Delete the component serials and DTD numbers from the fin, rudder and fuselage: they are only applied to vertical surfaces on the starboard side. There were never any on the cowling either; they’re only applied to major components.

Andrew

[for those wondering, No.1690 (Bomber) Defence Training Flight]

The thing to remember is that Ray was the figurehead and driving force behind the publication of a lot of books and magazine articles but they were not always the result of one man’s research. There were a number of others – the backroom boys – who quietly beavered away to supply him with the raw material that he then used to generate the books that so often bore his name. For RAF types a lot of the backroom work was done by Jim Halley (who also sadly passed away last month) who had privileged access to the Air Historical Branch archives at Bentley Priory and latterly at Northolt.

It is worth noting that Vic Flintham and Andy Thomas in their book ‘Combat Codes’ also cite 1690 as being 9M. What sources have you looked through?

With the passage of time it is unfortunately impossible to determine quickly and easily the origins of some of the information, but while Ray’s work wasn’t perfect (whose is?), I doubt he would have cited such a thing without good reason.

Lee

Copies of ‘Fleet Air Arm Helicopters since 1943’ and ‘The Squadrons and Units of the Fleet Air Arm’ give more info.

XG581 was originally Ship’s Flight Bulwark as ‘982/B’ but with the ship in harbour it transferred to 701 Sqn ‘D’ Flt in Oct 57 (who took over the parenting of Bulwark’s Ship’s Flight) and would have kept its original code. Hence why it is listed in Bagnall’s logbook (he features several time over a number of types in FAAHS1943).

Bulwark supposedly left Portsmouth on 16 November (day after the crash) for Rosyth, when it would have been en-route in the North Sea when the two Fireflies crashed (histories of both from ‘Fleet Air Arm Fixed-Wing Aircraft since 1946’).

Lee

The SEA Vixen not a D.3 any more as it doesn’t have the drone equipment fitted. It’s a half-way house. But it is officially registered, as you point out, as a FAW Mk2.

Old news (announced last year) that for some reason surfaced on the local news yesterday.

I do suspect that BBMF will eventually go, to a greater or lesser extent, the same way (the days of saying any of these are ‘recruitment tools’ are long gone, I fear). The support infrastructure that underpins historic operations on the military register which drives a requirement for 70/80-year old aircraft designs to meet punitive modern-day regulations is increasingly difficult to achieve in an age where dwindling budgets mean there are fewer resources available to support even the smaller-in-number current types.

Swap a Swordfish for a Seafire? Nah.

Wildcat seats are totally different to Lynx ones. No commonality whatsoever.

I believe this was covered in the Haynes Manual on the Sea King written by someone a couple of years ago.;)