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Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 31 Jan 2020, 23:15
by VinceC
Excellent work and the weather helped create some brilliant photos. Hope you have many hours of fun and satisfaction. Thanks for your build thread

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 01 Feb 2020, 07:11
by Barry Apostolou
Thanks Guys for your kind comments,

Will now take a little rest from building!. In the mean time try and get out for further winter flying.

Barry

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 01 Feb 2020, 09:24
by john slater
Well done Barry, very brave in the conditions you had. Very much enjoyed your build thread, and so pleased it flew as expected, you will soon get the hang of it and as you have found out without brakes landings can be very challenging.
On my first Tern ( without brakes ) I did many landing circuits before it was landed.
Kind regards
John

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 01 Feb 2020, 13:54
by Barry Apostolou
Thank you John,

For all the help and advice during this build. More especially for producing the plan and helping me when I got stuck. It really was such a bonus having the designer reply to my questions. Yup I fully expect to get much more air time with the Tern. As you say it needs attention to get it to fly and land well, However even after a few flights I was very much at home with it. I have built a 1/4 scale John Slowcombe T46 Slingsby Swallow and the Tern is a little like this in its flight characteristics and shape.

Thank you John, All the best, keep stirring those sticks

Barry A

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 26 May 2022, 15:28
by Barry Apostolou
Barry Apostolou <apostoloubarry@gmail.com>


Hi John,

You will recall that I recently built your plan for the Airspeed Tern. At the same time my buddy also got the same kit of parts and has now built his and flown it. I just wanted to pass on to you some of his comments and thanks for producing this splendid plan. His name is Jim Addison who has been a life long fan of Neville Shute Norway, and consequently the Tern got his interest as a product of the Airspeed company owned by Shute and Tiltman. As an experienced builder of scale vintage sailplanes Jim interpreted the plan based on years of building and flying.

His build involved building the fuselage, not on a jig, but sides first on the board. He also worked hard with weight saving resulting a model that was 16 oz lighter than mine. Any changes he made were purely as a result of preference. Jim redesigned the wing joining mechanism, to have a steel strip for the main joiner and locator dowels for maintaining the wing incidence. All hinging was closed and shrouded to give the best aerodynamic performance.

The finish of the model was achieved by staining the wood and covering with natural Solartex, this was then further stained on top and sealed with Flair Spectrum fuel proofer. Landing is facilitated by air-brakes and raised ailerons. I will try and include some photos taken of the model for your interest. Health permitting, I am certain we will get lots of flying out of the Tern.

In conclusion many thanks from Jim and I for producing such a splendid plan of an evocative part of aviation history.

All the Best
Barry Apostolou, Jim Addison

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 26 May 2022, 17:33
by VinceC
Great to have some feedback with suggestions for changes. I will wait to see if John sees this post. I very much enjoyed doing the detective work for the documentation on this glider

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 26 May 2022, 18:11
by Barry Apostolou
Cheers Vince,
hopefully it gives you guys a 'kick' to know that your efforts are appreciated, and that your designs are out there and flying.

All the best
Barry

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 28 May 2022, 09:19
by john slater
Morning Barry, Jim,

Thanks for your recent post, it's very reassuring to see another `Tern ', and indeed to hear of any improvements, flight has been one of continuous development and I welcome what Jim has done.
I'm sure the forum would be interested of Jim's construction etc.
I do visit the forum on a regular basis but I have not been very active as regards flying, my wife has a serious brain condition and so she has to have my full attention.
Look forward to a few more photos.
Kind regards and happy landings
John

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 28 May 2022, 10:30
by Barry Apostolou
So sorry to hear that re-your wife John, as we get older these things can come along. I hope and pray that she will be well soon.

Jim and I are still getting out and doing some 'stick twiddling'. Each of us has had health challenges this year but are persevering to keep active and current with our models.

I hope you all remain well. All the best
Barry

Re: John Slater Airspeed Tern

Posted: 06 Jun 2022, 13:56
by Barry Apostolou
Hi John and Vince,

Had a chat with Jim and unfortunately he did not record the build log of his Tern as he felt that at the time it may have simply duplicated mine. However if there is another modeller building the Tern then both Jim and I will be happy to answer any questions that may arise. One tip though; for matrimonial harmony Jim has recommended that when staining the model, do not wear a white shirt. :)

Seriously though, if anyone has any questions Jim would be happy to try and help. As the designer your own input is what may well be needed as a priority.

All the best
Barry/Jim