Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
Flying Legends 2017
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And for identification by the not yet Royal Observer Corps. As Britain's air defence system was developing in the 1930s it involved the use of radar, but only to track aircraft approaching the coast. The inland emissions/reflections of the Chain Home radar were blocked electronically in order for the operators to ascertain from which direction targets were approaching. The radar did NOT 'see' inland. This meant that all information pertinent to a potential interception, including the position of friendly fighters (prior to electronic IFF) and enemy aircraft after they had crossed the coast,had to come from the Observer Corps, which meant it had to be able to easily identify and distinguish between the two.
The markings date back to a May 1937 letter sent to the Air Ministry by Dowding. He suggested that the port lower mainplane of the then mainly biplanes in service be painted black, the rest of the aircraft underside remaining in the then standard silver dope.
On 28th July the Air Ministry gave permission for experiments to be carried out at North Weald. It was at this point that one mainplane underside was painted black and the other white. The delicately balanced ailerons were not re-painted for these trials.
On 28th October Dowding reported on the success of the experiments and made two further suggestions. First, that the serial numbers be omitted from the lower surfaces to make the markings as distinctive as possible and, second, as Hawker Hurricane production was gathering pace, that the undersides of these aircraft, including flaps and ailerons, should be finished in the black/white scheme.
The Air Ministry agreed to a large scale service trialand in March 1938 the Ministry informed Fighter Command that a batch of 50 Hurricanes (L1576 - L1625) would be finished in the new scheme, deliveries expected to start by the end of the month.
There were some trials and tribulations with the interpretation and application of the new scheme, but by 1940 most wore the standard, as on the Spitfires and Hurricane above.
Sky became the new underside colour in June 1940, but the black/white scheme continued to be allowed for some time whilst supplies of the new Sky colour were sorted out.
Cheers
Steve
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- #64
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
The resident Catalina came next, combining part of the display with the Wil .... Wi ...... W ....... Martlet - which sounded like a knackered tractor, but performed well.
Again, the pics are divided between two posts.
Again, the pics are divided between two posts.
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- #65
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Second set of Catalina and Martlet.
It seems the forum 'system' is acting up again, as I can only select one image at a time, which is taking bl**dy ages, so I'll post the final sets, of the 'prototype' Sea Fury and the closing 'Balbo', tomorrow.
It seems the forum 'system' is acting up again, as I can only select one image at a time, which is taking bl**dy ages, so I'll post the final sets, of the 'prototype' Sea Fury and the closing 'Balbo', tomorrow.
ok here's the few of my pictures i deem worthy after heavy editing to remove a lot of the crap i seem to have accumulated inside my camera body.
in no particular order i will add them in batches of subject matter.
mustangs.
in no particular order i will add them in batches of subject matter.
mustangs.
more mustangs
Catalina and Wildcat
Catalina and Wildcat
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- #68
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Good stuff Karl. I had a bit of clean-up to do on some of mine too - think it's time to get the cameras cleaned.
turbo
Staff Sergeant
Lovely shots Terry!
Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
Top shots Guys.
T Bolt
Colonel
Great shots Guys!
spitfires
Crimea_River
Marshal
90% of my flying shots are rubbish so I will let Terry and Karl's photos capture the essence of the flying display. Here are a few from the Saturday show:
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- #78
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Good ones Andy. It's interesting that all three of us seem to have had problems - I wonder if it was the light conditions ?
Many of my ground to air shots suffered from exposure problems, and / or some slight focus problems, being not quite as sharp as they should have been.
This can be seen in some of the prototype Sea Fury shots below, and certainly in the 'long' shots of the 'Balbo', which I'll post later, which were taken with my other Nikon, and the smaller lens.
Many of my ground to air shots suffered from exposure problems, and / or some slight focus problems, being not quite as sharp as they should have been.
This can be seen in some of the prototype Sea Fury shots below, and certainly in the 'long' shots of the 'Balbo', which I'll post later, which were taken with my other Nikon, and the smaller lens.
Crimea_River
Marshal
The problem at my end is the operator alone! Despite performing a diligent cleaning of my lenses and sensor on both camera bodies I have so much dirt showing up on my shots as the conditions were quite windy and dusty. I also think that my vantage points on both days contributed to my inability to get good shots with no camera shake as the flying box was definitely farther away than I remember it from last time. Shake is more pronounced on distant objects and the elimination of access to the tank bank also put us further away.
I'm still organizing shots and will post more when I can between visits with the family.
I'm still organizing shots and will post more when I can between visits with the family.
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- #80
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
I had more dust showing than usual too, needing quite a bit of clean-up on most shots. And you're right about the distance too; apart from the display axis being further out, where we were sitting at the van was 300 meters from the runway at the shortest angle, and upwards of around 500 meters for most ground to air shots.
Next time, I'll try not to be so lazy, and get closer to the crowd line !
As we wanted to get off the airfield and back to the camp site in time to set up the BBQ, I didn't bother much about the 'Balbo', the traditional mass formation that closes the show. I only took a couple of token shots, with my other Nikon, using the 18-55 mm lens. The 'Balbo' was rather down on numbers this year, with only nineteen single-engine fighters, but still an impressive sight.
There were a few 'no shows' this year, with aircraft missing including the Gladiator, another Sea Fury, one Mustang, the P-36 and a couple of others.
That's it from me - not sure what the next show will be, but I might go to East Kirkby or Little Gransden in August, and I should be at the September show at Duxford, which is two weeks later than usual this year.
Next time, I'll try not to be so lazy, and get closer to the crowd line !
As we wanted to get off the airfield and back to the camp site in time to set up the BBQ, I didn't bother much about the 'Balbo', the traditional mass formation that closes the show. I only took a couple of token shots, with my other Nikon, using the 18-55 mm lens. The 'Balbo' was rather down on numbers this year, with only nineteen single-engine fighters, but still an impressive sight.
There were a few 'no shows' this year, with aircraft missing including the Gladiator, another Sea Fury, one Mustang, the P-36 and a couple of others.
That's it from me - not sure what the next show will be, but I might go to East Kirkby or Little Gransden in August, and I should be at the September show at Duxford, which is two weeks later than usual this year.
