Dakota IV FD904

[Miggers]

Looking for pictures/colour details/markings info for Dakota IV FD904.

She was operated by 782 NAS Northern Communication Squadron in 1944,on

the Scottish RN airstations linking run out of Lossie.

Said mugshots/info on her seem(typical wartime FAA)as rare as the proverbial hen's

dental equipment.

Anything anyone?(either on the the hen's teeth or the Dak,but preferably the Dak)

A swanky new Airfix Dak has FD904 on it if anything turns up.

Ta.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Miggers

[Miggers]

Even rarer than the proverbial hen's gnashers it seems.

Just as I suspected really,lots of FAA wartime records went up the chimney long ago.

[Graham Boak]

Finding photos of ANY second-line unit's aircraft is potluck and pure chance, from a very small pool. There are (unusually) a fair number from 782 Sq, but not that one. In this case, although listed in FAA Squadrons, this Dak is not listed in FAA Aircraft of WW2. However in RAF Aircraft FA100-FX999 it is shown to have had a fairly involved career which did not include any mention of transfer to the FAA, so I suspect that in this case it has been wrongly recorded as an FAA aircraft. A photo of FD903 shows the aircraft in standard OD over NG scheme, so if you did want to model FD904 then it's pretty clear what it would have looked like.

[Miggers]

I did wonder myself Graham,a Dak isn't really the sort of kite the FAA would operate.

Though having said that,they ran Blenheims,Havoc/Bostons and a Maryland out of

the Orkney airfields.

I really think you're right on colours too,though a TSS Dak would look great,

(pretty sure the Benheims and Havoc/Bostons were in TSS)stand OD/NG

would be more likely.

Cheers.

[06/24]

Very late to the party, but photo 15 on this page: http://www.raf-in-combat.com/downloads/december-2013-douglas-dakota-11-photos/claims to be FD904, although perhaps after its FAA service?

[Graham Boak]

24 Sq was the RAF's Comms/liaison unit per excellence (and still is) so perhaps that's why it was seen up North. Yes, the Havocs/Bostons were in TSS.

[Miggers]

Very late to the party, but photo 15 on this page: http://www.raf-in-combat.com/downloads/december-2013-douglas-dakota-11-photos/claims to be FD904, although perhaps after its FAA service?

Holy Cow 06!!!!,what a find !!!.

I trawled thinternet and couldn't find a thing for '904.

By the looks of it,she's in standard( as Graham suggested)OD/NG.

Thanks for that.

I thought I'd seen 'em in TSS Graham,looked pretty good actually.

IIRC,the side numbers(T8*G ??)were in yellow too.

[Graham Boak]

T8 would be 771 Sq at Twatt (interesting to see if that gets through the censor): G was a Roc in one incarnation so that would have been a spectacular misidentification! There's nothing in Sky Over Scapa. In FAA Squadrons FD904 is listed against 782 Sq. Donibristle, which is a much likelier unit but I still think it an error. It would have been named Merlin xx or carry codes B8.x

Edited January 29, 2015 by Graham Boak

[Dave Fleming]

They had Wellingstons so a Dakota may not be out the question!

[tonyot]

There was a TSS schemed Dakota with Azure Blue undersides. It appears in a well known colour photo of King George VI visiting troops in Sicily and of course has been finished in the official RAF Transport Command colour scheme. Here is a link;

http://www.raftransportcommandmemorial.com/site/lightbox01_files/vlb_images4/image050.jpg

The TSS is a bit faded, but definitely TSS with Azure Blue undersides.

As for FD904, I would suspect that it may have been on secondment or was carrying senior naval officers on a tour of the north of Scotland?

Cheers

Tony

Edited January 30, 2015 by tonyot

[Graham Boak]

TSS over Azure Blue was the official Transport Command scheme late in the war, so some Dakotas can be expected to have carried the scheme without having anything to do with the FAA. As with the recently-published Stirling picture, and comments from Polish sources, some of the aircraft look much more like Dark Green and Ocean Grey.

[Miggers]

T8 would be 771 Sq at Twatt (interesting to see if that gets through the censor): G was a Roc in one incarnation so that would have been a spectacular misidentification! There's nothing in Sky Over Scapa. In FAA Squadrons FD904 is listed against 782 Sq. Donibristle, which is a much likelier unit but I still think it an error. It would have been named Merlin xx or carry codes B8.x

It was 771 at Twatt and it was in Sky Over Scapa.(superb book)T8*G was just a guess,not seen the book for years.

'904 was with 782 Northern Communication Squadron linking the Scottish RN air stations

with Lee-on-Solent.

[Graham Boak]

It's not in my edition.

[Miggers]

It's not in my edition.

I last saw it in the early '90's in the local library.

[Dave Fleming]

It was re-printed a couple of years ago. Bostons T8B,T8E, T8K are illustrated in the book. I have another pic that shows T8H, T8L, T8D and T8M. In the same shot is a Corsair also wearing T8-L

Edited January 30, 2015 by Dave Fleming

[Graham Boak]

That would have been the first edition. However the second (2007) is fuller, and there's no FD904 photo, no mention in the list of types based, no mention in the monthly movement list, and the only Dakota in the index is a photo of Montgomery who arrived in a USAAF C-47 - the star and bar is visible in the photo. I'm pretty sure that if there'd been a photo of it in the 1991 edition, it would have been included in the later Air Britain FAA Aircraft of WW2, but the only Dak there is a loan of KP222 from BAFO (Germany) to 781X for six months 1945/46. There are no Dakotas in the postwar book.

T8G was W8336 described as Boston III/Turbinlite 7.44-8.45, previously Martinet NR630 6.44-9.44, Chesapeake AL948 5.43-7.43 Henleys carried R5 codes and were too early. FAA Aircraft doesn't have a T8.G code for a Blenheim but V5897 (4.44-6.44) is a possibility. There are a number of other types (Swordfish, Skua, Corsair) which are too numerous to search through. But a Dak is just the wrong type for the unit.