tango98

Graham, She was used in a number of trials and according to my copies of A&AEE files, Z2346 was a Mk IIA Series 2. HTH Cheers Dave

Serge, Many thanks for posting such interesting material. Much appreciated. Cheers Dave

Here you go Steve, "Fabric covering your Hurricane 101'! Process devised by Camm: "………………………..the booms of the wing ribs were modified by the provision of a channel into which the fabric, with inner and outer reinforcing strips of Egyptian tape, was pulled down by a small-flanged Dural channel section. Set at a close pitch, the attachments were comprised of light alloy set screws inserted into self-locking clinch nuts fitted to the inner surfaces of the rib boom channels. This method provided an ideal solution. The exposed channels and screw heads of each rib station being completed by the application of a doped fabric strip to provide a smooth flush covering. The remaining flying and control surfaces - ailerons, tail plane, elevators, fin and rudder - were similarly finished, but used smaller recesses and channels in the interest of weight saving. For these smaller and more lightly loaded units, pop rivets were used instead of setscrews for the final attachments. No problems were encountered with these attachment methods in service." I've also got the fuselage fabric attachment and airframe doping process here somewhere.......................... Cheers Dave

One of the nicest schemes SJV ever wore; nice job Paul.

Clive, One other item to consider is if your subject is equipped with the R1147 homing receiver. If it was then the antenna for it was either mounted vertically down on the centre line approximately 12 to 14 inches aft of the radiator fairing or beneath the starboard wing. Additionally and as I understand it (although I'll have to recheck my Sea Hurri documents) some aircraft can be seen with an antenna aft of the radiator housing and one beneath the starboard wing indicating (suggesting) that that beneath the wing was IMO, the IFF antenna. HTH Cheers Dave

Talking of catapult spools, the following is taken verbatim from the Sea Hurricane manuals "The two front spools are attached to the rear face of the rear centre section spar and project through the lower fairing, the two rear spools being mounted on the ends of a cross tube supported from joints 01. The centre lines of the front spools are 37 inches apart, and the centre lines of the rear spools are 29.65 inches apart. The distance between the front and rear spools is 108 inches measured parallel to the deck line and the height of the rear spool above the front spool is 4.5 inches measured at right angles to the deck line. The last two measurements are made with the thrust line at an incidence angle of 5 degrees, 16 minutes to the deck." HTH Cheers Dave

As per the order of 9 Feb 1942, IMHO, the early B IVs with the sky band as per DK 291 were finished in DE/DG/Sky with a number of the later ones circa mid 42 being finished as per the order which hopefully Claus will post here shortly on my behalf. This also addresses the yellow leading edge markings. Cheers Dave

Hi Claus, I've just emailed you scans of the Bomber Command order. If you'd like to post the copies here in this thread it is ok to do so. Cheers Dave

I've a copy of an order/directive here which covers that very subject. I'll dig it out later today if it would be of help. Cheers Dave

You might also find a trawl through the on-line 'Flight' magazine archives which will often bring up some interesting and useful material e.g: https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1944/1944 - 0124.html?search=Hawker Typhoon Cheers Dave

Richard, I second what Jerry has said about any Typhoon book by or co-authored by Chris Thomas; he's definitely the 'go to' bloke for all things relating to the Tiffie. Also, you might want to consider acquiring the following two books: How to build the 1/24th Airfix Typhoon by Brett Green from ADH publishing as well as the pilots notes for the Typhoon which is available from various sources; Amazon, Abe Books, RAF Museum et al. HTH and good luck with the build. Cheers Dave

That's correct Steve, all of the document copies I have here for protective finishes on Hurricane Mks I to IV specify the aluminium finish. If you're interested, later this year I'm going to start putting up all of my Hurricane documents & photos up on a colleagues website to begin with before moving them over to a separate, dedicated site. Unfortunately the structural drawings are a different matter (as you well know!). Cheers Dave

The removable magazines for Luftwaffe aircraft were generally kept pretty clean and it's not unusual to see numbers painted on both these and the weapons themselves. As for the photo itself, it could have been taken at any time during the life of the aircraft and there is also the possibility that they had been installed just prior to the photo being taken. Also to be considered is that it might just be a factory shot for some reason or other and that the magazines are empty. Cheers Dave

John, Copies of Junkers documents that I have specify 02 for the crew areas of the Ju 87 although if I remember correctly, 66 began to make its appearance in these areas very late in the production of the B2 and R variants. Odd that, that both Ken and Eddie would have worded the caption that way as they both had copies of these documents (which is where my copies came from). HTH Dave

Good job and great save Steve. Cheers Dave

Glad I could be of help and it's no wonder that they are referred to (and rightly so IMHO) as 'the greatest generation.' With reference to your mention of 7 Sqn and its Pathfinder duties did you know that there is an excellent Pathfinder collection up at Wyton? You can check them out at http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafbramptonwyton/history/pathfindercollection.cfm Well worth visiting. Cheers Dave

As I’m in the midst of reorganising my ‘office’ I can’t easily access my files but the following might be of help. At time of production, L1690 would have had the revised rudder and ventral ‘keel’ beneath the lower rear fuselage and a ‘pole’ type aerial mast, the later style masts began appearing in early to mid-1939. As for two bladed versus three bladed propeller, as the DH three blade prop was first trialled on L1562 on 29 August 1938 with the first Hurricane to enter squadron service with the DH unit being L1780 in January 1939, it's possible but unlikely IMHO, that L1690 may have been fitted with a DH unit by the time she was lost in June 1939. The venturi versus pitot tube installation began very early in Hurricane production and although she was lost early in her life I'd guess that by that time she likely had a pitot rather than a venturi. The same is true for the ‘kidney’ versus ejector style exhaust system; if you can find period photos of serials close to and close after L1690 that is likely the best indicator you could get. Once I can get access to my files again I’ll check through my Hurricane Mk 1 ‘mods’ lists and see if I can dig up anything else that may be of use. HTH Cheers Dave

No ejection chutes on the underside; the spent shell casings were collected into a pair of containers beneath the MG 17s. Next to no cordite stains aft of the cannon barrels in the wings over or under the wings (unless of course they happened to be loaded with circa 1800's black powder!) As for underside stains from oil, dirt, mud etc, be guided by period photo underside views of 109Es and likewise for exhaust staining. Nice save on the paint job Steve; any ideas on which markings? HTH Cheers Dave

Steve, As Troy asked, have you considered stripping her back to bare plastic? I know that there are a number of options for stripping paint off of plastic kits without causing any damage to the surfaces and joins. One method I've used very successfully in the past was using 'EASY OFF' oven cleaner which removed the paint with no problems after a couple of applications. Mind you, if you go this route it's worth remembering to wash the model entirely once the paint is removed, first with a 50/50 white vinegar/water mix scrubbed over the entire kit with a largish brush and then a further washing in distilled water then set it aside to air dry for 24 hours. Also, before you start it's a good idea to practice this method on an old painted kit that's due to be binned. HTH Cheers Dave

GOMBS show - now that must have been some time ago! Our Experten sheet pre-dates Jerry's Eaglecal sheet by a few years but we did have numerous exchanges of information etc with him about not only the 262 work but also our 190D offerings. Cheers Dave

We've had a couple of RCAF Hornets flying around here this afternoon for about 30 or so minutes around 3.15 pm. Maybe something to do with it being the last day of the Calgary Stampede or something. Dave

Blue/White would be the correct colours for the Karoband on Yellow 3. Shortly after the release of our Experten booklet and decal we uncovered further information on these markings and my colleague David E.Brown wrote an addendum to the the markings entry in the booklet which was posted on both the Stormbirds and Hyperscale web sites plus others which I can't recall at the moment. You can read this addendum at: http://www.stormbirds.com/experten/products3addendum.htm HTH Cheers Dave

Paul, I think your summation of the incident is likely as close to the actual series of events as we will ever get. Just as an aside, as late as 1976/77, one of the MG 17s from the wreckage was on semi display at Rochester Row police station. Cheers Dave

Paul: A well written account that and much more factual than numerous other accounts of the incident that have appeared over the years. If memory serves, I believe it was first put into proper perspective by Peter Cornwell's entry in 'The Battle of Britain - Then and Now' in the early 1980s. tc2324: Camouflage was standard 70/71 upper splinter pattern with blue 65 under surfaces. The aircraft letter 'F' was in the Staffel colour of white and repeated on the top of each wing also in white. There's a photo out there in a published B of B book that shows one of the outboard sections of a wing being carried where the white F is quite visible - sorry, but I can't remember which book, maybe Paul will know? The 1. Staffel emblem of the bomb dropping demon/devil was carried on the port side of the nose and possibly on the starboard side also although I don't recall seeing a clear period photo of the starboard nose of a 1.Staffel Do 17 to show one way or the other. As to the shade of pink of the bar I have no idea. HTH Cheers Dave

F1+FH W.Nr.2361. The 6.Abt. QM returns identify the crew as Oblt. Robert Zehbe (pilot), Ogfr. Ludwig Armbruster (radio operator), Uffz.Leo Hammermeister (flight engineer), Uffz. Gustav Hubel (gunner) and Uffz. Hans Goschenhofer (observer). Lagging almost half a mile behind the main formation due to engine trouble, it was attacked over the southern outskirts of London and severely damaged and one engine set on fire. Armbruster (unhurt) and Hammermeister (wounded) baled out over south London, the former landing in Sydenham and the latter in Dulwich. They were followed shortly by Zehbe who baled out over Battersea shortly after Holmes’ attack leaving the dead Hubel and Goschenhofer in the aircraft. The crew would have baled out through the access hatch under the nose while its bomb load was jettisoned over south London. HTH Dave