Bf 109F/G/K Aces of the Western Front

It is now generally accepted that the Battle of Britain constituted one of the first major turning points of World War 2. At its close, the hitherto seemingly invincible German Luftwaffe - victorious in Poland, Scandinavia, the Low Countries and France - had, for the first time, failed to achieve its assigned objectives: the neutralisation of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the subsequent invasion and subjugation of England. The British have come to regard the Battle as having been 'officially' over, and won, by 31 October 1940. German aviation historians are less arbitrary. They consider the daylight operations (admittedly drastically reduced in scale) flown during the closing weeks of the year, and the attendant night Blitz, which continued well into the spring of 1941, as part and parcel of the same campaign. In their view, the ongoing aerial onslaught against Great Britain was only brought to a halt by Hitler's decision to shelve indefinitely his plans for a cross-Ghannel invasion, and turn his attention instead to other fronts: to the Mediterranean and the Balkans and, ultimately, to the east.

download

Electric Flight 11/2013

The new P-51D Mustang EP is a new model just introduced to the market. This model is sold by Hobby People and is designed for the modeler who's looking for a simple bolt-together model that requires minimal building experience. This plane is great for someone looking to get into a nice warbird design that packs many scale features like panel lines, retractable landing gear (both main and tailwheel), and a 4-bladed propeller and spinner design. All of these features in a brushless, powerful package give the modeler the flight performance of a sport plane. The P-51D EP is designed to use the included 760Kv outrunner brushless motor that comes pre-installed and hooked up to a 50-amp speed control and a nice 4-blade prop with a plastic scale-like spinner. The P-51D comes stuffed with six 9-gram servos that are all installed from the factory. The P-51D is a very well-constructed, receiver-ready ARF with molded EPP foam construction and a nicely painted semi-gloss, flat finish with a magnetic canopy hatch design.

download

Flypast Special - Mighty Eighth

The three 'Overs' is the timeless description of 'Yanks' in the UK. From 1942 GIs, sailors and 'flyboys' began to arrive in Great Britain, they were the first of tens of thousands. The majority of these 'invaders' were also very young... or did they just seem that way? By early 1946 there was hardly a trace of them, and many of the airfields and other establishments that they had inhabited lay silent or had reverted to previous uses. This relatively fleeting stay was to have an effect that has lasted down the generations. They had an impact on the military, political, economic and social thinking, and behaviour of the country. History has shown that the 'Friendly Invasion' of 1942-1945 was not to be a one-off. As the nature of the 'Cold War' crystallised, the basing of US military personnel in the UK became a reality again in 1948 as the international situation degraded and the Berlin blockade heralded a tense future. US forces have remained resident, to one degree or another, ever since.

download

Tamiya's 1:32 P-51D Mustang

The prototype NA-73X Mustang was designed and rolled out by North American Aviation a mere 102 days after the specification was issued by the British Purchasing Commission. The initial operational Mustang variants were powered by the Allison V-1710 engine, which was optimised for low-altitude performance. The P-51 Mustang flew its first operational missions with the Royal Air Force in the reconnaissance and fighter-bomber roles. The combination of a Rolls Royce Merlin engine with the innovative airframe and laminar flow wing design of the A-35/P-51A resulted in one of the best fighter aircraft of World War Two. However, the P-51B/C series (Mustang III) was somewhat hampered by poor visibility through its heavily framed canopy. It was also difficult to bail out in an emergency due to the multi part canopy. The Malcolm Hood was a sliding, one-piece canopy designed by the British to be fitted to the Mustang III to address the bailout problem. However, this was a stopgap measure.

download