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Aircraft manufacturer’s scale models

It’s always a pleasure to have beautiful scale models available. Here are two pieces that are as exceptional as they are interesting: two helicopters produced by Sud Aviation at the beginning of the 1960s.

The first model represents the prototype of a Puma, or rather more exactly, the “Alouette IV” since this was the name of the prototype. It is also the name that appears on the outer box for the model, the box in which the model has been solidly fixed since its manufacture right up to…the moment these photos below were taken.

There is no signature, inscription nor any particular markings that allow us to identify the manufacturer with certainty. The workmanship makes us believe that it could be Réducta or La Maquette d’Etude et d’Exposition.

The model is in painted wood, with an equipped cockpit, which looks very marvellous on a model of this size, since it is of the scale 1/30 (length of the fuselage: 47cm, not including the rotor). It is a very delicate piece, despite its size and overall form. This is due to the markings, which have been hand-painted, as well as the way the undercarriage and the metal rotors have been made.

The second model is more unusual since it’s a reproduction of a Sikorski H-34, also of the scale 1/30 (the fuselage has the same length as the Puma). Although it is of American production, it has the Sud Aviation logo on it since the French manufacturer made several examples of this machine (about 300).

The model has the same workmanship as the previous one, although there are a few differences. This one has movable wheels, the tail wheel can be swivelled in different directions, there are embedded windows made from plexiglass (apart from the window in the sliding door), some of the decoration has been hand-painted and transfers have been used to make the inscriptions on the vertical stabilizer.

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Sud Aviation AS 330 Puma (circa 1965) - Wood, metal and plexiglass - Size : fuselage length 18.5" (47 cm) , rotor diameter 19.69" (50 cm) - Price : Sold (Currency assistant) - Contact

Sud Aviation (sikorski) H-34 (circa 1960) - Wood, metal and plexiglass - Size : fuselage length 18.5" (47 cm) , rotor diameter 21.61" (55 cm) - Price : Euros Sold (Currency assistant) - Contact

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Aicraft parts, instruments, vintage models, travel agency models,  ... A shop for aviation enthusiasts and collectors, offering rare and original items.

An Air France classic

Among the Air France collector’s items, there are of course, some “classics”. Scale models, posters, ashtrays and particularly perpetual calendars have for the most part had a second life, not only as a collector’s item, but also as an object of decoration. The quality of their manufacture and their beauty has aroused the attention of their original and successive owners, resulting in their arrival here, going beyond their original promotional purpose in life.

These objects were just like the services offered by the company. The company didn’t have cattle to transport from A to B, but actual customers who had the time to appreciate their journey and who enjoyed the attention, care and service bestowed on them. But all this progressively and quickly crumbled with the arrival of jet planes.

The Gerrer perpetual calendar here is an example of this. This manufacturer made several calendars of this type for Air France, on which drawings of the most up-to-date airplanes of that era were shown. There are calendars which show a CD-4, a Super Constellation, a Starliner, a Caravelle, a Boeing 707 and finally, below, one with both a Caravelle and a Boeing 707. This is in fact, the last calendar of this type with a highly decorated pattern on it - the next and last of this type simply have a mirrored surface with the Air France logo and a vague silhouette of an airplane on it. This item, certainly very expensive and so unsuitable, simply disappeared with the event of jet planes and mass transportation.
 

Some think this is too recent, too modern and less well-made than its predecessors, particularly because the casing at the back previously was in wood, rather than moulded plastic. But all that is only a matter of taste and age. Nonetheless, the fact remains that this calendar is a very beautiful object, in full working order and in very good condition, even if occasionally the passage of time has left its mark. It marks even so the arrival of jet planes and has lost nothing of its youth despite being 49 years old !

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Air France perpetual calendar by Gerrer (1961)
  Size : width 9.80" (25 cm) , height 14.57" (37 cm) - Price : Sold ( Currency assistant).

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Aicraft parts, instruments, vintage models, travel agency models,  ... A shop for aviation enthusiasts and collectors, offering rare and original items.

A new start

The New Year is often a time for resolutions. Le Comptoir de l’Aviation has made a few and one of them concerns you particularly. To our impassioned, non-francophone collectors, from today there will be an English version of all the updates to our French website. This isn’t a simple wish, but it is a real commitment. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you very soon and regularly. In the meantime, with the help of these three charming ladies, I wish you all a happy New Year !

Collection or Decoration

Updates are back on the Website with this item, targeting both collectors and aviation enthusiasts. It comes from a F-4 Phantom Martin Baker ejection seat  (MK H7, MK GH-7, Type 7 A1,...).

It is an ejection handle with its very characteristic colors and shape ...

F-4 Phantom ejection handle - Price : Sold
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F-4 Photography : M. Kazuteru Sugawara , Airliners.net.

Aéra aircraft clock

French trade mark Aéra is well known for its instruments, quite prized by old parts collectors. But Aéra had made some clocks as well, and here is a specimen.

This one cannot be dated with certainty but it is dated before 1930 for sure. Several clues come with this idea :

- Its big size – the dial’s size is less than 9 centimeters in diameter and the fixing external crown about 12 centimeters for a bit less than 2 centimeters height !

- The winder’s position – quite characteristic of clocks made in the 20’

- The fact that an equivalent exemplary equipped the Nieuport-Delage NiD-450 hydroplane which was initially made for the Schneider Cup in 1929, but not exactly the same due to the addition of another dial perhaps an elapsed time chronograph.

The watch is in a very good condition considering its age. It’s still working and keeps the time perfectly with about a 60 hours power reserve.

It is a very rare piece which is very different and special compared to other instruments of the same category !

Aéra Paris aircraft clock (circa 1925) - Price : Euros 450
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Gnome Omega engine

Gnome-Rhône is a famous French airplanes’ engine manufacturer since 1915 following the merger of two manufacturers. One of them was Gnome which became famous in 1909 with its first generation of Omega rotative’s engine with which Henri Farman won the world record of distance and length with his plane “Voisin”.

Omega engine was very special because it was a rotative engine,the crankshaft was permanent and the engine was rotating with the propeller at the same time. Here is a very nice scale model made during the manufacturer’s era for its promotion.

The set-up of the model can be surprising , we could think that it should be inverted with the propeller on the foreground. This configuration permits to highlight the engine and the manufacturer’s name.

Indeed, if the model is displayed like this it is because it is the authentic set-up, the one the engine had on the plane – the engine was mounted forwards the airscrew !

Rotative engine, air cooling, 7 cylinder bank, capacity of
8 liters (2.11 gallons), 50 horsepower at around 1200 revs *

The model is of the finest workmanship. The laminated propeller is fixed on a copper painted engine. Both are interdependent and they can turn together as it was the case in reality. The unit is assembled on a ball bearing stand.

This model is very nicely and finely made and is still in an exceptional condition for its almost … 100 years ! Only is to be deplored a very small lack in blade’s tip.  
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* Picture : Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace website

Gnome Omega engine model (circa 1910) coper and wood - Size : base width 16,5 cm,
  engine diameter 5.12" (13 cm), propeller diameter 15" (38 cm), height (engine/propeller)
3.15" (8 cm) - Price : sold (Currency assistant)
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Update in porgress ...

Here are some items already online or coming soon ...

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WWII navigator's instrument

Here is a second World War period Luftwaffe pattern bubble sextant by C. Plath (circa 1942) in fitted wooden case, with instructions (description and drawing) written on aluminium plate under the box lid. The set is original as the box number and the instrument one match.

For more technical information regarding this sextant you can refer to this page (in german) : here

The instrument tag reads : Libellen-Oktant mit Mittlungseinrichtung Bauart (Plath - De Te We) Gerat-Nr 127-134 B1, Werk-Nr 313177 ; Anforderz. FL23750 ; Hersteller : De Te We.

WII German sextant Plath - De Te We (1942) - Price : Euros 400 (Currency assistant)
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M.D. 320 "Hirondelle"

This is not the most well-known Marcel Dassault aircraft and this is not surprising as a single prototype has been built. This project, originally named M.D. 320, then "Hirondelle", was developed as part of a call for tenders from the French Air Force (1967).

The "Hirondelle", built on the airframe characteristics of the Falcon 20, was powered by two turboprop (Turbomeca Astazou) to comply the specifications imposed. Unfortunately, the French Air Force modified those specifications and decided that the new aircraft will be jet-powered. The M.D. 320 project was definitely stopped and was the last Dassault propeller-powered aircraft.

This is the original Dassault promotional model, only a few were made ...

 

  M.D. 320 "Hirondelle"- A full resin model by Reducta - Price : 450 Euros (Currency assistant)
Scale : 1/60 - Length : 8"1/2 (21 cm) - Winspan 9" 4/5 (24,5 cm)
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Model under option

The Potez 840 : the last Potez aircraft

The Potez 840 project was initially developed for domestic airlines. It was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with a cabin for 16 (up to 24) passengers. Unfortunately, the airlines companies were never interested in this aircraft. After a first flight on April 1961 and 4 prototypes built , the Potez 840 was the last aircraft to be built by Potez. Here is a very nice - and rare ! - metal model of this elegant prototype.
 

  Potez 840, a metal model by Fradet - Price : Sold
Scale 1/100 : length  10" 2/3 (26,5 cm) - wingspan 12" 5/4 (32 cm)

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