Selwyn

I seem to remember that the first (Mk 1)spitfires didn't have crowbars at all? Selwyn

There are lots of misconceptions as to the nature and operation of an “Interrupter Gear” for a machine gun that fires through a rotating propeller. The first and most prevalent misconception is that the “interruptor gear” stops the gun from firing when the propeller blade is in the way of the gun muzzle. It doesn’t. What the “synchronization gear” (which what is the correct term for the mechanism) does is actually fire the gun when the blade is not in the way. To achieve this the first important thing to take on board is that the aircraft gun has to be converted from automatic operation (when the trigger is pressed the gun continues firing until either the trigger is released or it runs out of ammunition), to semi automatic operation (the trigger press fires one round only and you have to release the trigger and press again to fire the next round). When the pilot presses his cockpit trigger he is not directly firing the gun, he is actually connecting the gun to the synchronization gear. In basic terms the synchronisation cam system operation does not press the gun trigger when a blade is in front of the barrel. As the blade moves out of the way of the muzzle the cam system presses the gun trigger (actually via an item called called a trigger motor) and a round is fired. The trigger is released by the cam when the next blade passes in front of the barrel, and then is pressed again as it passes the gun muzzle firing the next round. And so on until the pilot releases his trigger or the gun runs out of ammunition. This does obviously reduce the rate of fire of the gun. This is affected by two main factors. Firstly the engine (Propeller) RPM which obviously is a variable as this is affected by the throttle control that changes RPM, and secondly the cyclic rate of the gun (how long it takes for the gun to extract the empty case and feed the next round into the gun breech). A faster cycling gun will obviously fire at a faster rate (less blades between shots). Typically this usually resulted in the gun firing after an average every sixth blade with a two blade prop, or twelve blades with a four blade prop. In WW1 there were many systems used but the system that became standard was the Constantinescu Colley (CC) gear, which was hydraulic in operation, which allowed multiple guns to be operated at the same time, previous systems could only operate one gun. This system was used by the RAF into the 1940’s (last use I think was the Gladiator?) Another interesting factor is that you can only synchronise a gun with a closed bolt system. An open bolt gun (where the breech is normally empty, and on trigger press the breech moves forward and collects and then fires a round) won’t work because of the time delay between trigger press and the round firing. A typical example of this was the open bolt system Lewis gun on WW1 aircraft which had to use the top wing mounted curved Foster mount. that ensured the gun fired over the propeller arc. As to gun alignment (correct term is Harmonisation) This ensures that the gun and sight converge at an imaginary point at a pre determined distance in front of the aircraft. Even with a single gun a fired round is affected by gravity so the gun and sight have to be adjusted to allow for “Bullet Drop.” On multi gun installations such as the eight gun spitfire, all guns are aligned to this point so to give the pilot a killing punch by having the combined fire of eight machine guns hitting the same point in space at the same time. That is why determining range was such a factor, too close or too far away from your target dispersed your gunfire.

The colours are BS381c 241 Dark Green /BS381c 638 Dark Sea Grey Uppersurfaces, Silver undersides The Upper camouflage pattern was standardised So any picture of a camoflaged meteor whatever mark would be the same. In this picture the darker colour is green. Selwyn

Correct! and there is also the possibility that the extra PSP pans were later replaced/upgraded with concrete hardstandings. Selwyn

What type/Mark of Ejection Seat was used on Australian Avon Sabre Jets? Selwyn

Does the Beaufort File List the differences between the Mk 1 and 1A (the actual question asked by the original poster!) Selwyn

Great video. Bet the guy who fell out of the cockpit needed an underwear change! Selwyn

Had this problem with my F3. On my FB5 I put 20g (2 x10g tyre weights) behind the cockpit bulkhead and another 5 (liquid Gravity) in the nose. Definately a nose sitter now. Selwyn

Your location is listed as "Somewhere near Yeovil." Why not pop along to the FAA museum with a camera as They have one on display IIRC? Selwyn

Just finishing one up as we speak, in the middle of decalling (4 Sqn RAF but not the boring in kit scheme). It's gone together well and looks the business Very happy with the result! Selwyn

See this post; https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234947695-gloster-meteor-f8-and-t7-in-the-tt-role/ Selwyn

You might find this interesting, a recent find! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-67052782 Selwyn

You want to ask the moderator to move this to the vehicles section, its not appropriate to WW2 aircraft! Selwyn

How about a nostalga theme, The first kit i ever remember building group build? If that kit is no longer available you could always do the moden equivelant? Selwyn

RAF Phantoms were never overall light grey, they were painted Camoflage Grey (originally unafficially known as barley grey until encompassed in BS381c ) with light aircraft grey undersurfaces and inner wing surfaces (basically the non folding bit) medium sea grey. Selwyn

IRR Green /Black if matt finish The RAF Started to use gloss Nato green mid 80's. I first came across it in 84 Repainting K type Bomb trolleys about that time. Selwyn (4 AC Sqn 1980/82)

Xtracolour do it in Enamel and Hataka do it in Acrylic. Selwyn

I would jump out of any arcraft with such an awful paint scheme as well! 🤣 Nice build and presentation! Selwyn

The answer is probably both! The Guns would be retained for ballast purposes but the ports would be either plated over or not. best plan would be to use a photo reference and go with that. Selwyn

From what I understand the front mounting unit changed for every aircraft installation. Selwyn

Beaufighters were not fabric coated. Selwyn

They were officially called No 7 launchers by the way. Selwyn

Sure it was a Vampire? there was an AVRO 707A there are you getting a bit confused? it was bright orange in colour IIRC. Selwyn

Dicky Duckett went on to command 1F Squadron Harriers. Selwyn

It might be a good idea in the title to tell everyone what "PLWS" means, This forum has many international members and its not immediately obvious! Not everybody would know. Selwyn