Supermarine Sparrow II 36" Free Flight

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The new Supermarine Sparrow II was entered into the 1926 Daily Mail Two-seater Light Aeroplane Competition held in Lympne, Kent, UK. This event encouraged thousands of new amateur pilots and spurred the eventual private ownership of hundreds of small aircraft. The event has several notable first public appearances for several famous aircraft. Among them are the de Havilland Moth, the AVRO Avian, and the Blackburn Bluebird. The contest was fraught with problems and many of the competitors suffered ill fortunes. The Sparrow II flown by Henri Biard, had to make a forced landing due to bad weather and took off again the next day. The landing was also required due to the fact that the observer traveling with Biard noticed that one of the pins holding in one of the wing struts had become loose. If it came out the whole wing would have come off, of which Biard reportedly said it "would have been very annoying". On the ground, as the crew was getting out of the aircraft, the wind blew over the plane. They righted the craft and reinserted the pin. As it was late, they had to spend an uncomfortable the night out there with their plane. This eliminated the Sparrow II from the competition, which was won by the Hawker Cygnet flown by Flt. Lt. P.W.S. Bulman and only three other aircraft finished the race. The Sparrow II went on in 1927 to be useful in testing out various airfoils (including the Clark Y) for Supermarine under contract with the British Air Ministry.

Supermarine Sparrow II 36" Free Flight		Short Kit & Plans: $55 0Buy It
		Plans: $200Buy It
Skill Level: Intermediate More than 230 laser cut parts	SPECIFICATIONS
	Scale: ~1/10	Prop: 9
	Channels: Free Flight --Not an RC Model	Wheels: balsa and plywood with Neoprene foam
	Wingspan: 36"	Airfoil Type: flat bottomed
	Wing Area: 220 sq in	Cowl: N/A
Designer: Kurt Bengtson	Weight: ~5 oz	jSpinner: N/A
Prototype Builder: Ian Easton	Power System: GWS IPS	Shipping Weight: 2 pounds


		Instruction Manual
FEATURES Although primarily designed for Free Flight, this model can easily be converted to electric RC 99% of all wood needed is in the kit
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE The new Supermarine Sparrow II was entered into the 1926 Daily Mail Two-seater Light Aeroplane Competition held in Lympne, Kent, UK. This event encouraged thousands of new amateur pilots and spurred the eventual private ownership of hundreds of small aircraft. The event has several notable first public appearances for several famous aircraft. Among them are the de Havilland Moth, the AVRO Avian, and the Blackburn Bluebird. The contest was fraught with problems and many of the competitors suffered ill fortunes. The Sparrow II flown by Henri Biard, had to make a forced landing due to bad weather and took off again the next day. The landing was also required due to the fact that the observer traveling with Biard noticed that one of the pins holding in one of the wing struts had become loose. If it came out the whole wing would have come off, of which Biard reportedly said it "would have been very annoying". On the ground, as the crew was getting out of the aircraft, the wind blew over the plane. They righted the craft and reinserted the pin. As it was late, they had to spend an uncomfortable the night out there with their plane. This eliminated the Sparrow II from the competition, which was won by the Hawker Cygnet flown by Flt. Lt. P.W.S. Bulman and only three other aircraft finished the race. The Sparrow II went on in 1927 to be useful in testing out various airfoils (including the Clark Y) for Supermarine under contract with the British Air Ministry.