Sopwith Pup wingspan 2.45 m (96.5")
After a flight with a captured Pup, Manfred von Richthofen is supposed to have said, this is the nicest plane I have ever flown. Certainly one can read in many books about the Pup and there is only praise. This attractive biplane was very manoeuvrable and what is more, very stable and without vicious tendencies.
We have succeeded in reproducing these characteristics in our model. The wing section we have used is the RAF 15 with slightly more radius to the nose. This RAF 15 section was used extensively during and after the 14-18 war. This legendary section is very thin, it is lightly undercambered and has a reflex trailing edge. The two spars are either side of the undercamber and lay flat onto the building board. Our Pup flies inverted with practically no down elevator! Rolls require the minimum of correction from the rudder and elevators. Side slipping with our Pup can only be described as fantastic, the wing loading is so light that take off and landing is so very easy.
The best power unit is without a doubt the ZG 38SC and the 2,8:1 reduction gear. I had a constant dream for many years, this was to fly a model with a scale size prop, especially a model from the Biplane era. This obsession led to our reduction gear, first for the Quadra and now the ZG 38SC. You can fit a ZG 80B, but of course you do not have the marvellous sound of that scale size 32x18" propeller turning at a mere 2,800 rpm. For such a model this clearly visible propeller at full throttle, the realism is perfect. The Titan ZG 38SC and the Quadra tuned pipe is shown on the plan, the latter is no longer available, but our tuned stainless silencer #5770 is a good alternative. With the tuned pipe and reduction gear the prototype Pup required no lead in the nose. The firewall can be positioned to suit the length of the engine so that it will fit inside the spun aluminium cowl.
There are 14 meters of plans and every detail is shown. With the extensive building instructions the Pup goes together in a very short time. The construction is similar to that of our Tiger Moths, but has various refinements and a more detailed instruction manual. The fuselage is put together with the aid of a jig to enable you to end with an accurately aligned fuselage. The Ash tailskid is fully working and rubber sprung, the main wheels also use Bungee rubber cord for suspension as the full-size Pup did. The Pup is assembled on the flying field using the same system we use for our Tiger Moth. Push the four wing panels onto the dowels, plug in the servos, eight socket screws on the strut ends and she is ready to fly. The assembly is considerably helped by the specially made screw bushes and the ball joint screw driver supplied. The struts are fixed permanently to the landing and flying wires. When transporting the model, the struts are simply fixed to the fuselage with rubber bands. There is no time consuming work undoing turnbuckles or similar.
The unusually complete kit contains:
- All ribs, formers and all other shaped Balsa and plywood parts ready notched and sanded
- All wood is carefully selected
- Spindle molded landing gear spruce covering
- Spun Aluminium cowl
- All wire parts are preformed
- Ready silver soldered landing gear axle carriers
- Stainless steel wire for the rigging and control surfaces, all turnbuckles and shackles
- All parts to make the radio installation easy
- Spoked wheels
- Petrol tank with felt clunk filter and nipples
- Instruments with mahogany veneered plywood panel
- Leather for cockpit coaming with miniature eyelets
- Epoxy/Glass Vickers MG
- All parts for the imitation Le Rhone rotary engine, including copper induction pipes
- Every nut screw and washer in a hardware pack with numerous small metal pieces weighing a kilo.
- Rolled plans, instructions, parts lists
- "Albatross Publications" documentation about the Pup
Photo gallery Pup
Specifications:
Scale: 1:3.3 (30%)
Wingspan: 2450 mm (96.5")
Length: 1840 mm (72.5")
Wingarea: 2.3 m2
Wingloading: 60 g/dm2
All up weight: 14 kg with ZG 38SC, reduction gear 2.8:1 and tuned stainless steel silencer #5770.
