Dassault Mirage III
Built in 1974. The Dassault Mirage III was a model aircraft designed to take a pulse jet. It was an exact replica of the aircraft that was flown by the Commanding Officer of 77 Squadron, and in Tex's own words the best looking model that he'd ever built.
"I built the model from the actual engineering drawings and plans, and didn't know what all the instruments meant. The cockpit of this particular model replicated every single instrument that was in the plans. When it was displayed in front of the Commanding Officer, questions were asked about where I'd gotten the information for those instruments. There was a question as to whether the model breached "national security" as there were secret instruments in the cockpit that only go in at times of war, not that I knew any different.
Whenever I build any kind of model I go in to a massive amount of research. I had to explain that I had a copy of the genuine plans, which was a surprise to them.
The Commanding Officer asked for it to be displayed at a farewell dinner for his retirement and as this was a public event, they had a cardboard canopy that fitted over the top of the clear canopy so people couldn't see inside it. I was disappointed because I had spent many hours creating the internal area of the cockpit, only for no one to see it." - Tex
Flirtation with Jet Power
In the spirit of accuracy Tex attempted to put a jet engine in to the model. He treasured the Mirage, so prior to installing a jet engine he wanted to test it on a makeshift aeroplane to make sure that it was safe.
A makeshift craft made from a straight board wing and a flat stick body was put together, and the jet engine was strapped to it. The jet engine was powered by a 16 ounce fuel tank of super petrol and started with a battery to the globe plug and a car tire pump. Air was pumped through the venturi, which sucked the fuel through and atomised it, and then it ignited.
"We pumped like mad and this sound came out of it - CRRUMPPP - then it nothing. So we'd start over, pumping like mad, this CRUMMP noise would sound, but it kept snuffing itself out.
I was testing it in front of all my peers at RAAF Base Williamtown. There was 25-30 of them and they were all crowded around this tiny little spot where we were pumping away. Then, without warning the engine started!
I do not remember standing up to hold it, but suddenly I had this plane in my hands with 17 inches of fire coming out the back end of it making the worst possible sound and all the mates that were standing around me where nowhere to be seen.
We knew that the aircraft had to be in the air in seconds because the heat would have melted the engine, so we had to pull the fuel line off to stop the engine because we couldn't get it in the air fast enough.
That was my first introduction to jet power." - Tex
Not one to give up easily, Tex became determined to see the makeshift plane fly. Together with a friend, he had another attempt at getting it off the ground.
"we pumped and pumped and got it started. I dropped the fuel pump and ran like mad to pick up the control line. I yelled to let it go, but he had already dropped it because it was burning him. The plane was roaring around in circles around his feet while he did a Zorba like dance. It crashed in to his legs and caught fire." - Tex
Needless to say, Tex decided jet powered engines were a bad idea.
Ducted Fan
It was a dream of Tex's to see the Mirage fly and at the time a new venture in the modeling industry had brought out ducted fans which replicated a jet engine. Tex purchased one to fit in to the Mirage and decided to test it on the hard stand at RAAF Base Williamtown.
"We started the engine. It looked good and sounded great. However, it was no match for the weight of the plane and had way insufficient power to get it off the ground. It turned the Mirage in to a very sleek, very fast, racing car, as it tore around in a circle on the ground." - Tex
It was too big a job to make adjustments for the model to fly with ducted air. The Mirage became a static model which never left the ground.
The Mirage was donated to a community group, who Tex can no longer recall (after the offending instruments were removed, of course). 10 years later in Wagga he was approached by a civilian who knew of his reputation with model aircraft and had a plane that needed repair. Tex agreed to look at it and when he brought it out to him it turned out to be the same Mirage. It had obviously passed hands a number of times over the years and was in dire need of repair.
Tex fixed it up, repainted it and never saw it again.
Tex Bryson and Mick Welch hold the RC Hercules, with the Dassault Mirage III displayed in front. By this time, the ducted fan engine had been removed and it was just a static model.
