Category: Museums
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Douglas B-18 Bolo – Part Three – The Museum Ship
Is there any reason the US Army referred to their aircraft as ” ships “? I wondered at that – the US Navy referred to them as aircraft, and that’s not surprising as they would also have had to use the word ” ship ” in other ways…dealing with sea-going vessels. Why did they both…
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Consolidated Catalina – Part Five – 3402 At Last
I finally figured out what I liked about the Israeli 3401 Catalina that is displayed at Hatzerim – they have painted it a shade of blue that has always called to me. My first car, the late lamented Renault 10, was painted this blue-grey and it has set a lead that I’ve followed for many…
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Consolidated Catalina – Part Two – Stand Down Canso
The Academy model of the Catalina PBY-5A proved to be a delightful thing in the box. But the thinking that wanted to convert it to a Catalina I in RCAF markings was as flawed as hell. The kit is moulded in black plastic – and any attempt to throw it over to RCAF Coastal Command…
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Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero – Part Four – The Green Of A Service Station
A service station on the Autostrada. At 4:35 PM on August 7th. With the door open and the smell of pasta sauce in the air. Not that watery sort of sauce – the real thick stuff. Well, you need to know what you want to do before you do it, or you’ll never know whether…
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Savoia Marchetti S.27 Sparviero – Part One – The Museum Repaint
The Savoia Marchetti museum in Italy has one of these aircraft on display. It has been repainted from the WW2 Italian version to a Lebanese Air Force scheme from the late 40’s. There are good colour photos of the plane in war service with Lebanon – it is a prime candidate for a special paint…
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Avia S-199 – Part Six – A Messer By Any Other Name
As soon as I saw the photographs of the Avia S-199 in Czechoslovakia and then later in Israel I knew someone was fooling with me. The propellor gave it away. It was a cartoon propellor from a Daffy Duck movie. I mean, who would put as big a prop on a plane like that…? Well…
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Avia S-199 – Part One – The Mule Cometh
I have been on the look-out for a year for a 1:72 model of an Avia S-199 fighter plane. Wouldn’t you know…a call at the local specialty shop for another product ( which I couldn’t get ) and a browse on the shelves led to the wonderful discovery. It was not a cheap kit, but…
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Hawker Sea Hawk – Part Three – All Ready, Murphy.
” Well, she’s ready for delivery, Murphy. I’ve rung up Air World and they’ll be sending a low loader to get it. Don’t fold them wings up until it gets here, in case they won’t unfold again. And you might unbolt the rockets for the trip – don’t want ’em getting loose on the highway.…
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Hawker Seahawk – Part Two – Ess Bend Aviation
Now that the contract for refurbishing aircraft has been let out to Ess bend Aviation in Alberta, Stein’s Air World can concentrate upon preparing museum displays rather than spreading an aircraft over an entire shop for years. This is what happens when in-house restoration is undertaken. Here are a couple of pictures of the work…
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Airfix Mosquito – Part Four – Thank You, Mike Grant
Mike Grant had been a pioneer where I wished to go and I was fortunate to discover an magazine article he wrote – sponsored by Airfix – that dealt with exactly the aircraft I was working on. The story was illustrated with a lot of good coloured photos and Mike had gone into the scale…
The Little World 