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For those who may remember my previous attempt to create a Wellington Mk.XVIII (T.18) of 62 OTU at RAF Ouston, 1945, this new build is intended to produce its predecessor the Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), also with 62 OTU at Ouston in Northumberland. The starting point for this new conversion is this excellent booklet; Anson (2) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr The top of the cover shows my chosen subject, complete with radar aerials. Inside the booklet is the following photo of one of these A.I. Ansons; Anson (3) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr And that is it! Unlike the Wellington T.18 where I eventually had six or seven photos to work from, here I have just one post-war photo, and a single side view illustration. The only information in written descriptions is that there were two radar trainees, plus an instructor, and that the A.I. radar installation was similar to that on early Beaufighters and Mosquito night fighters, with an arrow head aerial on the nose, and two vertical aerials near each wing tip. Absolutely no information regarding the internal layout - was there one radar position that the two trainees took turns at using? Or two radar positions, one for each trainee? Where did the Instructor sit? This all matters, because the interior of a Mk.1 Anson is very visible. Were the two clear view escape hatches on top of the fuselage retained? And the bomb-aiming clear view panel in the nose? I've also got the excellent "Anson File" book by Air Britain, but it contains no photos of the A.I. version, and no additional information. The post-war photo (above) gives some clues, and in particular there appear to be one or two additional partitions within the fuselage. So I'm going to opt for two radar positions, unless anyone knows different? The photo also shows that apart from the A.I. aerials, there were other aerials that seem very similar to those on the Wellington T.18. The main aerial mast above the cockpit was removed. The forward sloping aerial under the nose suggests that the bomb aimer's glazed panel would become solid. The photo also appears to show, more clearly in the booklet, that NK291 had a prominent astrodome in place of the forward top fuselage escape hatch. The side view illustration doesn't show an astrodome. My guess is that these Ansons were converted from various Mk.1s, and retained features from their particular donor aircraft. I also think that 'stray daylight' from various windows didn't matter, because these were going to be Mosquito or Beaufighter crew members, and in those aircraft the A.I. operator sat in an open cockpit, with the radar screen encased in light proof rubber cover. 62 OTU had three constituent squadrons, A, B, and C, with a total complement of over 50 Ansons. Apparently 'C' squadron didn't operate the A.I. version. So how many Anson (A.I.) were actually produced? The Air Britain "Anson File" doesn't identify the A.I. aircraft, but does record those that served with 62 OTU. The Wellington T.18 production run was 80 aircraft, and each of those could carry four trainees. So there must have been more than 80 Ansons, perhaps well over 100 aircraft? It was a significant version, and they were the only Ansons to equip a Fighter Command OTU. All of the Beaufighter and Mosquito night fighter squadron radar operators were trained at RAF Ouston, and RAF Usworth (Sunderland) before 1943. This model uses the Airfix Anson Mk.1, not the best choice but it should knock into shape. The initial work being to alter the engines to remove the cylinder helmets; add the lower intake, (fashioned from scrap sprue); and reshape the lower part of the cowlings, including adding a notch for the external exhaust pipe. Anson (1) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

Following on from completion of my Anson airbourne interception trainer, here are photos of the assembled 62 OTU fleet, at RAF Ouston, Northumberland in March 1945. The Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528 '45', is about to be retired, to be replaced by the Wellington Mk.XVIII (T.18), ND113 '27', with Hurricane IIc, LF363 'F' to act as a target. 62 Operational Training Unit, RAF Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr 62 Operational Training Unit, RAF Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr 62 OTU had over 50 Ansons, replaced by 29 Wellingtons, and they trained all of Fighter Command's night fighter crews. Non-radar equipped Ansons acted as target aircraft, until replaced by 23 Hurricane IIc aircraft. The OTU was split into 3 squadrons, and 'A' Sqdn had white numeral codes commencing '1' to '18''; 'B' Sqdn had light blue numeral codes commencing '32' to '47'; and 'C' Sqdn (the target aircraft) carried single letters commencing 'A', also possibly painted light blue. Hurrican IIc LF363 still flies with the BBMF at RAF Coningsby, and it is not known what code letter it had at 62 OTU. So 'F' has been applied, this being it's known letter when earlier being with 309 (Polish) Sqdn. By 1947 LF363 is known to have lost its guns, and I suspect that they might have been removed at 62 OTU, as there would have been no requirement for a target aircraft to have them. I'm hoping for some definite confirmation before removing the gun barrels from this model. These models at RAF Ouston are part of my project to model all of the main aircraft types based there from 1941 to 1974. So far 31 models have been completed, and they can be found on my "RAF Ouston Research" website at https://sites.google.com/view/raf-ouston-research/models-of-oustons-aircraft

Following on from my work-in-progress thread for this Airfix Anson, here are the photos of the completed model; Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr Avro Anson Mk.1 (A.I.), DJ528, B Sqdn 62 OTU, Ouston, March 1945 by Philip Pain, on Flickr 62 OTU at RAF Ouston in Northumberland was Fighter Command's only Anson equipped OTU, responsible for training all Beaufighter and Mosquito Nav/Observers. The Anson airbourne interception trainer was equipped with A.I.Mk.IV, and based initially at RAF Usworth, Sunderland, before moving to nearby RAF Ouston in 1943. From early 1945 the Anson was replaced by the Wellington Mk.XVIII (T.18). 62 OTU had a complement of over 50 Ansons, and the OTU was split into three squadrons; 'A' Sqdn applied white two digit codes; 'B' Sqdn light blue two digit codes; and 'C' Sqdn supplied the 'target' aircraft (not A.I. equipped) with single white code letters. It was a daily sight over Northumberland to see pairs of Ansons chasing each other around the sky.

Yep, it's the BBMF's famous Hurricane IIc LF363, "but not as we know it Jim";Hurricane IIc, LF363, 62 OTU, Ouston, early 1945 (2) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrHurricane IIc, LF363, 62 OTU, Ouston, early 1945 (6) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrHurricane IIc, LF363, 62 OTU, Ouston, early 1945 (8) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrHurricane IIc, LF363, 62 OTU, Ouston, early 1945 (10) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrHurricane IIc, LF363, 62 OTU, Ouston, early 1945 (16) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrHurricane IIc, LF363, 62 OTU, Ouston, early 1945 (20) w by Philip Pain, on FlickrIt is the Heller 1/72 Hurricane IIc kit, built 'out of the box' and finished as Hawker Hurricane IIc LF363 of 62 OTU at RAF Ouston, Northumberland, in early 1945. The OTU had a complement of 29 Wellington T.18 airbourne radar trainers, and 23 Hurricane IIc to act as targets for the trainee operators. LF363 was just another bog standard Hurricane in those days, and its later history seems to have started in 1947 when it was refurbished by Hawkers, the armament removed, a different Merlin engine installed (with six exhaust stacks each side), and an all silver paint scheme applied with post-war D-type roundels. It then served with some RAF Station Flights until it became the RAF's last airworthy Hurricane, and is now the RAF's oldest aircraft still on charge.There are no known photos of it in 1945, and once again I have had to assume how it might of looked when being chased around the skies of Northumberland by Wellingtons. The camouflage scheme is standard for the period, and by 1945 the upperwing 'C-type' roundels should have been adopted, although I have not been able to find a single Hurricane photo that confirms them, mostly because the camera angles hide them. Neither is it known what code letter was applied to LF363, and 62 OTU used double digits for the Wellingtons, and single letters for the Hurricanes, so it could be any one of 23 letters. However, LF363 is known to have earlier been 'F' of 309 (Polish) Squadron, so I have used that letter as a nod to its earlier history.Thanks for looking.

Following on from the WIP thread for this model, here are the completed photos; Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (13) bw by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (7) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (12) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (15) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (17) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (21) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (22) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (30) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Wellington T.18, ND113, 62 OTU, Ouston, April 1945 (33) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr Many thanks for looking, and the next part of this 62 OTU project will be to make a Hurricane IIc for the Wellington to play with. This will be none other than the famous BBMF LF363,formerly with 62 OTU at RAF Ouston. These models are all part of my 'RAF Ouston' project, and the models completed so far can be viewed here https://sites.google.com/view/raf-ouston-research/home