Film of dH Hornets..

The NF38 was not used by the RAF. The NF36 was in service until 1953.

First of all, apologies to the OP for the thread drift.

Thanks MarkG. At least my eyes were not at fault! There is another shot from the three quarters rear at 0:14.32 that shows it quite clearly.

I just hadn’t realised that those early radomes were made of clear material, presumably PMMA. Must have been quite a moulding job to get right.

I also managed to get hold of a copy of the Flypast special and there is actually a picture of an NF36 on page 37 with the same unpainted nose and a mention that the NF38 radomes were often left unpainted. Would it be an NF38 in 1948? It was the last mark made. Shame that you cannot make out the serial on the film.

Only goes to show that you can learn something new every day.

Rod.

That’s the ‘universal nose’ used on the later night fighters. It looks ‘odd’ in this shot because it’s unpainted.

In the second clip, as they pan down the line of parked aircraft. Are my eyes deceiving me, or does the Mosquito have more than the normal amount of nose glazing?

Rod

Hi Merkle,

These films are nice, aren’t they. Up until a few years ago, you could buy the original higher quality versions from British Pathe, but they seem to have stopped doing it now.

Many thanks,