Unfortunately, I failed to catch the repeat.

Is this streaming of white ribbons so well-known that it isn’t worth a comment or is that it this must have been something unique and thus not recorded?

It’s just that it was new to me.

I’ve read a lot on this period and have never come across white streamers before.

More captured Typhoons

There is a photograph in which the fuselage of JP845 (lost Abbeville 21/12/43) is among the wreckage of a bombed out hanger at Versailles-Buc. Could that be one of the Typhoons?

Could be, but this aircraft and the other Typhoons (at least 3) look more like they are being used for spares retrieval. Two of the others are provisionally identified as US-K JP915 (lost 3 January 1944) and FM-Y JP510 (lost 16 March 1944).

Lw Typhoon idents(s)?

The shot which shows a Typhoon with ident stripes under the wings almost certainly features EJ956 SA-I ex 486 Sqn which was shot down by flak on 24 March 43. The other shot could be the same aircraft with the stripes (and codes) painted out.

Alternatively the latter could be JP548 of 174 Sqn which was shot down on 14 Feb 44 – one week after the RAF painted out the ident stripes on all its Typhoons. Both are known to have been flown (and eventually crashed by the Luftwaffe.

7 years earlier and EJ922 …. er no …

Just to take the photocoverage of the Brownhills Typhoon relic back a bit more, the attached photos were taken in 1970 and include the shot that appeared in an early edition of ‘Flypast’.

I was surprised to see this cockpit section identified as having come from EJ922, for two reasons. Firstly there was no trace of identity when I saw it and I don’t think the AHG found anything either. Secondly, a look at EJ922’s Form 78 shows that after service (from March 43 to Oct 43) with 3 Sqn as ‘QO-F’ and a period of storage it went for ‘RIW’ (Repair in Works) in July 1944.

At that time this would have included all the latest mods, notably replacement of the original ‘car-door’ with a sliding bubble canopy. This is confirmed by its later allocation (in May 1945) to 83 Group Support Unit, which was a holding unit supplying aircraft and pilots to the sqns of 83 Group, 2nd TAF. If it still had its original car-doors it would not have been there.

Two months later it was dispatched to 51 MU, Lichfield from where in March 1947 it was sold to International Alloys.

Incidentally, it seems to me that the cockpit section had seen some use as a training aid or exhibit. It was painted ‘silver’ over the top of the camouflage and the yellow of the fuselage roundel was too thick to be the correct later wartime style and too thin to be the style originally worn by Typhoons. On the starboard side, under the windscreen was ‘TYPHOON’ in one-inch (or thereabouts) white letters. The latter was only just visible when I saw it and seems to have disappeared by the time AHG came to the rescue. Wouldn’t it be nice if that rang a bell with someone?

Thanks for that Andy but McAfee comes up with a heavy security warning when I attempt to use your link …

Cheers mate, i have the air britain books so got that info already, thanks anyway

Then perhaps you could be more specific about what information you are seeking?

According to the Database article in The Aeroplane, September 2006, TS439 was shipped to the States for further trials and damaged beyond repair in a landing accident Feb 1945.

According to War Prizes, it was a different He177, allocated to the USAAF, which had a take-off accident at Orly in late Feb 45. Meanwhile, while being flown by RAE, TS439 had suffered irrepairable damage to an engine; the USAAF had stocks of suitable DB610s to replace the damaged item and TS439 was duly taken to the States for testing (as FE-2100, later T2-2100). In store at Freeman field by 16 May 46, to Park Ridge 4 Oct 46.