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Post by p40fanatic on Jun 27, 2007 18:52:38 GMT 12
Hi all!
I was curious if anyone has completed, is working on, or knows of any Circa Reproductions WW1 aircraft? I'm looking at a certain type Graham Lee offers - hopefully he can scale up his plans to 1:1 - and am interested to know how they go together. Also, any pics of said aircraft in NZ would be fantastic! He's known mainly for Nieuports.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jun 27, 2007 20:53:24 GMT 12
There have been two registered in NZ, both Circa Reproductions Nieuport 11 models. The first one, ZK-NIE was built by John D Lowther, Normanby, Timaru and was registered on 20th March 1992 with a first flight date of 5th June 1993. Ownership was transferred to N R M Lopez, Auckland 11th February 1997 and registration was revoked by CAA 2nd August 1999. This aircraft was offered for sale by auction at Auckland March 2007, and a thread with photos was posted here around that time: rnzaf.proboards43.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=experimental&thread=1171653075&page=1(Note that this aircraft is in no way related to the current ZK-NIE, a Musso Nieuport 24 bis registered to WWI Flying Company Ltd., Wellington).  A second Circa Reproductions Nieuport 11 was built by I Sowman, Napier and was registered ZK-WWI 21st December 1999. I have no further details on this one, but it is still currently registered. They may be other Circa projects in NZ, but these are the only two that have legally made it into the air. |
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Post by p40fanatic on Jun 30, 2007 11:13:53 GMT 12
Cheers dude! As soon as I posted I remembered that particular machine being on the forum. As others have said, it's a shame that John didn't go for a full-scale machine. In fact, I'm tempted to ask Mr Lee if he's interested in doing 1:1 aircraft - looking at the Nieuport 24 in the AHC, they're hardly massive airframes, and theoretically shouldn't be that hard to do 1:1. I mean, look at the amount of Redfern or Sands Fokker Dr.Is built over the years.
Anyway, thanks again!
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jun 30, 2007 13:36:32 GMT 12
I would suspect that the reduced size has something to do with (1) access to an engine of suitable power at suitable cost, and (2) fitting within the regulations to operate as a microlight.
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Post by p40fanatic on Jul 1, 2007 7:57:17 GMT 12
Ah, that makes sense. Cheers!
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