tempestjohnny
Excellent. Especially the desert camo
Cheers TJ:
When I was told the test shot was coming my way, AMW editor Chris Clifford, asked what scheme I had in mind for it. My immediate reply was one of the three desert filter trials airframes, sent to North Africa in 1943 to 451 Squadron RAAF.
Of the three aircraft originally earmarked for embarkation, none made it - all victims of incident and accident and three more car door Tiffies were duly substituted, DN323 among them.
The war in Africa suggested a need for tropicalised Typhoons, so trials lasting roughly April to October 1943 were conducted on two main areas of investigation - the efficiency of an underbelly filter and subsequent, measurable engine wear in the desert theatre. In terms of the former, there are no known photos of the filter actually used in North Africa, although Chris Thomas sent me his entire DN323 image collection, one of which was DN323 in profile at Boscome Down, immediately before crating up. I believe the filter fitted in the image was a 'dry type' prone to catching fire when fuel from the verticle inlet manifold ran back into it and was changed to a 'wet type' that resolved this.
The pilot had a lever under his right elbow, that switched airflow from the chin scoop to the belly filter for ground running and take off, this being switched back to the chin once clear of ground debris. As the motors were driven hard on trials, thick black exhaust deposits can be seen in some photos, while in others, this is absent, no doubt cleaned off as a prerequisite to engine removal and strip down. Mine is depicted 'clean', ready for trial.
In the end, the demand for Typhoons in Europe and declining German fortunes in Africa, meant the need for operational Tiffies in the desert disappeared. An interesting side note in the type's history though and the chance to render the big scale Typhoon differently to the majority.
TTFN
Steve :-)