Anybody know why the Halifax had black and white chequerboard lino flooring??
I saw it in the pictures of the Canadian restoration and dismissed it as temporary pending completion, but then in the new FlyPast there’s a period picture of the special ventral mounting for a .50 cal in the bottom of the fuselage to counter schrage musik attacks and there’s the same chequerboard lino fitted
why – did they get a job lot of spare lino or was there a special reason – it seems so incongruous.
Cees – do you know………
By: HP57 - 30th June 2005 at 17:31
Anybody know why the Halifax had black and white chequerboard lino flooring??
I saw it in the pictures of the Canadian restoration and dismissed it as temporary pending completion, but then in the new FlyPast there’s a period picture of the special ventral mounting for a .50 cal in the bottom of the fuselage to counter schrage musik attacks and there’s the same chequerboard lino fitted
why – did they get a job lot of spare lino or was there a special reason – it seems so incongruous.
Cees – do you know………
No, I didn’t but do now :rolleyes:
Cheers
Cees
By: DocStirling - 30th June 2005 at 08:37
They had planned to use Ikea wood flooring, but Sweden was neutral.
DS
😀
By: ZRX61 - 30th June 2005 at 01:41
Wilton & Axminster was considered too flamable 🙂
By: mark_pilkington - 29th June 2005 at 23:29
Technology advances in cockpit floors
I understand The “Hali” was subjected to many creature comfort improvements in the rapid move from bi-plane to modern enclosed cockpit monoplanes, and from wood and fabric to stressed monocoque aluminium structures.
I believe the lino was selected as being more durable than timber parquetry or tongue and groove “oak” floor boards, and certainly easier to mop after a mission.
Lino was also found to be much lighter than the clay or marble tiles first proposed, releasing valuable weight capacity for other things such as bombs, and avoiding the risk of “grout” cracking during service.
However top secret files yet to be released from the Air Ministry suggests the final advantage was the additional role it gave to provide the crew with a various of choices relax on the way to or from the target by playing checkers, chess, draughts etc, without having to crowd around the navigators table.
(An alternative Snakes and Ladder pattern was trialed but considered too limiting in the choice of games).
your’s (firmly with tongue in cheek)
Mark Pilkington
By: 682al - 29th June 2005 at 23:19
The floor was made of a material called Plymax.
“Plymax is a building material, used in airplanes. It consists of a thin sheet of duralumin bonded to a thicker sheet of plywood.”
I think the ply was the upper surface, so perhaps it had some form of lino type covering to protect it further? Or is the lino effect just the natural finished appearance of the Plymax?
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June 29, 2005 at 11:07 pm