One day of model building, and I missed two questions...
do you guys have time to build anything? :-)

Hi Gábor

A day of modelling... you lucky ****!! :-)

I'll sort out a question.

All the best

Rowan

Here we go...

What's this weird-looking beastie?



All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan.
I Googled the serial number and the first result suggested was one for a no stress bra
:-)
But further searching suggests its an AWA Sinai?
Whatever one of those is?
Anywhere close??

My google search said that J.6858 was a prison inmate somewhere in Texas. Was he by any chance the pilot of this freaky bird? :-)

Hi Nigel

LOL! I very nearly painted out the serials - but I thought that would be too cruel! Next time, I won't be so generous! :-)

Spot on! And over to you.

All the best

Rowan

Hi guys.
Just had a bizzare mental image of an escaped convict wearing a no stress bra flying to freedom in an old biplane
Conair with a difference :-)

Ok here goes.
On Sept 3rd 1939,when war was declared,how many Spitfires did the RAF have in frontline service?

I only have one reference to this so I'll allow 5 either way,or am I being too generous with the superb aviation knowledge on this thread?

When W.W.2 broke out the R.A.F had taken delivery of 306 Spitfires, only half of which were in frontline service, the rest being assigned to training units.
Andy (++)

Hi Andy.
That figure doesnt tally with my reference,so lets let it run a bit and see what other people come up with.
This doesnt mean that my reference source is the definative total of course.
Just to clarify,,,the question refers to Spits in frontline service and not the total of Spits in the RAF.

Hi Nigel,
Another website said there were 187 in frontline service.
Andy (++)

Hi Nigel

If I read it correctly, Alfred Price says 187 Spitfires formed the full equipment of 10 squadrons and part of the complement of one other on 3rd September 1939.

All the best

Rowan

Hi guys.
187 is the figure I had in mind,,spot on!
According to my reference,,(which looks like the one Rowan used),,there were another 83 "on the books",,making a total of 270.
Pitifully few considering the might of the Luftwaffe and how much "warning" of hostilities the politicians of the time had.
Im still in awe of the achievements of the brave men who flew at that time,on all sides.
Did you know that Bomber Command lost more aircrew in action during the Battle of Britain period?
Most of these were from raids against the build of invasion barges.
Over to you Andy,as you posted first
All this talk of Spitfires and looking at the TV guide for tonight may well end up with me reaching for the Battle of Britain DVD

Thanks Nigel.
Countinuing on the Spitfire theme, in late 1938 a standard MK 1 ( k9834 ) was modified for an attempt on the World speed record, so my question is - why was the attempt never made ?.
Andy (++)

Hi Andy.
The Spit in question,,K9834 was modified with a new wing,a 4 bladed propeller,streamlined cockpit,and a modified Merlin II engine using special fuel.
And thats where I hit the wall with the research,,,hahaha.
So,,Im going to take a wild guess and say the attempt was never made because,,,,
The pilots wife told him he was spending far too much time messing about with dangerous aeroplanes and it was about time he got a proper job :-)

:-) :-) :-) She probaly did say that but he was doing the bloke thing and not listening :-) .
Andy (++)

Hi there

The Speed Spitfire never made a serious attempt on the world speed record because, with apologies to Mal, it simply wasn't fast enough and stood no chance. Events had overtaken it and, although it was hoped to reach 425 mph in the spring of 1939 after more modications, the Germans raised the record to 463 mph on March 30th with the He 100, followed a month later by the Messerschmitt 209's 469 mph - which stood for 30 years.

The Speed Spitfire was delivered to the PRU at Heston in November 1940 and survived the war, only to be scrapped in June 1947.

All the best

Rowan

Spot on Rowan. I didn't know about where it ended up, so i learnt something new there. I must tell Mal the next time i see him about the Spitfire that was beaten by a Messerschmitt :-) :-) .
Over to you for the next question.
Andy (++)

Hi Andy

Don't tell Mal - it'd break his heart! :-)

OK - this one's probably easy... what's this aircraft?:



All the best

Rowan

Oops, at first I thought Mig-17....here's a pic of that from an airshow I attend every year. I don't know the other Migs

Hi Rowan,
Its an La 168. A Lavochkin design which first flew on 22 April 1948 and was superior to the Mig 15. An order wasn't placed as the Mig 15 had already been accepted for production.
Andy (++)

Hi Andy

Bullseye! It's a neat looking aircraft... I'd like to see it as a short-run 1/48 scale kit - even if it hasn't got a propeller!

Over to you...

Rowan

Whooops, sorry forgot.
My question is what was the Spitfires first "kills" ?
Andy (++)

Hi Andy.
Bit of an own goal really.
The Spits first combat victims were 2 Hurricanes of 56 Sqn on 6th Sept 1939.
After this high priority was given to producing IFF equipment,which ties in nicely with my thread
Nige

Correct Nige, i found that out looking for the IFF wires for your thread :-) . Still havent found anything though, apart from there was a switch in the cockpit for the IFF thingie.
Andy (++)

Hi Andy.
Thats where I saw it too
Ok,,my question.
During the Berlin Airlift,what type of plane was primarily used for carrying salt,and why?