davecov

I thought I would now reveal the subject of my research. It involves a murder. At 10am on the morning of 19th January 1939, a nightwatchman was cycling along Wood Lane, South Hornchurch and saw a bundle in a ditch. On closer inspection he saw a body of a nine-year old girl. The girl was on an old mattress and had been trussed up with her legs forced against her chest. She was naked apart from a white petticoat pulled up around her neck. The man ran to the nearest house which belonged to the Wing Commander of RAF Hornchurch Airfield which was close by. The Wing Commander's batman phoned the police. The girl was examined at the scene by a doctor at 1120 am who confirmed that she had been dead for several hours. The subsequent autopsy was carried out by the eminent Home Office pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury. Police interviewed many people including more than a dozen airman from RAF Hornchurch. However, their main suspect was Leonard Richardson who went on trial at the Old Bailey, London on 27th March 1939. A lot of the evidence was circumstantial and the jury informed the judge that there was insufficient evidence for the case to proceed further. The judge formally acquitted Leonard Richardson and he was free to go. Nobody else has ever been charged over the murder and it remains unsolved to this day. The little girl was Pamela Doreen Coventry, my father's cousin. Dave

Thanks Steve. We have. I had the same dates but need to know that he was definitely there and if there were any other Wing Commanders at RAF Hornchurch during this month. The reason for wanting confirmation will become clearer when I spill the beans about my quest! BTW, my mum still lives in Deere Avenue which Gillam Way comes off. Dave

I built three car kits before I left school and joined the RN in the latter half of the Seventies. They were the Airfix 1/32 Bentley, Airfix 1/32 917 Porsche and the Tamiya 1/12 Ferrari 312T. They all ended up being binned by my mother. Dave

A recent post about RAF Hornchurch has rekindled my quest for some information about it. I realise there are some places where I could ask this query (such as the Hornchurch Aerodrome Historical Trust) but I thought I would only try them if I couldn't find the answer from fellow forum members. My query is who was the Wing Commander of RAF Hornchurch in January 1939? Note that I need to know who it was during January 1939 only. I believe there were three squadrons at Hornchurch at the time, 74, 54 and 65 Squadrons and I think that a Wing Commander CT Walkington may have been in command. Could there have been more than Wing Commander at the time? There is a family connection with whoever the Wing Commander was but I won't reveal the nature of the connection until I know the answer! All I can say is that the Wing Commander in question was not a relative. BTW, I grew up close to RAF Hornchurch airfield and used to play on it when I was a nipper! My mother still lives in a house that was built right next to the airfield in the Sixties and I used The Good Intent pub during the Seventies. The streets where I grew up were named after many famous RAF pilots and aircraft, Deere, Malan, Bader, Tuck, Finucane, Bouchier etc, Dave

Looking forward to seeing the finished article. When I was in the RN stationed in Pompey, my mate had one of these and he swore that if he had to do an emergency stop, the chassis would stop but the bodywork would keep going, it being so full of rust. Dave

Thanks everybody for your kind comments. I have had a soft spot for Concorde ever since she first took to the skies and so many memories flood back building these models. The 21st January 1976 was my sister's 24th birthday but was memorable for another reason too. I was 17 and bunked off school and travelled across London by Underground/Bus to Heathrow where I saw Concorde take off on the first scheduled passenger flight to Bahrain. The 14th October 2013 was another memorable day when I went onboard Concorde G-BOAA at the National Museum of International Flight, East Fortune. Dave

My build of the Airfix 1/144 BAC Aerospatiale Concorde (08666) A straight OOB build of one of my favourite aircraft in my favourite BA scheme. Although the Airfix boxing used was from 2005, the Seventies BA decals came from the Airfix boxing from that time: BTW, this is the first of four simultaneous Concorde builds that I am doing for a Concorde GB over on the ATF. 1. British Airways, 2. BOAC Prototype, 3. BAC Prototype, 4. Air France Prototype: Hopefully, it won't be long before the rest are completed. Dave

I hadn't realised the Marina mould had been damaged, Ratch. Still, I must make the one in the stash if only to annoy the collectors. Dave

@fightersweep I think the Morris Marina would sell very well too: I would buy a couple to go with this one which I bought for an arm and a leg last year. In fact it was my third most expensive purchase of a kit, EVER, which I am sure will mean Airfix will re-release it for peanuts! Dave

How can such a beauty (!) as a Maxi not sell: If Airfix don't re-release it, then I will be building this one next year. Dave

I have given up making wishlists although I would love to see an HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier model, no matter the scale! However, my purchase record of second hand Airfix kits is a good barometer of what to expect each year. Last year I bought the following Airfix oldies for more than a few bob: Beach Buggy Jaguar 420 Prototype Concorde Fieseler Storch Henschel Hs123A-1 HS 121 Trident 1C Panzer IV Savoia-Marchetti SM79 HS Dominie T.1 DUKW Graf Spee de Havilland Heron Mk.II Wasa Golden Hind Maserati Indy They were all re-released! Others that I bought include: Austin Maxi Bond Bug Morris Allegro BHC SR.N4 Hovercraft Sunbeam Rapier Mercedes 280 SL Renault Dauphine Vauxhall Victor 2000 Estate Ariel Arrow BMW R69 BSA C15 Honda CB450 Leopard Tank Chieftain Tank Centurion Tank Saunders Roe SR.53 Jet/Rocket Interceptor Will any of them see the light of day? We will see.... Dave

I bought the Strategic Air Command DVD (James Stewart) recently as it is one of my favourite films and this take-off always makes me smile: Dave

Hi Michael, the box-style has changed over the decades which helps identify when the kits were produced. The Airfix SR.N4 came out in 1970 and was in a "red-stripe" boxing until 1972: (Thanks to Scalemates) In 1972 came this boxing where the red stripe was replaced by a red Airfix logo and the lettering changed. This was used until 1975: (DaveCov) In 1975 or 76, this boxing appeared which lasted until 1979 when Airfix withdrew the SR.N4 from production (Thanks to Scalemates) From 1994 to 2003 Airfix released it again in this boxing which came with transparencies that yellow with time: (DaveCov) The Airfix Tribute Forum has a History of Airfix Kits section and you can read the entry for the Airfix SR.N4 here. Scalemates has an entry for the Airfix SR.N4 here. Both sites show the history of releases for the kit and box arts but whilst the ATF concentrates solely on Airfix kits, Scalemates covers all manufacturers kits and accessories. Dave

As I said in an earlier post, I have had an Ultra for over ten years and it has always produced good results. Other H&S ones and other makes have been a disappointment but I am not somebody who sticks to one make. I just want airbrushes that work for me and if I end up with three airbrushes from three different manufacturers then so be it. One make that I had never tried is Iwata but that is due to change (courtesy of this thread). Sitting on my desk right now is an Iwata Revolution HP-CR3 that has just arrived courtesy of Mr Postie. I will be giving it a go later in the week. I have also purchased an extender so that I can put the back-end of my H&S Infinity CR Plus onto my Ultra to give it just a little more control as arthritis is becoming an increasing problem. Dave

When I got home last night, this was waiting for me: A Seventies boxing that should have better transparencies than the later boxing I built above. Definitely a project for 2022. Dave