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ArmyAirForce

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ArmyAirForce

ArmyAirForce

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Hi,

I'm Steve, and I'm an alcoho...no, wrong forum; I'm a model maker and military vehicle restorer by profession, both of which started out as hobbies. I've had a long time interest in astronomy, and have finally decided to make an effort to get into the hobby more seriously. But first, a little ( or a lot! ) about me. I live in Washington, Tyne & Wear, England and just made contact with the Sunderland Astronomical Society last week.

For almost 30 years, I've been heavily involved in flying radio controlled model aircraft, ending up display flying very large warbirds, as can be seen from my 1/6 scale B-17 Fortress shown below, which has a wingspan over 17 feet. In 2004 I got Asthma and a wood dust allergy which forced a break from the model building for a few years. Since I've always had an interest in all things military, I bought a Jeep in 2005, a hobby that my health wouldn't restrict.

7.JPG

The Jeep was used by the French Army up until the early 1990's before being auctioned as surplus in 2000. After three years of ownership in the normal olive drab finish, it was converted to an airfield 'Follow Me' Jeep. This has opened up a number of great photo opportunities, and a number of 'Working Weekends' at airshows. Five years after buying the Jeep, I bought a 1944 Dodge Weapons Carrier which was also modified into an airfield mobile control tower vehicle. This hobby resulted in my current employment restoring Jeeps, and I'm about so start on a 1943 Ford Jeep.

croft13.jpg

My interest in astronomy however, predates both of these hobbies, going back to the early 1970's when I was a young boy. My dad worked at South Tyneside college teaching nautical navigation. Part of the course involved studying the stars, and the college had its own telescope and planetarium. It was here that I was introduced to the nights sky by Eva Hans, who ran the planetarium. Even at this very young age, Eva let me operate the planetarium controls and showed me the wonders of the nights sky. From that point on, I've always had an interest. Due to my other hobbies, I never put any serious time into observing, though I have still made an effort when there was a significant object to observe such as an eclipse or comet etc.

Now that I've achieved everything I wanted to from R/C model flying, the recent Stargazing Live show finally gave me the push to make a proper effort to buying some equipment. Considering my previous hobbies have turned into professions, who knows what astronomy will do for me in years to come!

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ArmyAirForce

ArmyAirForce

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Thanks guys. I had a look for the Northern Lights a couple of nights ago, but I live on a slight hill, and the houses to the North of me are higher than mine, blocking the view of the horizon.

Last Saturday, I went to the Sunderland Astronomical Society open night following on from the BBC Stargazing Live nights. They had three open nights, but Saturday had the clearest sky, and around 300 people turned up.

Here's a long exposure picture of some of the crowds waiting to see Jupiter from the SAS's on site 14 inch telescope.

399988_313422892034484_100001003274580_873065_677954656_n.jpg

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Flyingpig

Flyingpig

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Hi Steve, and welcome aboard - nice model and the jeeps look pretty cool too. It seems your a dab hand with all things mechanical, so let me guess your first project will be designing and building your own telescope and observatory then?

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barkis

barkis

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Hi Steve and welcome to SGL.

You will have a good time here, and there is loads of helpful experts in many fields if you need advice or assistance.

Those models look great. I used to love building scale models myself.

I gave it up when I tested a flying model of a Canberra Bomber, which had a Jetex engine. It trundled along for while, then burst into flames. Lots of hours wasted, and I lost heart for any more.

You wouldn't have an Austin Champ to give away would you, the Rolls Royce Engined model with the Snorkel you could drive under water?:):D Only kidding, although I would like one.

Ron.

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ArmyAirForce

ArmyAirForce

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I do know a few people with Champs, but I don't think the owners would give them away, or sell them for that matter! They seem fairly addicted to them.

My B-17 did have an accident as a result of an electronics problem back in 1996, but was rebuilt as the first picture shows it in 2004.

r.JPG

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barkis

barkis

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I do know a few people with Champs, but I don't think the owners would give them away, or sell them for that matter! They seem fairly addicted to them.

Yeah I know Steve, I was jesting regarding givaway, I know how popular they were, and still are.

If I could have driven one out of the motor pool feigning a road test when I got demobbed I would have. Don't know how far I would have got though. :)

Some job to recover and rebuild that wrecked kite. Doesn't to be much that you could have salvaged. You must have the patience of Job.

Those builds must be really time consuming compared to the 1/32 scales I was into.

Ron.

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ArmyAirForce

ArmyAirForce

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.....Doesn't to be much that you could have salvaged. You must have the patience of Job.....Ron.

Surprisingly, there was only about 15% new material in the rebuild. The plane came apart at the transport joints, so the rear fuselage and tail were undamaged. The outer wings were undamaged, and the inner wings were only damaged forward of the front spar. The rebuild was mainly the engine nacelles and front fuselage.

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barkis

barkis

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Surprisingly, there was only about 15% new material in the rebuild. The plane came apart at the transport joints, so the rear fuselage and tail were undamaged. The outer wings were undamaged, and the inner wings were only damaged forward of the front spar. The rebuild was mainly the engine nacelles and front fuselage.[/quote

Obviously the damage looked a lot worse than it actually was.

Still a lot of work though.

Ron.

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