Jure Miljevic

They are moulded in one piece with upper wing half so, yes, they probably are thick enough. Cheers Jure

Hello Thank you, Work in progress. I have ancient Matchbox B mk.IX/NF mk.XXX kit in my stash and was toying with an idea of grafting on the old Airfix FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II/Mk.XVIII kit engines, shortening horizontal tail etc to transform it into E0234. With fabric covered ailerons of the prototype the conversion would be one step shorter. However, while fabric on Matchbox kit tail control surfaces looks passable, ailerons have thick trailing edges and pronounced fabric sagging. Oh, well ... Cheers Jure

Hello, I understand production aircraft had aluminium foil covered ailerons, but what about E0234? Did the first prototype in her initial form had fabric covered ailerons? Cheers Jure

Hello, tempestfan There is An-3, which is a turboprop version of An-2M. I vaguely remember one of them flying to South pole decade or two ago. Cheers Jure

Hello cduckworth Thank you for that information. Clear prop! I-16 kit in 1/72 includes both early and late (with false ribs to retain proper conture) upper wing halves. If their 1/48 kit is going to be the same, we can expect new I-16 kit subtypes from that manufacturer in the future. Cheers Jure

Hello, Mark Eduard produced I-16 type 10 Super Mosca, but since the plastic is the same in all of their I-16 boxes, one can build Type 10 from their Type 17, 24 and 29 kits, with suitable decals of course. I have 1/48 Academy and MPM I-16 Type 24 kits in my stash, and IIRC the latter also contains decals for post-SCW Spanish machine. However, although I only had had a cursory look at the Eduard kit, it is without the question much better choice. Republicans also flew regular I-16 Type 6 (and perhaps even Type 5) Moscas. Unfortunately I have no idea which manufacturer produces kits of these versions in 1/48. Cheers Jure

Hello, tempestfan Yes, and the revised H-6N nuclear bomber is re-engined, re-build version with new electronics and (possibly) armed with air-launched version of hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile DM-21 (here). Cheers Jure

Hello, for cross-kitting one can use the old Miroslav Nemecek kit here. I got one as a gift decades ago. Back than, it did not look too bad, although IIRC the fuselage was a bit short, probably made to match published length of Bf 109 E's fuselage which for decades had been incorrectly given as 8,64 m. The kit also contains extra upper halfs and ailerons of folding wing sections. I thought I might cross-kit it with one of ICM's Bf 109 E kits. However, although MN kits' wings looked reasonably good a quarter of a century or so ago I would have to dig it out and give it another critical look first. Cheers Jure

Hello! My apologies for a tardy response. Here is an extract from Slovene translation of Vasiliy Yemelyanenko's book In the savage air of war. The action took place on 9th January 1943. Two Il-2 single-seaters (Snr. Lt. Yemelyanenko and Sergeant Peter Ciganov) from 7th GShAP were tasked with low-level attack on train concentration on Nagutskaya railway station. On arrival over the target they ascended to the height of 50 m when an unknown twin-tailed enemy aircraft, flying on the same level towards Mineralniyi Vodi, crossed their path from starboard to port. Twin vertical tails convinced Yemelyanenko this was a Bf 110 and after a brief hesitation he opened fire. The aircraft was hit, turned right, and after another burst of fire spiralled to the ground, trailing thick black smoke. Yemelyanenko and Ciganov proceeded with their mission but the latter disappeared shortly after leaving the target. Only a few days later Nagutskaya was liberated and 7th GShAP transferred to the airstrip near the railway station. There they found a burnt-out wreck of Ju 86. According to Yemelyanenko the version was Ju 86 K, and he took a souvenir from the plane's starboard engine, a circular BMW factory emblem. Also, they found remains of the crashed Il-2 and the grave of Sergeant Ciganov who, following the attack, hit the top of the nearby hillock. Photo of that plane is published in Oleg Rastrenin's book Il-2 shturmovik guards units of WW 2 (Osprey). Its caption says this was a reconnaissance Ju 86 K, shot down by Yemelyanenko, flying Il-2 as an improvised fighter. This sounds a bit odd to me as I thought the only reconnaissance Ju 86s were high altitude Ju 86 P planes with diesel engines, and the aircraft on the photo clearly has radial engines. Ju 86 K designation covered export machines, powered with variety of engines, all radial. IIRC the only Ju 86 K with BMW engines in Luftwaffe service were a dozen of ex-Austrian machines with BMW 132s, which fell back into German hands on Anschluss in March 1938. Unless Yemelyanenko made a mistake, the plane that met her fate on the Northern Caucasus was a rare bird indeed. Cheers Jure

Hello, great list GRM, thank you very much! A model of Ju 86 from Stalingrad airlift is high on my wish list, too, but so far I only found a handful of photos with Ju 86 E-1 in the background and one of the captured Ju 86 G. Soviet Il-2 pilot Yemelyanenko described in his book, how he shot down one of the Ju 86 transports head-on, mistakenly believing he attacked Bf 110, until he inspected the wreckage later. I am away from my bookshelf at the moment, but will provide more details when I return home. Cheers Jure

True, I did not think about it. Cheers Jure

Same here, thanks Mike. Cheers Jure

Hello J-W I understand Ju 88 part of the Mistel 1 composite had JuMo 211 J engines with bulged lower cowlings, and Ju 88 A-5 had earlier JuMos without bulges. Zvezda kit is A-5, but I have not seen one in flesh so perhaps it includes both types of cowlings. I know scratch-building those bulges is a walk in a park for a modeller of your calibre, but why saddling yourself with extra work unnecessarily? Cheers Jure

Very useful source of information, thank you, Mike! I have 1/72 Trumpeter kit (I know!) waiting to be build into a late 318 FIS aircraft and the video will certainly help. Cheers Jure

Hello Dennis During the war Yak-1, Yak-3, Yak-7 and Yak-9 had been flown by Polish pilots in Soviet service. Post-war Yak-9 piston-engined fighters had been used and later Yak-17 jet fighters, but these were more or less only conversion trainers for Yak-23 fighters: https://www.polot.net/en/jakowlew-jak-17-17-w-178 https://alchetron.com/Yakovlev-Yak-23 (By the way the natural metal Yak-23 without markings on the webpage above is Romanian air force machine during testing in Yugoslavia. Her pilot got lost and landed in Batajnica, where the aircraft was duly tested, and then lent to Americans. They tested her in full USAF markings under spurious designation X-5, then returned the plane to Yugoslavia, which returned the well-travelled Yak-23 to her original owner.) I remember several photos of a post-war Polikarpov UTI-4 (I-16 two-seater) in Polish markings but I cannot find them on the web. I think it was the only machine of that type in PAF service, probably a squadron hack of one of the former Polish units in VVS. Cheers Jure

Hello, Most of the following comes from the Yefin Gordon's and Vladimir Rigmants book Tupolev Tu-144 - Russia's Concorde (Midland 2005). Tu-144 never flew in USA, all the testing on Tu-144 LL (flying laboratory with NK-32 engines, conversion costed NASA 350 millions $) has been done in Russia. Outside SSSR various Tu-144s flew to Paris on several occasions and also performed promotional flights to Praga, Budimpesta, Warszava, Berlin, Hannover, Sofia etc. During performance on 1973 Le Bourget air show the second Tu-144 (new production prototype due to many changes from original prototype) dipped her nose and after a shallow descent fell appart during the sharp pull up. It has been speculated that the descent has been caused by the photo Mirage III (with the task to video Tu-144 performance from the air) which appeared in the aircraft's flight path. Decades ago I watched a documentary in which one of the Concorde pilot stated that such maneuvre could cause disturbance to engine airflow and even a flameout. He speculated, that perhaps the crew was to busy starting engine(s) and did not notice the plane is descending lower and lower, which caused pilot's sudden pull on the control column. However, the forces were not that great and the plane's structure should have copped with them. Obviously there must have been a fatal flaw somewhere. In service the Tu-144 was something of a nuisance. The only Aeroflot route was Moskva - Alma Ata (today Almaty) with flights once a week and that despite the airliner having eight Tu-144 in service at the time. Crews were mix of Tupolev and Aeroflot pilots, the latter flying as co-pilots. Tickets had been sold for 82 rubles, 20 more than for regular jet airliner flights on the same route, but the Tu-144 was still far from profitable. When one of the Tu-144 D crashed during test flights (pilots survived, but two test engineers were killed), regular service of both versions (Tu-144 sans sufix for passenger flights and Tu-144 D starting with postal flights) had been cancelled. Personally I like Tu-144 and as a kid I built Plasticard kit in 1/100. Would like to have 1/72 kit of that plane but, as I wrote in my previous post, the price of Modelsvit kit is too steep for me. Cheers Jure

Hello, I would not mind paying a bit extra for a good kit of Concorde in 1/72. However, with two Airfix kit in my stash I would certainly wait a while for a good build review before buying one. However, chances for a new mould kit are slim, 20th anniversary of the last flight (26th November 2003, Heathrow to Filton) or not. On a New year Eve it is going to be 55th anniversary of the first flight of Tu-144, but I doubt anybody expects a new kit of that plane will appear in 1/72 because of that. I know there is a Modelsvit kit available, but with a price tag of about 400 € ... no, thanks. Cheers Jure

... an not only for them! Very useful discovery, thank you Mike. Nice photos, too, my favourite is 23 FG F-6. Cheers Jure

Hello, J-W Orange letters for Dutch Swordfish aircraft sound perfectly plausible to me. At one time 860 Sqn. had 92 aircraft at strength and at such a number it is little wonder markings varied somewhat. Here is a photo from a Crowood book about Swordfish and Albacore, which one can also find on this IPMS Nederland webpage: Also, lower surfaces of those Swordfish aircraft on WW II photos do not look light blue and the same goes for the restored aircraft. They all look white to my eyes. Cheers Jure

Hello There are White 11 numbers and title Za Stalina! which were markings of I-16 type 24 of Baltic fleet ace Boris Safonov: The photo comes from 2nd Guard fighter regiment here. In the lower left corner there are two White 42 numbers, which belong to MiG-3 fighter on Leningrad front: I found the photo and the colour profile here. Cheers, Jure

Hello White 44 is an early (first or third series) LaGG-3 ... ... found here but the profile looks very similar to those from Massimo Tessitori webpage. White 43 with lion's head is late production (66 series) LaGG-3, flown by Yuriy Schchipov: I found it here. Again, the profile looks Tessitori-esque to me. Cheers Jure

Hello, LooseSeal My apologies for tardy response, The line in the lower circle could be one of the priming lines and in this case it would be connected to the engine (see diagram on page 112, fuel priming inlet (2)). There is another fuel line that goes directly to carburetor, bypassing engine fuel pump. That could be the one in the middle, that is attached to a fuel filter. I am not sure about the black hydraulic pipe, but it probably leads back to the wings. Cheers Jure

Hello, away from my sources but off the top of my head the pipe in a middle circle leads from a fuel filter. More about it when I return home. Cheers Jure

I am glad I could help. I think that on wartime Spitfires firewall was painted Interior Green as on the top photo. Engine frame tubes were either Interior Green or left in NM. The latter was the case with the Spitfire IXc, dug out around here a few years ago. Cheers Jure

Hello, LooseSeal Here is the scheme of fuel pipes for Merlin 66 engine: I found it on the web but I do not remember where. So in case of copyright infringement I will remove it. Cheers Jure