Kestrel19

Looks like a DG1001 Club edition from the pictures

Interestingly I’ve just been looking at my 1/72 Auster kits, I’ve got the AZ MkIII that Heather is building, the AZ AOP6 and the Airfix Antarctic/AOP6. The two AZ kits both use exactly the same Sprues, the difference between the two is solely in the resin items (including the cowling and flaps) and more importantly the canopy which is the part John is highlighting above. Therefore if anyone has a spare AZ AOP6 canopy then it’s a straight drop in to place and solves the issue! Unfortunately I don’t have anywhere near the skills to Vacform you one using mine as a mould - but just in case anyone can...!

You’re both correct on this one, the trimmers applied to the early versions but had been replaced by a tail plane tab controlled by a car Window winder in the roof by the time they got to the autocrat (Many Civilian Auster parts were from cars of the period, the trim handle, door handles, parking brake handles) I fly an Auster (the Autocar so later than this one!) so watching this with interest!

The main reason you see so many Spitfires with dropped elevators is gravity! Essentially once the pilot climbs out no one is holding the control column and therefore gravity will pull the elevators downwards. This is the reason so many aircraft are parked with the elevators dropped (I.e control column forward) it could also be correct to see aircraft parked with the elevators fully up - this is very common when the aircraft is parked up Into the wind - however the control column would be tied fully back using the lap straps in the cockpit (don’t forget to model this if you display a parked aircraft in this configuration!) As an aside - and apologies to anyone who has no interest in this detail or feels I’m stating the obvious - the elevator position when parked will have a lot to do with the type of Trim the aircraft has. The trim is best thought of as a cruise control for the aeroplane, it enables the aeroplane to maintain a constant speed in flight without the pilot needing to apply an input to the controls - there are two main types, Aerodynamic (like the Spitfire) where a movable tab on the elevator allows the airflow to hold a constant elevator position in flight to hold a speed. On the ground aircraft with aerodynamic trim will tend to sit with the Elevator pulled down by gravity - like the Spitfire. Many other aircraft have a spring trimmer (usually identifiable by no movable tab on the elevator) this as it’s name suggests physically holds the stock in a position by a spring in the elevator circuit - this often means that when at rest the elevator will be held in the position the trim is set - which could be up, down or more common neutral. Most modern (Fibreglass) Gliders Have this type of trimmer and can be seen at rest with elevators in the neutral position. Sorry for the long post - but hope this helps!

**pedantry alert!** The front seat of the Tiger is actually the Instructors seat and the rear one the pupils. The Tiger is soloed from the rear seat to keep the centre of Gravity in the correct place (common with many older tandem aircraft like the J3 cub) so that's where the pupils were put.

Great to see a model of 'G-AXHR' even if it is in her French guise - I had many happy hours in the actual 'HR' after she had been re-painted in her original wartime scheme and built a model of her from the same KP Kit. Random trivia - she was over the beaches on DDay plus one and when the wings were recovered in the mid 90s there was still evidence of ground fire in there from her wartime years! Great models! Look forward to seeing the gliders as well - far too few of them on here 

really nice modes Darius, I always like the light aircraft types! I've got two of these to build - Both ASK13 Gliders. Never built white metal before Well other than 1/300th scale and really not sure where to start!!

Just a guess but the A10's are back in the UK now. Gorgeous looking Brisfit by the way!!!!

Can't help on the D5 or Husky but if your interested in this one at all http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1125020/ The J5V then i can get you all the pictures you want. She was a one off prototype built by Austers and was the forerunner of the D series, The main difference being wooden rather than metal spars in the wings and lighter than the D series but with a better load capacity, Shes 160hp lycoming same as the D5 but performance equal to the Husky.