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Supermarine Walrus: What Do All The Ropes Do?


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I'm not sure where to put this question--it's an enquiry about a military aircraft in civilian service--specifically, four Walruses that were intended for catapult launch from a whaling ship, the S.S. Balaena, during the 1946-47 season. Although it could equally well be about military versions, none of the categories in that section seem particularly appropriate. Apologies in advance if I've chosen the wrong spot.

I'm currently modelling one of them, "Boojum", and feel I could do a better job of rigging the various ropes if I understood their function. I have enough photographs of various of these aircraft to get a good idea of where the ropes went:

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As you'll see, these aircraft had a grab-rail around the bow which seemed to be an anchor point for a couple of the ropes. There's also a run on the starboard side that seems to have been stapled firmly to the forward fuselage. Here's what I've drawn myself so far:

walrus-ropes.jpg

(The rear hatch in my base diagram is open, but will be closed in the model as in the photographs. I don't know if that's a significant factor in the run of the rear ropes.)

 

Thanks for your time looking at this, and I'll be grateful for any information.

 

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Not sure but I always thought they were for mooring up to buoys ,landing stage   when on the water . Think I saw a painting years ago of an air sea rescue of a Spitfire sat on the water,a Walrus also on the water with  a crewman standing on the  forward gun ring throwing a rope to the pilot sat in a dinghy . 

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Thanks. I was wondering if the rope that leads up to just in front of the cockpit on the port side was a sea anchor. It's the sort of thing the pilot wants to be able to reach for and stream from the bow easily without clambering around the aircraft in a stormy sea. But leading that behind the grab rail (as you can see in one of my photos) seems like it would be a recipe for Non-Deployment Of Critical Equipment.

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See previous post link   .   That's a great  build as per . To save a bit of time Page 6 of that build has some details about the ropes/cables .You need to read the whole build though too !

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1 hour ago, bzn20 said:

See previous post link   .   That's a great  build as per . To save a bit of time Page 6 of that build has some details about the ropes/cables .You need to read the whole build though too !

Thanks. Yes it's a great build. I'd seen it before but somehow missed the part about the ropes running to the rear hatch. I knew there were drogues stowed in that area, but somehow never managed to mentally connect them to the external ropes!

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