Julien Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 A colour question for the drones. We are used to seeing the high demarcation Yellow/red scheme. Was this ever lower down? I ask as I have seen a nose bay panel where the top red coat is badly faded to yellow underneath with red stencilling underneath ? Thx Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 I've never seen a photo of any of the drones in a variation of the standard scheme, even the first U15 RA420 (ex-F4) had the high demarcation. The only one that seemed to have any variation was RA479, a U15, which had black and white stripes painted on the fuselage and fin for photo calibration tests. This went to Malta so was likely blown-up by the Navy gunners. Is the panel from WH453 or another aircraft? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 11 minutes ago, BritJet said: I've never seen a photo of any of the drones in a variation of the standard scheme, even the first U15 RA420 (ex-F4) had the high demarcation. The only one that seemed to have any variation was RA479, a U15, which had black and white stripes painted on the fuselage and fin for photo calibration tests. This went to Malta so was likely blown-up by the Navy gunners. Is the panel from WH453 or another aircraft? Steve Yes from WH453. As you can see she quite badly weathered while sat outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 This might help - https://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=154130 Perhaps the yellow was as an undercoat for the red? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 1 minute ago, BritJet said: This might help - https://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=154130 Perhaps the yellow was as an undercoat for the red? Steve Yes seen those, cant understand why they would put red lettering on the panels if just an undercoat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritJet Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 No I can't explain that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Was WH453 used in Australia at all? They had the predominantly white and red scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 2 hours ago, 71chally said: Was WH453 used in Australia at all? They had the predominantly white and red scheme. No she never went to Aus. 19th October 1951 33MU (Maintenance unit) 11th March 1952 delivered to 222 Sqn at RAF Leuchars 9th May 1954 to Avro factory at Langar for maintenance 30th May 1954 delivered to 72Sqn at RAF Church Fenton 1st May 1956 delivered to 5 CAACU 13th October 1971 to 5 MU 18th April 1972 to MOD for U.16 drone conversion 9th April 1974 to Flight Refuelling for drone equipment installation 9th August 1974 to RAE West Freugh 6th January 1975 to RAE Llanbedr 13th September 1976 to Flight refueling for upgrades 24th November 1976 to RAE Llanbedr 10th October 1990 removed from flying at Llanbedr and used as static engine test frame Tho that would not explain the yellow panels with red stencilling? Interestingly one part of her now did goto Aus as the main tank lid is actually from WK800 and it still has the RAAF serial stamped on the inside. The owner of WK800 took the lid from WH453 when he bought WK800 from the MOD as the lid on WK800 had been heavily modified. Julien 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 This helps not at all with Julien's quest, but two nice photos I hope you'll agree? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 Top one is at RAF Woodvale when she was with No5 CAACU. Is that WK800 in the second? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberra kid Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 7 minutes ago, Julien said: Top one is at RAF Woodvale when she was with No5 CAACU. Is that WK800 in the second? I can't make the number out on the bottom on Julien. It's nice though. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Sorry Julien hadn't realised the red stencilling was on a yellow back ground, I wonder if it could have been a paint shop mess up, making a mistake on where the demarcation was before repainting to the standard scheme? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 57 minutes ago, canberra kid said: I can't make the number out on the bottom on Julien. It's nice though. John Yes, pity its not better resolution. I think it might be VT112 as I noticed its Mark IV not an 8. I have seen n pic of VT112 with wing tip pods like that and the same dome antenna, though its speculation on my part. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelldoc Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Decades before I made a conversion from the FROG Meteor in a U 15: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/8141660028/in/photolist-2iT37wR-JooYQU-Jcnavp-H1akjQ-qhYYgY-qxfJJ7-fFBDoJ-dpsbn9-dpsa8S-dps8SL-998nhc-97qFmT modelldoc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 On 12/23/2020 at 12:44 PM, Julien said: The owner of WK800 took the lid from WH453 when he bought WK800 from the MOD as the lid on WK800 had been heavily modified. Julien The current owner of WK800 (who is a good friend and work colleague) has asked me to post the following contribution: I would like to clarify some slightly odd wording by Julien: “The owner of WK800 took the lid from WH453 when he bought WK800 from the MOD as the lid on WK800 had been heavily modified.” The owner of WK800 didn’t “take” the lid from WH453 when he bought WK800 in 2008 - it came already fitted and had been thus for approximately 14 years of flying operations and a further four years at Boscombe Down. Both aircraft co-existed at Llanbedr for circa 29 years, so hopefully the following may be of interest: WH453 was unexpectedly withdrawn from flying, reportedly due to the discovery of skin rippling, in October 1990. At that time WK800 was grounded for protracted repairs as a result of an immediate post take-off mishap and resultant barrier engagement during a pilotless sortie in April 1989. That accident brought to a premature end the pilotless test flights for the Radar Vector Miss Distance Indicator (RVMDI) system then under development and WH453’s unplanned grounding meant Llanbedr was without a suitably modified Meteor for Jindivik operator training. To get WK800 airworthy, in part to fulfil that training requirement, various items were exchanged with those on WH453, including the main fuel tank access panel. That, and at least one other swapped panel, had previously accommodated RVMDI transmitter/receiver housings*. WK800’s documentation confirms it was not uncommon for items to be switched between the two airframes during their flying lives, engines and ejection seats being other examples. *I’ve not found confirmatory document evidence, but the RVMDI housing on the fuel tank access panel appears to have suffered the wrath of the runway overrun barrier cables during the rapid return to terra firma in April 1989 and is perhaps the reason for that particular panel swap. Sorry, I can’t shed light on the thread’s main aspect regarding stencilling on yellow paint. A quick whizz through many U.16 images all indicate the same position of yellow and red demarcation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 1 hour ago, 71chally said: The current owner of WK800 (who is a good friend and work colleague) has asked me to post the following contribution: I would like to clarify some slightly odd wording by Julien: “The owner of WK800 took the lid from WH453 when he bought WK800 from the MOD as the lid on WK800 had been heavily modified.” The owner of WK800 didn’t “take” the lid from WH453 when he bought WK800 in 2008 - it came already fitted and had been thus for approximately 14 years of flying operations and a further four years at Boscombe Down. Both aircraft co-existed at Llanbedr for circa 29 years, so hopefully the following may be of interest: WH453 was unexpectedly withdrawn from flying, reportedly due to the discovery of skin rippling, in October 1990. At that time WK800 was grounded for protracted repairs as a result of an immediate post take-off mishap and resultant barrier engagement during a pilotless sortie in April 1989. That accident brought to a premature end the pilotless test flights for the Radar Vector Miss Distance Indicator (RVMDI) system then under development and WH453’s unplanned grounding meant Llanbedr was without a suitably modified Meteor for Jindivik operator training. To get WK800 airworthy, in part to fulfil that training requirement, various items were exchanged with those on WH453, including the main fuel tank access panel. That, and at least one other swapped panel, had previously accommodated RVMDI transmitter/receiver housings*. WK800’s documentation confirms it was not uncommon for items to be switched between the two airframes during their flying lives, engines and ejection seats being other examples. *I’ve not found confirmatory document evidence, but the RVMDI housing on the fuel tank access panel appears to have suffered the wrath of the runway overrun barrier cables during the rapid return to terra firma in April 1989 and is perhaps the reason for that particular panel swap. Sorry, I can’t shed light on the thread’s main aspect regarding stencilling on yellow paint. A quick whizz through many U.16 images all indicate the same position of yellow and red demarcation. Just what I was told as to the lid being on WH453 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelldoc Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 There are in Brian Philpotts book, "Meteor" ( Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough 1986) some art works for drones. U15 VT 30 - No. 657 U 16 WH 286 U 21 A A-77-157 RAAF Australia He wrote: 92 U 15 reconstruct by Flight Refuelling from F 4 150 U 16 reconstruct by Flight Refuelling from F 8 modelldoc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now