The latest aircraft from the stables of the The Vintage Aviator Ltd is a BE2c (early). It is powered by an 80hp Renault engine produced by William Beardmore and Co. First flight was on 10 November 2009 at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand.

It is a very authentic reproduction and serves as a useful guide for modellers wanting to super-detail their builds.

At my recent visit to the TVAL hangar I took some photos that extend the excellent coverage available on the TVAL website:

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/be-2/be-2c-early-type-build













The main differences between the early and later BE2c are the engine (80hp for early), inlet and exhaust (venting down and under the fuselage for early), landing gear (skid-type for the early version), fin (triangular for early), centre section (full length chord for early), bracing wires (spliced cable for early) and wing profile (RAF6 profile for early).

The BE2c was built by over a dozen different companies around the UK and TVAL were fortunate to have drawings from several of these available. There were slight differences in some of the components between manufacturers.

TVAL are working on another BE2c, a later version, which will be powered by a newly built RAF1a 90hp engine, and it is expected to to be flying by the end of April 2010 (in time for the airshow on April 24th I wonder?). That will make three BE2 models for TVAL!

Some more photos:



The observer's cockpit was a bit harder to gt close to:








Its always interesting to get down on my back under an aircraft to get those photos you don't often see:


Note the exhaust pipes have closed ends:

James,

Thank you for the pictures! Such a treat. Any close ups of the engine?

Mark

Time to look more closely at the engine:

Tailplane and skid:

Undercarriage details:






If anyone is interested in hi-res images send me an email: [email protected]

Congratulations to the team at The Vintage Aviator Ltd and to Sir Peter Jackson for making our dreams come alive. This is quality craftsmanship at its best!



What a great time (and place) to be a WWI aviation modeller.

Happy Modelling

James

James,

You're like the WW1 Information Angel from Heaven.

Mark

Blush. No I think of myself more like "Johnny on the Spot". There are other WWI modelers in Wellington and plenty of folk come to the TVAL airshows but few others seem interested in sharing whats happening here, with the worldwide WWI modelling fraternity. I know I really appreciate it when UK modellers post photos of the Shuttleworth aeroplanes so I am just doing what I can to share the love.

As I said before, this is really about Sir Peter Jackson sharing his passion with us, via a very talented team. Well done that man.

The latest Classic Wings magazine has a good article on the BE2f and BE2c early:

Thank you Jamo for the great pictures and the updates and thanks to the TVAL team for their continued efforts in makeing some superb 1/1 scale models.
Cheers

Mark

Excellent James. The detail shots are so impressive.

Fantastic!
Some interesting details there... Such as the covering stopping short if the lower fuselage longeron.

All saved for future reference.

Thanks heaps James.

Cheers,

Hugh