CAMEL REPLICA

[Fantome]

At the museum, Fighter World, at RAAF Williamtown , there is a nearly finished Camel replica. The workmanship is outstanding. In November, on Armistice Day, it will be displayed in a public place in commemoration of the Australians who served in the Australian Flying Corp and in the Royal Flying Corps.

The Camel, as presently displayed, has next to it a large portrait photo of an AFC or RFC pilot, standing at the nose of his Camel. He is not identified. Does anyone know who he is, and his service record?

Any leads to locating a Clerget or a Monosoupape rotary engine will be passed onto the team

[Fareastdriver]

there is a nearly finished Camel replica. The workmanship is outstanding.

To think that in 1917 a team of carpenters and furniture makers could knock one up in a day.

[Glevum]

CAMS Aero Engines remanufacture gnome engines in New Zealand

Gnome Rotary Engine Remanufacture (http://www.cams.net.nz/Gnome%20Remanufacture.html)

[Heathrow Harry]

I remember an old Flight review back in the ?early 60's ? of someone flying one - said it was a vicious, totally unstable beast that required 150% attention all the time - on the other hand it turned faster than you could say the word...................

[Fantome]

Thanks Glevum. The Classic Aero Machining Service Ltd website is one of the best. The great unwashed have no idea how incredible in terms of design and manufacturing skill the aircraft and the engines of the period were. Tony Wytenburg (founder of CAMS) and his team deserve the highest praise. (All the lads building the Camel at Fighter World need now is a fairy godmother, genie out of the lamp, or a benefactor steeped in an awareness of what was achieved in aid of flight so early, along with an appreciation of the genius of Sopwith, de Havilland, Hawker et. al. That is a person who can underwrite the engine, then see the wonder of a running rotary.)

[MPN11]

CAMS Aero Engines remanufacture gnome engines in New Zealand

Gnome Rotary Engine Remanufacture (http://www.cams.net.nz/Gnome%20Remanufacture.html)
Is one permitted to say “awesome” on this Forum?

Fantastic work :ok:

[PDR1]

To think that in 1917 a team of carpenters and furniture makers could knock one up in a day.

Do you have any evidence to support that? Having looked at the complexities of the structures of aircraft of this era in some detail I can't see how it could possibly be true. Amongst other things these structures used glues and varnishes which had curing times of several hours to several days, and the sixty-odd wing ribs which are each a built-up assembly made in a jig and held until the glue cured. An the hundreds of small metal fittings for the internal bracing wires and attachments. The prop alone is probably a week's work sawing the planks to form the blanks and then grooving the surfaces with a toothing plane before applying the glue and assembling the stack of planks in a press. Then there's the detailed planing to shape, sheathing, covering, boring the hub and then balancing it.

So I would be very interested to see an authoritative source showing how they were knocked up in a day by a team of carpenters and furniture makers.

PDR

[Mechta]

To think that in 1917 a team of carpenters and furniture makers could knock one up in a day.

As with any journey, a lot depends upon where you start and the mode of getting there. The Camel prototype definitely would not have been built in a day. Maybe a late production Camel could be assembled from pre-prepared sub-assemblies in a day, with all the right jigs, fixtures and personnel experienced with the type. As has been pointed mentioned, the glues and dopes take time to cure, so even that claim would be open to interpretation.

What is beyond question, is that with 5490 Camels built, they were being produced at a rate very much greater than one a day.

[PPRuNeUser0139]

I find rotary engines have a simplicity that fascinates:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/568x568/animated_engine_rotary_gnome_9ea3cf4ca567dcc76b5560ef79e695b dbae07ef9.gif
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGRT3w4CxZk

[Fantome]

So I would be very interested to see an authoritative source showing how they were knocked up in a day by a team of carpenters and furniture makers.

REFUTATION DONE. (Say no more.)

[Heathrow Harry]

apparently a modern "replica" can be built in 450 man hours from partly prepared parts...........

For comparison a Mini takes 28-32 clock hours (again from bits pre built) - painting is about half of this

[Mk 1]

I remember an old Flight review back in the ?early 60's ? of someone flying one - said it was a vicious, totally unstable beast that required 150% attention all the time - on the other hand it turned faster than you could say the word...................

But only in one direction (torque from the engine)

[Mk 1]

I remember an old Flight review back in the ?early 60's ? of someone flying one - said it was a vicious, totally unstable beast that required 150% attention all the time - on the other hand it turned faster than you could say the word...................

But only in one direction (torque from the engine) was it absolutely astonishingly quick to turn

[Captain Dart]

Apparently it was quicker to turn thru 270 degrees to the right rather than 90 left!

i take my hat off to the young men who flew it into battle with minimal experience.

[ORAC]

The following site will be of interest - especially the “100 years ago” tab which leads to a weekly history of production with hundreds of photographs and cartoons from the period.

https://www.kingstonaviation.org/100-years-ago/1918.html

[MOSTAFA]

Sidevalve would you tell me please how to copy your rotary gif?

[treadigraph]

I think the late Brian Lecomber and the equally late Camel pilot of these parts both enjoyed flying Leisure Sport's replicas, one of which had a Clerget, the other a Warner Super Scarab. The Clerget machine was built by Viv Bellamy and I believe was given a aerobatic good work out by Lecomber in the style of Captain D'Urban Victor Armstrong!

[NutLoose]

Bit late to reply, I know where there is / was an engine on offer

See

https://ukga.com/classified/view?contentId=41812

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

CAMS Aero Engines remanufacture gnome engines in New Zealand
The Vintage Aviator Ltd in NZ does Clerget's and Gnomes's plus more Aircraft Engines The Vintage Aviator (http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/topic/projects/engines)
Also video of inside of rotary: Film of Rotary Engine Workings | The Vintage Aviator (http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/oberursel-engine/rotary-engine-detail) and running http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/oberursel-engine/urii-action

[PPRuNeUser0139]

Sidevalve would you tell me please how to copy your rotary gif?

See your PMs..

To copy, right click on it and save it as a GIF file.

[jolihokistix]

Fantome, quote: “The Camel, as presently displayed, has next to it a large portrait photo of an AFC or RFC pilot, standing at the nose of his Camel. He is not identified. Does anyone know who he is, and his service record?”

Any link?

[Fantome]

Will post that info as soon as able to revisit Fighter World at RAAF Williamtown.