Thank you for this Chris. It is similar to the one that Peter Green drew for Scale Aircraft modelling and although I’ve seen few photos I’m not happy with the flat deck behind the gun ring also the fin has some of the usual errors.

Cheers

John

Jagan

Yes I’m happy for the latter posts to be combined.

The wing stagger changes (from 16″ to 20″) were due to the need to compensate for the extra weight of the geared Jupiters (VIII, IX). The main wing struts remained the same but new centre cabane struts of different lengths were introduced as were new shorter front radius struts for the undercarriage which raked the main wheels a further 3 inches forwards (13″ instead of 10″ at full oleo extension). The combined stagger and u/c changes restored the aerodynamic balance and ground handling of the aeroplane.

The wings were, the original DH.9a Wooden wing, the Steel built replacement and finally a Dural wing. The Steel wing is the most common IMO. I think the Dural wing is sometimes referred to as the ‘B’ wing.

There were supposedly only 10 Mk II Wapitis built but the AP suggests that the RAF (in my 1929 issue) identified all Jupiter VI aeroplanes as Mk II’s and all the geared Jupiter aeroplanes as Mk II.A’s. which makes sense as the rigging wires all changed. All the wires for the Mk II with the exception of the centre section wires were labelled DH 9.A. Many RAF Home based Auxiliary Sqn’s flew the Jupiter VI which are often labelled MK II.A by authors.

Cheers

John

Ps I’d love to see the Wapiti in India but my long range expeditions these days are limited to New Zealand where my son and his family live.

Thank you Jagan, I was just about to do the same but you have kindly done so. My connection apart from a tenuous family one is that I identified most of the aircraft subjects for Liz. I too would like to see the book on my shelves.

Its not in the usual run of War memoirs but that of man who found himself in North East India (initially) a backwater of the war on a repair and servicing route station. Cpl Walker had a passion for photography and recorded the aircraft passing through and the many journeys he made through an India he grew to love. His war finished in Burma with 31 Sqn during the final bloody days of that campaign.

By the way I’ve been conducting a lot of research on the Wapiti and Wallace and I’m firmly of the opinion that the Wapiti V’s in the batch J9708 to J9759 and those from J9725 annotated as Mk V’s were simply all short fuselage IIa’s which had been differently equipped as Army Cooperation machines (hence the Mk number change).

The only long fuselage so called Mk.V was the makers own aircraft G-AAWA which had been used for development trials including that of the message hook fit which was later given the serial J9728 when it was handed over to the RAF engine testing establishments fitted with the Bristol Draco.

IMO it has been wrongly called the prototype MkV because it introduced and tested the Army Co-op equipment on the Wapiti. The only series production long fuselage Wapiti variant was the Wallace.

John