SPAD VII

[DonnyW]

Hello all, Ive recently finished and flown a 1/4 scale SPAD VII and am hoping someone can help answer a couple of questions I have. I have seen the aircraft (G Guynemers 1st Spad) refered to as S115 and S113, which was correct ?? Does anyone know the official description of the colours on the fuselage nose and rear ?? Thanks for looking ..
Donny

Sorry I dont know how to get the picture up .. its below 50k and a jpg..any help with that question too ??

[DonnyW]

Ill try the picture again, using attach file to message..hmmm still no pic ??

[DonnyW]

Worked that time after all ??

[DJ]

That's an R/C model and not a digital image?? God is that impressive!

[Lufbery]

Donny,

That's a fantastic looking model! Thanks for sharing the photos.

Regarding your question, this page (click on the link), put together by our very own Peter L, states that Guynemer's 1st Spad was S-113. Maybe Peter will contribute to this thread and share his sources.

Here's a link to Peter's home page -- there's a lot of really good stuff there.

Regards,

[DonnyW]

Thanks DJ ..yup it a real r/c model.. no touching up. the pics might be a bit distorted because it is reduced in size to fit in the forum. Here is a picture of it in my kitchen during construction to prove its real. I used the small insert picture of Guynemers second ? Spad as reference to try and get it accurate. Its powered by a 25cc engine and weighs 16 lb dry weight. Flys as good as it looks. Saturday was its maiden flight .. I was a bit nervous but once it was airbourne .. a happy fella !! A friend drew a 1/4 scale 3 view of the real planes construction. I converted it into a balsa plan and built her over the winter. I regularly fly a 1/5 scale Caudron GIII, Fokker DVII, and BE2c .. now the SPAD. Ive never flown a real plane... but I can sure understand why the Fokkers were so good and why they ate GIII's for breakfast At present Im building a Caproni Ca3.4 .. and will have a few questions about it so thought I would introduce myself ...cheers

[DonnyW]

Thanks Lufbery..Ill look at any info on the plane I can get..all I really know is that it was shot down by friendly fire about a month after it went into service. Here is another nice flying pic

[PeterL]

Ho hum! Looks like I got that one wrong chaps My sources were various and mostly French. As my French isn't even to schoolboy standard I suppose errors of translation are to be expected, errors of fact are a bit different though.

According to "Les Avions d'un As" by Bernard Klaelyle and Philippe Osche, S115 it was. A far more authoratative source than my site will ever be, they have Guynemer scoring his first SPAD victory with S115 on 4/9/16, an Aviatik CI; pilot Hans Steiner, obs Ltn Otto Fresenius.

The Guynemer site is way overdue for a revamp and I plan to have a go at the Special Hobby SPAD sometime soon to that end.

Fingers crossed your fine model doesn't emulate the real S115 too closely

[DJ]

That is flat out gorgeous, again. 16 pounds? man I thought I built light. Where are you from? What is the covering and finnish? Do you compete? Would a copy of your friends 3 view or your plans be available? What did you use for weathering? Endless questions! If you don't mind E-mail me as I would really like to get details. david.johnson@utcfuelcells.com

Flat out spectacular!

[DonnyW]

Thanks for the info Peter. I was curious to know if he had any kills in this Spad..now I know. My reference for S115 was Osprey aircraft of the aces book 39 but almost all internet sites refer to it as S113. Thats the reason I havn't painted it on the tail. Im only too aware that flying models are vulnerable from pilot error, weather, mechanical failure and radio interference. Here is a pic of my GIII when radio interference interrupted its flight...similar position to the Spad However its probably as well they get broken sometimes ... my garage is full of model planes...