Aero Squadron Photos

[Adrian Roberts]

Gareth and Gary

Yes, I'll go with the Halberstadt B.II.

I've had Kenneth Munson's books since I was a boy, in fact longer than I've had any other possession I can think of except Biggles and Enid Blyton books, so I'm very familiar with the picture of the Hannoveranna CL.IIIa. It was sheer laziness that prevented me checking the difference between the III and IIIa, especially as I had to get off my backside and walk from the computer to the bookshelf to find the Halberstadt picture. I'm glad other people still think of the Munson books as credible.

The Camel in Gary's picture above seems to have a wind-powered generator on the strut; was this a normal fitment, or was it part of the night-flying conversion, eg for nav lights?

Adrian

[Dolphin]

Adrian

Yes, I still appreciate the two Munson books. I can remember that when they were published I first learned the real brown-ish colour of PC10 - before then many sources indicated that it was a green-ish shade.

The impeller on the Camel's strut provided power for the fuel pump. They were often mounted on the starboard front or rear centre-section strut (see the photo of B7380 below) or on the starboard front undercarriage leg. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the rear centre-section strut was the optimum location, as it allowed the pilot to get the thing going again if it somehow stopped.

Cheers

Gareth