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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

FMA IA 58 Pucara A-515 (ZD485) arriving, today, at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Doncaster. This aircraft was formerly at RAF Museum Midlands #aircraft #UK #Yorkshire #museum #Argentine #RAF #COIN #turboprop🛩️ www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...

A rare FAI IA 58 Pucara, formerly of the Argentine Air Force, was delivered, today to the South Yorkshire Air Museum in Doncaster, UK. This captured aircraft had been flown by the Royal Air Force (as ZD485), and was on display at the RAF Museum Midlands. FMA IA 58 Pucara A-515 (ZD485) arriving, today, at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Doncaster. This aircraft was formerly at RAF Museum Midlands https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/rosssharp

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

This is an 'oldie'; way back in 1979! I took this shot of an OA-37 in Peoria when I was visiting the IL ANG. #ANG #Peoria #Cessna #OA37 Please visit my Alamy site for a wide selection of aviation shots and other subjects, too - www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

The Royal Air Force Force Ensign flying in a stiff breeze. This most handsome ensign, 104 years old, can be found flying wherever the RAF is. Lots more #ensigns, #flags, #memorials, #landscapes, #architecture, #aircraft & more on my Alamy #photography page - see below www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

This De Havilland DH85 Leopard Moth was built in 1934 - and is still going strong. Made to carry a pilot plus two passengers, and powered by Gipsy Major 1C engine, it was used as a tourer and air taxi as well as by the RAF during WW2. Seen here at Duxford, she flies on! See Alt for lots more! 🛩️

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

North American RA-5C Vigilante. Sometimes an aircraft is never used for its designed purpose. In this case I am very grateful. The original use of the A-5 Vigilante was as a nuclear capable USN carrier aircraft. Fortunately, the photo-reconnaissance version was also useful ! Much more at Alt ! 🛩️⚔️

This was taken after a blizzard in Upper New York State, hence the mounds of snow! The Vigilante was an elegant carrier aircraft, and this is only one of 12 survivors; see ‪https://shortfinals.org/2013/07/12/north-american-ra-5c-vigilante-the-eyes-of-the-fleet/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

A photographers Starter Pack! bsky.app/profile/avia...

bsky.app

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

@blueskyimages.bsky.social Boeing 747-8 of Lufthansa shortly after landing at Boston Airport. The 747 may have faded from passenger carriage, but it will be in our skies for many more years as a heavy, long-distance freighter. For more photographs & other subjects see www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...

The Queen of the Skies, as she is known is now in service just as a cargo carrier, but the war in Ukraine, and other world tensions, has ensured that this maid-of-all-work is still much in demand. Truly, a classic shape in our skies.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

One foxy aircraft! The DH83, a 1930s class, was capable of carrying up to four passengers (plus pilot), or 3 pax up to 350 miles at 96mph! mating a new fuselage with mainly Tiger Moth components, this was a hit; post-war Canadian DH83C's often had a sliding canopy. Now rare, see Alt for lots more!

This beautiful DH83 Fox Moth biplane is seen at an event held on the former RAF Hullavington airfield. https://shortfinals.org/2011/02/22/the-height-of-economy-the-dh-fox-moth/ By the way, see my Alamy feed for hundreds of other images (aircraft + landscapes, architecture and much more!) https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/rosssharp

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

The Avro York is a close cousin to the famous Avro Lancaster. A few were built during WW2 including one for Winston Churchill, but it played a significant role in the Berlin Airlift. Only a handful have survived including this one at the RAF Museum, Midlands. See Alt ! www.alamy.com/profile/ross...

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Oh, and I have added another batch of photographs to my Alamy profile....enjoy! 🛩️ www.alamy.com/portfolio/ro...

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

The People's Mosquito are holding a Vintage Tea Party at the International Bomber Command Centre, Lincoln on Sat. 21st June. Ticket details below. WW2 Mosquito pilot Flt Lt Colin Bell, BEM, DFC (Colin is now 104) will be with us! Please support the TPM project if you can.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

When Tony Le Vier, a Lockheed test pilot, and some friends at Lockheed designed built a series of three Formula 1 racers, they were always going to be fast and manoeuvrable. The performance of 'Cosmic Wind' was amazing on just 9 0hp. Sold in the UK, she crashed but was rebuilt. See Alt for more ! 🛩️📍

This tiny racer has had a long and checkered history. Finish in a green colour scheme with cream accents, it lloks fast, even when parked in a hangar at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. You would hardly believe that the aircraft was completely rebuilt following a crash in which it smashed through a hedge and was declared a write-off. Much more in the linked article ! https://shortfinals.org/2013/08/21/a-magnificent-racer-le-vier-cosmic-wind-g-arul-iwm-duxford/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Agusta Westland (now Leonardo S.p.A.) Wildcat HMA.1 at RIAT. The Wildcat was developed from the Super Lynx, and has had a major structural redesign, along with new weapon systems such as the Sea Venom anti-ship missile. An important rotorcraft for both the Royal Navy and the British Army.🛩️⚔️🚁

Westland were a major British helicopter manufacturer. They are now Italian-owned, and their designs are marketed by Leonardo S.p.A. This Wildcat HMA.1 of the Royal Navy is shown, under bright sunshine, on the static line at the Royal International Air Tattoo in the camouflage scheme of the Royal Navy. Note the advanced tip design of the rotor blades. The new Sea Venom missile is not carried; it is expected to achieve 'initial operating capability' in 2026.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

@aviationreview.bsky.social The Auster AOP.9 was the last version of the RAF/British Army Air Corps fixed wing 'Air Observation Post'. In service by 1955 it was replaced by helicopters like the Saunders-Roe Skeeter from 1958. This AOP.9 is in private hands, as is the only unsuccessful AOP.11 🛩️⚔️

This angular Auster AOP.9 is seen here on a grass airfirld at the end of a line of earlier Austers (the name means 'soft southern breeze', in Latin). It is in the standard British Army Air Corps camouflage and markings of the time, and served in many parts of the world spotting fall of shot for artillery, and undertaking other observation and liaison tasks. The term Air Observation Post is an archaic one, and refers to the time when earlier aircraft were flown by Royal Artillery pilots and serviced by RAF personnel (earlier marks of Auster were flown in WW2 actions such as Operation Overlord and Operation Varsity)

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

The Belvedere was designed, and piston-engined prototypes built by the Bristol company. The initial prototypes were a failure. A forced political decision by the UK Government, meant the design was transferred to Westland's. Seen here in Manchester, it is now with the Helicopter Museum See Alt ! 🛩️⚔️🚁

This was intended to be the RAF standard heavy-lift helicopter, but the Belvedere had a difficult 'birth' and never really lived up to its potential. This example is shown on display at the magnificent, if somewhat cramped, setting of the former Market Hall at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. However, this Victorian edifice had serious maintenance issues. That, along with a distinct change of emphasis to the Museum's collecting policy, meant that the Belvedere was handed back to it's owner - the RAF Museum. However, that entity made an excellent decision, to send XG454 to the Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, the very town where the helicopter was built in 1960. Click on the link below for a very comprehensive article ! https://shortfinals.org/2014/02/04/this-rotorcraft-fell-between-two-stools-or-two-rotors-the-westland-bristol-belvedere-hc-1/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Beech Starship 2000 - too much too soon? The FAA certainly seemed to think so! 40,000 hrs of stress testing & forced FAA modifications meant the weight grew past 12,500lbs & meant 'type certification' rather than a generic 'twin rating'. This Mexican example is in the Beechcraft Museum. See ALT ! 🛩️📍

The Beech Starship was ahead of its time, and the FAA seem to think Beech were off THEIR head ! This futuristic Starship (yes, this is pre-Musk!) look like something out of a sci-fi movie and the FAA treated it as such. One was subjected to 40,000 hours of stress testing, equating to TWICE its projected life-cycle ! The clean white airframe has purple accent lines, and is registered in Mexico. https://shortfinals.org/2013/09/01/beech-starship-2000a-too-much-too-soon-versus-hidebound-bureaucracy/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Curtiss-Wright Travel Air 12Q/W. When Curtiss-Wright bought the remains of Travel Air they kept producing aircraft under that brand name. This fine 1929 example of the Model 12 Q/W, powered by a Warner Scarab 145 engine is believed to be one of the oldest aircraft on the British Register. See Alt !🛩️

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

The Handley Page Hastings T.5. Derived from its famous wartime bomber cousin, the Halifax, this one is at the Newark Air Museum. Conceived as WW2 was winding down as a long-range transport aircraft, the Hastings actually ended up in action, dropping paratroops during the Suez Campaign (see Alt) 🛩️⚔️📍

The Handley Page Hastings has a great deal of commonality with its more famous, wartime bomber brother, the Halifax. Indeed one Hastings donated its wing and engines to enable a non-flying Handley Page Halifax to be reconstructed! Conceived as WW2 was winding down as a long-range transport aircraft, the Hastings actually ended up in action, dropping paratroops during the Suez Campaign. The last variant was the T.5, a specialist sub-type. Just eight were converted to T'5s to train RAF navigators for the new 'V Force'. You can see a T.5 here, sitting on the grass of the New Air Museum in the bright sunshine. Indeed my old friend Wing Commander Bill Ramsey (who was later to command the famous RAF Red Arrows) spent his first tour as a pilot flying one of these Hastings! https://shortfinals.org/2011/06/11/handley-page-hastings-coal-cod-and-the-cold-war/ https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/Ross.Sharp

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Reposted by Ross Sharp

Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Col. Oleksandr Oksanchenko, Ukrainian Air Force, flying 'Bort 58', a Sukhoi Su-27P1M. Col. Oksanchenko was K.I.A. , 10th October, 2022 Slava Ukraini

Col. Oksanchenko was an accomplished display pilot. He is seen here at the Royal International Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford. (See https://rosssharp.pictorem.com)

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Support your local aviation museum, or aircraft restoration! I am a member of several aero clubs/aviation museums & enjoy them very much! The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum holds a memento from No 59 Sqn, RAF in the form of a truncated propeller from a Hawker Hector's Dagger engine (see Alt)🛩️⚔️📍

This shows a brass plaque affixed to the starboard side of a truncated propeller hub memorialising No 59 Sqn, RAF. It lists the following types :- R.E.9 (1917-1919), Bristol Fighter (1919), Hector (1937-1939), Blenheim (1939), Hudson (1941), Liberator (1942),
Fortress (1942), Liberator (1943), York (1947), and Canberra (1956). As you can see 59 Sqn had a very long and varied history from the late WW1 reconnaissance type , the R.E.8 to the first of the RAF's jet bombers the Canberra. The Hector was an Army Co-operation type which had a very short pre-WW2 career, bing replaced in many Squadrons by the Westland Lysander. Although the Napier Dagger engine could produce 805 hp, it had 24 cylinders and was both complex and prone to faults. The prop was a two-blade, fixed pitch one of the Watts type, made by the Airscrew Company where H C Watts was Technical Director.

No 59 Squadron had an unusual emblem - a broken wheel ! It features in the centre of this truncated propeller, along with a list of locations where the Squadron had been based and a separate list of aircraft types flown. There is also a small brass plate listing the technical details of the propeller, and indicating that it was for use with a Napier Dagger engine. This would indicate that it came from one of 59 Squadron's Hawker Hectors. It is unusual to find such a detailed piece from an RAF Squadron in a regional museum.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

A WW1 gem, the Sopwith Tabloid ! This started as a sports plane; one won the 1914 Schneider Trophy Race on floats & went on to serve from start to finish in WW1. This flying reproduction, sadly, crashed. Owned by the RAF Museum it is now at Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome, Essex. MORE at Alt !🛩️⚔️📍

T.O.M. Sopwith was a notable early English flyer, and his company was to play a huge role inn WW1. This tiny little biplane is a reproduction made from original drawing and flew successfully (although on a modern aero engine in the 1970s. Unfortunately, it suffered sever damage caused by a landing accident, and was rebuilt as a static exhibit. It is shown here in the old Watch Office in the Graham-White Factory on the RAF Museum's estate in Hendon. The Museum purchased this aircraft, and fitted it with an original Gnome engine which they had in store. It has now been loaned to the Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome in Essex. See the link for a LONG article from my blog ! https://shortfinals.org/2014/01/01/the-sopwith-tabloid-zeppelin-killer/ https://rosssharp.pictorem.com

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Hawker Fury I, this beautiful biplane is at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Built from a South African wreck, recovered by Guy Black of Retrotec, it was the RAF's first 200mph fighter. It saw action with South African units against Italian aircraft in East Africa, during the early part of WW2 🛩️⚔️📍

Sir Sydney Camm specialised in designing fighter aircraft for the Hawker Aircraft Company, although he was equally adept at other types, his fighter aircraft stand out. This elegant , silver-coloured biplane is standing in one of the historic hangars at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. The Hawker Fury is classed by some as one of the most beautiful aircraft ever flown. It was the RAF's first 200mph fighter, and despite looking like a WW1 type, actually saw some action in East Africa during 1940/41 against the Italian Air Force, when flown by South African units. See ALT for lots more! https://shortfinals.org/2013/09/07/fast-and-furious-the-hawker-fury-i/
https://rosssharp.pictorem.com

https://shortfinals.org/2013/09/07/fast-and-furious-the-hawker-fury-i/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Yet another 'yellow peril' ! The Hafner Rotachute was a radical rotary wing method of inserting an agent behind 'enemy lines'. However, the Westland Lysander turned out to be more efficient at this. Up to 10 were built; the sole survivor is displayed at the Army Air Corps Museum, Middle Wallop. 🛩️⚔️🚁📍

The sole survivor! The yellow fabric covered air vehicle is a Hafner Rotachute; a single passenger WW2 method for inserting a single soldier or agent into enemy territory by auto-rotation! Suspended from the roof of the Army Air Corps Museum, at Middle Wallop, England, trials indicated that it worked, but advances in parachute technology and transport aircraft, along with other means of inserting agents into hostile territory (via Westland Lysander, for example) See lots more, below https://shortfinals.org/2013/06/28/risky-business-the-hafner-rotachute/ also see more of my images at https://rosssharp.pictorem.com

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Sopwith One & a Half Strutter - crazy name, great aircraft! This WW1 maid of all work could do it all; fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, a real winner. Sopwith build many & the French built another 4500. This is a 'twice flown' replica, which the RAF Museum fitted with an original Clerget engine. 🛩️⚔️📍

The Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter really was a workhorse for the Allies in the middle years of WW1, although by 1918, even with the ugrade to a 130hp Clerget 9B, she was becoming obsolescent. Originally ordered by the Admiralty, as with many designs, when the RFC saw what she could do, they ordered it in several versions. This one is replica of a two-seater, fitted with an original Clerget 9B engine. Strutters were flown by Russia, Australia, USA, and many other nations. France built around 4,500 ! https://shortfinals.org/2011/10/10/sopwith-one-and-a-half-strutter-crazy-name-great-aircraft/ https://www.pictorem.com/gallery/Ross.Sharp

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

DH82a, Australian-built WW2 Tiger Moth. Now UK-based, this example of the classic trainer is finished in early-war all-over yellow with an Australian serial. The De Havilland Australia Bankstown plant assembled UK-built fuselages with 'local' wings, before building complete aircraft. See Alt ! 🛩️⚔️

A startlingly yellow Australian-built DH 82a Tiger Moth sitting on an English grass airfield. Tigers became one of the 'standard' trainers in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of WW2, a co-operative scheme amongst the Allies that stretched across three continents. See
https://shortfinals.org/2010/11/26/a-tiger-from-down-under/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Col. Oleksandr Oksanchenko, Ukrainian Air Force, flying 'Bort 58', a Sukhoi Su-27P1M. Col. Oksanchenko was K.I.A. , 10th October, 2022 Slava Ukraini

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Avro Nineteen, the final flourish of a illustrious line. This post-war 'feeder liner' version of the RAF's maritime patrol aircraft of the 1930's was quite successful until replaced by the DH Dove. Seen here at the Shuttleworth Trust before repaint into military markings. See Alt for LOTS more! 🛩️📍

Used as a maritime patrol aircraft in the early days of WW2, then formed a major cog in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It is shown here in post-war colour scheme of bright blue with a white cheat line in the hangar at the Shuttleworth Trust. See below for much more! https://shortfinals.org/2011/11/05/avro-nineteen-old-warden/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

This English Electric Canberra B.2, hanging from the ceiling at the IWM, Duxford, represents the RAF's first jet bomber, and entered service in 1951. Australia assembled Canberras and some saw service in the Vietnam War with No 2 Sqn, RAAF (and with the USAAF as the Martin B-57). 🛩️⚔️📍

The English Electric Canberra was nearly as versatile in Bomber Command as its predecessor, the DH Mosquito was. However, it went on to be equipped to carry something the Mosquito never did - tactical nuclear weapons (see below).Its elegant design is clearly shown in this example, hanging from the ceiling of the 'AirSpace' hangar at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Note the 50 Squadron emblem on the wing tip drop tank.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

A wintery F-5E for you! The Empire State Aerosciences Museum in upper NY State is absolutely stunning. This F-5E Tiger II is finished as an Aggressor aircraft of VFC-13, carrying red stars and WarPac style markings. Small, nimble (the former mount of several display teams) it looks the part! 🛩️⚔️📍❄️

A striking shot of an all-black F-5E Aggressor aircraft of the US Navy VFC-13 sitting in a snow bank at the The Empire State Aerosciences Museum in Glenville, NY. I was treated magnificently, with a personal tour around the whole facility. I cannot say enough about these people.

On laon from the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida, is this superb Northrop F-5E Tiger II, from VFC-13 out of NAS Fallon, Nevada. An outgrowth of the simple NATO-inspired F-5A, the F-5E Tiger II first flew in 1972, its two G.E. J-85s pushing it to Mach 1.6 (1,100mph). As well as the two inbuilt M39 20mm cannon, the armament fit could include two AIM-9 Sidewinders and other stores, for a total of up to 7,000lbs of ordnance on five weapons stations. VFC-13 had a particularly interesting role, in that they provided dissimilar air combat training for the United States Navy and other units. How the USN came to use the F-5E Tiger II is an interesting story.

In the early 2000s, the Swiss decided to dispose of some of their F-5’s and since the airframes were low-time, the United States Navy acquired no less than 38 to cover their dissimilar air combat training requirement. These aircraft were delivered between 2004 and 2007.
The F-5E was very agile, and had a performance envelope not unlike several Soviet era fighters – it could simulate a MiG 21, for example – and VFC-13’s pilots (the ‘Fighting Saints’) really made the candidates going through the Navy Fighter Weapons School, who were flying F-4, F-14, and F/A-18 aircraft, work hard.

This particular aircraft is also a movie star in that it was, apparently, one of those flown in the Tom Cruise movie ‘Top Gun’. I am told, however, that not all of it flew in the film, as the replacement wings were obtained from surplus Swiss Air Force stocks! This is a fine example of a rare aircraft in U.S. service, and the Empire State Aerosciences Museum are to be commended for their sterling work and diverse collection.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Convair 880 -'Elvis has left the building; in his Convair 880 !' This is one of the rarest four-engined jet airliners., as well as being the fastest, with a top speed of 615mph. Yes, the washbasins are gold-plated, and you can't look out of the windows (Elvis didn't want to) What a gem! See Alt !🛩️📍

The Convair 880 is now so rare that there are only 3 known complete examples (one converted to a 'lodge' in South Africa) and this is by far the best example of this attractive airliner. White with blue accents, including the name Lisa Marie in script on the nose, Elvis's jet stands under the hot Tennessee sun on the grounds of Graceland in Memphis. See https://shortfinals.org/2013/07/07/thank-you-very-much-elvis-has-definitely-left-the-building-in-his-convair-880/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

'MisFire', incomplete Monett Sonerai homebuilt. This semi-complete kit was offered to my local aviation museum (South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum)! SYAM painted the semi-complete fuselage as a WW2 aircraft & since bits of the Sonerai do resemble a Spitfire called the result 'MisFire'! See Alt 🛩️⚔️🔍🎨

Here is a rather humorous 'homage' to the Spitfire! A local aircraft enthusiast started out to build a Monett Sonerai homebuilt. The Sonerai was originaly as a small racing monoplane or personal aircraft, powered by a converted VW engine, although some later versions have coventional aeromotive powerplants. Unfortunately, the gentleman concerned ran into problems, and decided to abandon the build and try to sell it to the local aviation museum as an exhibit. South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum paid him just £40, and the engineers there finished off what had been acquired in an approximation of the RAF's Dark Green/Dark Earth WW2 camouflage scheme - complete with 'sharkmouth' ! Given that many people have noted a similarity of parts of the Sonerai to the general shape of the magnificent Supermarine Spitfire, they decided to name their creation 'MisFire' given the failure to complete the project. Sadly, many homebuilt projects like this one, especially those that are being built from sets of plans, fall by the wayside and are either abandoned or sold on to other homebuilders. This project was indeed registered by the then Popular Flying Association (now the Light Aircraft Association) and given a PFA Registered number - unfortunately, to no avail.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

RAF Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park, London. This sculpture by Philip Jackson forms the centrepiece of this intensely moving memorial to the 55,573 Bomber Command aircrew of many nations who lost their lives in WW2. It is housed in an imposing Portland stone structure by Liam O'Connor. 🛩️⚔️📍🎨🍁

These magnificent 9 foot high bronze figures were designed by the sculptor Philip Jackson, and represent a seven man bomber crew who have just landed from a mission, and have exited their aircraft. The figures form the centrepiece of an imposing structure built of Portland stone, created by Liam O'Connor. The Memorial is on the edge of Green Park, London. Her Majesty, the late Queen Elizabeth II, unveiled the the memorial on 28th June, 2012, her Diamond Jubilee year. The roof incorporates aluminium alloy from a crashed H.P. Halifax III, and the roof's inner design is meant to represent the geodetic construction of a Vickers Wellington bomber. 55,573 RAF Bomber Command aircrew were killed during WW2. The Halifax III which the aluminum alloy came from was LW682, OW-M, of No 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn, RCAF, which had been shot down over Belgium on 13th May, 1944, by a Bf 110.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

These two Mosquitoes represent the Alpha & Omega of this type on display in the UK. The prototype W4050, in the De Havilland Aircraft Museum & the RAF Museum's B.35 (since moved) These inspired www.peoplesmosquito.org.uk to build our Mosquito! See rosssharp.pictorem.com to obtain copies. 🛩️⚔️📍🎨See Alt

The survival of this prototype aircraft is nothing short of amazing. Most WW2 prototypes were quickly discarded after their flight test programme was finished (as being non-standard), or lost in accidents, or just scrapped. W4050 is 'the same as she ever was'. finished in Dark Earth/Dark Green upper surfaces, W4050 wore Yellow undersides which marked it out as a prototype or trainer or second-line machine. It survived throughout the war because it was so adaptable for trial purposes. Indeed, the brick red engine nacelles show what it was like after being fitted with two-stage Merlin 60 Series engines in the mid-war period. It was actually 'hidden' by certain De Havilland employees to prevent it being scrapped following VJ Day, and is now that incredibly rare WW2 aircraft - a prototype. It now resides at the De Havilland Aircraft Museum, in the company of two OTHER Mosquitoes!

This photograph can never be re-taken! Why? Shortly afterwards, the 'Milestones of Flight' Gallery at the RAF Museum in Hendon was taken apart and the exhibits dispersed. This Mosquito B.35 was displayed to particular advantage, as you can see, as the tail was raised so that the wings were level with the floor, making it look as if it were in flight. The aircraft was the very last of the bomber versions of the Mosquito, and although the prototype flew during WW2, no B.35s saw wartime service. This aircraft shows the camouflage pattern of grey/green and 'sky' undersides & markings of a post-war Mosquito which served with the British Air Force of Occupation in the British Zone in post-war Germany. It is now to be found in the Bomber Command Gallery in the RAF Museum, London.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Handley Page Halifax III, technically a II/III hybrid. Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington. One of 3 types of British-built heavy bombers used by the RAF in WW2.The RAF also used B-17 & B-24 in the ETO on maritime patrol & special ops. in small numbers. See Alt (I am being urged to write a book!) 🛩️⚔️🍁

Ask almost any student of WW2 to name a four-engined heavy bomber used by the RAF during the conflict and the answer will come back - Avro Lancaster! Well, here, larger than life, and sitting in a hangar at the Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial is the dark and formidable shape of the Handley Page Halifax. These are exceedingly rare, despite bearing a heavy load in the 'round the clock' bombing campaign over Occupied Europe. They were more versatile than the Lancaster being a useful maritime reconnaissance aircraft, a specialist heavy target tug, used for dropping SOE agents and arms to Resistance fighters and as a capable cargo aircraft (with underfuselage pannier) post-war, The Halton cargo variant even took place in the Berlin Airlift. This Halifax has the wings and engines from a Handley Page Hastings, a transport aircraft which was a near relative. I do hope that you will enjoy the text given via the link, as it is ALMOST of magazine length! By the way, the OTHER four-engined British-built bomber to see RAF action in WW2 was the Short Stirling, and that suffered a worse fate, as not one single example exists! The RAF also used limited numbers of US-supplied Boeing B-17 and B-24 aircraft (usually for maritime patrol or Special Operations, but these were usually operated singly, over the Atlantic or at night over Europe) https://shortfinals.org/2014/01/14/from-hell-hull-and-halifax-may-the-good-lord-deliver-us/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Avro Lancaster centre section, art installation by artist Suhail Shaikh, RAF Ingham Polish Bomber Squadrons Centre. Just stunning! As a former museum curator, this 1:1 cardboard and paper creation is magnificent. This museum is of a VERY high standard, with bi-lingual captions. Five star. 🛩️⚔️🔍

Suhail Shaikh created has created a masterpiece. This full-size centre-section of a Lancaster has masses of internal detail to admire, In naturally coloured cardboard and brown paper. The external skin has been, for the most part, omitted so as to show the superb interior. The two crew figures, standing on the port side of the nose have the lower halves of their bodies represented in 'framework' style. The curved starboard bomb bay door is covered with personal WW2 ephemera such as letters from PoWs, family photographs, Pilot Notes for the Avro Lancaster, etc. This installation was previously exhibited in 'The Atkinson' at Southport, and is a real capture for the Polish Bomber Squadrons Centre. A work of art, a slice of history, and a wonderful memorial. Quite simply, put the Polish Bomber Squadrons Centre on your bucket list!

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Another 'Yellow Peril', well, a Folland Gnat T.1 painted as one of the 'Yellowjacks' a defunct RAF display team, which led to the forming of the RAF 'Red Arrows'. It had an amazing roll capability, especially if you removed Fuse 13 which limited the roll rate. (Shush! Don't tell anyone!) 🛩️⚔️

The Gnat was designed by W.E.W. ‘Teddy’ Petter and was the outgrowth of another Folland design, the lightweight fighter known as the Folland Midge. Although neither the Midge nor the single-seat Gnat were adopted by the Royal Air Force, a development, the two-seat Fo.144 Gnat Trainer, was finally ordered on the 7th January, 1958 as the Hawker Siddeley Gnat T.1 (the Folland concern having been taken over by Hawker Siddeley in 1959), and intended as an advanced trainer to lead into the English Electric Lightning, yet another aircraft which had been designed by W.E.W. Petter.

The Gnat proved to be a highly manoeuvrable aircraft, and the ‘Red Arrows’ predecessors, the ‘Yellowjacks’ showed just how suitable it was for display flying. Many of the Gnats used by the ‘Red Arrows’ had the infamous ‘Fuse 13’ modification, whereby that particular fuse was removed, to allow maximum roll rate via the ailerons. This gave rise to the famous Gnat ‘twinkle roll’ . The ‘Fuse 13’ modification was rescinded in 1972.

Gnats are a popular ‘jet warbird’, particularly in the USA, but were also the ‘stars’ of a 1991 feature film, ‘Hot Shots’, a parody of ‘Top Gun’! The film, which showed the Gnats painted as US Navy aircraft, featured Charlie Sheen and Lloyd Bridges.

The aircraft seen here, in the colours (colour?) of the 'Yellowjacks' is actually XS102, but in private hands, it carried the RAF serial XR991, as '102 never flew with the 'Yellowjacks' but XR991 did. The aircraft has since been sold to a US owner.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

If you are involved with aviation history and heritage, in any form, then this Starter Pack is for you! go.bsky.app/Sh1Cq7y

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Auster Antarctic C.4 (mod. T.7). Another 'Yellow Peril'! This survivor of the 1953 Joint Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition was one of two so modified (see lots in Alt !) & the other survives in New Zealand! It also appeared in an RAF Royal Review & has now moved to the Midland Air Museum 🛩️⚔️❄️

On the theme of 'Yellow Peril' here's another aircraft which needed that paint job! Sitting in the hangar at RAF Midlands the Auster Antarctic is really rare. Just two were modified for the Joint Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition - and they both survived to be placed in museums, one in England , one in New Zealand. This example, however is no longer in the RAF Museum, it is on loan to the Midland Air Museum, Coventry https://shortfinals.org/2014/01/21/the-auster-antarctica-before-climate-change-had-been-thought-of/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Hunting H-126, 'The Yellow Peril'. You COULD say that the H-126 verged on the ugly. Built for slow-speed jet flight research, it had a fixed undercarriage and was actually tested by NASA in their full-size wind tunnel! It was capable of speeds as low as 35mph. See Alt for much more ! 🛩️⚔️

Sometimes an aircraft looks handsome (like the Mosquito) and sometimes, like this unique H-126, it...isn't ! All over bright yellow, it was seen at the Midlands Branch of the RAF Museum, although it has been moved from its old position. Known as the 'Yellow Peril', it proved the concept of 'blown flaps' to reduce landing speed, but you could say that only its Mother would love it ! https://shortfinals.org/2013/06/29/the-yellow-peril-the-hunting-h-126/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

What aircraft inspired the WW1 Fokker Triplane of 'Red Baron' fame? Answer - the Sopwith Triplane! Fabulously manoeuvrable with a 1,000ft/min climb, in early 1917 it dominated the 'left' of the Western Front. This RAF Museum example is one of TWO original machines left in the world. See Alt ! 🛩️⚔️📍

The Sopwith Triplane was an amazing aircraft for its time. It was so effective in 1917 battles over the Western Front that Anthony Fokker examined many crashed examples on the German side of the front line and copied this layout in his famous Fokker Triplane. This example of the Sopwith design never saw action, and after WW1, was stored and neglected. Nearly scrapped twice, it has finally achieved a place of honour in the the RAF Museum. See the following link for lots more details!

https://shortfinals.org/2013/10/14/the-sopwith-triplane-a-magnificent-fighter/

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

More Canadian aircraft! Here are seven superb RCAF Snowbirds! The Snowbirds (431rd Air Demonstration Team/431e Escadron de démonstration aérienne) are based at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, CA. However their CT-114 Tutors are approaching obsolescence & a search for a replacement finally began in 2024 🛩️⚔️🍁

The 431rd Air Demonstration Team of the RCAF are famous for their tight formation displays. Here is a 'box six' of the Snowbirds Canadair CT-114 aircraft, flying under a blanket of white cloud, and a patch of blue sky. They are performing at Westover ARG in Massachusetts. The Snowbirds are noted for their tight formations, separation between aircraft can be under 2 mts. The CT-114 is rapidly approaching obsolescence, and following several 'life extensions', a search for a new team aircraft was started in 2024. If I have to place any money on this, I would suggest the likely winner would be the CT-116 Harvard II which is already in use by the RCAF; there are several other national aerobatic teams which use turboprop trainers.
The 431rd Air Demonstration Team of the RCAF are famous for their tight formation displays. Here is a 'box six' of the Snowbirds Canadair CT-114 aircraft, flying under a blanket of white cloud, and a patch of blue sky. They are performing at Westover ARG in Massachusetts. The Snowbirds are noted for their tight formations, separation between aircraft can be under 2 mts. The CT-114 is rapidly approaching obsolescence, and following several 'life extensions', a search for a new team aircraft was started in 2024. If I have to place any money on this, I would suggest the likely winner would be the CT-116 Harvard II which is already in use by the RCAF; there are several other national aerobatic teams which use turboprop trainers.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Carrying on the Canadian theme - here's a Lockheed CP-140M Long Range Patrol aircraft of No 407 LRP Sqn, 19 Wing, RCAF at RIAT. Based at CFB Comox on Vancouver Island, B.C. it was previously seen on static display at London Int. Airport, CYXU, Ontario, CA on 24 June, 2004. More history in Alt ! 🛩️⚔️🍁

The CP-140 Aurora was built for the RCAF by Lockheed and differed from their standard P-3 Orion. As well as maritime surveillance duties, the Aurora, particularly in its upgraded CP-140M form, is capable of intelligence gathering, anti-terrorism sorties and other tasks. Standing on the concrete at RAF Fairford, it was an impressive addition to the static line up at this international air show. No 407 had been one of the Article XV RCAF units formed during WW2, and assigned to the operational control of the RAF. Five of these Canadian Squadrons were given to RAF Coastal Command during the War, and No 407 (motto, 'To Hold On High') initially used Lockheed Hudsons in the 'strike' role, then Vickers Wellingtons to hunt German U-Boats. On return to Canada after the war, it converted to the Canadian-built version of the Avro Lancaster.

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Ross Sharp @aviationhistory.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Auster J-1N Alpha (as Auster AOP.6, RCAF), post WW2. The Auster AOP.6, a classic high-wing British-built STOL aircraft, was used by the RCAF in a 'high visibility' all-over yellow scheme. The 'extra' propeller on the starboard wing is used to generate electricity! Note the nose art (see Alt)🛩️⚔️🍁

An Auster J-1N Alpha (painted bright yellow to represent an RCAF AOP aircraft) is shown parked on the grass at a British airfield in bright sunshine. The Auster Mk. VI was developed from the wartime Mk V produced by Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Ltd during the Second World War. Because of UK import restrictions, the Mk V's Lycoming O-290-3 engine was substituted for a de Havilland Gipsy Major engine with increased fuel capacity. The RCAF placed an order for 34 of the type which fulfilled the AOP and liaison roles. The Auster Mk. VI was eventually replaced in Canadian service by the Cessna L-19 Birddog in the 1950s. Interestingly, this example has some 'nose art'. It represents a character in the British wartime cartoon strip 'Just Jake' published in the Daily Mirror newspaper, namely Captain A.R.P. Reilly-Ffoull, F.F.I & Bar, whose catch phrase was 'Stap Me!'. The Auster J-1N Alpha strongly resembled the AOP.6, externally. https://shortfinals.org/2009/01/14/an-auster-aop6-really-no-thats-reilly-ffoull/

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