MAvAS Dec. 2012 MAvAS, Magazine of the Manchester Aviation Art Society

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Issue 75 december 2012

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Editorial Cover image “Harriet Quimby”

by Terry Jones Winning entry for this year’s Avro competition

Wow! What a cover-girl. Terry and I have both fallen in love with Harriet as did many others, particularly in America pre 1912 when she died as she lived, in the public eye.

It says a lot for both Harriet and Louis Bleriot that he was willing to lend a woman one of his aircraft for the Channel attempt.

The last four months have been instructive with a demonstration in pastels, a workshop in acrylics and a talk on propellers. I am ashamed to say I missed all of them for various reasons. One I am sad to admit was because I looked at our diary page and missed the email changing the date. A case of “don’t believe everything you read on the web”- read your emails. - Ahh I should have updated the website and the mag, abject apologies to anyone else who missed it.

The often dismal month of February looks set to being enlivened by some sadly defunct airlines being resurrected in paint.

Rear Cover Image “Pit Stop”.

By David Bates

Happy and successful painting.

Dave If any member has an objection to the Society holding Membership records on a computer and using the information for society purposes deemed suitable by the Committee, eg; the production and distribution of a membership list, please notify the Editor

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Contents Meet Terry Jones, the man behind some beautiful paintings.

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Terry Jones gives a brief outline of Harriet Quimby’s aeronautical exploits.

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September Meeting - Pastel Demonstration

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Visit to Woodford Heritage Centre

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October Meeting -The Avro Cup

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Southport Air Show

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Workshop - Carl Jacobs

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Art in Flight

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November Meeting - Everything you wanted to know about 28 propellers Introducing Andrew Norris and Air Aware

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Diary Dates - keep up to date

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Introducing

Terry Jones Like most members of MAVAS my love for aviation goes back to childhood. It started for me when my Dad made an Airfix Spitfire for me. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen although I do remember breaking the prop blades off because it didn't look right flying around with them sticking out and not moving.

My Dad was also a very accomplished artist and was Wings over Dover instrumental in encouraging my desire to draw and paint.

Most of my early childhood, including time at school, was spent drawing and painting, mostly aircraft.

Out of the Blue

The artists I admired at this time were Frank Wootton, Michael Turner and Keith Woodcock. It was a great treat for me this year to actually meet Keith and shake his hand.

With the pressure of trying to find work after leaving school I wasn't able to dedicate as much time as I would have liked to painting and it wasn't until the early 1990's that I was able to do

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this on a full time basis. I used to paint in watercolour and acrylic but in 1995 I decided to give oils a go and have used them ever since.

Although my favourite topic is aircraft of the Great War I still have a thing for the Spitfire and can't help painting it again and again.

The Sting in The Tail Since joining MAVAS I have been stretched by the regular challenges of competitions and have even painted a jet! I was also introduced to Joe's APM program (Artists` Perspective Modeler) which is great asset when it Otto Kissenberth’s Albatros DV comes to setting up perspective and is a valuable tool that I now use quite often. Arrangements at home dictate that I have to juggle painting with looking after my five kids and the missus. Even so, I manage to paint most days, although sometimes I feel that the conditions are not dissimilar to Beirut.

Now, like other artist members, Flt Lt Sean Cuningham R.I.P. I must start giving thought to next competition, ‘Defunct Airlines’ planned for February next year. My problem is how find a subject that will satisfy both my WW1 interest and the civil aviation requirement!

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Terry Jones Tells Us About

The Girl Behind the Cover

Harriet Quimby was a woman ahead of her time, living on her own, working at a career, driving her own car, and even smoking! She had been an actress, model, writer and photo-journalist, travelling to Europe, Mexico, Cuba, and Egypt before embarking on her flying career. She had told her friends that, “flying looked quite easy. I believe I can do it myself, and I will.” She convinced her employer "Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly" to fund her lessons and on 1st August 1911, aged 36, she became the first woman in America to gain a pilots licence.

Having designed her own plum-coloured flying costume Harriet set about making a name for herself.

Over the next few months she flew at various flying exhibitions, winning substantial amounts of money.

On September 4th 1911 in front of 15,000 people she became the first woman to fly an aeroplane at night, her 7min. night flight winning her an award of $1500.

Always seeking new adventures, Harriet set out to become the first woman to cross the English Channel. She drove a representative of the Louise Bleriot Aeroplane Company in her car at high speed through Central Park and managed to convince him to tell Blériot to lend her a 50-horsepower monoplane for her attempt. He was said to have been quite frightened!

While Blériot agreed to the arrangement, (she ordered a 70hp two seater), almost everyone around her was convinced she would fail. Even her friend and instructor, Gustav Hamel, offered to disguise himself in her purple suit, fly the plane in her place and then secretly switch places with her on the French shores but Harriet refused.

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On April 16 1912, Harriet departed for France in a plane she had never flown before and finding her way with a compass she had just learned how to use. Due to poor visibility and fog, she was off-course and landed 59 minutes after take-off 25 miles north of Calais at Hardelot on a sandy fishing beach. Upon landing, Harriet was greeted with shouts of adulation by a cheering crowd and was hoisted upon the shoulders of local residents. Harriet, however, would not receive the same worldwide acclaim as her male counterpart, Louis Blériot. The Titanic had sunk just two days earlier casting a large shadow over the news of Harriet’s achievement.

On July 1, 1912, only 11 months after she gained her pilot`s licence, she participated in the 3rd Annual Boston Aviation Meet near Quincy, Massachusetts, flying a new two-seat Bleriot monoplane. Harriet and the manager of the air meet, William Willard, made a publicity flight over the bay. As hundreds of spectators watched from below, the plane suddenly pitched forward throwing her and Willard out, both tragically falling to their deaths. Sadly, the plane was not equipped with seatbelts.

Harriet Quimby flew with the best pilots of her era, often out flying them, and many believed her to be the most influential pilot of her day. Women dreamed of being like her and wanted to share the freedom she had experienced whilst men were encouraged to push themselves harder. It is safe to say that Harriet, in her short career, was a great inspiration to many pilots both male and female.

The Wright Brothers did not teach women

“If a woman wants to fly, first of all she must, of course, abandon skirts…”

In 1991 Harriet was the subject of the 50 cent stamp

In one article she told readers what it was like to ride in an open-air automobile at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.

"Dresden China Aviatrix" or "China Doll," the press dubbed her because of her petite stature and fair skin,

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Meeting

Hilbre Island- at tea break

H fin

Hilbre Island- photograph Sky reference photograph

PASTEL

This meeting in the Conference Room was devoted to a demonstration o David had taken his inspiration from a visit to Hilbre Island which is not fa subject was based upon a photograph taken at the southern end. The se reference photograph. The 13 members present were able to observe pastels to create a reasonably accurate impression of the scene on finel on the paper was part of the process and the medium was surprisingly e errors. Noticeably, the colours were very vibrant and lively and would situations. Once the final image has been achieved, the work can be se demo that raised the possibility of tackling the medium again at one of o

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g – 4th September, 2012

Hilbre Island nished painting

Iron Bridge 2005

DEMO

of soft pastel sketching by David Steeden. ar off the mainland at West Kirkby and his lected sky background came from another David`s skilful application of his ‘Unison’ ly abrasive ‘Art Spectrum’ paper. Blending easy to adjust to accommodate any minor d produce good results in many aviation ealed with fixative. Altogether an excellent our Saturday workshops in the future.

Menai Bridge

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Visit to Woodford

The Group with Kevin Whittaker in the Vulcan Room

Model of Avro G

This much anticipated visit to the Avro Heritage Centre at Woodford was attended by seven members, Peter Grove, Ron Leigh, Peter Nield, Ron Sargeant, Keith Stancombe, David Steeden and Colin Taylor. The group assembled at 10-00am and, in the absence of Harry Holmes who was unwell following a severe road accident, our host for the occasion was Kevin Whittaker. Kevin gave an excellent and frequently amusing description of the history of Avro and the charismatic people involved in its development. In the process we were able to see a great number of collectables, valuable artefacts, superb hand built models, rare contemporary photographs and numerous paintings. We also visited rooms that were devoted to the Vulcan, Lancaster, Anson and 504.

The General Office

A Rare 1919 Victory Trop

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d Heritage Centre

phy

Model of Avro 504

There is no doubt that this visit was both enjoyable and beneficial and a future trip is thoroughly recommended for those members who were unable to attend. Finally, it must be said that if anyone is seeking information for a proposed Avro painting, there is no better place to approach than the Heritage Centre where a wealth of research material is available.

The Group with Len Whalley

The Anson Room

Tuesday 14th August 2012

The Lancaster Room

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The event for this meeting was the annual “Avro Trophy” competitition, the subject being “Pioneering Flights”.

Attendance was 18 members plus guest Adjudicator, Len Whalley, of the Avro Heritage Centre at Woodford. 22 paintings were provided by 15 members and the winning painting was judged to be “Harriet Quimby”, a beautiful composite oil painting by Terry Jones. Len also felt that “Pit Stop”, a watercolour by Dave Bates and “Before Bleriot”, a soft focus digital piece by Steve Kerry, deserved commendations as his 2nd and 3rd choices respectively.

Steve, who travelled in from Hull, joined MAvAS at this meeting and his is the first digital artwork to be embraced by our society. The Trophy, returned by last year`s winner David Taylor, was then presented to Terry, thus bringing the competition to a conclusion. Len stayed on to the end and participated in a general discussion about the new works, hosted by Chairman Peter Flitcroft and Hon Sec. Colin Taylor. As usual, the new paintings were left overnight in the Conference Room and were assembled on the display panel next morning by Colin Taylor, Keith Stancombe and Peter Nield.

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Avro Cup

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Pit Stop by David Bates Harriet Quimby by Terry Jones

Befo

A New Dawn by D.J.Taylor

Gloster

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Mercury-Mayo Composite by Les Owen

ore Bleriot by Steve Kerry

r Whittle E28-39 by T. Smith

Officer Tibbets by W. Hague

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In Less Than 80 Years by K.Stancombe

Bristol 188 by T.S

First Lady by David Bates

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Breguet Br19 Super Bidon by P.S.Carter

Smith

First Passenger Jet by J.D.Williams

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Straight Hop and First Circle by c.G.Taylor

These pain appear alon price list in t section of th webs www.mava Enterprise by Steve Kerry

FA-61 Heli Begins, Psychedelic Altitude, Forward V-TO

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Amy Johnson-England to Australia

by P.Rose

ntings also ng with the the gallery he Society site as.co.uk Departure St. Pancras by C Jones

OL and YB-49 Winging Alone by Ron Sargeant

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September 2012

How did they do it? After a summer of discontent , the organisers picked two of the few consecutive, warm, dry, sunny days for the show. Last year was good, this year better.

The display boards were assembled in record time and the paintings arranged ready for the crowds who swarmed around them. I had to wait until the arrival of the Red Arrows empted the marquee, to photograph the exhibition. From then on it was crowded, the only respite was when the thunder of the big jets briefly tempted everyone outside.

As well as the display panels, Steve Ridgway was busy working on one of his scraper board masterpieces, and there was a table of prints for sale. My son-in-law used his experience gained with Living History displays at Civil War Re-enactments to entice the crowds into the killing zone, sorry buying zone.

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There were some unforgettable moments, the infant who, while his parents were watching Steve, reached out of his pram and grabbed a print and was busily and competently studying it when Peter Grove arrived to save it. Our faces when after the crowds departed late Sunday afternoon and we were about to dismantle the display, a sudden downpour brought them back again.

Was it worth it?

Well the the final figures were: Paintings - 5 Magazines - 8 Prints - 28 Considering the general financial constraints it wasn’t bad. We could have sold more prints and the magazine sales were a surprise as they were there to promote the society,

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Every picture tells a story.

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Workshop – Saturday 3rd November, 2012

Carl Jacobs painting in acrylics This workshop was devoted to a demonstration of painting in acrylics by local artist, Carl Jacobs from Bury. Six members attended, namely P. Flitcroft, P. Grove, P. Nield, R. Sargeant, R. Rumbold and C. Taylor.

Carl`s chosen subject was a harbour scene and by the end of the workshop he had created an excellent, partially completed, painting entitled “Memories of Mevagissey”. In particular he demonstrated the use of the chisel edged palette knife. Meanwhile, with encouragement and help from Carl, members worked on harbour scenes from their own references, variously using watercolour, acrylic and oils. Carl also brought many examples of his other work which, like the demo painting, were mainly created in a colourful cubist style. Later, after the meeting, Carl continued to work on the painting at home and has kindly supplied an image so that members can see the finished item. This workshop provided a welcome diversion from our usual aviation activity and the reaction of those present suggests that something similar might be worth repeating in the future.

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Colin Taylor

Roger Rumbold Ron Sargeant Colin Taylor Peter Grove

Peter Flitcroft

Peter Nield

Ron Sargeant Roger Rumbold

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Art in Flight Richard Jerome writes about the art of his father Ken who was a member of the Society

Now aged 93, and living in sheltered accommodation in Ashton on Mersey, Ken Jerome’s memories of belonging to the Manchester Aviation Art Society are revealed in his three favourite aircraft paintings which adorn the walls of his living room.

A versatile artist, whose paintings of well-known local buildings hang on many a Manchester public house and hotel wall, Ken was drawn to the challenge of painting aircraft in flight for several reasons. Although he has no direct link with either the RAF or civil aviation, he was intrigued by stories from his two brothers in law who both served in the RAF, and the elder of whom, Bill, taught King Baudouin of Belgium to fly. Ken’s interest in painting aircraft stemmed also from a keen eye for aircraft geometry, appearance and design reflecting a lifetime spent in engineering.

All three of Ken’s favourite aircraft paintings are totemic. The Gloster Gladiator was the RAF’s last biplane fighter and deployed at the beginning of WW2.

The de Havilland Dragon Rapide, also a biplane, was used in the 1930s for civilian flights linking, for example, London, the North of England including Manchester, and Scotland. A modified version, the de Havilland Dominie, was used for passengers and communications during WW2.

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Spitfires are of course legendary. Ken was concerned to acknowledge the bravery of Polish pilots in the battles against the Luftwaffe and his painting depicts a Spitfire belonging to the 303 Polish Fighter Squadron.

Subsequent research indicates that the pilot shown was probably Squadron Leader Jan Zumbach.

Each painting was based on a photograph. Ken’s aim was not just accurate reproduction of detail but to draw out the distinctive character of each plane.

Although his favourite medium is water colour, Ken opted for oils in painting the Dragon Rapide mainly because he wanted to experiment with a more layered effect in representing cloud formation.

In painting the Gloster Gladiator, Ken decided that he wanted to project and emphasise the intricate elegance of the wing structure, the ailerons and the fuselage by allowing it to dominate the picture.

For the same reason the background was kept deliberately bland and a restricted, subdued palette used. Even the red wing markings, whilst offering a contrast, were intended to lack vibrancy or

distracting appeal. Ken considered the most technically difficult aspect to the painting was ensuring that the air-cooled engine stood proud of the lower wing structure.

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In Ken’s opinion, painting the Dragon Rapide was a more straightforward challenge despite his preference for water colour. The inclusion of a substantial background of both sky and cloud was intended to produce a strong sense in the observer of the plane in flight. One consequence of this approach was that it required Ken to explore the impact of light, shadow and shade on the surfaces of the plane. Ken was especially pleased with the cloud formation and considered that the use of oils enabled him to successfully capture their ethereal and gossamer essence.

Of Ken’s three paintings, his representation of the Spitfire is interesting in that it is proportionally the smallest of the planes in relation to its setting. This was a deliberate decision because what Ken wanted to achieve was the most effective use of space in his composition in order to encourage the observer to visualise the Spitfire in rapid descent prior to attacking an unseen enemy plane. However, this presented him with the technical difficulty of painting the plane’s nearside elliptical wing.

Does Ken have a favourite amongst these three compositions? Not really but if you press him really, really hard he’ll admit to a very slight preference for……… the Dragon Rapide.

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Ten things you wanted to know about propellers

Meeting – 6th November, 2012

The event for this meeting was “Propeller Theory for Aviation Artists”, an illustrated talk by Secretary Colin Taylor. A total of nine members attended. Colin set up a power point slide show, backed up with many of his own excellent technical drawings displayed on a flip chart. The focus was mainly on the stationary propeller. Apart from the beautiful aesthetic appearance of this sculptured item, Colin pointed out why the propellers on different aircraft look so different because of their differing bulk, direction of rotation and static pitch angle. Also, in the case of turbo-props, that the latter feature was dependent upon the type of engine used, some stopping fully feathered and others with zero pitch. In addition, Colin addressed the aerodynamics of a typical propeller blade and explained that the artist should be aware of how manual and automatic pitch controls can influence the appearance of rotating propellers in situations varying from take off to maximum speed. Altogether a most interesting lecture that concluded with Colin pointing out that the artist must always be wary when using photographic references of stationary propellers. In reversed images, care must be taken to reverse the pitch of the props!

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1 The Spitfire at various stages of its development was fitted with two-bladed, 3,4,5 and 6-bladed (contra-rotating) propellers.

2 Coarse pitch means a large angle between the blade and the plane of rotation of the propeller. Fine pitch means a small angle.

3 The range of blade-angles between forward and reverse thrust is called the beta-range.

4 A fixed-pitch propeller is normally optimised for cruise speeds and therefore has a coarse pitch, whereas a variable pitch propeller, when stationary has a fine pitch because it is set for take-off when airspeed is low and prop speed is high. A V-P prop becomes coarse pitch as the airspeed increases.

5 Hydraulic variable-pitch props use engine oil as the hydraulic fluid.

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6 Feathering means moving the prop blades through the the coarse range until they are edge-on to the airflow.

Counter-weights are fitted to the hubend of the blades to help overcome the aerodynamic and rotating forces which are trying to move the blades to the fine-pitch position 7 If the prop-governor fails the blades may move to the fully-fine position.

The blades are then at a negative angle of attack and the forces are reversed. Instead of thrust and torque against the engine rotation, the prop produces drag and torque with the engine and the prop and engine overspeed out of control.

8 A windmilling prop produces more drag than a stationary prop because the forces are proportional to airspeed squared.

9 Turbo-propeller engines are either single-shaft, where the prop-gearbox is driven directly by the gas-generator, or free-turbine where the prop gearbox is driven by a separate power turbine

10 A single-shaft turbo-prop is stopped with the prop-blades in the beta position to minimise the loads on the starter system.

A free-turbine turbo-prop is stopped in the feathered position because only the gas-generator needs to be spun up to start the engine while the power-turbine and propeller just idle slowly.

Got that?

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My name is

Andrew Norris I'm 30 years old and I have noticed for many years now that there doesn't appear to be a central website for Aviation that offers all the important links for aircrew or enthusiasts which is why I created a brand new website www.air-aware.co.uk which offers a vast amount of information and links to people globally. This website is new as of September / October 2012 so still has a lot of filling up to do. I welcome anyone who wished to advertise on it or knows of anyone who wishes to advertise on it. I really want the site to 'take off' so need everyone to spread the word about it and if you have a second to press the Facebook 'Like' button on the homepage would be great. I am always open to suggestions for the website. I hope that you all love it and I promise to do the best for you all.''

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Diary Dates Meetings are held from 7-00pm to 9-30pm in the Conference Room in the Air and Space Hall at the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester on the first Tuesday in the month unless otherwise stated.

Tuesday 8th January “Airline Livery Quiz” Hosted by Peter Flitcroft

Tuesday 5th February “MAvAS Trophy Competition” Subject – “Defunct Airlines” Winner decided by consensus Appraisal of works by Colin Taylor

Saturday 9th February "Workshop" - 10-00am to 4-00pm A Painting Demo in Acrylics by Ossie Jones Subject "Royal Auxiliary Air Force - 1950"

Tuesday 5th March “Annual General Meeting” Election of Officers and Committee If time permits, followed by :Bring Photos as basis for paintings Appraisal by Ron Sargeant and Roger Markman

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Editor: Dave Bates Tel: 0161-284-3467 Email: david-bates@ntlworld.com Society website: www.mavas.co.uk