Hi and Help Identifying Aircraft

[Gary Petts]

Hello everyone.
I am an ageing aircraft enthusiast in South Australia, coming from two generations of RAF on my father's side. My Gradfather was in the RAF during WWII, and continued in the post war years in the Observer Corps. In the 60's, I would go through publications and silhouettes of aircraft at his home when visiting. Those were the times of children being seen and not heard!

Anyway, I was recently going through a box of stuff with all the family birth and death certificates, photos etc and found a few treasures, including the papers of a family member who served as a carpenter on the Victory (Nelson's Flagship) I also found some photos of what I assume would be earlier carrier use.

Two of the aircraft have 'N' prefixes, so I am guessing Navy and the other has an 'S'. Is there anyone who can help me identify what sort of planes they are?

I believe the serial numbers on 1 and 2 are N9984 and N9942.

I can try and do some higher quality scans if the photos are of use to anyone.

Cheers, Gary

 

[buffnut453]

First is a Blackburn Blackburn (yes...so good they named it twice!). Second is a Fairey Flycatcher. The third is a Fairey Ripon.

Hope this helps a wee bit. Great pics, though, and thanks for sharing them!

 

[Gary Petts]

Thanks Buffnut. I will have to look them up.
Cheers, Gary

 

[Gary Petts]

Looked up the first one and found the same photo on Page 19 - Photos by Friends and Guests:
It would appear the aircraft had a minor accident in February 1929

 

[fubar57]

Great job Mark

 

[buffnut453]

Glad I could help.

The Flycatcher isn't the prettiest of aircraft with an odd cranked fuselage but the Blackburn Blackburn is so ugly it could almost be a French design!

 

[Skyediamonds]

Gotta agree with Buff: all aircraft were correctly I.D.'d. The Blackburn & Firefly were not the prettiest, but I'm drawn to them because of their uniqueness. A few months ago, an exact flying scale model of the Firefly was featured on one of those modeling magazines, & it was gorgeous. The builder detailed it right down to the complete interior, rivets, RAFer flat rigging with turnbuckles & more. Very colorful. Even the radial was scratched out & beautifully done. I hope someone does equal justice with the Blackburn. I'm in the middle of a Guillow's P-51D model for my daughter. It'll be super detailed. After that, Piper Tri Pacer & Boeing F4B-4 & -1 (both to be built together). For those who are into modeling & modeling of biplanes in particular, if you wish to know, I've found an excellent source of flat RAFer rigging in the smaller scale range. Try Vape metal strips. Yep. You read correctly. They can be ordered through Amazon for $8.50 for 100-foot rolls & come in very small .4mm, .5mm, & .8mm widths. This equates to scales of 1/32 & up. I highly recommend this for everyone.