James Hay Stevens and Skybirds

[grwebster]

Hi - Have found a named list of most of the James Hay Stevens 1/32 scratch built model planes that he constructed as a teenager back in the late 1920's and early 30's. When GR is able to assist me with uploading photos to the website then I intend to show Skybirds as well as JHS's creations, which in 1932 led to the manufacture of Skybirds at half of his scale, namely 1/72 (although I believe the first kits were marketed at 1/70 scale).
I cannot be totally sure that the planes have been correctly ID'd - they have been done by someone with far more aeronautical knowledge than me so hopefully they are right!
The 1/36 planes by JHS are as follows:
1) Desoutter Sports Coupe (1G -AAPK)
2) DH 65
3) Fairey Fox
4) Fairey 111F
5) Roland D2
6) Hawker Fury (3-man RAF biplane bomber)
7) Westland Wigeon 111 (monoplane G-EBRL)
8) Blackburn Bluebird (G-EBRE)
9 )Primary Glider (Southend Aero Club)
10) Sailplane
11) Boulton Paul Sidestrand

The Sidestrand is the largest of the JHS models that I have, and is certainly very impressive! It's believed he made quite a number more of these planes but whether they are still in existance somewhere isn't known. Apparently it was a Comper Swift that JHS showed to my grandfather that paved the way for the idea of Skybirds and introduced the 1/72 scale to the world.
Hope to get some photos on line in next few days.

Graham

[angelreader]

Right Graham here are some instructions re placing photographs here for you,before we can do anything you need to go here http://photobucket.com/ simply sign up for a free account,once you do this you can easily upload the pictures to that site which will be the holding files for your pictures,once you have done this then we can take you to the next stage,placing pictures here is easy and once you have done one you will see how simple it is,but first things first so go and get your account sorted,we can talk you through the procedure.

I am very intrigued by the selection of aeroplanes picked by JHS for those early models,his formulae was simplicity but certainly capturing the individual style,I notice that he never rigged his models either ? unless those original ones are,really looking forward to seeing these early gems that I never imagined would have survived so long,to see them surface like this is nothing short of remarkable,but that is collecting for you there are always surprises in store especially when you meet the right people with passion for their chosen subject matter.

Once we get the early material on then we can start discussing the many and varied accessories, a lot of these I have never ever seen,it would be interesting to see a copy of the advertisements for Skybirds to get a feel for what was on offer,it would also serve to show those members here on MAC the sheer diversity of models and allied accessories spoken about.

Barry.

[angelreader]

Do not worry about the ID's of these models,I will go through them carefully and check that the types are spot on for the record.

Barry.