My entry for the "interwar" category. DeHavilland Dragon Rapide "Nettie".
The DH Dragon Rapide first flew in 1934 and went on to be one of the most successbull short-haul biplane airliners ever developed. They are still in operation today for pleasure flights at places like the imperial war musuem Duxford. When i was around 8 or 9 i had the pleasure of a flight in one at duxford, it was memorable for being the first plane i ever flew on, while being at an airshow and the pilots careful allocation of seats to ensure a balanced centre of gravity (thats the polite way of saying he put the obese woman on the seat over the main wing spar).
So i based this on "nettie" which itself is based in Norwich but has been known to visit Duxford. I tried to keep it as close to scale as possible (while using the mk1 eyeball alone). The closer you look at a Rapide the more interesting the shapes become (just look at that cockpit shape...) and this caused me some consternation, i think my compromises still do the design justice. It also ended up fractionally larger than real life but only by 1or2 feet in places, so again i consider that a success =)
The Rapide wasnt initially designed with flaps hence they look bolted on, because thats exactly what they where.
My build has developed some slight autoroll (thanks SP) i have tried to balance it out with some slight roll and rudder, to be fair aircraft of this era tended to have these sorts of characteristics as they where all handbuild and thus had descrepencies. Ive intentionally left it slightly nose heavy so you can taxy / takeoff on 2 wheels rather that rising straight into the air, trim for elevator does what you would do in real life, depending on speed etc depends how much trim you need.
LandingGear button turns off the landing light, AG1 for flaps, AG2 for nav lights.
Credit to original photographers (i got them from google so no credits..)
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Predecessor Game Key / Bi-Plane Challenge! (CLOSED)
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 50.3ft (15.3m)
- Length 35.6ft (10.9m)
- Height 14.2ft (4.3m)
- Empty Weight 3,226lbs (1,463kg)
- Loaded Weight 4,032lbs (1,829kg)
Performance
- Horse Power/Weight Ratio 0.123
- Wing Loading 4.9lbs/ft2 (23.8kg/m2)
- Wing Area 827.5ft2 (76.9m2)
- Drag Points 3869
Parts
- Number of Parts 751
- Control Surfaces 0
- Performance Cost 2,141
Type Airliner ✈️ Type Biplane 2
I have been on the same one. The paint livery has yellow stripes near the end of the wings though but other than that that is almost the exact same as real life. And yes, this is from IWM Duxford in Britain.
I went up in this plane when I was 2
That’s where she’ll be @RamboJutter
@kbarnett2008 thanks I appreciate the offer, I live the opposite end of the country though (if she's still at norwich), I'm looking at taking my 5yo son up in one at duxford in the summer if I can manage it. Regards.
Cause I can get you a flight in her
@RamboJutter
Hey do you want to fly in Nettie? @RamboJutter
True @RamboJutter
@kbarnett2008 some people just have all the luck.... =)
One time I accidentally ended up flying a spitfire PR IX@RamboJutter
@kbarnett2008 I've only flown in a rapide, a trilander and some Airbus (read boring tubular airliner) and the rapide was by far the more memorable (even though i was only a child at the time). Glad to hear she's being looked after.
Still she’s lovely to fly@RamboJutter
Yeah we’re restoring it due to wood corrosion @RamboJutter
@kbarnett2008 amazing, bet that was fun. Glad to see people on here that are familiar with a plane I've built :)
I’ve flown this ol bird @RamboJutter
@TifftheCat Glad to here its still flying, the photos i saw where from a while ago.
@MEERKAT978 I wouldn't be surprised, think it was called a dominie when in RAF service.
Now there's a Biplane.
Sure they used a couple of these alongside the Lysanders to fly SOE operatives into and out of France.
Indeed, hopefully a few more quality designs come through to make for a great competition!
@RamboJutter
@CoolPeach Thanks, in a round about kinda way it was your swordfish that inspired me to build this. Hopefully be a few more quality builds to come, poor lad has loads of under 150part builds submitted so far.
That’s a really nice plane you’ve built, very smooth wing design. Will definitely make for some tough competition though, however that’s not a bad thing. Great work!
Good enough reason for me@RamboJutter
@Kungfuevan yeah your not wrong but it's out by so little I didn't see the point rebuilding it (and I was running out of time anyway)
@Tang0five thanks again old chap, glad you liked it, might do a fictional gunship version yet ;)
It looks like the rudder should be a little bigger based on the photos but other then that it’s great@RamboJutter