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Post by tempestwulf on Jul 23, 2007 22:05:22 GMT 12
Heyo Peeps
Can anyone tell me at all what mark were the De Havilland Mosquito's the RNZAF had post WWII? I got a great book off Trademe which has pics of the Mossie (and others like Canberra, Mustang and Sunderland), with 75 Sqn but I can tell exactly what mark they are.
They had fishtail exhausts which gave them an extra 10mph though, also I believe some were build in Australia.
When I was in Aussie I picked up two 1/72 Hasegawa Mosquito's at a good price and hoping to use one to make a Kiwi bird. I'm not a rivet counter but I'd like to do my best to make them accurate.
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Post by Bruce on Jul 23, 2007 23:28:18 GMT 12
The RNZAF Mozzies were FB6's (80 of) except for 4x aussie built T3s and T43s and an oddball FB40 (NZ2320) the FB6 fleet consisted of 30 new build machines and 50 reconditioned models and as such all had late production features such as the fishtail exhausts and paddle bladed props. I'm not sure whether they ever had leading edge slipper tanks fitted, I have never seen any photos of RNZAF mozzies with them, but they did have Rocket rails fitted under the outboard wings. Despite tye large number that were acquired, very few (22) ever actually entered service, most went straight into storage and were subsequently scrapped.
certainly the Mozzie is a nice machine to model, I'm not familiar with the Hasegawa kits, but generally they are a pretty safe bet with regards to quality.
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 24, 2007 0:44:07 GMT 12
Bruce, I'm sure I've seen a photo of an RNZAF Mossie with slipper tanks, but I think it was taken upon arrival of the aircraft in NZ as from what I recall it had bugger all paint on the nose or on the tanks. I gather the trip out to NZ was quite hairy for many of the crews, with severe tropical storms encountered on the way by several crews.
In fact, weren't several Mossies lost on the way out?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 24, 2007 8:14:40 GMT 12
I interviewed a Navigator a few weeks ago about his service in No. 5 Sqn on Singapores. he mentioned that after the war he was ferrying a Mossie to NZ and crashed at Mingaladon near Karachi. He said his logbook was burned in the crash as was everything else he owned at the time, the only salvagable item being a gold cufflink found after the fire was put out.
I believe the aircraft was PZ196. The navigator was Malcolm Fry. I don't know who the pilot was. Two others were also lost in transit, TA597 at Darwin; and HR375 into the Gulf of Cutch.
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 24, 2007 12:00:00 GMT 12
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Post by Bruce on Jul 24, 2007 13:22:04 GMT 12
Those are really interesting photos, the first appears to be during the delivery flight as the aircraft still have RAF serials, are camouflaged and have slipper tanks.
The second is most likely at Kaitaia during 75sqn's "deployment" there in the 1950s.
The final one looks like Waiouru with the Kaimanawa ranges as backdrop.
Lovely looking aeroplanes!
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 24, 2007 14:18:43 GMT 12
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Post by 30sqnatc on Jul 24, 2007 20:52:00 GMT 12
The final one looks like Waiouru with the Kaimanawa ranges as backdrop. Lovely looking aeroplanes! Correct, Paradise Valley Waiouru (opposite highest point of the Desert Road) looking East |
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Post by tempestwulf on Jul 24, 2007 21:59:16 GMT 12
The RNZAF Mozzies were FB6's (80 of) except for 4x aussie built T3s and T43s and an oddball FB40 (NZ2320) the FB6 fleet consisted of 30 new build machines and 50 reconditioned models and as such all had late production features such as the fishtail exhausts and paddle bladed props. I'm not sure whether they ever had leading edge slipper tanks fitted, I have never seen any photos of RNZAF mozzies with them, but they did have Rocket rails fitted under the outboard wings. Despite tye large number that were acquired, very few (22) ever actually entered service, most went straight into storage and were subsequently scrapped. certainly the Mozzie is a nice machine to model, I'm not familiar with the Hasegawa kits, but generally they are a pretty safe bet with regards to quality. As stated above and in the pics they did indeed have the slipper tanks fitted, interestingly (I'll try get scans) RP rails were fitted at the same time as the slippers. Some great pics in flight too. Another item is the pictures of Mustangs. One which I personally like is a crash (wheels up landing -- pilot safe) that happened on Himatangi beach not far from Levin where I am. |
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