Walter Mitty Strikes again

[DispatchDragon]

I went through the list that Garry posted and it seemed the logical one

Ah well back to the drawing board -- Peter should have the Spit up at the Pond shortly - you will need the
AS freeware Spit

Leif

[Garry Russell]

Funny you should mention G-AKBN as After seeing a pic of it on Wikki I was suspicious and searching for more on 'KBN produced the list above

the pic is a little lower down here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Aircraft

Garry

[DispatchDragon]

Maybe Ralph can help the logo on the tail Looks like it might be


It seems Hawkers Flight department had a penchant for Miles products - they also operate a Hawk Speed 6 - G-AFAY
and a Whitney Straight (no registration) throughout the war, The Speed 6 was wfu in 1946 so replacing it with a Messenger
seems highly likely

OOps - Just got an email from the gent who runs the Miles Society - The Anson 19 was G-AHXK and left for Austrailia
in 1961 ==The Speed 6 was replaced with a Whitney Straight 2A G-AEUJ which was painted in Hawkers colours and
remained in service until 1958 - So I guess I can suggest ONE of the paints for David Molyneaux next project

Leif

[AllanL]

Phooey, that Anson was on the next page of the registers! I should have checked whether they ran to two of them. The first one went on to Armstrong Withworth Engines and Bristol from the Hawker fold.

Just as a starter for not much, I could get the paintscheme done without the reg for now. Mind you I need to get the Hart finished and oked by Ted, and work is getting in the way. Well back to the distillery energy balance - no I didn't get a sample when I visited them. If I finish the report tonight I may award myself one, so maybe the repaints should wait 'til the weekend. :drinkers: Maybe not the best smilie for Malt Whisky?

[auster]

Leif,

Sorry for the delay. It hasn’t been convenient to post.

Many thanks for your Tomtit pictures especially Nos. 2 and 3. They really bring out the gold. Incidentally, that chap in the back should be thinking about landing, especially if there are no night landing aids around. I’ve been in that position, swanning about and thinking that everything is hunky-dory whilst admiring the view. Then you start to descend and suddenly it all gets darker and darker as the sun disappears and there you are, frantically looking around for some visible landmark in the murk.

Re the Spitfire, I also saw in a hangar at Elstree. I’m guessing but I think it must have been late ‘70s/early ‘80s.

Regarding the ‘Hawker Flight’ Messenger/Monarch matter, it may be time for me offer my sincere apologies if I have misled you chaps and have had you chasing around after a red herring. It is possible that the light single was the Hawk and my memory is way off beam. If that is the case, sorry. That would mean more than 50 years of delusion. Oh dear! Trouble is, I still think that I can see the 3 fins and rudders as Neville Duke took off in it. Time for the medication I think.

Ralph

[auster]

Gawd knows where the Monarch came from. Should read Messenger/Miles Whitney Straight.

OK, OK, I've already taken the pills.

Ralph

[DispatchDragon]

No problem Raplh - Yes I was a little tight getting into Pu'unene in those shots (The crop duster stip which still exists on the old navy base at Maui is not lit)
I have to admit you have started a "thing" with the Hawker blue and gold - Dave Molyneaux has sarted twisting polys on the Whitney Straight and G-AEUJ
will be one of the paints for it -- Nice gent at the Miles Society Filled us in on the Messenger/Whitney Straight mix up - Any chance that John Cunningham
owned a Messenger himself? -- The Speed 6 was wfu at Langley so that also may have still been there. And finally G-ASJV- Pete Watkins has just uploaded
it to the Pond, so its available for the AlphaSIm freeware spit package - just a word of warning for those who fancy it -- AS's Mk9 comes with bloody great
slipper tanks so Pete has used the Mk8 for the paint model - poetic license and all that..

Enjoy

Leif

Oh yes - you may see a Monarch before this is all over.
If anyone has photographs of the cockpit of a Whitney Straight - David Molyneaux would be very appreicative

[AllanL]

No such thing as a red herring in aviation history, it fires off all sorts of facinating alternative ideas for repaints - which may then get overtaken in turn!

Bit like SWMBO's navigation skills - she even argues with the satnav in a straight line. :o

I wondered if it might have been one of the pilot's personal runabouts.

Veering OT, digging through the list I noticed that Innes Ireland (60's F1 driver and commercial shark hunter - Scottish to boot) and Lotus Cars also owned Messengers. Bit of a difference from Lewis Hamilton's Learjet.

II's book "All Arms and Elbows" makes an entertaining read. Bit before corporate correctness made F1 drivers dull.

[AllanL]

Before the PC at home went down with some internet induced lurghi at the weekend I managed to get the Hurricane and Spit loaded up. Now on said PC the only visible difference between the two Spit models is the retractable tail wheel on the VIII. I don't know if that is down to a video weakness, sometimes the tailwheel of the PD Lancastrian disappears for example, but it means that at least I can get a MkIX set up with the repaint.

If you want the tailwheel to retract on the VIII, you need to split the AS Spit into two aircraft folders, and then tweek the contact point for the VIII to retract the tailwheel - then snip Bob's Your Auntie. Well, that's how I did it.

The PC keeps freezing up after about 45 minutes and needs a reboot with the big red button. When I left this morning Kapersky had found bugs in Java files and has since reportedly found more as it works its way through the drives. Looks like a grumpy evening ahead. :@