Sri Lanka Swordfish remains

It was, if I recall correctly, a gentleman by the name of John Parker of Bognor Regis. It would have been about 1983, Cripes, that long ago? Now I’m feeling old.

G

Wimpie

You are correct Bruce, she is internally configured as a T10 and it would be a shame to see her bug@ered around with and the original equipment separated from the aeroplane. Members of the public are not allowed within the aeroplane so to a degree, at least from a public perception perspective, her internal configuration is largely irrelevant. However, in external appearance she would be more representative of the day to day RAF Wellingtons in which so many paid the ultimate price if displayed in a simple un-marked night bomber scheme than in silver markings. I wouldn’t profess to be a psychologist by any means, but I would imagine that more people of our generation would stop and perhaps reflect more on what the bomber crews went through while looking at a Wartime configured (turreted) night-bomber marked Wellington than they would if in post-war trainer silver. Sad, but not necessarily something that can be changed.

That said, we should of course all be grateful that she has survived at all, so let’s just be pleased to have her around regardless of what colours she appears in!

G

Historic Aircraft Connection

There is a connection here to old aeroplanes, beyond the particular microlight in question. Patrick Luscombe was, I understand, heavily involved with the ill-fated British Air Reserve at Lympne and owned the former Southend Sea Fury which is now flying in America.

G

T3

And if the T3 leaving the UK means that it has an opportunity to take to the air again I can only applaud the transaction that brings that about.

The fact is that there exists a rebuildable Mosquito in Canada which has been relatively unloved for a considerable number of years for which there existed a viable opportunity to have her back in the air. That deal was blocked, partly through the lobbying of folks who quite frankly should have known better. The Mossie is sadly under represented as a flying aeroplane, not just here in the UK, but also across the Atlantic.

So, the good folks of Calgary get to see, eventually, what a Mosquito looks like. What a great shame no one gets to see what a Mossie can actually do when she gets air under her wings. Now, that would have been a bold and worth step. Sadly not to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a great deal of admiration for those who will eventually rebuild her for display in Calgary, I wish them every success and if we can help with spares I’ll be pleased to see what we can do. It remains, however, an utter waste of a good aeroplane.

G

Connectors

We’ve recently obtained the correct Breeze plug for the Generator for the Fiat. Now, all the plugs I’ve seen available have an open back-end. I’ve never seen any kind of shroud or cover through which the cables would pass before going into the back of the plug and therefore into the actual terminals themselves. Any clarification on this set-up, or indeed examples of the shrouds used on the 5X/6359 four pin plug (if a shroud exists) would be very, very welcome.

Many thanks,

G