RoG 1/48 Spirit of St. Louis

[rwsmith14]

After many weeks, days. hours of indecision on what to build for this SIG.. going from Migs to Century series fighters and this and that. ..... finally a decision is made..

[Avgas]

Top choice my man

[rwsmith14]

Top choice my man

Cheers, Dave !

[rodrant]

Ohhhhhh! this is a nice choice !!!

always loved the history of this Atlantic flight ! Wonderfull Choice of subject ! Good luck with your build !

[Cymru]

Original thought

[chief5437]

Nice choice buddy!

[rwsmith14]

Nice choice buddy!

Original thought

Ohhhhhh! this is a nice choice !!!

always loved the history of this Atlantic flight ! Wonderfull Choice of subject ! Good luck with your build !

cheers !

[rwsmith14]

And we're off.. cockpit very basic..

something I always wondered about this plane.. how does the pilot see out in front of him.. there is no windscreen, That I can tell


intial base of aluminum on the IP and interior

[chief5437]

I was going to ask that same question! Always wondered since I was a kid!

[rwsmith14]

I was going to ask that same question! Always wondered since I was a kid!

LOL.. by the end of this build, I'm going to have an answer for both of us !!!!!

[Avgas]

how does the pilot see out in front of him

He had a forward looking periscope believe it or not, he couldn't see out front directly at all.

[rwsmith14]

how does the pilot see out in front of him

He had a forward looking periscope believe it or not, he couldn't see out front directly at all.

makes sense.... can't imagine flying this thing through a periscope.. especailly take off and landing

[chief5437]

So now we know! Learn something new everyday!

[Lysus]

He wanted the experience of being a passenger in coach on a transatlantic flight.

[DBMiller]

Now here's something I've never see built up! Should be interesting to see!

[peppie]

Nice.. I never knew there was a kit off this plane.

[rwsmith14]

cockpit compete and installed. wing is togetehr have some sanding on the edges to do.





Engine assembled.. Lots of flash on these parts still have some work on this before priming. [/url]

[patrickroos]

Nice to this iconic aircraft in the SiG!
Great progress!

[patrickroos]

He wanted the experience of being a passenger in coach on a transatlantic flight.

(been there...)

[rwsmith14]

wing is installed. working on the seams before priming. will have to work on the landing struts as she leans badly towards the left

[Cymru]

Thats a nasty list...

[rwsmith14]

primed with Ultimate Ulitmate Black primer. still have have seam work to do.. The lean looks aittle better

[Lysus]

Such a great kit...even if it leans a little

[rwsmith14]

not much progress to show. still working on the fit and seams issues. almost have them knocked out, just cleaning them up now..

[Vleugelmoer]

Nice choice for the sig, brave one too.. Building a kit from a manufacturer that is not known for its fit and finish and doing a natural metal finish on it takes a lot of guts.

Good luck on the build.

Paul

P.s. Charles Lindbergh was quite the instrument pilot, he would have to be to make his attempt successful.

[rwsmith14]

Nice choice for the sig, brave one too.. Building a kit from a manufacturer that is not known for its fit and finish and doing a natural metal finish on it takes a lot of guts.

Good luck on the build.

Paul

P.s. Charles Lindbergh was quite the instrument pilot, he would have to be to make his attempt successful.

Paul, you're exactly right !! It's a very frustrating kit to work let alone trying fill and sand. Today I put it away for a few weeks

[TommyKillander]

You're doing a great job with this kit, keep up the good work!


Tommy

[mperegrinefalcon]

Looking forward to see this finished!!! It was the first model I ever made....when I was seven. I just glued it, nothing fancy like paint or filler, or even sanding off the sprue gates. I'm 16 now and still modeling!!! I have moved up to an airbrush, and tamiya extra thin glue and sanding sticks.

A story I know about the spirit b/c I'm a nerd

The Spirit of St Lousis was a custom built aircraft. Designed, built and flown by Charles Lindbergh. He was aiming to enter it into a trans-Atlantic air race from New York to Paris. The prize was the $25,000 Orteig prize. Lindbergh was viewed as "insane" for flying this aircraft (I prefer the term "Gifted in the brain"). He was viewed like this because instead of a windshield in front of him, like a conventional aircraft, he put a fuel tank instead. It didn't stop there, he had one below his seat, and behind it. He was essentially sitting in a bomb. The other racers were putting fuel in the tail of their aircraft, and why not? There's plenty of room back there. Except, it doesn't work that way. Them putting all the fuel in the tail (or empanage as its called by pilots) moved the CG back quite a ways. This caused the aircraft to become unstable, or even unflyable, and a lot of them crashed.

Thanks for reading if you did!!! Looking forward to seeing the finish of this!!! I have to get another one and finish it properly this time.

[Les]

I really like this plane! Actually both of your entries are interesting. I hope you get both done in time, only 16 days left!