Pre-production photos, HA8502, RCAF Mustang III.

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series, HA8502, Mustang Mk. III, 9G-E, 441 Squadron, RCAF, May 1945.

For those of you waiting for the much modified P-51B/C wing, this is NOT it!!! What it is, is a P-51D wing with 4 guns. It still has the prominent wing leading edge fillet of the 'D' model. Does it look like a P-51B/C or Mustang Mk. III? Most certainly not!!!

It is a pre-pro so it may change... In addition it still has the 'D' model undercarriage mounted landing light and the camouflaged exhausts need some attention.

If you're wondering what the big deal is, this photo clearly illustrates the difference between the B/C wing (right) and the D wing (left).

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 demo team’s inverted selfie.

The latest example of self-portrait photo most probably taken with a GoPro camera from the cockpit of an F-16 comes from the Royal Netherlands Air Force: a cool series of “selfies” was posted by the Dutch Demo team on their Facebook page.

The shots, from various points of view, were taken during last week’s display practice at Gilze-Rijen airbase.

http://theaviationist.com/2014/04/19/dutch-demo-inverted-selfie/

Iran stages aerial parade with F-14, F-4, Mig-29 and several other warplanes.

On April 18 Iran celebrated the National Army Day with a traditional and interesting flypast of most of its active warplanes.

Eight formations for an overall 27 aircraft took part in the aerial parade: not really “massive” as some Iranian media wrote, still an interesting opportunity to see the majority of the IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) fighters and bombers in the air.

The flypast featured F-5F Tiger, F-5E Saeqeh, FT-7N, Mirage F.1EQs, F-14A Tomcat, F-4E Phantom, Mig-29UB Fulcrum and Su-24Mk Fencer divided in 8 formations.

http://theaviationist.com/2014/04/20/iran-stages-massive-aerial-parade-with-f-14-f-4-mig-29-and-several-other-warplanes/

Corgi 1/72 scale Short Sunderland (resin master).

I was recently given a very quick opportunity to photograph the new Corgi 1/72 scale resin master of the Short Sunderland. This model was first discussed last year as a potential subject and I supplied Corgi with some reference material as there was much debate as to the mark that was to be produced. There is no release date yet but the model is progressing at the moment but with plenty still to do. 

The photos show the full pattern for the Sunderland. This pattern is the 1 off handmade model Corgi will use to generate the mould tools from.

The detail looks good and the 'working' bomb racks and front turret are nice features. There is a separate beaching trolley and the weapon details is quite fine.

I am happy to collate any feedback and pass it onto Corgi.

 Shuttle

The Caproni CA.3 has flown.

The Caproni Ca.3R has FLOWN! Although technically speaking, it just made a short hop to test the response of the flight controls and engine behavior, this is a major milestone on the road to the real flight tests, which will surely take place soon.

As WarbirdsNews reported last year (see HERE), Giancarlo Zanardo has been building the replica WWI-era, three engined bomber over the past seven years for the Jonathan Collection at Francesco Baracca airfield, just north of Venice, Italy.

http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/caproni-ca-3-flown.html

East Kirkby Nuremberg Raid Commemoration 2014.

The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre’s opening event for 2014 was a poignant commemoration of one of World War Two’s most infamous operations -  the Nuremburg raid by Royal Air Force Bomber Command on the night of 30/31 March 1944. Greg Marsh writes for GAR.

Huw’s account of the raid was published recently so I don’t want to overlap the details contained in his excellent article, suffice to say please give it a read if you haven’t done so. What I will add is that the raid was almost responsible for the creation of the museum, as Christopher Panton, the brother of founders Fred and Harold, was a Halifax airman who was lost that fateful night.  His death was the impetus for the creation of the centre, which remains a fitting memorial to not just Christopher, but all Bomber Command crews who died during the war.

A pair of afternoon taxy runs was complemented to a rare night time taxy at 7 pm.  This was the only opportunity to savour this magical occasion this year, besides the November fireworks event.  It took on extra poignancy too, being so close to the 70th anniversary.  My mind couldn’t help but reflect on the squadrons of Lancasters and Halifaxes that left airfields all across England that evening, and the incredible cacophony it produced.

An imaginative tribute the museum also laid on was the Nuremburg Cross laid out by the Control Tower.  This saw a large wooden cross laid on the ground, with each aircraft represented by a piece of paper bearing the names of each crew who participated that night.  Accompanying these, were glow sticks to represent each individual; yellow indicated they lived, red meant they died…  A truly powerful memorial.

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/04/15/aviation-event-review-east-kirkby-nuremberg-raid-commemoration-2014/

Hawker Fury FB.10 VH-ISS engine runs.

Hawker Fury FB.10, under restoration to fly with Flying Aces Services & Training (FAST) in Belgium conducted its first engine runs on March 29. Huw Hopkins writes for GAR.

In 2011 the Fury FB.10 VH-ISS was shipped from Rob Poynton’s Panama Jack’s Restoration Company in Perth, Australia, where it had been under restoration, to the FAST workshops at Antwerp in Belgium where restoration continued. Mated with its Bristol Centaurus power plant following rebuild in the USA by Vintage Radials of California in 2013, the first engine runs took place on 29 March 2014.

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/04/07/aviation-news-hawker-fury-fb-10-vh-iss-engine-runs/

Aviation Feature – Japan Pt.3 – Nyutabaru Air Base.

After a grey first day of shooting in Japan, at Tsuiki, thankfully the weather cleared up and looked promising for the first of two days at Nyutabaru Air Base, near the town of Shintomi and roughly 10.5 miles north of Miyazaki in the Miyazaki Prefecture. 

This airfield is slightly skewed in an east-west direction, and this gives visitors just a small window to shoot departures from the north-west end of runway 28, an area close to the fence.

We found a small track adjacent to a farmer’s field close by, parked up, and walked the short distance to the fence to set-up. It wasn’t long before a few local photographers appeared, always a good sign and one that meant our intel on the time that flying would start was pretty accurate.

For more details and photos follow the link:

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/04/11/aviation-feature-japan-pt-3-nyutabaru-air-base/