gingerbob

What's not to like? Oh, now you've ruined it for me!

"We are not amused."

Hey, careful you guys, or you'll be banned!

I think the 1941 black was a temporary application, not done at the factory.

It is pretty obvious from the rest of my comment that I believe it to be in the book, just that it isn't correct.

I can't present supporting evidence offhand, but that sounds like "fake news" to me. Probably one of those facts that found its way into the wrong context in the book. The wingtips had been detachable since production began, so that may refer to the feedback on the prototype!

Yes, before BofB. Somewhere I've got record of when removal happened, but I don't think (offhand) that it pertains to 'a' winged aircraft.

VHF wasn't universally adopted overnight. But unsurprisingly, 11 Group and neighbors got priority. Even that might be a more simplistic statement than what really happened, but I haven't seen anything spelling it out. I ran across one ORB comment recently about a formation in which one pilot communicated an engine problem (?) to the only other one who could hear him- I think they specifically said VHF. THAT I found surprising, but it also probably was a squadron doing convoy patrols and such, rather than offensive sweeps into France. I've also seen several comments about having received Spitfires, but they don't yet have radios fitted, so aren't operational. Also, when changing bases (and Groups) they had to get new crystals fitted for the frequencies in use locally. That may pertain to HF, I'm not certain offhand.

Yes, that serial is a Wellington. I think you've got the right answer. It is not unusual to see an error continue consistently through a month (or longer) and then show correctly from the beginning of a new month. My guess is that either a new record-keeper took over, or perhaps with a new month one of the things on the "to do" list was to check the list of which individual letter was given to which serial. In other words, I surmise that sometimes the record-keeper would have a list, and when the pilots (or whomever) turned in the list of who was on the day's ops it might just show Burton in 'A', Prang in 'B', etc. Thus sometimes you'll see a serial merrily continuing to appear on ops after it (pretty certainly) was shot down into the Channel on the 12th! Edit: Also, it is quite common to see prefix errors, and I've seen some ORBs that just list the numerals, so likely the serial might be passed to the record-keeper as numerals only, who then could easily substitute a common and familiar prefix like 'N' for the correct 'P'. I was reminded of this while looking at a Sqn using Spit Vs, where it applies even with two-letter prefixes.

Now that's what I call a snowblower!

I've had that idea, but not yet actually tested it. I'm honestly not sure if I'm clever, or just a thief, since I can't remember the origin of the thought! Knowing me, I'd do it on water-soluble paint and mess the whole thing up.

Cool! I have a soft-spot for Mazda owing to their Wankel work, and the RX-7 (original shape) in particular. But that first box art image makes it look like the photo (or at least the car) has been "compressed" along the horizontal axis! I also approve of car kits done in "proper" scales- that is, the ones that are standard for aircraft. bob

Perhaps not to those who had "swallowed the Kool-Aid".

Oi- show some respect! I've only just gotten one (and yes, I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for, but it is better than the other 1/48 Hampdens... maybe. The best thing about it is that I didn't pay very much . That and I can say, "I don't think he'll be very keen- he's already got one, you see!") Excellent point. I had my early-adolescent period of fascination with Luft '46, but eventually I grew out of it. I won't comment further lest it be deemed (or recognized as) political commentary. As for the Fw 187, I've got the Special Hobby kit in 72nd, but I wish I could get both single-seat prototype and "production" version in 48th. It seems I've got a thing for low-slung, (seemingly) over-powered twins!

Hmm. I think by this time, in this area, they'd have been using VHF radios, which means no wire from mast to rudder. You can see the "spike" atop the rudder and the little pennant on the mast in the photo of the aircraft (which would have held the wire for the older style radio), but in a closeup of him in the cockpit (claimed to be same aircraft, at any rate same time period) I can't see the wire that would be running down aft of the mast. Likewise I can't see the "cheese cutter" IFF wire from fuselage to stabilizer, but that's not unusual in photos. I don't know enough to say whether "most" aircraft had it at this time, or only some. (In the closeup, you can see the location on the fuselage, but that's at the edge of the photo, so hard to say whether anything comes out. Here's the image I'm talking about: https://www.americanairmuseum.com/media/17188 Edit: 71 Sqn got the Mk.IIs primarily from 602 Sqn, who were converting to Vb. Their ORB notes the arrival of the Vbs, and that they need to have VHF fitted before they could be operational. (They probably were delivered with no radios, rather than having HFs that needed to be switched over.)