David,

The RAF had three Britannia C.Mk.2s which differed from the Mk.1s in that they were permanently fitted out as passenger aircraft and were used for VIP transports or standard troop transport as required. These were XN392, ‘398 and ‘404. I know nothing about them being used for sensitive flights or having special radio equipment fitted.

This is a very sad day for me!

I can’t think of anyone that has served the aviation enthusiast modeller better, or for longer, than Alan Hall. I first met Alan in 1965 when he was in a hangar at RNAS Yeovilton accompanied by Dick Ward and Dave Cook with their hugely impressive “History of Air Power” 1/72nd scale model collection! WOW, just about every military air arm and aircraft type was on display there in rows and rows lined up on tables! Many of them were not available as kits then, so were scratch-built or conversions using the old balsa wood, talcum powder and dope method that Alan used to advocate in his many articles in Airfix Magazine, which he was editor for many years. Alan had a microphone at Yeovilton and there was seriously competition between him and the official commentator for attention on that day! I caught up with him and this display at Biggin Hill a couple of years later, then I learnt that this huge model collection was transported to Germany by the RAF in an Argosy a couple of years later, specially for a show at Wildenrath. It had to be brought to the aircraft in a removal van! Then in 1968, the RAF element was on show at Abingdon before HM The Queen,for the RAF’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. I think the collection was on show once more at Benson the following year, then it disbanded and most of the models can be seen today at the FAST Museum at Farnborough, a location that was very familiar to Alan during his years as Public Relations Officer for the Royal Aircraft Establishment. When I started getting material published in the aviation press, Alan got me airborne in an RAE Wessex over the SBAC air display in 1968 and hardly a year went by before I saw him again at either an MoD press day or an air show. Between those times I kept in touch with his activities via the pages of Airfix Magazine, followed by the launch of Aviation News and then Scale Aircraft Modelling. His output never ceased with aircraft modelling articles and historical material, everything being highly detailed and accurate and worthy of archiving. We shared many RAF Press visits, flying in all manner of aircraft to take photos and reporting on the subject of the day. Alan was working right up to the end producing his WARPAINT series of books of which the last one on the Folland Gnat has recently been published.

Alan never suffered fools gladly, but under that gruff exterior, lay a dedicated enthusiast with a heart of gold, who will be a hard act to follow!

R.I.P.Alan

It’s a sad day, and I’m sure I’m talking for all of us who knew him.

Would be helpful to modify the thread title as this has nowt to do with any Noratlas!

Tim, I think the thread title is set in stone and not a lot can be done about it other than the moderators deleting it and starting again!

If anyone doesn’t know about this, here is my main reference source on the Comper Swift – an excellent hardback book entitled “Ultralights” by Richard Riding. Long out of print, but copies can still be found on Amazon. Not a book entirely devoted to the Swift, but perhaps, er…a Comper-a-mise?:rolleyes:

The display teams third Meteor WF791 was sadly lost in a crash at Coventry Classic Airshow in 1988

I was there that day and saw it go down! To lose ONE Vintage Pair Meteor is tragedy, but to lose BOTH was a disaster!

In 1956, the Royal Netherlands Air Force had a team of Meteor F.8s called “Diamonds Four”. Corgi make a diecast model of one.