Wheel's up... and since I am asking, where's the pilot?

Just my  but it seems to me that most builders do not have their builds in flight (hanging from the ceiling) any more but sitting on shelves.  That being the case, gear down and canopy open is the preferred setting.  Some planes are set on bases with some type of groundwork (grass, gravel, concrete runway, carrier deck) and maybe the pilot standing nearby talking to the crew chief or another officer.  Others are set in dioramas.

I have seen some planes at shows that were shown in flight but it requires some ingenuity on the part of the builder to sort of hide what's holding it up.  The easiest is a modern jet with a clear rod supported from the base and curved into the exhaust outlet.  The best (in my opinion) is the one where the builder attaches 1/2 the aircraft to a mirror which reflects the opposite side.  There was some interest in those a few years ago and "How to's" done on the Forum.

Hope some of this helps.

Jim 

It was just one of those random things that popped into my head.  I've noticed that a lot of models are not coming with pilot's (or just one Such as Monogram's F-14).  So between having to get a pilot figure for an inflight build, now seat belts have to be built because I am assuming that the PE seat belts are not going to fit around a pilot figure.

I usually make a quick set out of regular tan masking tape.  I only buy aftermarket belts if I'm making a special model for someone or working on a build that I think is one of my good builds for a show.

I think that you are absolutely correct about the PE belts.  None of the ones I have bought looked like they were long enough to fit over a pilot.  They look great hanging over the seat though.  I'm going to check one out and see what happens.  I have a set of WWII German belts in the stash and I'm working on a Ju87G-1 that did come with a pilot. I'll let you know what happens later tonight.

Jim 

Part of the decision is made for us, by the model companies.

A lot of kits have terrible fit problems if you try to close the landing gear doors.

If it weren't for that simple thing, I would move my shelves down just a bit, and put "on the ground" and "on flight stands" models on each shelf, just to save some space.

I enjoy looking at a model built with a pilot in it and gear up. I just don't do them that way because I have no control over when I will hit a model with doors that fit or not.

Rex

My Revell F105 "T-stick" has that issue with the gear doors.  Was going to do it in flight and am having to rethink it and fab up doors if I still want to go that route or stick in the kit ones and fill and rescribe like mad.

Mustang,  I lifted the scratch built belts on the Stuka and slid the pilot in place then placed the PE belts in place.  There was no way the PE belts fit the figure.  That was a very interesting discovery for me.  I would have thought that the PE would be the right size.  I've never checked my scratch built ones to see if they are the correct size.  I just made them look OK.  Guess I'll have to start checking more carefully.  Thanks for starting this post.  I learned something new today and it will help my future builds be a little more accurate. 

Jim 

Something i thought of from my military days, most if not all of the aircraft on our line had the canopies closed, VERY RARELY were they left open without someone in or on the aircraft. IMHO an aircraft belongs in the air, even the EA-6B looked eligant "clean" in flight. I too have noticed that newer kits lack figures, fortunately i have a thing for landind gear ( bought a 1/48 Condor cause i liked the way the gear worked) so that fact doesn't worry me. Do get alittle annoyed when panels don't fit.

If I show a plane in flight I usually like to show the gear retracting. That way the plane is flying and I don't have to worry about gear doors fitting.

I make sure I keep all my pilots for when I run across those ever increasing kits that are lacking.

I just started a V-22 from Kitech (apparently this was an old Minicraft kit) and want to show it flying. I had to "liberate" the German pilots from a Blohm and Voss BV 141 kit in my stash to fly it.

Steve

Airfix  might be one of the few, if not the only, mainstream manufacturer that continues to include seated pilots with their kits, and usually provide optional landing gear for wheels up.

I know Tamiya had them with their 1/48 kits that came out in the 90's, but I did have problems fitting the wheels in the bays for both the Spitfire and 109.  I remember too the RAF pilot being kind of chunky, causing some trouble when surrounding him with the fuselage halves.

regards,

Jack

I happen to be building a plane for in-flight display right now.  Of course, it is an airliner in 1:144 scale, so the missing aircrew will not be very noticable.  I merely omitted the gear, glued the gear doors closed, will be making some "turning" props, and will scratch build a stand.

There are a few kits that include pilots, and a few that do include a stand, but admittedly not many.  While the pilot figures mostly are in the smaller scale kits, to eliminate the need to detail cockpit, I am building a 1:48 scale trainer that includes two pilots even though there is a nicely detailed cockpit.

I started modeling in the late 80's and I seem to remember the kits came with pilots.  I even remember the Monogram A-18 that you had to cut out the seat belts that was printed on the instruction sheet.  When I got back into modeling in the 2001 I just took it for granted that there was going to be a pilot.  As for wheels up building, I always thought I was just my earlier attempts at not knowing what I as doing.  Now on this latest build, it seems more like it was designed more for a gears down build and building it gears up, the doors are just not matching up.  I still wouldn't be surprised it was my fat finger attempts at gluing though. :)

Aha ! ;

       At one time we had another option , Except ,When the plane was on the ground the cockpit canopy was closed with the pilot in it .Can you say Aurora .They used to mold the gear bays closed and give you a stand .

    If you wanted it on the ground you opened some holes  , stuck in the landing gear and glued the doors to the wings or fuselage next to the gear . Then you still had the pilot in and canopy closed anyway !

I remember many a YAK Molded in Puke Green , BF 109 in dark green and and the  FW 190 molded in black that had the gear doors molded closed .Of course on many the wings were solid pieces too , full of measles , " Oops , I meant raised rivets ".

     You didn't want to saw the canopy apart , because it was molded thick enough to make someone think of 12 inches of armored glass !