Some more contrasts with the previous month's visit as we move back into the Canadian Memorial Hangar, with Tony Agar's superb Mosquito NFII restoration having the engines re-installed, and these shots should be of particular interest to modellers.
PICS 1 to 5. Showing the starboard engine (minus the sump pan), the cannon bay, and the port engine, and a rare chance to see the Merlins 'in the nude' as it were. I think perhaps the 'surprise event' at the Mosquito Re-union in July might be the 'Mossie' with its engines running.
PIC 6. The WW2 Thompson, 3-wheel refueller, in typical period camouflage.
PIC 7. Seen at every dispersal point on every RAF (and USAAF) airfield during WW2, this is one of a number of types of 'Trolley Ac', or Trolley Accumulator, used to provide boost power for engine starts.
PICS 8 and 9. Two types of RAF tow tractors, the David Brown (medium) and Fordson, used to tow aircraft and bomb trolleys. The colour scheme is late war, and used right up to the late 1960s, with the yellow top surfaces intended to aid visibility among aircraft traffic. The normal WW2 colour scheme was mainly camouflage, similar to the re-fueller shown above.
PIC 10. How I would love one of these! The Citroen 'Traction Avant', the worlds first successful, mass-produced front-wheel drive saloon car, and a valuable classic today. Pre-war, these were of course used by the French civilian population (those who could afford a car in those days), as well as the Gendarmerie and Army, and were also used in large numbers by the German armed forces and the hated Gestapo.
Glad to know you are still enjoying the tour, and thank you for your kind words - lots more still to come, including Karl and I looking small against the second-largest WW2 British bomb, Mick getting stuck in the hatch of a Canberra, more historic aircraft - and the Air Gunnery competition!