torqueofthedevil

Depends which kind of aviation you're involved in!

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am vaguely familiar with the nav systems you mention (Decca was another) but I just missed that era. The first aircraft I flew used a blended solution of Doppler and single GPS (backed up by unprocessed radar, complete with acetate overlays of the coast!), and these days we are completely spoiled with twin Integrated GPS/INS.

Was the cupola specifically for low level? While it certainly provided an excellent view for any flight deck passengers, I always thought its actual purpose was for the nav to view the firmament in the days of traditional methods of plodding around the globe!

Each to their own, and plenty of others don't like it either. Personally I'm just glad that a special scheme has been done at all. We will never reach a consensus on the best possible scheme, but I'm sure most would agree that the Typhoon's standard livery (along with most other military aircraft) is pretty drab!

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. When did that start? There must have been a period after the war when consulting the Germans wouldn't even have occurred to the occupying powers, and presumably the same mentality lasted well into the NATO era?

Sure, but there is probably a difference between an aircraft being operated by foreign militaries (I suspect that the Germans have limited control over what the former occupying powers bring in!) and certifying the same aircraft to operate under your own flag. That said, one would expect that an aircraft as proven as the C-130 shouldn't need a long and difficult certification!

I think anything is better than nothing, especially in an era when military aircraft markings are so drab so I'm glad to see this scheme has come to fruition. I agree that a full repaint into the 1980 scheme would have been amazing to see...maybe for Chinook 50? On 5/7/2021 at 1:35 PM, perdu said: Sad to say I don't like it, the flag has been done before and frankly this time round it seems a bit 'bitty'. Ribbons and streamers off on trips of their own, oh well at least we still have Wokkas. Anniversaries and paint schemes will come and go, but there will always be Wokkas!

The cockpit isn't quite as spacious as you might think - put on a set of NVG and the roof console suddenly seems very close. And while you're right about the aircraft being used for training only, that actually exacerbates the space problem: for winch training, you need two people in the door (student and instructor) and two people to go on the end of the wire (typically, the instructor plays the part of the casualty, and the student winchman rescues them). Four people wearing immersion suits and life jackets makes the cabin and doorway very cosy!

No - both are between the seats. But because the weapons are identical and the seat mounts aren't (right hand side of the left seat and vice versa), one weapon is 'magazine forward' and the other is 'magazine aft'. I think the co-pilot's one is magazine aft.

Small correction: they face in opposite directions in a fore and aft sense, because the attachment which fits into the seat mount is on the same side of both weapons.

Thank you Rolls-Royce. What you say makes perfect sense, and the link is very interesting.

Good afternoon, Please could I ask for help identifying the colours inside an Me 262's intakes. I have got one of the big HobbyBoss kits so I'm keen to get it right! I have tried to figure it out for myself, but I can't be certain what I'm seeing. I have consulted the books I own, and looked for online references as well, but I'm finding it hard to tell - colour photos from the war/just afterwards which show the inside of the intake are rare, and I'm wary of assuming that museum restorers in recent decades have checked carefully what the Germans did. I prefer to put my faith in the depth of knowledge of BM members! From various B+W photos, the inside of the intake appears fairly dark, with the starter motor housing much paler - but is it primer, or camouflage paint wrapped round from the outside, or different shades of bare metal? And did it vary between aircraft which had camouflage on the outside of the intake vs those which had replacement (unpainted) intakes? The aircraft I'm going to do had one of each so I may need to treat the two intakes differently. Many thanks for any help. I have searched the forum in case anyone has asked this previously, but it appears not.

Any idea which airframe that is, and where and when the photo was taken?

Thank you, interesting ideas! Definitely worth investigating!