimir Alfery, with the first two featuring Tim Horne’s free-flight, rubber-powered Sopwith Triplane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS2KQVlCigQ
https://youtu.be/EDBraueIpII?si=I-XLnA7JMFTAi8xf
The final video features Doug Hunt’s free-flight SE5A (converted to electric):
https://youtu.be/urD6wQfurg8?si=nM3--E3tQ5Z116TC
It’s wonderful to see VMC models used in competition as this gives us great validation when potential buyers are sceptical about the models’ flying capabilities.
COMMUNITY BUILDS
This week we have a trio of lovely models sent in by community members.
First up, and reinforcing the Lysander theme, Dennis Gaw shared these pics of his Lizzie.
A lovely job here Dennis and proof again that with patience, even trickier models can be made to look superb.
Next up is this super little SE5A from Ian Baxter.
The SE5a was another great seller at the Christmas markets as well as being one of our most popular models on Amazon.
Thanks for sending the photos in Ian.
Finally, check out this delightful build from Dave Lane.
Taking one of our rubber-powered Fokker DVIII kits, Dave has converted it to 3 channel RC.
Here’s a link to a Youtube video of Dave flying the DVIII
Dave says:
As promised, here is a photo of my Fokker EV, just before its maiden flight - I have yet to add details such as the engine, guns etc - but wanted to test fly it beforehand. I'm glad to say that it flew very well - there's a video at the link below, but I wish that I had captured later flights which allowed ROG, smoother flying with some tight turns, and nice landings.
This has 3 channel r/c, with a coreless brushed motor and gearbox running from a small 1s Lipo.
These are lovely kits - I have an Se5a as yet unopened, but damn you for promising a Dr1....!! One of my favourite aircraft aircraft of all time...
Thanks Dave!
Well that’s it for this week.
Hope you all keep safe as the weather here in the UK has been somewhat wild to say the least…
All the best
Hadi & the VMC Team
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