Tag: RCAF
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Things I Never Thought About
Vs things I thought about all the time… As a kid in Alberta in the 1950’s the northern horizon was a worrisome prospect. We knew that it was the closest route for the Soviets to attack Canada and the United States by air. We knew that they had multi-engine bombers that they could arm with…
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Brewster Burmuda – Part Five – The Germ Of An Idea
Or ” Having A Gas Of A Time In Alberta “. I found out what the Bermuda was doing in Suffield. It was airframe number FF 568 from the Brewster factory and it was one of three that were flown up to Canada. One apparently crashed at Dorval in Quebec, but FF 568 got out…
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Brewster Buccaneer – Part Three – A Small Change Of Plans, Eh?
I keep telling myself I will not do this, and I keep ignoring myself. The Buccaneer for Special Hobby is about to change hands…into the care of the RCAF at Suffield, Alberta for “special duties “. While my meagre internet resources do not yet say what these duties are, I can guess: Beer runs. Large…
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Douglas Digby Mk I – Part Three – The Name…
I am puzzled. The name doesn’t seem to fit. When US airplanes got a name – as opposed to a model number – they generally got one that tied in with an established pattern – as a for instance, take the Boeing series of bombers – from B 17 to B-52 in four steps –…
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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…
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Tail Feathers
I have always been curious about anything connected to the decoration of aircraft. Look out your picture book of WWII aircraft and turn to the RAF section. Note the insignia applied to the average fighter or bomber: a. Two upper wing roundels in red and blue – in some cases quite dark but quite large.…
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Boeing B-17 – Part Three – A Slight Detour
My projected mail plane needs to lose the upper and ball turret. The Academy people have not supplied blanking plates for these two gun positions so I need to occlude them with some scratch building. However, I started out with the basic cockpit and bomb bay assembly. The interior is supposedly chromate green according to…
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North American Sabre – Part Five – NATO Defenders
The RCAF maintained a presence in Europe all during the Cold War, contributing fighter and reconnaissance units to continental defence. Whether the Sabres would have been all that effective in later years is debatable but by then there were CF 104 Starfighters as well. The basic colour scheme was that of the British units of…
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North American Sabre – Part One – Why Is It So Hard To Build It Easy?
Answer – because we have so many choices. The Airfix North American F-86 E Sabre and the Canadair Mk 4 Sabre seem very similar in their boxes. The outside art changes and the decal sheets are different but I’m willing to bet I’m going to find the same plastic inside the clear bag on this…
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I Don’t Think I’m Working Hard Enough At Being Lazy
I mean, procrastination starts with ” pro ” and you’ve gotta be dedicated for that, right? I’m typing this because there is a backlog in the Little Workshop – but it is a deliberate thing. I’ve been working on the A-20 Havoc, several P-39’s and a B-25 Mitchell. They’ve all got to the undercoat stage…
The Little World 