Category: Canadian aircraft
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Piasecki Army Mule – Part Two – Army Mule = Navy Retriever.

The Piasecki H25 Army Mule helicopter was not a very big lifter – even for a twin-rotor aircraft. None of the helicopters of the 50’s period were – they were limited by what their aero engines could do. The H 25 has a twin-row radial engine buried in the fuselage, but it is a small…
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Frugal Week Big Finish

The week came to an end on a good note – yet another cereal-box building for a model airfield is complete – making a total of 7 this week – 4 for RCAF Wet Dog and 3 for Wet Dog Regional Airport. This one derives from a Scale Model Scenery download kit – it started as…
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Bell Model 47 – Part Three – The Bubble

Well, that was a surprise. I opened the Italeri box one morning at the modelling club and the helicopter landed, finished, on my studio table at 4:30 PM next day. And there was time in between working on it to put the camouflage colours on the CH-147 Chinook. I’ve no idea what this indicates in…
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Bell Model 47 – Part Two – Nothing Looks Like An Airplane

Upon opening the Italeri Bell Model 47 box and sliding out the two sprues I was struck by the fact that nothing on them looked like it could end up being an airplane. A collection of random boxy shapes interspersed with spindly framework. Frighteningly delicate parts. And when you come to think of it, wasn’t…
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Bell Model 47 – Part One – Sheer Terror Over the Brazeau

Being a kid whose dad was the project manager for a big construction project had its advantages – you got to ride out with him after supper when he made the evening round of the construction site and you got to climb all over the big tractors and earthmovers. In some cases, if they had…
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Boeing Vertol CH 147 Chinook – Part Five – Whatever Happened To Sky??

Specifically, whatever happened to the colour Sky as applied to the underside of British and Commonwealth aircraft? The underside of this Canadian CH 147 Chinook seems distinctly visible, as the bronze-black and deep green camo scheme – as admirable as it seems on the top and sides of the helicopter – wrap around down under…
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Boeing-Vertol CH 147 Chinook – Part Three – Miniature Misgivings

When constructing a kit I have learned to look at the instructions carefully. Then ignore a certain percentage of them – in particular the ones that ask me to glue on small breakable bits early in the piece. If I do so, I condemn myself to great anxiety over them ever after. There is a…
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Boeing-Vertol CH 147F Chinook – Part Two – You Want What?

I was taken aback. Normally the makers of plastic models do not expect you to saw them apart as soon as you open the box. Italeri did, though…and it was in a good cause. ‘Cause the Boeing company had made drastic changes to the sides of their Chinook helicopter and Italeri had to follow on.…
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Boeing-Vertol CH 147F Chinook – Part One – The Flying Bread Box

Okay, okay, I know. But that was what it looked like when I opened the box. It is the first of the modern twin-rotor helicopters I’ve encountered and I had no idea what the size of it was going to be. This is the second part of my fee-for-service I earned taking portraits and it…
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Lockheed Lodestar Part Six – Finished For The Time Being…

The Mannix Ltd Lodestar – CF-TDI – will land at Wet Dog Regional Airport tomorrow and be hangared for a space. It waits on the appearance of clear Testor’s decal film in the local hobby shops – there is really no other practical way to get the speed lines and the company logo on the…
