First Sight of the Boulton Paul Sea Balliol

[T6flyer]

One of the more interesting but maybe underlooked post war aircraft was the Boulton Paul Balliol advanced trainer.
As originally built in 1948 it was the world's first single engined aircraft with an 'airscrew turbine' a.k.a a turboprop. This was the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba.
However, production delays etc. caused 'the Ministry' to change its mind and after 3 were built, subsequent aircraft were fitted with the R.R. Merlin which were in plentiful supply in the immediate post-war days.
The majority (196) were for the R.A.F. and 30 were T.21 Sea Balliols with arrestor hooks and a few other mods.
Such an aircraft, WL732 is preserved in the Cosford museum.
This is what we are modelling for FS9.

MartinView attachment 75261

 

[falcon409]

Very nice work thus far.:salute:

 

[T6flyer]

Very nice work thus far.:salute:

Thanks for that. Its very early days in its build and a lot more has to be done both externally and internally to be able to complete the aeroplane. Although the Cosford example has helped tremendously, we also are lucky in that I have sourced Sea Balliol Technical Manuals and Pilots Notes. There were a few differences between the sea and landed based Balliols, namely that the former had a smaller diameter propellor, strengthened undercarriage and the fitting of external ASIs just ahead of the canopy. Common to both variants was that they both had folding wings.

Martin

 

[Matt Wynn]

She's looking great Martin! a real beauty! :salute:

 

[kikas]

Another beauty!!!

 

[Matt Wynn]

gotta ask Martin, Sea Balliol and Balliol? or just Sea Balliol?

 

[molyned]

To Be or Not To Be ...

Good question Matt.
Haven't decided yet - plenty of time to ponder this one, whether to offer two mdls e.t.c. , two separate d/loads or get the hook and a couple of other bits to disappear via a hidden gauge or something.
The two varients are very similar really.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

 

[Matt Wynn]

yeah very very similar.... one had folding wings and a hook, and the other as i recall was none folding wings and without hook....

 

[molyned]

Sorta

Easier than that Matt -
All the aircraft had folding wings according to the publications.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

 

[T6flyer]

Easier than that Matt -
All the aircraft had folding wings according to the publications.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

Just to show how things worked.......

Cheers,

MartinView attachment 75488

 

[T6flyer]

Pre-beta testing has just started - still lots to do and even tried it in that other simulator!!!

Happy New Year!

Martin

 

[Lonewolfee1]

Nice looking aircraft gentlemen!!!

 

[Jagdflieger]

Nice! She ought to be just the ticket for touring all of the nice RAF retro aerodromes that we now have.

 

[T6flyer]

Not a good idea to try taking off like this

Martin

 

[kikas]

Would it be very cheeky to ask how much we will have to wait?

 

[T6flyer]

Would it be very cheeky to ask how much we will have to wait?

Not at all. As you can see she has moved on quite a lot from the earlier screenshots and is developing fast. The air files are currently with Brian Horsey and when he has finished with them, its off to the beta team to spot the things that we have missed (there is usually something simple that we have overlooked!) and then off to you and all.

But of course these things take time, but hopefully by the middle of next month. And then its off to the new project and the whole process starts again. Each model takes over 500 hours to complete, so please be patient, as I know everyone is!

Thanks for showing interest.

Best wishes,

Martin