Air Enthusiast 2006-03
Round-Out
View of DC-3 XW-TFL about to start up at Kompong Chnang. It was operated by Kang Chan with obvious Thai connections.
TJ212 in contrast was apparently (if not officially) on the strength of 45 Squadron, presumably for communications or, perhaps, spotting duties while the unit was at Negombo, Ceylon, also in 1947. The squadron's main equipment comprised Bristol Beaufighter TF.10s - one of which can be seen behind.
A 1st ERS OA-10A taken from a fellow machine, 1945.
OA-10A 44-33939 of the 1st ERS, 1945.
As this image shows, Halifax B.V LK765 'QO-B' of 432 Squadron was actually named 'Block Buzzter' and not 'Block Buzzer'. Also worthy of note is the numeral '2' in each beer pint starting from the 24th mission. LK765 was coded within 432 Squadron as 'QO-H' and then 'QO-Y'. This aircraft suffered a heavy landing at East Moor on February 24,1944, which resulted in the tail assembly breaking off - it was repaired.
'The Roundels File' on the HP Halifax in AE121 also included a view of Geoffrey Wickner's Mk.III NR169, which emigrated to Australia, along with its pilot, as G-AGXA 'Waltzing Matilda'. Peter Green has supplied this image of it in Australian civil guise as VH-BDT with Air Carriers at Tengah, Singapore, in 1947. This was its only commercial flight as the company ceased trading soon afterwards and the aircraft was scrapped in 1948
TJ603 served with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan and was serving with the Iwakuni Station Flight when photographed at the main RAF Spitfire base at Miho in 1947.
John Havers from Honiton, Devon, found the 'Military Auster A to Z' in AE121 most interesting and sent along this image. He wonders if it has any connection with flying Austers on and off aircraft carriers. He notes that the 'batsman' appears to be Royal Navy while the reverse of the photo reveals: "SEAC Film Unit (BR), Passed by Censor". What can readers add to this?
Terry Panopalis from Quebec, Canada, has supplied this view of the North American Rockwell Model 335 to add to 'Steps to the Big League' which detailed the VFX and FX competitions in AE120. This half-scale wind tunnel model is preserved at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards Air Force Base, California. According to AFFTC Museum Director Doug Nelson, the model was donated hy Frank Eidikaitis in 1990, along with a full-scale fibreglass mock-up of the Model 335, after they were obtained from a Rockwell salvage sale in El Segundo. The museum, with the appropriate motto 'Keepers of the Right Stuff', is home to a growing collection of historical artefacts and aircraft to preserve the legacy of Edwards AFB.