72modeler Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 (edited) Greetings from sunny, hot south central Texas, y'all! Stumbled upon this during my regular morning routine of looking for great modeling references and drinking coffee. I have never seen another photo that shows the complete installation details of the 30mm cannon fit on the Avon-powered Sabre. I think this would be an excellent modeling reference for doing a 1/48 or 1/32 Sabre. In my opinion, the Mk 27 was the highest performing variant of the breed- too bad the USAF didn't have them in Korea, as the kill ratio would have been a lot higher, methinks! (This one's for you, @Sabrejet) What a beautiful weenie cooker! Mike http://www.airliners.net/photo/Australia-Air-Force/Commonwealth-CA-27-Sabre-Mk30/5067337?qsp=eJwljDEOwkAMBP%2BydRpASnEd4QFQ8AHrzkoiBXyyXRBF%2BXvMpRvNSLMhy9f55%2B%2B1MhKMSfOEDpWUPoa0oU7i8iDnUXRFuvYdTNSHYJTQ95y5Ohec/qmF9Z/YcvuM8b0EsL4a49aHL7PVhdqDneYF%2B34AMtwurw%3D%3D Edited July 8, 2018 by 72modeler fixed link 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 6 hours ago, 72modeler said: Greetings from sunny, hot south central Texas, y'all! Stumbled upon this during my regular morning routine of looking for great modeling references and drinking coffee. I have never seen another photo that shows the complete installation details of the 30mm cannon fit on the Avon-powered Sabre. I think this would be an excellent modeling reference for doing a 1/48 or 1/32 Sabre. In my opinion, the Mk 27 was the highest performing variant of the breed- too bad the USAF didn't have them in Korea, as the kill ratio would have been a lot higher, methinks! (This one's for you, @Sabrejet) What a beautiful weenie cooker! Mike http://www.airliners.net/photo/Australia-Air-Force/Commonwealth-CA-27-Sabre-Mk30/5067337/L?qsp=eJwljDEOwkAMBP%2BydRpASnEd4QFQ8AHrzkoiBXyyXRBF%2BXvMpRvNSLMhy9f55%2B%2B1MhKMSfOEDpWUPoa0oU7i8iDnUXRFuvYdTNSHYJTQ95y5Ohec/qmF9Z/YcvuM8b0EsL4a49aHL7PVhdqDneYF%2B34AMtwurw%3D%3D I bet that was fun to fit! the ammunition chute is at the front of the bay which means to fit the gun you have to pass it through the hatch and then move the whole thing forward into position. The gun is installed upside down (Not unusual, I never saw a ADEN installed "the right way up" on any aircraft,) and it looks like there is some sort of rail system in the bay above it, probably to enable the move of the the gun forward! Selwyn 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted July 8, 2018 Author Share Posted July 8, 2018 28 minutes ago, Selwyn said: I bet that was fun to fit! the ammunition chute is at the front of the bay which means to fit the gun you have to pass it through the hatch and then move the whole thing forward into position. Selwyn, Interesting! Am I correct that the RH gun is fitted and the one on display in front of the aircraft is probably the LH one? Also, if the ammo container fits in the front of the gunbay, as you have stated, is the bin at the rear of the bay that is slid out partially where the expended cases and links are collected? Just curious! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 35 minutes ago, 72modeler said: Selwyn, Interesting! Am I correct that the RH gun is fitted and the one on display in front of the aircraft is probably the LH one? Also, if the ammo container fits in the front of the gunbay, as you have stated, is the bin at the rear of the bay that is slid out partially where the expended cases and links are collected? Just curious! Mike The aircraft appears to have a gun installed, you can see the “top of the gun bottom” and the mounting bracket, and the barrel is fitted if you look closely. Now this is where it gets a bit complicated! Aden guns can be configured with left hand feed (LH) or Right hand feed (RH). The gun in front is a LH feed gun. if you imagine looking down on the gun from above as you see it, the ammunition feed slot is on the on the LH side of the gun. On the Sabre the guns are installed upside down, so LH feed guns are installed on the right side of the aircraft and RH feed guns are installed on the left side of the aircraft. This ensures the gun feed slots face outwards to mate with the ammunition chutes. So the gun in front is a LH feed, so it would be fitted on the right side of the aircraft. Just to complicate matters further Aden gun ammunition belts were also handed. There are different LH and RH hand ammunition belts for LH and RH guns. The difference is in the belt construction. Each metal link has a hook on one side and an eye on the other to enable them to be linked together. The links are actually held together by the rounds. If you lay the belt links down with the round point uppermost if the eye of the link faces to the right its RH ammunition, and if its to the left its LH ammunition. The eye has to feed into the gun first as the feed mechanism uses it to pull the belt into the gun. So on our Sabre the right side gun is a LH feed so is loaded with LH ammunition. And the Left side gun is a RH feed and is loaded with RH ammunition. With me so far? Not being that familiar with the Sabres Aden ammunition arrangements I don’t know if the Sabre kept its cases and links. Some aircraft keep either one or the other, some keep both, some don't keep anything at all someone else might know this about the Sabre. Selwyn 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 (edited) 21 hours ago, Selwyn said: Not being that familiar with the Sabres Aden ammunition arrangements I don’t know if the Sabre kept its cases and links. Some aircraft keep either one or the other, some keep both, some don't keep anything at all someone else might know this about the Sabre. Wow- did I just learn more than I wanted about Sabre Aden cannon installations! Thanks, Selwyn! I was assuming the cases and links were collected, as I don't remember seeing any case or link slots in the lower fuselage of any .50cal or 30mm equipped Sabre. Thanks for answering my question. Mike Edited July 9, 2018 by 72modeler corrected spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 (edited) Cases were collected: note the funnel + chute aft of the gun and the used cases were collected in bins just aft of the wing root. Edited July 9, 2018 by Sabrejet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Sabrejet said: Cases were collected: note the funnel + chute aft of the gun and the used cases were collected in bins just aft of the wing root. I figured if anybody would know, it would be you! Thanks! BTW- awesome Sabre Dog photos you posted! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 4 hours ago, 72modeler said: Wow- did I just learn more than I wanted about Sabre Aden cannon installations! Thanks, Selwyn! I was assuming the cases and links were collected, as I don't remember seeing any case or link slots in the lower fuselage of any .50cal or 30mm equipped Sabre. Thanks for answering my question. Mike This issue of Aden gun feeds applies to all aircraft types fitted with this gun It got really complicated with the 4 gun pack on a Hunter which had guns at all sorts of strange angles! Selwyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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