2024 AIRFIX ROTODYNE VINTAGE CLASSIC - how to build it! 

Excellent - a rival to the Hind and the Stallion then!

Thanks mate, that Herc was my inspiration!

Cheers Bobby, I loved it mate. Hoping to put it together with the Jeep and some figures in a kind of Middle East trials maquette...

@@garys_stuff yes that will be awesome! 👌👍

Just to say the crew figures are from the Jet Provost - the kit ones are awful!

Thanks marra!

@garys_stuff now build another 1...this time in a grey and green Royal Marine Commandos scheme?

My other Rotodyne will be BEA...

@@garys_stuffyour forgiven 😂😂

Westland was not flush with money either, they preferred their own Westminster design as a heavy lift, but that was cancelled too.

The Westminster was cancelled before the Rotodyne.

@@MCT954 Thanks for that clarification. Both were promising of course.

The Rotodyne intended for military use did have a beaver tail, or at lead T the mock up did.

@@MCT954 I have never seen an image for that - any links?

Nice choice!

No, I got them from another box (the Jet Provost) - they just looked wrong with airline uniforms!

@@garys_stuff Cool! They look great.

Officially it was too noisy for it’s intended purpose of city hopping due to the rotor jets. But I think politics really came into it too.

Several factors, despite a lot of publicity no commercial sales came forth, this was down to the rotor tip jets being too noisy for urban take off and landings. Even though work was in process to reduce the noise levels the Government got cold feet and pulled the funding. Also, Westland were poised to take over Fairey and their commitments were on license-building American helicopters and weren't interested in developing the Rotodyne.

@@dcanmore Thanks for the in-depth reply👍🏼😊

@@c123bthunderpig The Chinook is a later design than the Rotodyne. The Rotodyne never went into service anywhere - you are confusing some other helicopter used by Pan Am. There was a proposal for a larger production model but there were no orders and Fairey had no money to promote it. There was no issue of 'poor transmission design' or 'relying on rotor jets' was the whole point of the Rotodyne, and I doubt if you are actually looking at the right aircraft. The issue in the late 1950s was that there were so many UK aircraft manufacturers with special projects underway that the UK Treasury was not prepared to pay unless there were mergers into bigger groups and projects cancelled. Fairey was promoting both the Delta 2, the first 1,000 mph aircraft in 1956 WASR, it was also pushing for the Ultra Light Helicopter. The Treasury got three groups to get together, one helicopter manufacturer made out of Fairey, Bristol Helis, Saunders-Roe (itself promoting a mixed power rocket interceptor the SR53 and 177,) and Westland. The Treasury told any firm that did not join up that it would not order the designs even if the RAF-RN wanted them if they did not merge. Handley Page did not merge and so the RAF did not get the Victors or military Heralds it preferred. The new groups, Westland, BAC and Hawker Siddeley then had to prioritise which projects moved forward. Westland wanted the Westminster as a Heavy Lift Heli, dropping the Rotodyne, then decided to concentrate on licenceing Sikorsky designs. dropping the Westminster as well. In the end even the combined groups lost a generation of new types with the cancellation of P1154, HS681 and TSR2.

@@c123bthunderpig You may have miswrote saying Pan Am tried or used any version of the Rotodyne, but it did not. Also, there could not have been a Boeing-Vertol heli being used by Pan Am '20 years' before Rotodyne - go and look at the first flights and the creation of Piasecky Cooperative and the acquisition by Boeing. Let's cut through this - there was NO transmission issue with the Rotodyne - as there was no mechanical connection between the engines and the Rotor - if you think that is a 'helicopter' then you don't understand why it was even called the 'rotodyne' in the first place. The issue of development of the Fairey given publicly was tip jet noise and the actual main reason for cancellation was there simply was no investment capital private or public for it either.

Ah, should probably have said I nicked the crew from the Jet Provost set, the originals are a bit too BEA for the scheme I planned....

@garys_stuff awseme Gary...they look the part....and a fanstic build too btw..👍👍👍👍