Westland Wallace?

Pic here.

http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth-collection/aircraft-details.asp?ID=45

I am fully aware of the difference between an CAA and a PFA/LAA permit. I was replying to a post that suggested it would have been a LAA project in which case the horsepower IS an issue.
I agree it would be loverly to see completed and it is nothing that hasnt been done before, however that does not mean that it is getting any easier!!

Tsk really…? anyone would have thought you’d built several WW1 replicas to fly or something….lol 😀

The flight was always one i wanted to recreate, shame this project ground to a halt 🙁 Would there still be time to build her in time for 100th anniversary if started again soon?

Will

The CAA permit is not the same as the LAA permit. The horsepower is irrelevant. A stress analysis would have to be submitted as part of the approval process but it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. Would be a nice project to see completed.

I am fully aware of the difference between an CAA and a PFA/LAA permit. I was replying to a post that suggested it would have been a LAA project in which case the horsepower IS an issue.
I agree it would be loverly to see completed and it is nothing that hasnt been done before, however that does not mean that it is getting any easier!!

What happened to the Wallace remains disposed of when Cardington closed down?

I don’t think they were used for the example now at Hendon.

As it was being built by Skysport, then I would assume that they were dealing with the overall re-design & any CAA involvement etc, at the time of it’s building.

Could the replica Wallace fuselage etc, be used to form a Wapiti replica, or is the the size of the fuselage frame totally different to that of the Wapiti ?.

Bob T.

From what has been mentioned and i don,t know a lot about aircraft construction that starting again from scratch would possibly the only option.I totally agree that the wapiti is a very much over looked aircraft in terms of a replica weather flying or not.

The CAA permit is not the same as the LAA permit. The horsepower is irrelevant. A stress analysis would have to be submitted as part of the approval process but it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. Would be a nice project to see completed.

The aircraft was going to be used for a film project – power was going to be Alvis Leonides 125 from memory. It had ground to a halt long before John Jordan died.

Technically speaking I am sure it would have been in the PFA remit i.e same as the Fairey Flycatcher so I don’t believe it was ever going to be an issue with the CAA .

Stressing would have been an issue and needed to be sorted, and lack of drawings mean new drawings have to be produced and the A/C reverse engineered, also the leonindes is 600 plus HP so is outside the remit of 400HP max of the LAA. I have the same issues with another project!

I believed that it was hoped to make the wings as per the originals, by using the various original sections as patterns, the RAF museum would also have had a set made at the same time, as it would’nt cost much more to make 2 sets, than it would one.

Unless a set of original drawings are found, then the only way to make an accurate repro Wapiti or Wallace, would be to reverse engineer the surviving original parts/aircraft.

Bob T.

The aircraft was going to be used for a film project – power was going to be Alvis Leonides 125 from memory. It had ground to a halt long before John Jordan died.

Technically speaking I am sure it would have been in the PFA remit i.e same as the Fairey Flycatcher so I don’t believe it was ever going to be an issue with the CAA .

As always when Wallace’s are mentioned I feel obliged to note that they are based on fuselage frameworks recovered from woods near RAF Cranwell by the founders of Newark Air Museum in the early 1960s and wing sections from the Bucks / Berks area!

The topic is fresh in my mind as they featured in the talk that I gave last night and will do again this evening!! 😉

Its a shame nothing has come of it,the westland wallacewapiti is one of my favorite large biplanes.May be one day some one will continue with it or start a new build replica.

Don’t forget the RAFM example at Hendon which was restored by Skysport and used as a guide to the restoration of the discussed example.
The Wapiti is a major type missing from British preservation, without a doubt.

Sadly the project ground to a halt after his death, although how he hoped to convince the CAA to grant him a Permit to Fly the beast was always something of a mystery!

I’m interested now.
Was that because of the non-standard construction (welded fuselage, ENGINE etc)?

The Wallace replica was commissioned in the 1980s by the late John Jordan, equally famous as the owner of the 400hp crop duster Stearman G-AROY. His hope was to recreate the Houston Expedition to the Himalayas and overfly Everest.

Sadly the project ground to a halt after his death, although how he hoped to convince the CAA to grant him a Permit to Fly the beast was always something of a mystery!

Its a shame nothing has come of it,the westland wallacewapiti is one of my favorite large biplanes.May be one day some one will continue with it or start a new build replica.

I wonder what type of engine they were planning on fitting to it?
Richard

I had a feeling that it was an Alvis Leonides–I could be wrong on that though.
As a project, it had a long, long way to go before they had an aeroplane.

I think the small information sheet next to the partially completed aircraft mentioned a planned re-enactment of the Everest flight that was no longer likely as the sponsor had pulled out putting the plan was on indefinate hold.
I wonder what type of engine they were planning on fitting to it?

Richard

No, it’s just stored there, it’s got nothing to do with the collection.
I think the original backers of the project–which was to re-enact the flight over Mt. Everest, ran out of money.

To be honest, it isn’t either a great exhibit or a very good example of what a real Wallace would look like.
Being of welded construction.

A.

whats the plan for it?Is it a when time permits job or has any more progress been made in recent times?