Category: Civil aircraft
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Douglas DC-3 – Part Five – Et Voila

There is a lesson to be learned with this Airfix model of a DC-3 in Aéronavale colours – and I must compel myself to learn it. It is a lesson of humility. At the start I thought this a marginal model – the sort of ugly cousin kit from an old company that had been…
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Stash Time

We are just starting a 5-day covid lockdown and fortunately our house has toilet paper, food, and books to read. The family has the goggle box and I have a stash. There are three kits a’building at present – one for the Tuesday Soviet Mens Shed meeting, one for the fortnightly glue and talk session,…
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Caudron C-635 – The Blue French Gem

To be specific; Bleu Baltique Metallique. This is the only post for this build – because I forgot to picture the early stages of it. They were fast ones – this Heller kit has only 34 pieces. But how lovely they are. The plane itself is a light aircraft of the 1930’s – purchased in…
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Lockheed Electra Junior – Part One – Dutch Surprise

The third purchase on a happy visit to a distant hobby shop was a Special Hobby kit. These are always more expensive than the big maker’s offerings but can be had for subjects that would never be kitted otherwise. I am always surprised at the things I see in this class of model. Measuring the…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part One – Raised Expectations

And raised rivets, too. I had a happy childhood, and a great many of the happy occasions revolved around model kits. This included a number of the 1950’s and 60’s Airfix products. Merit, Monogram, Aurora, and Revell as well. So it’s with great delight that I see Airfix re-issue classic models from the era. I…
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Beechcraft Model 18 – Part Four – Spirit Of Lodgepole

CF-ACL is ready for service. The Spirit of Lodgepole is named after a small town in the Pembina that serves the oil industry and was once the main service town for the Brazeau Dam project. It had an RCMP post, a hotel, a school, and a general store, as well as repair shops for the…
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Fokker F-27 Friendship – Part Four – More Planning Needed

Relax, folks..all is going well. But I cannot help but think that it could have gone well more easily. I am not a patient man with puzzles. I can stand about 15 minutes of a jigsaw before I go out looking for strong drink. I do not read mysteries. I should have set fire to…
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Miles Magister – Part One – Cute And Clean

Every so often you need to have a change from heavily-armed warplanes or state-of-the-art jets. You need something small and simple and bright. You need a trainer. Of course the real things were all this and more and perfectly able to kill instructors and students who made mistakes…but that is not what I am intending…
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RCAF Avro Lancaster – Part Eight – The Why And Wherefore

Finishing the Avro Lancaster in RCAF rescue colours has called up a series of questions about it as a real aircraft. I’ve no idea whether my answers are correct, but here goes anyway… a. Why did the RCAF have Lancasters? Because they were part of Bomber Command in the UK in the second world war.…
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RCAF Avro Lancaster – Part One – The Second Lucky Chance

Well, you get lucky sometimes. I got lucky lots of times in practice – not so many in my second career. But one of the memorable ones in 2014 was a trip to Japan as a corporate guest. We were hauled around but occasionally let loose in the shops or cafes to give the tour…
