Stirling Project
There is a good core team of active members; the Project Manager, two draftsmen, a 3D CAD designer and a rigger, plus many others in support. All of which are involved in sourcing of parts, restoration, and new manufacture of components too. Many have followed this thread with interest.
In an ideal world, to recreate or restore a type you need a straight airframe and +100’s of good dimensioned drawings. For the Stirling neither exists, so the next best thing is to collect together original components, drawings and photos, with the initial intention of making an accurate forward fuselage.
There is a lot of talk in this thread about “missing links”, “data plate specials”, “gallant efforts”, “preserving originality”, etc. In simple terms though, if people want to see a substantial part of a Stirling again, then this project is the best way to go about it:
In essence, the way you go about accurately recreating something from scratch is to gather together the best available information. There are some (but not many) Shorts drawings available. Every known piece of airframe has to be measured, collected, or photographed for reference. Production line photos can be useful too if they show enough structural detail, inside and out. The Stirling Project has been going for 10+ years, and it has taken much of this time for the draftsmen to measure, refine and calculate relatively accurate dimensions for key parts of the fuselage, and has seen members travel throughout Europe to find parts. Over the same period, others have been restoring and making original parts such as the turret, and flight deck fittings.
The Project is now at the stage where good confidence in the accuracy of the 2D drawings, has been proven by myself using this data to create a full size 3D model of the forward fuselage on CAD. A couple of tricky areas ahead, and below of the windscreen are just coming together now, but once this area is defined, then we can manufacture the jig required to assemble the fuselage within. While from the outside, progress may appear pedestrian, it is important to get everything to fit together on paper, as making mistakes in jigs or incorrect fuselage sections can soon become a costly excercise.
Clearly this will be a new-build, but in its build we will be preserving the original construction methods used by Shorts for this type, using the correct materials, and processes too. Even the jig for the fuselage will emulate the same shape and principals. There are a substantial amount of original parts that will be fitted to the forward fuselage: Turret, flight deck equipment and controls, seats, radios, escape hatch, DV windows, etc. All of which were previously dispersed in collections, crash sites, or store rooms, so collecting them together into one accurately manufactured assembly, is surely the best way forward.
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