R Palimaka

This may be old news to some, but I thought I would share. The Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow has digitized and made available hundreds of documents, photos, log books and printed material. There are notes and manuals of Polish aircraft and interests of course, but there is also material on French, British, German, Russian and Czech aircraft amongst others. As an example, I've included a link to a number of manuals/pilot's notes for German aircraft. Thought they might prove useful to some. If you click on each of the photos of the folders, there are manuals for different versions for each ai

Thank you for all this gentlemen. All excellent suggestions. I was looking for a one-volume history, hopefully more recent than Chris Shores’ book. I should have been more clear. It was meant as a thank you gift for a friend who is Finnish, and involved in aviation and the restoration scene. The one Brad suggested looks good, but it’s listed as unavailable. Hopefully I can find one in Finland or Europe. I’m always amazed by the depth of knowledge on this site. Thank you! Richard PS: Have to get the Caudron C.714 book for myself. An enormous book dedi

Thanks Brad, especially for that one recommendation, which looks like exactly what I was looking for. I’ll see if I can find a copy somewhere in Europe. I had tried general searches on Amazon, Abebooks, Book Depository and a couple of European bookshops with not much luck. It’s as you said, some available on specific aircraft or units, but mostly 1939-45. Richard

Hope this is the right place to ask this. I've been trying to find a good history of the Finnish AIr Force in English, or otherwise, without success. I've seen the old Aircam history but it only goes up to 1968. There is the old Squadron Signal history that covers 1939-45, but it is commanding stupid prices on Amazon. Osprey also has "Finnish Aces of Second World War" and "Lentolaivue 24" in Elite Units. Seems like a bit of an omission for a small but important air arm. FInland has held a delicate place in international power struggles for almost 100 years. Just curio

The smoke reached Kingston, Ontario at the eastern end of Lake Ontario yesterday! The late afternoon/evening sky was a weird dusty rose colour, and the sunset, in a clear sky, was a dark orange with the sun just a small disc. It must be horrific on the West Coast. Richard

The Grumman Avenger AS3 owned by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario performed engine tests and taxi runs on Saturday, September 12, after a long restoration. Everything went smoothly and they will be performing other checks while waiting for certification to fly. She looks beautiful in Royal Canadian Navy colours, and they had the proper canopy fabricated. Photos by Museum photographer Derek Mickeloff. Richard

Gorgeous! Too late for my current build, but next up is a 303 Squadron Mustang IV. Message sent. Richard

That's one I've been waiting for! What a beast of an aircraft. A Fairey Firefly IV or V would be a nice follow-up someday... RIchard

Saw her up close and in the air at Oshkosh last year. It is a thing of beauty. Thing is you'd need much more that 12 million to buy, insure, hangar, maintain and fuel her. For 12 million I think I would rather have two Mustangs and a bit left over to be able to keep them. Of course, that assumes I actually knew how to fly them. But we are talking dreams... Richard

I guess you’re referring to the Canadian Hercules. We don’t really say that do we? Richard

Biggest letdown for me was the 1/32 Trumpeter P-51B/Mustang III. When it was released I was holding my breath hoping it was one of their A Team efforts, but it definitely was not. The more I examined it, the more disappointed I became. Although I have seen some lovely builds by others, it has too many huge issues for me to even know where to start to correct it. I think everyone has their favourite aircraft that you hope will be properly kitted, and although others think the existing or new kit is just fine, you just sigh and see another missed opportunity. Keeping hopes up for the ZM version.

I think I would like to give this GB a try. I've been wanting to do a camouflaged Polish SBLim-2 (MiG-15UTI equivalent) from a conversion of the Trumpeter Mig-15 spliced with a tandem canopy/cockpit of the Trumpeter FT-5: but there is also this CT-155 Hawk, which won't require chopping up two kits and should be less stressful. It is a training aircraft but also a special scheme to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formation of 419 Squadron RCAF. Richard

These are great additions! Is the Hansa Brandenburg D.1 still on the books? Richard

As Thierry says, very easy to print your own. I did the same for my 1/24 Mustang, searching online I was able to find an air navigation map from the 1950s that worked perfectly. Just resize it, print it on a colour printer/copier, and cut it out. Make sure you fold it properly when you tuck it away. Richard

I very much wanted to participate in the Battle of Britain Group Build, but I knew this summer would not allow me the time to do it. The Battle of Britain has always been one of my deepest interests and I had a few ideas. Life got in the way though; boat repairs, family, and even work has become busier due to new Army initiatives generated by the need to react to the Covid outbreak. It was just timing in my case. The Trainer Build might be more doable. I have been wanting to do a MiG15UTI/SB Lim-2 for a while. That's also part of my problem, not seeming to be able to build out of t