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Post War RAF Training schemes - do 'official' dates exist for each change?


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16 minutes ago, Anthony in NZ said:

… silver, yellow and dayglo striped money pit


So is that a ‘yellow’ rear fuselage band? Looking at that photo, I would have guessed any other colour but yellow! 

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Austers. like Chipmunks and Tiger Moths, are an affliction - once you have succumbed the attraction is lifelong, despite the oddities of the breed. 

 

Having had many happy hours and well bounced landings in Austers, and the occasional greaser by luck or mistake, they still weave a spell.  Quite an understandable addiction Anthony.

(Though as someone who also flies Piper Super Cubs, from the same Taylorcraft roots, I wonder how did the Auster end up with such different handling?)

 

That looks like an interesting scheme to resurrect.

 

John B

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Austers. like Chipmunks and Tiger Moths, are an affliction - once you have succumbed the attraction is lifelong, despite the oddities of the breed. 

Yes, but at least Chipmunks and Tigers are easy to get into/out of! I occasionally fly a friend's Auster and entry is always a challenge...

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22 hours ago, Rod Blievers said:

XrayLima - there's another difference in that the serial application in the coloured photo is different - it's mis-aligned and the characters are smaller than the standard 8" high ones. Of course all the photos I have of WK548 are from the LHS!

 

I have a theory! I have a 1960 photo showing WK548 with painted DayGlo panels and the normal 8" high serials. Of course the serial is painted over the painted panels, so that when the DayGlo was stripped I suspect off the serial was re-applied in that slightly odd form. Now in your photo the aircraft seems to me to be in Grey (a subjective opinion I know) - so is it possible that some time between when the coloured photos were taken in July 1967 and the aircraft went to 6 AEF on 27.11.1969 it was re-painted in the overall Grey scheme?

 

 

My memory says the aircraft I flew from Newton (April 68 to December 69) were silver but I'm prepared to be proved wrong. I flew WK548 last on 22 December 68.

If you have any other EMUAS aircraft from the period I would be very interested. I flew WD345 most often and WK635 was my first solo aircraft. Others on my log are: WD363, WK609, WK635 and WP781.

 

I would love to have a model of one built up in those colours but I know that I couldn't do it justice. My modelling was of the paint brush and Humbrol era.

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2 hours ago, Rod Blievers said:

Yes, but at least Chipmunks and Tigers are easy to get into/out of! I occasionally fly a friend's Auster and entry is always a challenge...

Funnily enough I have never had trouble getting in or out of Austers, though I have found Tiger Moths more of  a faff - at least for front seat entry. Chipmunks, I agree. 

 

The only entry/start challenges I've found  with an Auster has been that it is important to take care which way you do a full & free control check. It is possible in some models to knock the throttle open doing it the wrong way round, rather embarrassing if you haven't guarded it !     

 

John B

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If you have any other EMUAS aircraft from the period I would be very interested.

Some, yes.

 

WD345 went to ULAS on 21.9.1969 and I suspect this photo is from soon afterwards. The EMUAS badge has gone while the outlined depiction of the "A" is typical of ULAS. Again we have an undersized serial.

 

51390956297_4c6c830f68_h.jpgWD345 Nottingham UAS_edited by Rod Blievers, on Flickr

 

WK635 and WK609 together. Two different styles of serial presentation!

 

51391975908_32dd3b6a8e_h.jpgWK609 Nottinghmam UAS summer camp Manby July 1967 (David Anderson) by Rod Blievers, on Flickr

 

WP781, again with an undersized serial.

51392450654_2a283e20cf_z.jpgWP781 Nottingham UAS Nottingham Tollerton 1967 (Dave Welch)_edited by Rod Blievers, on Flickr

 

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4 hours ago, Rod Blievers said:

WP781, again with an undersized serial.

 

Given the frequency and standardisation of this, could it be a 'hallmark' of the MU that applied the finish to those airframes? Is there anything in the relevant AP/drawings etc. that would allow for (what looks like) a 6" serial number to be applied to the fuselage?

 

Mark.

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1960-1963 scheme: there are huge variations in the areas that were painted DayGlo. I wish I could post photos!

So I wrote two weeks ago. Obviously I can now post photos (all I had to do was read the FAQ's!), so here's two Leeds UAS Chipmunks c1960 with wildly different applications of painted DayGlo.

 

WG478 in what I consider the more or less "standard" scheme. Note the replacement front lower cowling panel:

 

51394248386_87b5c4aa63_k.jpgWG478 Leeds UAS 1960 by Rod Blievers, on Flickr

 

But now we come to WP915 carrying considerably more DayGlo areas:

 

51394511553_ca7ce9d8ce_k.jpgWP915 Leeds UAS 1960 by Rod Blievers, on Flickr

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