Jet Provost T.3 Landing Gear (Airfix)
Thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us improved metal landing gear for the new 1/72 Airfix Jet provost T.3, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.
Another of SAC’s expansive line of white metal upgrades to the basic kit plastic! The set consists of six parts: Two duplicate sets of main struts and nose gear for the kit.
Not much to say here; build your kit, leave off the kit gear, and install the SAC gear. Paint, add the painted wheels, paint the nose tire, and you are done.
You can see by the ‘before and after painting” pictures that I’m getting old and sloppy, but you get the idea. The nose gear has the anti-shimmy tire incorporated along with the gear, which makes it a better option because the kit gear has the tire split to account for the raised side portions of the anti-shimmy tire. It’s easier!
Fun, real aviation fact: The reason for the anti shimmy tire is, (before we had good nose and tail gear steering and such), the way to turn was with main wheel brakes. With a mechanically or hydraulically damped nose gear shimmy is removed, but a free-castoring nose or tail gear without the center radial cutout has a tendency to “shimmy” back and forth like a tire on a shopping cart/buggy at high speeds, which can ruin your takeoff or landing when the gear fails from stress. The raised outside surfaces “dampen” the tendency to shimmy, allowing the nose or tail gear to track straight down the runway where you want it.
This is a small package for a small model, and since you get two duplicate sets of gear is good value for money along with economy of scale. Max ratings, and much thanks to Ross and his crew for filling this modeling niche, and IPMS USA for the forum to review such items.
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