Any of those sound great … Would be nice if he did have flight in a tempest … I always think they look aggressive…
I have semi happy memories of a Chipmunk flight during my very brief stint in the Air cadets lol… And that was a very very long time ago😁
Just checked the log book. Confirmed he did fly the Tempest between the Mustang and Vampire. Two flights only as the squadron quickly moved to the Vampire, but it is in the build.
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Excellent news … Another one to look forward to
After some time away from the bench for various reasons, I’ve finally found some time to get back to the next build.
Also picked up some aftermarket for a bit of extra detailing.
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Excellent, I was only thinking about this a few days ago mate … Whats the history with the Vampire ??
He was posted to 247 Squadron in late March 1947 having received an above average assessment as a fighter pilot for his time in 213 Squadron. I believe they were then based in Nicosia, Cyprus.
He then first flew the Vampire with 247 on 19th May 1947. Initially he flew the Mk I, later moving to the Mk III as the squadron upgraded their aircraft, with the first flight in that type on 2nd December 1948. He also flew the Mk V as well before the squadron graduated to the meteor in late 1949. There was some overlap in flights of the Vampire and Meteor into 1951 as he was posted to Squadron 72 in March 1950 which were still operating the Vampire Mk V.
I believe he also later flew the Vampire T11 as well.
If my calculations are correct he totalled 320 hours 15 minutes flight time in Vampires across the Mk I, III and V.
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Amazing career… looking forward to this one now 
I’d be happy just to be able to be an average fighter pilot lol… 
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Me too. Unfortunately ocular migraines scuppered my chances of trying.
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Interesting to read… I had two big problems I could not overcome for becoming a pilot: my eyes and I get sick in a plane. oh well. So I got to be a medic…
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Off to a start. A little drilling needed first. Instructions call for a 2mm bit to drill location holes for the fuel tanks to be attached later. 2mm seemed huge at first, but a check of the fuel tank mounts revealed they are indeed that size. Should be a strong attachment at least.
It seems odd not to start with the cockpit on an aircraft, but may jump around a bit anyway taking into account painting and PE.
Next up calls for the engine intakes and the exhaust, both of which need to be silver. Getting rid of seam lines internally then trying to paint with the parts joined could be problematic. Equally painting first then joining will leave those seam lines quite visible. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue on the intakes as they will be covered somewhat by grilles. The jet exhaust is a different story though.
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Whilst I ponder the jet exhaust and intake issue, I’ve moved onto the cockpit.
In order to install some PE I had to remove some plastic. I got a little over zealous with the razor saw and accidentally removed the locating ‘braces’ for the instrument panel. This actually worked out as the replacement PE instrument panel is much thinner, so added some spare plastic to act as new braces to provide a tighter fit. Looks a bit untidy but will be hidden. Some excess CA glue to clean up before painting.
Eduard always excel with their instrument panels.
Some thoughts on the kit so far. Whilst detail is not up to the standard of some manufacturers, (Eduard for example, or most recent Airfix releases judging by the Anson in my stash), it is however decent enough. Fit so far is pretty good and in some places almost push fit. I’ve got some warping on the upper fuselage though to sort when I get to that stage. The plastic is a bit strange and different from other Airfix kits I’ve seen. Don’t know how to describe it - sort of feels ‘plinky’?!? Isn’t soft like Miniart plastic and sands fine, so don’t suppose it matters really.
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Decided best to paint and then glue the intakes and jet exhaust. I can then fill and sand the most visible parts and then touch up with paint.
Rather than drag out the airbrush multiple times I carried on with some of the cockpit detail. I’ll then base paint the cockpit in one. First sanding off some of the plastic detail to replace with PE.
Once that’s done the kit instructions call for the details to be added to the insides of the upper fuselage along with some fine PE details. A little bit of clean up of exceeding CA and then will be ready for paint.
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