the Miles M.52 (and its little orange thief)

**Paper Kosmonaut** · #1 03-01-2013, 05:51 PM

I presume you all know the story of the Miles M.52 and how the X-1 more or less stole its most distinctive feature and took the grand prize in the end.
If not, I guess you check the wiki on the M.52, it really is an interesting piece of history. (there's a Youtube clip here and unfortunately it's very Clarkson but there's some nice footage and storylines).
I have heard Yeager boast more than once that it was they who invented that magical flying tail. I still think, if it wasn't for its premature cancellation, the M.52 would have beat the pants off the X-1.
Anyway, that's not what happened and the X-1 in al its orange glory got away with it. Now it is celebrated as a heroic little plane. And of course it is. In all its shortcomings, it still managed to bust the speed of sound by sheer force.
However, I wanted to put the M.52 back in the picture. It was a pioneer in aviation history but it perished before its heydays could take place. This is a little homage to the M.52 and its little "thief".

I first wanted it to be just a little inbetweenie build project for myself, but after showing it to my girlfriend, who normally doesn't give a flying hoot about airplanes and my hobby in general, she said she found both planes and their display really nice and inspiring. She said I should share it with you lot. So here they are.

Both kits are found in the downloads section. I printed them out in 1/72 and tinkered a little with the logos and roundels on Gary Pilsworth's X-1. (hope you don't mind, Gary, the model is great to make!) and I discoloured the M.53 to print it out on aluminium coloured paper. I further detailed both of the canopies with pieces of deep dark blue transparent stage light gel filter (I have some sample books left over from the time I was a lighting technician in a rock club here in town) and I used tiny strips of aluminium sticky tape (painted black on the X-1) for the framework. The M.52 also has some shiny aluminium parts around the inlet and exhaust pipe.

PS. I found it necessary to shame the X-1 for a moment, on its delinquent act of stealing the flying tail, In the way like people tend to do with their pets these days. (-;

Hope you like them as a duo.

Cheers!

**MacSongLi** · #2 03-01-2013, 07:21 PM

The things that I learn by paper modelling. They are both beautiful builds. I really like your presentation. Very original.

Great Job!
Gary

**SAustin16** · #3 03-02-2013, 09:12 AM

PK,

I agree with Mac on all points. Wonderful presentation.

My Dad was President of Shorts USA, which marketed the Shorts 330/360 commuter airliners, which were based on the Shorts Skyvan, which was based on the Miles Aerovan.

Like you indicated, we sometimes forget that "our invention" is based on someone else's idea or actual product. I like when people set the story straight.

Cheers from Texas

**rmks2000** · #4 03-02-2013, 10:22 AM

Nice builds and thanks for the little bit of history. I was completely unaware of it.

**RickTNRebel** · #5 03-04-2013, 10:49 AM

Really nice builds! I've been kicking around that gel film idea, too. It is true the Brits solved the buffeting problem with the moveable horizontal stabilizer, as opposed to an elevator attached to a fixed horizontal stab. They should've gotten the credit and although it's not general public knowledge, all of us who've spent their lives around aircraft know the truth about breaking the sound barrier! Little known too, is how much technology the allieds confiscated (and freely copied) from the Germans and the Japanese.

**Paper Kosmonaut** · #6 03-04-2013, 11:35 AM

Indeed, Rick. Lots of later design features on allied aircraft were fully traceable to German origin. Both the X-1 and the M.52 already were to far ahead in their design stage at the end of the war to incorporate the swept wing design, which was added on both the De Havilland Swallow and the F-86 Sabre, which were developed just after the war when both the British and the Americans could more or less choose from all kinds of exotic and innovative designs from the Germans. The Germans even were experimenting with forward swept wings.
I think this part of aviation history, the late WWII years and the decade thereafter, is immensely interesting. The big leaps engineers took in that time, developing aircraft from propeller-driven, half-wooden crates to fast, hurtling pieces of fine machinery with jets.
It must have been a Valhalla for pilots in these days, don't you think?

Oh, and by the way, thank you all for the kind words!