Jure Miljevic

Hello, the name of the pilot in question was Rafail Ivanovich Kaprelyan and on delivery missions he flew modified Li-2 with extra fuel. Post-war he became test pilot and once landed pre-series Tu-4 on port main and nose undercarriage only due to starboard leg electromotor failure. Cheers Jure

Hello, Dave Klaatu I am in the same situation, except my two Daunlesses are repacked Hasegawa kits from Hobby 2000. I got myself a couple of Part Etching P.E. sets of dive brakes. Here is the photo, found here: Have no idea about the fit as I have not yet started building the kit. Cheers Jure

More as a footnote: in one of his books Soviet test pilot Mark Gallai mentions one of Soviet equivalents of RAF Special duty pilot. On his missions over the occupied Europe the pilot developed a habit of switching on position lights when he was about 50 km beyond the frontline. He had never been bothered neither by flak nor night fighters. Will post more detalils when I come home. Cheers Jure

Hello, my answer came after the others had done most of the work and RAF4EVER beat me to it anyway. About the second part of Robert Shedd's question (nice one, by the way), could that be Fort Taiaroa on New Zeland, which was built beneth the albatross colony? According to their webpage it contains the only remaining example of Armstrong disappearing gun in the original pit.* Cheers Jure *I wish I were that knowledgeable about the topic, but I am not, this is the most promising result of Bing search

Hello, way to obvious, but perhatps it was the first transatlantic flight by Alcock in Brown from the Newfoundland (on the west or W) to the bog near Clifden? In Vickers Vimy, of course. Cheers Jure P. S.: Sorry, RAF4EVER, did not notice your answer.

Slovak Bf 109 Gs were destroyed on the ground at the beggining of the national rising and did not have a chance to fight against German aircraft. The first Spitfire to fell under fire from another Spitfire in 1948 was EAF Mk.IX, shot down by RAF Mk.18. Egyptian intelligence got the word that delivery of Avias for IAF is immenent, so EAF sent Spitfires to Israeli airfield (I forgot which one) to strafe new arrivals. Egyptians stumbled upon RAF Ramat David (which RAF should have vacated by then IIRC), shot up Dakota on final and strafed the line of Spitfires. I think two pilots managed to take off and at least one cought up with EAF fighter. Her pilot saw RAF fighter but did not take evasive action (Egypt had had defensive pact with UK at the time), so RAF pilot shot it down. The same Spitfire was shot down on the last day of the war in early 1949. Few hours before the ceasfire Israelis sent coloums of M/T into no-men-land. As the same happened during previous ceasfire, Egyptians had been expecting such a move and strafed one of the coloums. A patrol of four RAF Spiftires, flying in vicinity, saw smoke rising and decided to investigate. They arrived just as the EAF fighters left and Israelis understandably shot first and asked questions later. One of the RAF fighters was promptly shot down by ground fire, then a pair of IAF Spitfires bounced the surviving trio. Two of the RAF fighters had been shot down on the first pass, and the last one after a short air combat. There were several coups and rebelions in Argentina in the 1950s. At least at one occasion both sides had Meteors Mk.4, although I think they never fought each other. Written off the top of my head, so anybody who wants to correct mistakes or add more info, please do so. Cheers Jure

No idea about the final answer, but can we establish if the plane (hovercraft, ship ...) was powered by Proteus engines? Proteus is both ancient Greek deity and mythical king of Egypt from Odyssey (also an olm, a salamander from Postojna caves). Cheers Jure

Hello, AMStreet Pilots of NDH Bf 109 Gs black 4 and 10 escaped to RAF Falconara in Italy from Yugoslav partisans, not the Red army: Cheers Jure

Hello Perhaps, seaplane carrier Greif, from which Fa 330 Bachstelze took off for her first free flight between 4th and 6th June 1942? Her designer was Paul Klages, who also designed Fw 44 Stieglitz or Goldfinch as Giampiero pointed out. Cheers Jure

Hello Whofan Revell's Twin Otter is repack of a Matchbox kit. Better example would be Revell's C-54 in 1/72. However, only one set of OOB airliner decals (Balair/Iceland Airways) is offered with that kit. Pity, as many of airlines operated C-54 and DC-4, often in colourful markings. Cheers Jure

Transylvania and Count Dracula? Cheers Jure

Thanks, Paul821 and Sean. Cheers Jure

Hello, Sean I got the girl devouring part (hindsight is a beautiful thing), but have no clue about the rest. Could you please explain the visit of the wet doctor? Cheers Jure

Hello, SafetyDad My apologies for nitpicking, but did you perhaps mean The broken wings of the samurai? The book in which IIRC Mikesh at the beginning mentions, that he toured Japanese airfields immediately post-war, but only had had two rolls of film for his camera? Cheers Jure P. S.: The book stretched my student budget considerably at the time but it is worth every penny (back then lipa, actually).

Hello No joy unfortunately, According to 73 Sq. ORB appendices (AIR-27-638) the Hurricane in question was BE518. Markings are given as "flash". The occasion was free night patrol, the date 31. 8. 1942. the pilot was S/Ldr. Johnston. He claimed one Ju 88 destroyed, expended ammo was eight (not four) rounds per cannon, which in my opinion is still impressive. Cheers Jure

Hello very interesting, Troy. Judging by 73 Sqn ORBs Hurricanes without a code letter markings were not uncommon. I remember reading a sortie report, in which the pilot of one such aircraft claimed E/A destroyed (I think it was Ju 88) with only eight expended grenades, four per cannon. Hurricane in desert scheme, with two cannons removed and only prewar sword and serial markings would make quite a model. Away from my sources, but will check the serial in the report later, just in case. Cheers Jure

Hello BorgR3mc0 I would say both sets of drawing are probably correct. The first one shows the fourth prototype or development aircraft KE+SW, which had slightly concave sides of the canopy. This can be seen on the photos in Waffen-Arsenal and Schiffer books and booklets. Here are online, unfortunately low-resolution versions ... ... found here ... ... and here ... The canopy of Me 163 A-0 aircraft seems to be somewhat different (photo found here😞 I hope it helps. Cheers Jure

Hello, tempestfan Do not now about 1/48 Heller F4U-7, but they kept early models' nose without cowling "cheeks" on their AU-1, which is pretty hard to miss. Cheers Jure

How about proposed F3D Skyknight (or Skynight) successor Douglas F6D-1 Missiler for thrower of fiery things? Although I still cannot see the connections with the rest of the lot. Cheers Jure

Hello, tempestfan True, and Phoenix also vaguely resembles Maverick missile, part of A-7 armament. With some imagination this could lead to various what-ifs. How about Corsair missile-truck tagging along with Tomcat and firing AIM-54s on command from the leader, which than takes over guidance? Cheers Jure

Hello, tempestfan Could AIM-54 Phoenix be part of the equation? Mythological Phoenix had risen from his own ashes so it could be considered a fiery thing and both F-14 and F-111 B were designed to be armed with AIM-54. Admittedly, this is more an attemp to narrow down possibilites, as obviously A-7 Corsair never carried these missiles. Cheers Jure

Hello Swing-wings perhaps? The feline specie that did not make it into production would be Grumman F10F Jaguar and among those that did, Grumman F-14 Tomcat is relevant? Then the long-nosed animal would be Aardvark, as the naval Grumman F-111 B was related to General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark of the USAF? Of course, I have no idea how Corsair and the thrower of fiery things would fit in. Cheers Jure

Welcome to the forum, Amahas! Astonishing level of detaling! I especialy like scratchbuilt hydraulic lines on undercarriage legs and inside wheel well. And cockpit is fantastic. I once tried to replicate swithces and circuit breakers the way you had but just made a big mess. Cheers Jure P. S.: Perhaps the post should be relocated into RFI subforum?

Hello, I will have another go: Elbrus is the highest mountain in Europe, also it has two summits. Elbrus is also the name of Soviet ground-to-ground missile R-300 (Scud in NATO terminology). This missile certainly made a lot of noise, both literally and figuratively (1991 Gulf war). Cheers Jure

Hello, Here are my two shots in the dark: the first one would be Stentor. This was a herald of Greek forces in Trojan wars with very powerful voice. Armstrong Siddeley Stentor was also a rocket engine for Blue Steel missile, which was (also) carried by Victor bombers. No idea about the mountains. My second try would be Atlas: he was a deity, one of the Titans, condemned to carry heaven and earth on his shoulders. Then there are High and Middle Atlas mountain ranges and of course Atlas rocket. Cheers Jure