Sorry, I should have added that, by the same order, the undersides were changed from Sky to Medium Sea Grey, the Sky fuselage band and spinner were re-emphasised, and the yellow wing leading edges were introduced.
There appears to have been some delay in stocks, so 10, 11 & 12 Groups were to change over, first, with 13, 14, 9, 82 & 81 to follow, as stocks increased.

Swans get a (largely undeserved) bad press; on my visits to Kew, I can walk within inches of swans basking on the warm concrete. Apart from keeping a wary eye on me, none has ever shown the slightest aggressive intent, in fact water-borne birds will swim towards me, in the hope I’ve got some food for them.
Several years ago, while on a canal-boat holiday, we were sitting in the stern having tea, when a pair of swans glided up, and proceeded to take sizeable chunks of our sandwiches, even coming close enough to take pieces direct from our fingers (their beaks are bony, but not sharp.) When they sailed off, obviously satisfied, we went below; 20 minutes later, we were disturbed by a sharp rapping on the hull, so went back on deck, to find the swans had returned, complete with brood, for us to feed as well. While the young wouldn’t trust us to feed them by hand, the adults circled them and us, obviously content to let us get as close as we liked.

In “The Spitfire in South African Air Force service,” by Steven McLean (an inordinately difficult book to find, now,) ISBN 0-9584437-1-8, there’s a photo of stripped “S.H.F.IXs” MH931 (with .303″ armament,) and cannon (only) armed MH993, of 41 Squadron in Cyprus; these were supposed to operate in pairs (two others were MA504 & MA792,) with Browning-armed aircraft driving down the target, to be finished off by the cannon of the companion. The legend says that the armour and fireproof bulkhead were removed, and there’s no sign of an aerial mast on either.
There’s also a photo (identical to Mark 12’s second photo,) of 10 Squadron’s MH946 & MA792 ( reportedly at Idku,) which seem to be similarly armed, also without aerial masts.

I’ve just finished reading a book, on the Whirlwind, by Niall Corduroy, and it’s worth the read, telling the (whole) story, without going into histrionics. Seen as a bomber-destroyer (always the main focus of the “The bomber will always get through” brigade,) the cannon armament was viewed as absolutely essential (work on fitting cannon into the Spitfire began pre-war,) but the engine was always the problem, running out of “puff” around 25,000′, and needing some development to take 100 octane 100% of the time. Rolls-Royce pointed out that it could only be built in one factory, and each Peregrine would cost two Merlins; with Westland only able to build 1 or 2 whirlwinds, per week, which wouldn’t cover “wastage,” its fate was sealed.
A friend visited Trumpeter, several years ago, and said that they have no modellers on their staff; we’ve been told that there was a large Chinese plastics industry, and the bottom fell out of it, during the recession, leaving many companies looking for outlets, so some, with no experience of the business, turned to model kits. Like TonyT, I tried to help Trumpeter/Hobbyboss, with only limited (zero?) success, but their contact has since left, and started his own company. They do have some successes, but I think lack of access to the facilities we enjoy is their biggest drawback.
Hornby have shown a refreshing approach to the business, cheerfully asking those, who they feel might know, for help (Arthur Bentley and Chris “2nd TAF” Thomas have been involved with the coming Airfix 1/24 Typhoon,) which augurs well for their future; would that others could/would do the same.

The part/drawing no., for the Spitfire mount, is 30030 sheet 87G; there’s a hint, on it, that it was made up from various castings bolted together, so there might not be a separate no for the screen holder.

And, this gentleman, from Burma, who you say sabotaged your aeroplane; do you have any evidence of that?

I’m waiting for the plague of locusts

Try the Palace of Westminster.
Apparently, this time, the Saharan pollution is intermingled with European pollution which is all being blown here by easterlies; the European court is threatening to fine this country because of its high levels of pollution. I wonder if anyone else can detect any irony in that.