The
fluid, graceful lines of Giuseppe Bellanca’s designs have always
captivated me.
From his drafting board took off many
inspired creations of the sort of what has come to be known as a
“Classic”.
The Bellanca CF was based upon
the then in vogue “limousine” configuration, a sort of extrapolation
of the coach or carriage arrangement, with four passengers inside the
fuselage in two rows facing each other and the pilot, of course, facing
the wind in an open cockpit. The wing was supported on what will become a
Bellanca trademark, the treatment of the wing struts integrated in a sort
of smaller, auxiliary wing.
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images below to see larger images
The CF was the first in a series of cabin planes, and soon after being
flown for the first time it was presented at a series of events where it
earned a very good reputation for its reliable and remarkable performance.
No series production followed, but
undoubtedly it spawned a line of successors and inspired more than one
aircraft designer.
The model represents an early version, with squared wing tips and a small,
slightly displaced to the left cockpit opening.
The interior was allotted with
the passenger seats and basic paraphernalia for the pilot. About the engine I
replicated for the model I would like to say, loosely quoting George Orwell,
that all the cylinders are created equal, but some are more equal than others.
The only tiny decal on the rudder was made to
match a photo, not the beautifully restored machine at NASM.
Besides the canvas, the
airframe was partially covered in mahogany, which I replicated with the well
known trick of spraying a light-colored base (orange in this case) and then make
a few passes with a wide brush with oil paint of an appropriate color (crimson
red with a micro-smidge of black).
As usual, I won’t mention any
inaccuracies, boo-boos and so forth, in a shameless attempt to make you believe
that I am a good modeler.
All components were
scratch-built, less the wheels, which came from a donor in the small pile of my
“normal” kits, now lying hopelessly at the bottom of my closet.
Now I will have to build my
wonderful other Bellanca, the CH 400 Skyrocket from Khee Kha Art Productions to
get a companion for the CF!
Gabriel
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images below to see larger images
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