This is a semi scale free flight model of the Blackburn Skua. The plans this model was built from were drawn by Earl Stahl in 1942 making the design of the model only a few years younger than the aircraft it replicates. The plans can be downloaded from http://www.theplanpage.com/esp/skua.htm.

The Blackburn Skua was designed in the early 1930's and was the Royal Navy's first all metal monoplane fighter. It also fulfilled the role of dive bomber which it appears to have performed with reasonable success. Only 190 were built and although outdated by the beginning of the the second world war they apparently served well despite only having a top speed of 220 mph. One of the reasons for the lack of power, so legend has it, is that being carrier borne aircraft it was never envisaged that they would have to fight it out with land based fighters ? Unfortunately this was not the case in practice and they were withdrawn from front line service in 1941.

This was my first attempt at a flying balsa aircraft since about 1988, the only major problem I had was the covering where I tried to cover the fuselage with only two pieces of tissue, one per side in an attempt to limit the seam lines. As can be seen in the second photo, fourth row, I was unable to get it taught in some areas. I sprayed the model silver which just showed this up more so decided to strip it back to the frame & recovered it with smaller sections of tissue which worked a treat.

I decided to stay with a natural finish to save weight and avoid messing up the second covering which worked well. Unfortunately a few remainents of the silver tissue show through. It should be kept in mind that this model will get retrieved and occassionally flown by my 3 children who are 6 yrs old & under so I don't expect the tissue to have too great a life span. This is also a reason for the simple markings of roundels only.

The model performs as described in the plans instructions. Initial flights were performed with less than the recommended rubber to avoid damage to the aircraft whilst it was rigged. It glides nicely, straight & level, however, as stated in the plans some side & down thrust is required when setting up the prop. Under power the model turns tightly to the left. I'm not sure if this is mainly due to the torque from the prop or the prop wash acting on the fuselage & fin/rudder. It may be an idea to set the fin/rudder to make it turn to the right, however this would mess up the glide so I shall persist with refining the thrust angle.
So far we have had 10 test flights with no major damage & increasing duration as I have increased the rubber used.
 

			Cockpit frame reinforcements being added
		I decided o have the mainplane retained with elastic bands to aid transportation & help prevent accidnt damage
Complete wing/fuselage assembled for the first time	Complete wing/fuselage assembled for the first time	Preping for covering
	"Baggy" initial covering, later removed	Ready to fly. I added a small strengthening panel to the fuselage behind the wing trailing edge to prevent the children putting their fingers through it when they launch