All the best Moggy, Blue skies to you.

I must admit, I’d like to see the Victoria Government throw even just a small potion of the Millions of Arty Farty, Dippy Doo dah cultcha things dollars that maybe 5% of the population are interested in towards Moorabbin. Even if there was no all encompassing museum there is a fair amount of vacant land just around the extant buildings that they could arrange for and pay for some expansion buildings. Having done a working bee there on the DC-3, a proper maintenance and restoration building, plus at least one more display hanger would be amazing for them.

You know I’ve never understood smarta%$e answers to what was probably a reasonable question, especially given the American predilection for designating what is effectively new aircraft into an existing designation as a way of ensuring funding approval (NAA F-95A to F-86D for example). Also The Supermarine Victor to Spitfire F.21 (considering the very low % of similarity to the Spitfire I.

As for my opinion, certainly the early marks deserved to be called navalised Spitfires and the middle series of Seafires did match up with the mark numbers of the Spitfire. I think it is the F.45/46/47 where they completely diverge. the first 2 do share a lot with the last Spitfires but IMHO by the Seafire F.47 there was very little in common with the Spitfires let alone the early Seafires so I’d be happy to call it something different.

Just my opinion to what I thought was a reasonable question.

The de-militarising of it, removing any offensive capability that might upset the wowsers in the removing of its turret and making it a navigation trainer. I wouldn’t mind so much if it was painted as a wartime OTU aircraft, their Wellingtons trained crews AND flew ops.

I think you are taking it a bit far and a tad personally. I would guess there was NEVER a conversation at RAFM that went ” Quick, we need to appease the wowsers and convert our Trainer Wellington from it’s bomber configuration back to it’s trainer configuration”

The bottom line is it went straight from Vickers-Armstrongs to 18MU and then stored (with 35 minutes on the clock) from 1944 to 1948 and then converted to T Mk 10 configuration. Then serving 5 years from that time. No. brainer really considering there is the aircraft at Brooklands.

My Choices

DeHavilland Hornet F Mk 3 (No tail fillet)
FMA IAe.30 Namcu

Sorry to be an Anglophile but

DeHavilland Hornet (Fighter)
Supermarine Spiteful
Hawker Hunter
Hawker Sea Hawk