NEW IN THE READING ROOM Additions to Workbench Notes AMX-50B Heavy Tank in 1/35 by Amusing Hobby CAC CA-25 Winjeel in 1/72 by High Planes Fokker D.XXI in 1/72 b7 Black Sea toy (Fog/Novo) Lockheed SP-2H in 1/144 by Welsh Models Addition to Robin Johnson on the Airways Australian International Passenger Air Flights Before Jets…

Airbus A.330-200 The Airbus A.330 is the medium range version of the Airbus family of jet airliners. A longer range version, the A.330-200, began entering service in the late 1990s and was popular with airlines around the world. This model represents VH-EBA that inaugrated the Qantas ‘Cityflyer’ service in December 2002. Revell 1/144 kit with…

NEW IN THE READING ROOM Additions to Workbench Notes Bachem Ba349 Natter in 1/48 by Dragon Blohm und Voss Ha138B/MS in 1/72 by Mach 2 Bristol Bulldog II in 1/72 by Airfix Bucker Ba181 ‘Panzerbucker’ in 1/72 by AZmodel CAC Boomerang in 1/72 by Airfix Focke Wulf Fw190D turboprop in 1/72 converted from Academy Grumman…

Trimotors Ford 5-AT – Avro 618 Ten – Junkers Ju52/3m Aircraft with three engines usually come about for lager aircraft that need the power of three engines but are not big enough to need four. This was the case in the 1920s when aircraft designers began working on larger civil aircraft at a time when…

Moorabbin Air Museum 12 First Street Moorabbin Airport Moorabbin, Melbourne, Australia The Moorabbin Air Museum is one of the largest in Australia and is operated by the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group.  It has on display many aircraft that are important to the history of aviation in Australia.  It is open daily from 10am to 4pm…

American Night Fighters Douglas P-70 – North American F-82G – Douglas F3D-2 Intercepting aircraft at night was almost impossible before the invention of radar. Even the early radar sets were too large, heavy and limited to be of much use during the early years of World War 2. The innovation of lighter electronic equipment allowed…

Red, White and Blue Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 – Saunders Roe SR.53 – Grumman F11F-1 Not all military aircraft are camouflaged in drab colours designed so people can’t see them in all their loveliness. Occasionally aircraft are painted in vivid colours to make them visible to spectators, auch as the aircraft flown by display teams…

NEW IN THE READING ROOM Additions to Workbench Notes Canadair CL-604 Challenger in 1/144 by Revell with Hawkeye decals GAF Canberra Mk.20 in 1/72 by High Planes NEW IN THE GALLERIES Additions to the Aircraft Galleries Canadair CL-604 Challenger in 1/144 by Revell with Hawkeye decals Colonial Viper VIIc in 1/72 by Moebius Models Colonial…

Lockheed Airliners Lockheed 18 Lodestar- Lockheed 1649 Starliner – Lockheed 1011 Tristar Last time we looked at three exotic Lockheed aircraft so I thought we might look at three Lockheeds that were relatively common and you could see at airports around the world in their day. Lockheed made a range of airliners which were not…

Exotic Lockheeds Lockheed XF-90 – Lockheed Martin RQ-3A – Lockheed SR-71 The Lockheed company has been making aircraft successfully since the 1930s. During World War 2 it manufactured such famous aircraft as the P-38 Lightning, the Hudson and the Constellation. In post war years it went on to make the Super Constellation, the F-104 Starfighter…

Light Gull Grey and White North American FJ-4B – McDonnell F3H-2N – Vought F8U-1 Later in the Pacific War the United States Navy adopted a simplified paint scheme for its aircraft of Gloss Sea Blue (also referred to as Dark Blue of Dark Sea Blue). It was appropriate at the time when the Navy was…

Soviet World War 2 Fighters Three LaGG-3 – MiG-3 – Yak-3 All the major fighting countries during World War 2 developed and flew a wide range of fighters. This was necessary because the rapid technological advances made during the war led to quick improvements so that an aircraft which was on the top of the…