Christen Eagle colour schemes ...

[R1_NUR]

Further to http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... thread we now need more help and opinions.

Basically we want to paint G-KLAW in a "standard" Christen Eagle pattern. See http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?a=1&a... for loads of examples.

We are looking for ideas/suggestions to any slight variations to make.

My personal favourite idea at the moment is to paint the fuselage like this:



but the wing tops only (so you know when it is upside down viewing from the ground) like this but in matching colours:



Would really appreciate any constructive criticism. Is mixing the regular feathers and tapered feathers a bad idea?

Edited by R1_NUR on Tuesday 22 September 03:02

[anonymous-user]

I quite like it when there is just one colour but difference in the shading on the upper wing slightly as you go rear wards..

[eharding]

Are you or any of the rest of the group planning on flying competition aeros in the thing?

If so, there are a few things you can do with the colour scheme to make the outline amenable to the judges - which the more flowery Eagle colour schemes don't tend to do - might only be worth one or two percent over the course of a competition, but things are won and lost on those margins. Strong central lines along the fuselage, well-defined lateral bars on the upper wing surfaces and contrasting orthogonal stripes on the underside of the lower wings can help - look at G-MAXG, G-SIII, G-CBUA or G-ODDS as examples. The strong lines on the fuselage a better definition of the orientation of the aircraft (especially in pot-bellied things like the Pitts and Eagle) and having a strong contrast between the upper and lower surfaces of the wings confirm on the judges' minds which side of the aircraft they're actually looking at.

That being said, although I haven't flown competitions in the Yak for a while, and doubt I will again, it was definately more visible in the old two-tone blue scheme than the current grey one. Whoever designed that colour scheme for the Soviets back in the 1940s deserved a medal, because the bloody thing can be practically invisible in the box on even a slightly hazy day.

[R1_NUR]

eharding said:

Are you or any of the rest of the group planning on flying competition aeros in the thing?

Maybe one day - but more for fun than to win.

Appreciate your advice -thank you.

Of the a/c you suggested I like them all but the simplicity of this one appealed the most.

[eharding]

R1_NUR said:

eharding said:

Are you or any of the rest of the group planning on flying competition aeros in the thing?

Maybe one day - but more for fun than to win.

Appreciate your advice -thank you.

Of the a/c you suggested I like them all but the simplicity of this one appealed the most.

Indeed - and you'll note that particular airframe/pilot combination won the Advanced Nationals at Sywell last weekend, although granted the pilot is a four-times Unlimited champion, and the godfather of British aerobatics. Still a damn good effort in an S2 though, given the amount of carbon-wing Wundastuntas in the competition.

I'd highly recommend you spend some time with Cassidy in G-ODDS if you're (wisely) planning on some S2 time before you launch in the Eagle.

Some trivia associated with with colour scheme on G-ODDS: it is very similar to the scheme on its predecessor G-STUA, which I reckon a large proportion of the Pitts drivers in the UK flew at one time or another, which in turn was derived from a Securicor-sponsored colour scheme on G-STUA and Alan's Cap 232 when that sponsorship deal was still going. G-ODDS arrived from the US in a God-awful Starsky & Hutch paint-job. The opportunity for a repaint to the current scheme came when G-ODDS came into less than gentle contact with a Cessna 150 parked out on the line - a lesson for us all in the forward visibility on the ground in the type. Cassidy was in Poland at the time, at a competition - a couple of days before he left, I'd asked him if I could take G-ODDS off to a domestic competition while he was away, as the fuel tank on MAXG had sprung a leak.

"Just don't bloody crash it. And if you do, don't bloody well phone me up to tell me"

Right oh, Alan. As it happened, we fixed the fuel tank on MAXG in short order, and it was then that one of the most experienced pilots I know, who cut his teeth flying jets from carriers in the sixties - managed to do what we all dread doing in a Pitts - driving the thing into something else on the ground. He was mortified - distracted by a novice passenger throwing up in the front before they'd even got airborne, trying to get back to the clubhouse to get her out of the thing....there but for the grace of God go the rest of us. Once you get in the back of the Pitts or your Eagle, you'll know. Anyway, G-ODDS came back with a shiny new Mick Allen paint scheme, and a three-bladed prop. The 150 was turned into baked-bean cans, which was a shame, because it had a bit of history of its own - it belonged to a BA ex-Concorde driver, and that photo of Concorde going over the Avon bridge on one of the final flights was taken from it...and it also held the distinction of being one of the very few - probably one of the last - GA single-engined piston types to have (intentionally) flown into Heathrow; it was taken in there in the very small hours one dark night years ago by another BA (and Yak) driver of our parish to be painted by some BA workshop apprentices, I believe.

Edited by eharding on Wednesday 23 September 23:22

[R1_NUR]

Thanks for that - appreciate your input and comments.

[eharding]

R1_nur said:

(Colour scheme...)

Nice - but I'd take the curves out of the centre stripe - at least for a competition colour scheme - you'd be trying draw the eye away from the pot-belly (aircraft, not the pilot), and give a strong visual reference to judge the aircraft's attitude.

Edited by eharding on Saturday 12th June 12:27

[R1_NUR]

eharding said:

R1_nur said:

(Colour scheme...)

Nice - but I'd take the curves out of the centre stripe - at least for a competition colour scheme - you'd be trying draw the eye away from the pot-belly (aircraft, not the pilot), and give a strong visual reference to judge the aircraft's attitude.

Edited by eharding on Saturday 12th June 12:27

Thanks!