Air-Craft

The P-1 is just smaller than the P-8, I think that the large cockpit windows of the P-1 play tricks & make it look far smaller than it is;

Nice! I've always like this two, but Concorde has gone & the Vulcan will be going soon.....

I believe that production dwindled below demand & then stopped completely a few years ago & that the manufacturer (Creative Unlimited or something like that) either stopped producing or shut down. I've found "Plast-I-Weld" from Flex-I-File to be pretty close to Pro Weld;

A couple of years ago there was talk about re-starting production because the then current fleet size didn't justify keeping engine manufacturing / remanufacturing facilities open for a requirement of approx. 5 engines per year, doubling the fleet to around 30 would apparently allow facilities for the NK-32 to remain open. I can't really see it happening, but the Tu-160 is undoubtedly a big stick & possibly one that some aren't prepared to be without - doubling the current fleet would take the numbers close to where they originally were & may have some effect on on-going serviceabilit

Flightglobal; "The Russian defense ministry has confirmed that it will restart the production line for the Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-160 “Blackjack” supersonic strategic bomber." Janes; Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has authorised a study to asses restarting production of the Tupolev Tu-160 'Blackjack' supersonic strategic bomber aircraft. Reading between the lines they have struggled to get funding for the recent Tu-160 upgrade which only flew for the first time late last year - sounds more like the existing, unused airframes may be brought up to standard as part of that job? 15, 16

No worries in that case - I would make sure that you drain the tank thoroughly before storage though.

Moisture will be your main concern - the tanks inlet & outlet are designed to be towards the top of the tank so that air isn't being pumped into or expelled out through condensate during use, the tank drain is also located at the bottom of the tank to allow condensate to be removed.... The 186 appears to have quite a few variations on the locations of the tank fittings, so you may be able to position it vertically in a manner that keeps condensate away from the inlet & outlet, but you're going to have to tip it into its normal position every once in a while to drain the tank. The mois

The 0.6mm set (123723) is unfortunately not available with the "Fineline" cap or in chrome, 123723 is the only 0.6mm set available, is nickel plated rather than chrome & has an unventilated screw-on cap , I suppose the logic is that it will be less prone to blockage / tip-dry & isn't used for detail work (on the upside it's a dawdle to back-flush). The 15ml cup is 124263 which is nickel again & the 50ml cup is 124410, which is clear plastic & includes lid. None of these bit's & bob's are generally listed against the CRplus models, the 0.6mm set being a standard Evolution

You could always chuck an 0.6mm nozzle set & 15ml cup (or even 50ml) at an Evolution CRplus to give you a bit move coverage at the coverage (?) end of things. Granted it will not perform like a gun, but it's not as airflow hungry as a larger nozzle or fan pattern gun (I suppose that depends on what you have as an air source though).

I use oral syringes for Tamiya acrylics & thinners, 1ml for smaller mixes & 5ml for everything else - rinse & pump in warm water as soon as you've used them & all the paint is gone. There are a few different brands on the market, Baxa Extramed are the better ones, their plungers seals don't swell with X-20A - they can be identified by their blue branding / scales. Avoid the cheaper brands & those with the purple plungers, one or two uses, the seal swells & the plunger jams...

Operational or not, the XB-70 was definitely a high point in aviation achievement. Happy birthday XB

As far as I'm aware, the Badger Million-air is (or certainly was) a rebranded Werther Sil-Air compressor, in the same way that Silentaire, Aztec, Revell & several other silent compressors are. The all use the same synthetic 32 grade oil, Sincom 32/e, which is also sold under the Silentair brand as Silentaire oil (bottom of page). If the Lowes stuff is high temperature synthetic around the 32 grade, it may be OK.

To save weight & gain stability over a typical twin inlet arrangement & give good high AOA performance. It was also further back than previous intakes of the type to save further weight, reduce friction & reduce inlet pressure (weight).

Was the F-4's 23° downturned tailplane (that arrived between the AH-1 & F4H-1) not a compromise between stability & avoiding jet efflux? The centre section / box, running from wingfold to wingfold was designed as a robust flat section for maximum strength / load, when it became apparent that more dihedral was required the wingtips went to 12° to give the required average dihedral (5°?) without having to redesign the costly / complex centre section. Slightly Heath Robinson, but it must have worked & certainly helped make the Phantom look the utterly awesome way that it does!

It could also be a dirty or faulty non return / check valve. I can't confirm from the diagram, but the port in the head that you mention could be the air intake & if the non return valve is leaking, air would most likely flow back & out from there. If it was the valve plate that was at fault, you would only have a piston strokes worth of air leaking if the compressor was switched off, but it would require the non-return valve to be at fault if the leak is significant after switch off (the tank draining).

Nope, that's a diaphragm regulator. These can be fitted, but when the compressor is running & the airbrush isn't being used (or being used at low pressure), there is nowhere for the excess pressure to go, the compressor will then labour & most likely stall... A bleed regulator is basically a variable bleed valve with an output pressure gauge & may/may not have a moisture trap fitted. Bleed regulators usually have a lever or large thumbwheel at the bottom of the moisture trap.

You may be better removing the bleed adaptor altogether & using a bleed regulator. What connector you require really depend on the inlet & outlet sizes of whatever regulator you get - the compressor has a 1/4" BSP-P male outlet & the airbrush has a 1/8" BSP-P male inlet. If you get a regulator that's 1/4" at either end a standard 1/4" (compressor) to 1/8" (airbrush) hose, you shouldn't need any other connectors.

It's a DOD image, so I guess it's real - but no doubt that the open hangar door area has been shopped; Click for original Looks like they wanted the guy in white to disappear, there is also a half hearted attempt to make the two people to the left of the same open door disappear, scrubbing out half of the two pallet stacks, but leaving the legs from the knees down. Suggests that at some point someone tried to tidy the image up, but didn't get round to finishing....

What's the deal with the open hangar door? Looks like it's been shopped over in black.

737 NG's look to be certified for ETOPS 180.

Tamiya tape is definitely one of the better & more available for general model masking, there are several other brands that are comparable though, Kamoi (who possibly manufacture for Tamiya), micron & Stuk coming to mind. These tapes can be expensive, so in-filling with cheaper low tack tape can save. Other than going to ridiculously thin tape sizes or cutting existing tape down, these tapes will only turn on curves so far without wrinkling or lifting - a good alternative for tight curves / corners is automotive PVC "fineline" tape.

Nothing that unusual really - had to laugh though, one of the national newspapers was ranting on about the "Tu-95 supersonic bomber"....... It may not be supersonic, but it is an impressive aircraft, particularly those four things hanging off the wings.

I've had some success using Rotring / Staedtler type draughting pens. If your not familiar with these, they are used by draughters for making permanent & precise lines on drawings, are available in a variety of tip sizes (0.1 > 1.0mm) & have removable, refillable ink reservoir's. They are designed for use with Indian ink, but can be filled with adequately thinned acrylics for colour matching - the only thing to be aware of is that you will need to drain & clean them shortly after use or the paint will start to dry & jam them up. The finer tips can be used to fill the "cor

My Grandfather served in the 2nd WW & gave me a healthy interest in everything military, thanks to this & Airfix's splendid box art I was always nagging him about them every time we were in a shop selling them (I was 6 or7). He eventually gave in & bought a 1/72 Spitfire & Me-109 & we built them together - mine was a disaster & I was convinced that there was something wrong with it as I couldn't see through the canopy (much glue & many fingerprints), while his was crystal clear.......

I think it's G-BOAB which has been kicking around Heathrow for years.