Can anyone guess what aircraft this kit represents?
Supermarine floatplane racer. Predecessor to the Spitfire.
Edit to add:
(had to go look up the model name: S.6)
Tell me…I promise I wont tell! What scale is it?..Harv
Looks to be the SB-6 from Supermarine!
What ever it is it’s not WWI. What’er ya thinkin, Steve?
According to the link it is 1/20 scale.
That’s odd…I’ve never heard of an aircraft kit in 1/20 before…allegedly, it has an 18 inch wingspan!
I think it is the Gloster VI that was built for the 1929 Schneider Cup. The reason I don’t think it was the Supermarine S.6 or even the S.6B is that it appears to have a little dip in the dorsal fin that the Supermarine planes did not have nor did they have the distinctive W style engine, they had Vs.
Never heard of 1/20 scale. Very interesting.
Close but no cigar!
Sorry Trexx, thats incorrect.
Negative, I didn’t provide a link. Its 1/48 scale by the way.
I have been asked to review this bad boy due to my moderating an Early Aviation forum. Don’t worry it won’t set me down the dark path.[angel]
Bingo! The 1929 Schneider Cup Trophy contender. The PE is mismarked as IV but it will be the VI.
They even give you the RAF wires. Click Here.
Ya. Do I get a prize?[swg]
Looks like a fun build. Good luck.
The Gloster VI was a racing seaplane developed as a contestant for the 1929 Schneider Trophy by the Gloster aircraft company.
The aircraft was known as the Golden Arrow, partly in reference to its colour, the distinctive three-lobed cowling of the ‘broad-arrow’ Napier Lion engine, but also to another contemporary Lion-powered record-breaker, Henry Segrave’s Golden Arrow land speed record car.
Two aircraft were registered with RAF numbers N249 & N250.
They showed promise and high speed, but also had significant problems with fuel supply when banking that led to engine cut-outs. For such a risky business as low-altitude air-racing, this was an unacceptable risk and the aircraft were withdrawn from competition in the 1929 Schneider Trophy, leaving the way clear for the Supermarine S.6 to win. An alternative theory for the withdrawal is rumoured to have been an accident to the lorry delivering the engines from Napier, and insufficient time to repair the damage until the day after.
On 10 September 1929, the day after the Supermarine S.6 had won the Trophy, N249 returned to flight. Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth flew her over a measured mile course for a top speed of 351.3 mph and a ratified world absolute speed record, averaged over four of 336.3 mph. This record was held only briefly, as a later run by Squadron Leader Augustus Orlebar in the S.6 managed to raise it over 350 mph.
During the final Schneider Trophy in 1931, the Gloster VI was still in service with the High Speed Flight for training purposes. (From the Wikipedia free encyclopedia.)
Here is the certificate of the speed record.
That is a cool looking bird. Too bad it had those unsightly pontoons. [;)]
Prize? Why yes! For your precise knowlege and dedication to the subject at hand, for your fearless and forthright dedication to historical facts and fundamentals, for your clear as crystal methods of communications and benevolent offerings to the forum, you have been conferred upon, the high exalted order of eplurius unum, post hoc - ergo proctor hoc, ven venuti vetalum, illigitimus non carborundum, 1st class admiration of your peers. With all the rights and priviledges therof.