Can anyone tell me if there are any major differences between the Flying Banana and the Workhorse? It looks to me like the rear landing gear strut of the Workhorse has a thing on it that is missing on the Flying Banana (as best I can see, looking at the Special Hobby kits). I was wondering if could I make mine a Flying Banana just by leaving these pieces off, or if there are other significant differences? Thanks guys.

Don't use the large fins if you're doing an early H-21. Be careful because many H-21s were modified during their lives to look like Vertol 44s.

The major difference was that the Vertol 44 was sold mainly as a civillian version of the H-21. It had a slightly more powerful engine and a few other internal differences but there were few external cues to tell one from a modified H-21. Many 44s had a fairing around the forward landing gear leg as well as the main ones.

Try to find pictures of the helicopter you want to build and stick to them. All Vertols had the metal rotor blades. BTW, the Special Hobby kit blades are too narrow. You can order replacement blades from Belcher Bits .

J

Thanks for your help. I tried posting pics of the H-21 I want to build, but couldn't figure it out, however, here's a link to the pics in my gallery. I can't find any reference to H-21s in the service of the Democratic Republic of the Congo air force, despite these pics. Maybe they were operated by the French, but given Congolese markings for political reasons.

http://gallery.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/24176

Interesting. It's definitely an early H-21. It has the small fins and the 5th window (nearest the cockpit) is still open, but the aft door is square rather than rounded so it suggest to me that it's a very early H-21B. The insignia looks interesting. It's not quite an overpainted USAF insignia, but neither is it a French roundel unless someone painted the aditional bars on it.

No, it has the markings of the Democratic Republic of the Congo air force, and it's overall bare metal. France has intervened in its former colonies often enough, but I guess they hoped to disguise their involvement by painting Congolese insignia over the original markings. But that's just a guess.