RE: Old Photos

Hi again Plazz,
True to form,I can’t find the picture I was talking about,but I have found comfirmation that XJ615 was painted dark blue with a white spine.Rather than being the one-off scheme as I said earlier,this colour scheme was also used on the second two-seater prototype XJ627.
Similar schemes were also used on later Hunter demonstrators,with the blue being replaced by either red (G-APUX,export T.72 demonstrator) or bright green (XE531,one-off T.12 used for trials by the A&AEE at Boscombe Down and written off March 1982,pic below).
Attachments:

RE: Nose Art

“Where did you get those coconuts??”
“The swallows may fly south for the winter,yet they are not strangers to our land.”
“Are you suggesting Coconuts migrate??!”
“They could be carried.”
“A swallow?Carryin’ a coconut??!”
“It could grip it by the husk!”
“It’s not a matter of grippin’ it,it’s a matter of wieght ratios…”

RE: Flypast versus Aeroplanemonthly

Hi folks,
I really can’t decide which is better than the other,I think for various reasons they are about equal.I buy both every month often without even browsing through them first (I can’t afford the lump subscription price).
I think the two work well together because Aeroplane have a far greater interest in everything pre-1945,including early pioneers,WW1 etc,which now gets practically NO coverage by Flypast.On the other hand,Flypast are very much in touch with news and preservation issues, aswell as the more modern aviation history.I’m just as happy reading about Javelins in the Far East as Sopwith Dolphins on the Western Front,so there’s always something for me in both titles.
Having said that,there is more of a personal touch to Aeroplane.If you write them an Email,you get a specific reply,even if your material or whatever isn’t used.Emails to Flypast often go unreplied, even if your letter or whatever is going to be published.There are also more typo’s and spelling mistakes in Flypast,which gives it a mass produced feel,whereas Aeroplane’s standards seem to be a bit higher.I know I’m nitpicking,but I’m afraid little things like that can bother me no end!
I’d agree with Wombat about the Database section,I think it’s a cracking feature,but I think it’s best left to one magazine.The gatefold section with a cutaway and colour profiles etc which Flypast do occasionally is a good way of doing a similar thing without it being too much the same.
The only criticism I have is that there are never enough pages in either!
I also pick up other titles such as Pilot,Wingspan,AirEnthusiast and ClassicWings Downunder(when I can get hold of it),but I only buy issues with articles of particular and usually historical interest in them.I got magazines coming out of my..ears! 😉

RE: Nose Art

Hi Der,
I think one reason for the nose-art being on only the port side is that this was traditionally the side from which you would mount a horse.This sounds crazy at first,but the majority of early military pilots were also horse riders,and so mounting from the left was a habit ( I know what you’re thinking you sordid lot!).This meant that the left hand side of the machine would be the most visible to a pilot,and so this became the logical place for mission marks,kill tallies etc.The left hand side became the ‘pilot’s side’,but on a number of aircraft you can see nose art applied to the right aswell,and often a different name to the one chosen by the crew or pilot.This is usually the ground crews’ name/nose art for their machine, and it’s well illustrated on Gulf War Buccaneers for example,
a number of which had several names,including the brand names of various Scotch Whiskeys.
Perhaps this doesn’t explain things fully,but I hope it helps.

RE: planes you would like to own

Agreed there Snapper.You need something with a bit of character to it,as opposed to something that was dreamt up by a computer program,and flown by one for that matter!If we really have to choose something that’s still in production,I’ll have an FW190,a Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero and an Me262 please…:)

RE: Avro Shackleton WL790

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-12-02 AT 09:41 PM (GMT)]Hi Restorer,
According to Aeroplane,Air Atlantique ARE apparently hoping to have Ermintrude taxiable alongside MrMcHenry at the Classics show next June.I think she’s actually owned by a group called The Shackleton Preservation Society,who originally bought MrMcHenry aswell,but passed him on to Air Atlantique,although Ermintrude does also get alot of support from AA.
I don’t have a scanner at the moment Andy,so I’m afraid I can’t put the piccy up.Sorry about that. 🙁