Rainy Day Fun

I was going to go down to Detroit today.  There were a couple of ships that I was hoping to catch but unfortunately the weather did want to cooperate with me.  By the time it looked like one of them was going to pass, it was getting pretty late and it was already cloudy.    It was still raining when I thought about leaving and I didn't feel like dealing with that.  It was warmer today but not that warm.

I still wanted to do pictures today, so I brought out my light box and decided to take some pictures of a couple of my new models.

First up is the Fairey Swordfish.  This was a plane that served with the various forms of the Royal Air Force from 1934 to 1945.  In that time, almost 2400 were built and were also used by the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Netherland Air Force.

This is the plane that participated in the battle of Taranto where an Italian battleship was sunk and two more were damaged.  That was the battle where the Japanese learned that they needed to modify their torpedoes for the Pearl Harbor attack.  More ships would have been sunk there but aerial torpedoes dive before they continue to their target.  Taranto was shallow enough that a number of these torpedoes were stuck.  The Japanese modified their torpedoes so they wouldn't dive as deep.

The Swordfish was also used in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.  One of them was able to score a hit which damaged the rudder.  That enabled British battleships to finish her off.

It was a fairly maneuverable plane which helped its survivability but not fast enough.

Anyway, I got tired of seeing Bismarcks in my model forums, so I wanted to post the plane that hand a hand in her sinking.

The plane served throughout the war as the British were having problems with the plane that was to be her successor.  The last operational squadron was disbanded in May 1945 and the training squadron was disbanded a year later.

There are two in airworthy condition and both are in the United Kingdom.

This particular model was an Airfix kit and was a pain in the ass to put together.  It didn't turn out as nice as I wanted but not too bad, I guess.

Next up is a Hawker Hurricane.  There were almost 14,500 of these planes produced during the war.  It was deemed the workhorse of the war.

The Spitfire is probably more famous the Hurricane was probably more important.  It could be used as a fighter and an attack aircraft.  It was fairly easy to build and maintain.

London Air Show - 2024 - Part III

The Third and Final Part.

Next up was a CF-133 training aircraft.  I've seen a similar one before.

This one was called the Red Knight and was painted up to looked like one of the Canada anniversary schemes.

A flyby with the wheels down.

A nice photo pass.

I looked up and I saw an eagle flying over.  I wonder if it was part of the advanced recon.

Then the Golden Knights came down.  This one was a flying the POW/MIA flag.

I'm not sure what this one was doing.

One of the Golden Knights coming out of the plane.

A pair of troopers.

The DASH 8 coming in for a landing.

An Air Canada DASH 8 taking off for Toronto.

Final approach.

The CF-118 Hornet doing a demonstration.

I like watching these guys because they put the plane through its paces.

A fly by.

I think this was a high speed flyby.

I like this picture.

PUlling up.

And I like this one.

Upside down.

A photo pass.

Before the Red Arrows show, they did a pass with the Red Arrows and the CF-118 Hornet.  As I said, the RCAF was celebrating its 100th anniversary.  They got their start with quite a bit of help from the RAF.

They called this the commonwealth pass.

Next up was the part of the show that I was waiting for.  The performance of the Red Arrows.

They are officially known as Royal Air Force Aerobatic team and they are based at RAF Waddington.  I think the last time they were in North America was in 2019 when I got to see them in Chicago.

Initially they were equipped with the Folland Gnat fighters you saw in my last post.  In 1979, they switched to the BAe Hawk trainer.

They are currently celebrating their 60th Anniversary, as a result they got a new livery.

They were formed from the RAF Yellowjacks.

While they use trainers, I think their display is cooler than the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels.

It's not as fast but they do some pretty cool maneuvers.

I like this formation.

Preparing for their coolest formation.

Which is this formation.  They call this the Tornado.  It looks like the two solo planes are doing rolls around the rest of the formation.

Another shot of that.  Once they pass, you realize they are not doing a roll around the other planes though.

One of many missed passes but these planes are pretty cool looking, so I don't mind.

A turning pass.

The red really stands out against the blue sky.

They split into two groups to do the even cooler part of their display.

One group approaching.

My only pass of the day.

I love this livery.

This was a pass but you can't see one of the planes.

Another solo shot.

Climbing.

I love this shot.

They break.

Another loop.

They climb.

A couple of planes inverted.

Another break.

A break.

I'm not sure what they were doing here.

Another loop.

Flying towards another group.

I like this one.

A pass.

Another pass.

The final pass.  Apparently this is their last show in Canada.  They are going to do a couple things in Ottawa and then head home.

One of the KC-135 static displays.

A C-5 Galaxy as a static display.  I would love to see them put this through its paces.

A KC-135 painted to look like a pre-World War II plane.

An F-15 from Oregon.  Would have loved to see these guys flying.

Another angle of the C-5.

A C-130 belonging to the Coast Guard.  Apparently, it will be flying back to the Florida and then be retired.

Nose art on the KC-135.

One more picture of the C-130.

All in all, I thought the London Air Show was pretty cool.  They had a good mix of planes and many that I haven't seen in action before.  I will definitely head there next year.