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Lancaster B.III antennae and cockpit blister


ExiledFish

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I'm sorry to start a new thread, I don't post a lot ever - I tend to lurk and learn stuff owing to my distinct lack of skill in the model department, but am having a bit of bother and thought it may be rude to hijack a current Lancaster WIP thread with my questions, so here we are. If the mods want to close or move as you see fit, then please do.

 

I'm bodging my way through 1:72 Phantom of the Ruhr EE139 - badly, I might add - but have hit a few curiosities I need some help with concerning antennae and blisters.

 

1) This photo HERE, from the 550 Sqn Association website, shows the Phantom. It has an aerial mast of some sort just behind the pitot head. Other photos of the aircraft all show it, on the very bottom of the aircraft just behind the bomb aimer's blister. Does anyone know what that aerial is? There's a similar mast on the nose in the Eduard exterior etch, but in a slightly different position, slightly aft and up a tiny bit on the stbd side, as opposed to the absolute bottom of the aircraft.

 

(I've also just spotted, to my horror as the Airfix kit includes neither, that that photo shows a nose chute for Window and Z gear, which no other images of the aircraft seem to show. Argh!).

 

Can I ask for some thoughts/brains on what that aerial might be? It's driving me a bit bonkers delving through every book and Google permutation and now it's an itch in my brain that I have to scratch and find an answer.

 

2) Two other slight queries - cockpit blister. None on the port side, judging by every Phantom pic I've googled - would I be perhaps wrong to add one on the starboard side? The one image I have of the Phantom taken from starboard seems to suggest no, but owing to the angle and distance I can't be 100% sure.

 

3) And the "towel rail" on the rear lower starboard side, beneath the main hatch - this is the blind approach (BABS), I believe? Again, images of the Phantom don't really settle the question, but I'd assumed it was a standard fitting yet looking through my books I can't really see it anywhere on any Lancaster. It may be the angle and colour obscuring it - or is it limited to certain marks of the aircraft?

 

Any help would be utterly marvellous. Whilst my painting/weathering/varnishing always leaves a lot to be desired, and my etch is utterly terrible, I do tend to try and get physical details right even if the final job looks a bit of an omnishambles :S

 

(sorry again for the whole new thread)

 

 

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Hello ExiledFish

Firstly, there is no such thing as too many Lancaster threads, at least not in my opinion.

1. VHF aerial for communication with other bombers. Apparently fighter R/T equipment. Probably one of the first bombers fitted with one of those was acting Wing Commander Gibson's aircraft, although on this Lancaster aerial was positioned on starboard lower side of the nose. Otherwise, central or near central position (on your photo, aerial is obscuring external thermometer probe so it is probably positioned slightly to port) seems to be standard. Starts appearing on Lancaster photos in some numbers from about end of 1943/early 1944. Obviously indispensable part of equipment for master bombers.

2. Have no idea about blisters. Some bombers had had flat windows for some time and were later retrofitted with bulged ones or vice versa, PO-S (No enemy plane will ever fly over Reich territory) being one of the more famous examples which underwent this minor conversion. I suppose it is possible there had been Lancaster bombers which had been equipped with both types of window at the same time. Still, I would hesitate to build such a model without a photo or some other kind of evidence supporting such a configuration.

3. Yes, towel bar is a beam approach receiver dipole aerial for catching outer and inner markers' signals. I am not sure it was a standard equipment: there is plenty of Lancaster photos on which this aerial is absent. Also, on all photos I remember seeing it is positioned on port and not on starboard side.

I hope it helps. Cheers

Jure

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The bulged transparency was often, but not always, removed from aircraft fitted with H2S ground-mapping radar.  The display unit for this was usually, but not always, mounted at the forward end of the navigator’s table and restricted access to the blister one of the main functions of which was to provide a degree of downward visibility.

 

Ironically the old 1980s vintage Airfix Lancaster does include a Window chute: it’s a comparatively easy shape to replicate but it’s a bit fiddly due to its small size.

Edited by stever219
Added waffle.
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Thankyou for those answers/comments, chaps!

 

VHF? Hooray! Scratched the itch. It does look a bit like the R/T aerial on a Spitfire, now I think on it. Thankyou for that - I shall have to dig around the aircraft history to see if I can find a specific reason. I wonder if a certain number of aircraft per sqn were outfitted with one, judging by the paucity of photos of it?

 

I know for sure the Phantom had the flat window on the port side, so I’ll play it safe and leave the stbd window flat too. After chewing it over I think as she was an early B.III, the windows hadn’t been modified yet - and no H2S so wouldn’t have had one removed for that purpose. Flats it is :)

 

I will probably leave the dipole. I did read somewhere that it was unnecessary if the aircraft had the two Rebecca aerials on the nose, and as EE139 didn’t have those and I don’t have a picture clearly showing it, I’ll leave it on.

 

Window chute - Yes, I mocked one up yesterday which I think is okay from a few bits of poly sheet, though could have much been better. Judging lengths/depths at different angles on a b&w picture is a bit fraught, but it will do the job. Boxy and v-shaped, ish.

 

I’ll have to skip the Z-gear. No spare bubble and don’t want to blob paint inside my nice Klear-ed blister. Alas...

 

Thankyou for your help/comments, guys.

 

Jure - have you seen the limited edition 1/32 Lancaster by HK Models? Rather expensive but released Sept/Oct time? ;)

(Sadly I’d need a new house to keep a model that size).

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Hello ExiledFish

Surely 1/32 Lancaster model would be very impressive, and one for every major version even more so. Unfortunately, hangars do not come cheap these days ...

I agree with you that all bombers were equipped with some kind of blind landing system, but there were plenty of variations beside H-shaped Rebecca AN 148 and  BABS towel bar aerials (check this link). Only a small part of gadgets from that web page had been installed into Bomber Command aircraft, but they used plenty of different aerials, and for most of those listed I have no idea what they looked like. Cheers

Jure

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