RichardPrice

The Revell Airbus A350-900 or Boeing 787 are both very good models.

Have the CAA surveyed all Hunter operators as part of this investigation? Did they find endemic issues with maintaining this type? Or did they just ground the entire type off the basis of investigating an incident involving one airframe that had maintenance failings? No, the people who died and were injured didn't deserve what they ended up with - but what they ended up with didn't happen because the aircraft was a Hunter or even because it was this Hunter. There were maintenance failings, but they didn't contribute to the incident. So why ground the Hunter, and why ground *just* the Hunter. And why to *continue* to ground the Hunter? If there is an endemic issue with maintenance of private aircraft, then that needs to be dealt with across the board. Instead we have one type grounded. Its ridiculous.

I am in agreement with you on that, in that I think the CAA took this as an advantageous time to get the Hunter out from civilian operations. Personally I think the CAA are trying to achieve a "zero jets" policy in private non-commercial hands, and that will be the end of that.

So, are Hunters as a type still grounded, or are competent pilots allowed to fly them again...?

Oooh, can you ask someone there why the heck the nose gear door is a noticable amount shorter than the gear well?! Its been bugging me for years, have never been able to get an answer

1:72, definitely 1:72

While we are on the topic, does anyone know of anywhere selling a Testors/Italeri YF-12 kit?

Nothing public at the moment, but I can post it when I make it if you want.

Airfix stands are flipping terrible though, I have a few in the attic, should bin them. Main issue is lack of height - by 3d printing, I can "stack" aircraft vertically in a cabinet without the bother of a shelf...

No and no. The instructions also don't provide a gear up option either, but the gear bays do fit the holes. I'm building one wheels up, and will design a stand for it for 3d printing.

While this is being talked about, if anyone has any spare engines from one of these, I could exchange them for some beer tokens... I have a quad engine what-if coming up and dont want to ruin a perfectly good second kit just for its engines.

Does this help?

I would disagree with this because it ignores the fact that the F-117 is *specifically* designed to reflect EM in given ways, and the faceted design used would reflect sound away from its source just as well. The issue isn't simply curves and angled surfaces, its curves and angled surfaces designed in a specific way - you cant just daub EM absorbing paint on a normal airliners fuselage and expect a significant reduction in radar return simply because its curved, because it doesn't work like that, the curves and angles have to be designed to direct the return away from the source. So it would not surprise me at all if any creature using echo location would have difficulty around the F-117...

I am surprised no one has started a build thread on the Victor yet - I've just unboxed and primed mine (I always prime mine on the sprue, its just how I like it) but don't want to be the first to do a thread

I take it it broke down on the second day this year then? Really enjoyed that display and the various F-35s displays on the Saturday But yes, a B-1 display would be amazing - I remember it from a decade ago, but it did go from a full display to a single fly over in consecutive years.

Controversial I know, but I saw the Thunderbirds a decade or so ago at RIAT and I was severely underwhelmed - the display was slow, sometimes minutes between passes. If this is the USAF 70th, I'm hoping we might see the USAF return to RIAT in force - would be nice to see B-52s, B-1Bs etc parked on the apron again. Thats what I will be buying tickets to see

My advice - don't cancel, instead issue a charge back through your credit card citing the post-purchase increase in fees over those advertised as fraudulent. Because thats what they are - fraudulent. A charge back should get you 100% back, fees and all. It will also hurt Hattons as it acts as a black mark on their merchant account.

Off topic, but related - several years ago I had to post two hard disks back to the manufacturer for a warranty replacement. I packaged them up, took them to the local Post Office, and sent them Special Delivery (insured, tracked and signed for) to the RMA address in Germany. Two days later they turned up at my house - Royal Mail had returned them to me because Special Delivery wasnt available on international parcels. Would of thought that the Post Office would know that. Would have thought that the Post Offices computer system wouldnt have allowed the purchase of that product on entry of a foreign postal code as proof of postage... I had to go through the regulator to get my money back on that one.

Oh goodness, my first kit was a Red Arrows Gnat, built with my dad back in something like 1983/84 - I distinctly remember it because I had to be kept away from my sister, who had just been born, so my dad and I had the back room to ourselves. I had been in to Warrington military hospital that week to have my tonsils out, and come down with chicken pox the day after the op - they had to shut the ward because of me!

No bomb bay doors means no purchase for me.

Yes, because BAE ain't making any more The point is that the RAFs replacement for the Hawk T1 is the Hawk T2. That decision has already been made, further purchases will certainly be made in the future. Moving one training squadron to Typhoons and reallocating that squadrons Hawk buy to the Red Arrows keeps it essentially cost neutral and achieves the goal of doing something with the early Typhoons that won't be upgraded (the recent SDSR mentioned something along similar lines iirc).

But there are plans to move them over to the T2 eventually, as the Hawk T1 will be phased out across the RAF, and thats the switchover I'm talking about - moving certain training squadrons over to the Eurofighter frees up T2s with no additional purchase needed as they are part of the planned buy.

The way I read the long term plan several months ago, one of the Hawk training units that provides aggressor aircraft for training may be moved over to Typhoon F.2s, freeing up new or low hour Hawk T2s for the Red Arrows. Not sure if that will come to fruition however.

None yet.

Thanks for the reply Glen, but unfortunately neither of those sets are available any more, and I cant find any KC-135R kit around at all - even the expensive ones on Ebay have gone