sloegin57

Bit of a long shot but it has puzzled me for years. Any one got any idea what the box shaped aerial was for on the tail end of Canberra WJ768 back in the mid sixties ? I was posted back to Wyton some 18 months later and none of 51's were wearing it. I made discreet enquiries but drew blank. TIA Dennis

Agreed and they also got dirty and "well worn" very quickly. As I recall, the "life" of a tag was around 6 months to a year after which they were undeniably "tatty"

For Reference :- Both my Photos at Leuchars. Dennis W Robinson

This may help (a crop from the T.7 Pilots Notes):- HTH Dennis

Meteor aircraft embodying Modification 1092 (concave ailerons), were fitted with spring tabs in addition to the geared tabs. Due to the lateral control problems suffered by both Gloster and Armstrong Whitworth, the latter introduced an aileron trailing edge droop of .68 inches with the aileron set at rigging neutral, subsequently adopted by Gloster's as well, and this, together with the tab modification, solved the aircraft's lateral control problems. HTH Dennis

Interesting to compare the T-Bird and the 9 on the same day and virtually the same angle. Personally I never found any difference in diameter when crawling down them for compressor checks ( I was a lot slimmer, younger and dafter in those days !!) Both photos by me. HTH ? Dennis

Hi Selwyn, The late Roger Lindsay mentioned it in the second volume of his "Service history of the Gloster Javelin Marks 7 to 9R", but does not give any dimensions A couple of shots to illustrate the difference, the top one from Gloster's, the bottom shot I took in Malta whilst the aircraft, Mk.9R XH891, was on delivery to 29Sqdn Early Javelin Mk.1 :- Javelin F(AW) Mk.9R :- HTH Dennis

This shot at Cosford in '81 shows the cutout in the upper fin fairing where the tailplane pivot was housed :- HTH Dennis Cutaway illustrating the tailplane pivot and hinge :- Edit - Cutaway added:- Dennis

As you appear to be "going to town" on the Javelin, thought that I would add this detail shot I took on Malta of the tail end of XH888 whilst it was en route UK for overhaul . Couple of points - 1) Note the trailing edge of the ailerons, they were blunt whilst the fixed mainplane t/e was sharp. 2) As well as being angled inboard, the jet pipes were also angled slightly downward. 3) Note the "quilted" effect of the rudder skin. This formed after only a few hours in the air. HTH Dennis

Nope - Number 1(F)Troop all the way apart from brief trip to 1453 Flt at Stanley towards the end of her career (9-11-84 to 10-6-85) Dennis

These they ? :- HTH Dennis

Correct Julian, I can heartily recommend Hypersonic products especially the tanks. I stocked up with both scales for future use, They also do a very nice and accurate Canberra B(I)8/PR.9 canopy which I have also stocked up on. Unfortunately it is only produced in 1/48th. Regards Dennis

The EMI pod was developed from the existing Auxiliary Centerline Fuel Tank and ground clearance was similar :- HTH Dennis

2 Sqdn also used them, XV475/Y and XV488/I - Taceval survival deployment to Wittering 19 March 75. Dennis

Anyone know as to why the upper surface camo pattern, apart from the fin, was reversed on the PR.9 ?, I did ask the painters at Safi when they were doing the first aircraft (XH167) in late 1965, but they just shrugged, muttered something in Maltese and carried on waiving their spray guns around :- Regards Dennis

The nearest that I can get to a retirement date Neil is 9 February 1963, that date being the last flight of VT196, though by this time it had been converted to a manned U.15. As to the date that the F.IV was declared officially non-effective will need a bit more research. HTH Dennis

What you need is a bigger bomb !! :- Down loaded from a site called Britmodeller - very useful site that. HTH Dennis

Thanks John - suitably accredited in the files. Dennis

In addition to John's quote from the manual, I downloaded the following from Britmodeller some time ago. Apologies to the original poster but I did not record your copyright - Sorry (If its you - holler !!) Clear Tail lights, one ethers side:- Wing tip and anti-col lights :- Overall and showing upper spine mounted anti-col light :- And don't forget the landing lights - one on each main gear leg :- HTH Dennis

Selwyn is perfectly correct. Most of the Lightning F.3's of 11Sqdn had gold coloured legs/inside of doors and bays in the summer of '76. Similarly the PR.9's at Wyton had gold coloured inside of doors and the main/nose legs coated in late '77. It seemed to be a bit of an ad hoc finish dependant on which company performed the overhaul of the legs. I know that the SR.2's at Wyton had odd bits of the main legs so finished but in general we just ignored it until the next time the leg came off. The painters then stripped it for NDI and it was re-finished Aluminium on completion. I've got some shots on file somewhere - I'll dig them up and publish here in a bit. Dennis Right - pix HTH Dennis

David, Fuselage and wing bands were normally, but not always, the same width. In MD sheet 47, Dick Ward gave the nose roundel diameter on the Lightning as 36 inches. Based on that and the photos attached, I would say that the width of the bands of both, wing and fuselage, would be the same, i.e. 36 inches. HTH Dennis PS - Multi engined aircraft in the training role, Ansons and Lincolns appear, in general, not to have carried the bands on the wings although a few rarities, mostly Lancasters, appear to have,

David, I am not 100% sure where I scanned this from, but it may assist you. The final surface finish design for a particular aircraft was the responsibility of the aircraft design team to guidelines specified by the Air Ministry/MoD and dependant on its ultimate role. HTH Dennis

If memory serves and it was a long time ago, the original release way back had the correct metal panelled mainplanes but then Airfix went all "fabriccy", not just with the Anson, and re did the wings with totally incorrect heavily scalloped fabric 'effect" surfaces. I believe that the tailplanes and rudder we're done the same. As an observation, I think that "Annie" looked better with the sloping windscreen. Dennis

Would a Mod _ Julian ? please delete this post - wasting space