Paul Bradley Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 A photo I acquired recently. It's Sea Fury VR951, Q/108(?) of 802 Sqn, HMS Vengeance. It was probably taken during the cruise off South Africa in 1948, alongside some other, familiar, photos that you see in the books. My question is - where was this taken? It is likely South Africa. The control tower/terminal/watch office complex is quite distinctive, but I've been unable to find a photo of anything remotely similar. Does anyone know where this was/is? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 http://www.hms-vengeance.co.uk/vengitin2.htm This gives a bit of detail about the 1948 visit to South Africa however it says the seven Sea Furies did a 2000 mile goodwill tour. Not exactly an answer but perhaps a starting point? Richard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Anyone in South Africa who might be familiar with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockSteady Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 I'd recognize that beautiful old tower anywhere Paul, it's the tower at AFB Swartkop just outside Valhalla near Pretoria. I used to be stationed there at a unit called JARIC before the unit moved to AFB Waterkloof (Kloof). Is it for a project you're working on? Anyway hope that information helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hi! Are there oil stains on the undercarriage doors? Quite a distance from the fuselage to originate from an engine, I guess. Could at least some of those stains be hydraulic fluid from the propeller's constant speed unit? Regards Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coors54 Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 With the doors closed any oil from the engine could/would run around the door edges thus going further outboard than the fuselage centre line? I can't imagine it's from the prop, that much oil would indicate a catastrophic failure of the constant speed unit, and the spinner doesn't look excessively dirty but the fuselage aft of the exhaust looks a bit oily..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAVY870 Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hi! Are there oil stains on the undercarriage doors? Quite a distance from the fuselage to originate from an engine, I guess. Could at least some of those stains be hydraulic fluid from the propeller's constant speed unit? Regards Jure With the doors closed any oil from the engine could/would run around the door edges thus going further outboard than the fuselage centre line? I can't imagine it's from the prop, that much oil would indicate a catastrophic failure of the constant speed unit, and the spinner doesn't look excessively dirty but the fuselage aft of the exhaust looks a bit oily..... From my experience operating these things on the RAN Historic Flight it will be oil that has blown out of the bottom exhausts and made its way down to the lower fuselage and out into the slip stream. The Centaurus is a filthy thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hi! Yes, oil from exhaust would also explain stains/dirt on the lower wing surface between the leading edge and the undercarriage doors. Browsing through various publications showed that oil stained surfaces had been quite common on Sea Fury. Steve, I assume oil had been dripping from the engine into the lowest of the exhausts between flights? Regards Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 I'd recognize that beautiful old tower anywhere Paul, it's the tower at AFB Swartkop just outside Valhalla near Pretoria. I used to be stationed there at a unit called JARIC before the unit moved to AFB Waterkloof (Kloof). Is it for a project you're working on? Anyway hope that information helps. Thanks for the info, sir! This was indeed for a project - a caption for my book, now published, but adds another brick to the Great Wall of Knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 From my experience operating these things on the RAN Historic Flight it will be oil that has blown out of the bottom exhausts and made its way down to the lower fuselage and out into the slip stream. The Centaurus is a filthy thing. The AD Skyraider was the same, and a bugger to keep clean - many a petrol-soaked rag went through my hands..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAVY870 Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hi! Yes, oil from exhaust would also explain stains/dirt on the lower wing surface between the leading edge and the undercarriage doors. Browsing through various publications showed that oil stained surfaces had been quite common on Sea Fury. Steve, I assume oil had been dripping from the engine into the lowest of the exhausts between flights? Regards Jure Usually oil thats collected in the bottom cylinders getting blown out on start up, one of the joys of sleeve valve engines is they dont clear the oil on the preflight pull through like a poppet valve engine does. The AD Skyraider was the same, and a bugger to keep clean - many a petrol-soaked rag went through my hands..... Ah yes, the dreaded "Occers wash" For some reason I got really bad dermatitis when I started working on radial engined aircraft. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Steve, thank you for the information about sleeve valves. I apologise for veering even further away from the topic, but does that mean that there is no need to drain off excessive oil with Centaurus after flight? Regards Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockSteady Posted June 19, 2016 Share Posted June 19, 2016 Thanks for the info, sir! This was indeed for a project - a caption for my book, now published, but adds another brick to the Great Wall of Knowledge. You're welcome although it sounds like I may have been a little too late. I'm intrigued however, what's the name of your book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) Modellers' Datafile Scaled Down - the Hawker Sea Fury http://www.sampublications.com/www.sampublications.com/books/mdf-scaled-down/mdf-scaled-down-4-the-sea-fury/prod_1018.html (For which I have finally received my copy! ) Edited June 20, 2016 by Paul Bradley 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Congratulations on your book, Paul (and to finally receiving a copy - one the strangest experiences about my Il-2 book was being told how nice it was by people who had already bought it whilst I had yet to receive my copy!). Your Sea Fury book is definitely on on my list of to-buy books. I believe the (Sea) Fury is the most beautiful radial-engined fighter ever built and always a favourite of mine. Regards, Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 Cheers, Jason! Yes, it has been rather weird, but now I can add it to my book shelf. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now