Ray Wood – Westland Whirlwind (Fighter) Replica – Has Sadly Passed Away

Hi
Wish I could find the link, the guy in the USA used to build them in his yard & driveway, as a hobby,then donate them to museums, He did not use moulds,but scaled up modelling plans, and they were a one off each time.
cheers
Jerry

By heck he must be a juggler!!!!!.from past experience trying to do anything large in fibre glass without a mould is akin to trying to put a straight jacket on a spider.I built a canoe as a project once and we had a mould to work with and that was enough of a challenge.He must have a hell of a lot of woodwork in there to support the shell and I would think the finished thing is hellish heavy !!!I think we will stick to Aluminium thank you very much !!!!

Hi
Wish I could find the link, the guy in the USA used to build them in his yard & driveway, as a hobby,then donate them to museums, He did not use moulds,but scaled up modelling plans, and they were a one off each time.
cheers
Jerry

Hi
Nowhere for me to put one,although there is plenty of wood here..
But I must admitt I did toy with the idea of one of those 1:1 fibreglass models, that that guy did in the US for those museums, think one was a 163 comet, can’t recall the other ones.
Maybe someone here remebers who did them ?
cheers
Jerry

not the ones i remember, but a similar topic

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34236

There are a couple of companies in the uk building 1:1 firbreglass aircraft such as Spitfires,Hurricanes,Mustangs,V1 flying bombs etc.The only thing is they are geared for mass production not one offs and there fore the moulds are a big investment.To make it viable for a Whirlwind you would need orders for about 15 to 20 aircraft and the finished aircraft would come out in the region of £50k each. We can build an all aluminium aircraft for that (thats with NO labour costs) just materials etc.

Hi
Nowhere for me to put one,although there is plenty of wood here..
But I must admitt I did toy with the idea of one of those 1:1 fibreglass models, that that guy did in the US for those museums, think one was a 163 comet, can’t recall the other ones.
Maybe someone here remebers who did them ?
cheers
Jerry

not the ones i remember, but a similar topic

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34236

The amount of work involved in trying to get a wooden replica to stand free and be viable is imense.There is a limit to how far I think you could get without having to vary greatly from the internal structure etc to make it strong enough to stand on its own.

Dont get me wrong Rays work was brilliant and invaluable but I dont think he was working towards a full aircraft .Perhaps a phase two based on his original work and the cockpit section he has so meticulously constructed and the experience he gained from doing it.

For a full aircraft it must be as original as you can make it ,so it is free standing without any structural issues.It is stable and is not going to cause problems for its future moving and display etc.

But of course Jerry if you feel you would like to build a wooden one we would be happy to share construction details with you ?.

Hi
I am still thinking it would be a good idea for someone to finish ray’s work and complete a wooden whirlwind.
The experience gained might be very valuable before someone started cutting metal, and maybe a project that could be easily achieved.
cheers
Jerry

Do you have any contact details for them John ?

.

I can confirm that Fenland are still very much going as we’re about to put some Stirling u/c items on loan to them;)

John

Do we know if the fenland museum is still up and running?

Excellent initiative,

Both of them

Cees

Thank you for that info as you may be aware a group of us on this forum are seriously working towards a full all metal Westland Whirlwind.And we has asked about Ray work and where is it now.We had also asked does anyone know where Ray’s patterns and drawings for his project had gone to as we hoped perhaps we would be allowed to continue his work and integrate his information with that we have and the assistance we are getting from other organisations.We have also stated our intent subject to no objection from Rays family to place a plaque on the machine to show the appreciation that all felt over his outstanding effort and to commemorate his work and the inspiration it has given to others to continue and for One day to see a full Westland Whirlwind standing on its undercarriage in a major museum.

I can be contacted via a PM or my personal mail;mike@firefly53.freeserve.co.uk
I am also available via Skype PM me for the address.

Mike E

Ray’s cockpit section at CNAM

Just for everybodys info Ray’s cockpit section has now been moved into the main display building at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum.

Many thanks to Fenland Aviation Museum and of course Ray’s widow Mary.

That is very sad. My condolences to his widow. As Moggy said the replica will stand as a memorial to him.

The Whirly replica will stand as his memorial for a long time I hope.

Moggy

Me again, as RJAT reminded us about Rays thread on his replica build….. there was another, which I posted for him, about phase two of his project, which he completed and is at City of Norwich Aviation Museum, I saw it last Sunday, when I was also told of Rays demise !!

Link

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=94046

Keith.

Ray very generously made his compete slide collection available for scanning and posting, achieving some 13,000 hits to much acclaim.
RIP my good friend.
‘Mark’

My condolences to family and friends.

That was a great thread with interesting photos.
What is “recent history” for some of us is going to be increasingly important to future enthusiasts and historians.

If I may make a reminder that we occasionally hear at times like these, if you have a photo collection, it’s nice to share them with someone like Mark 12 so they might survive our eventual passing. I just dug out some B-17 fire bomber slides from the late 70s and shared them with a noted B-17 historian. Like the days of flying RAF Lightnings, the period of working Fortresses is far behind us and any “new” photos of their service might be of interest to future generations.
Just something to keep in mind so your prized records don’t end up in the bin.

Longer term viewers may recall a thread from 2006:- ‘The way we were – c1970’s colour’ – Ray very generously made his compete slide collection available for scanning and posting, achieving some 13,000 hits to much acclaim. RIP my good friend. ‘Mark’

Here’s the thread link – Enjoy (again) ;). I think this is an appropriate ‘resurrection’ – in tribute to a talented friend.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=63127&highlight=1970s+colour

‘Dick

RIP 🙁

Longer term viewers may recall a thread from 2006:-

‘The way we were – c1970’s colour’

Ray very generously made his compete slide collection available for scanning and posting, achieving some 13,000 hits to much acclaim.

RIP my good friend.

‘Mark’

Blue skies Ray and my sincere condolences to his family.

I greatly enjoyed shedman’s posts on my favourite aircraft. He was truly talented at taking every day items and using them to replicate the various instruments and parts of a Whirlwind.

Paul