AW139

I caught HM Coastguard Agusta-Westland AW-139, that relocated to Manston fairly recently, over my garden this morning.

Hawker Sea Hawk

This 1/72 scale kit is an old Novo offering picked up cheap as it was missing its canopy. I already had a Falcon canopy for a Sea Hawk but needed to tweak the kit a little to make it fit. This wasn't the only tweak it needed! The cockpit was non-existant being the head and shoulders of the crew moulded in place so these were cut out and the spares box raided for a seat and a little appropriate detail. The roundels were in raised detail on the wings and gad to ve sanded flat and the wheel wells were moulded in the closed position so I opened them up as well. I also had to close a gap in the air intakes internally as you could see straight through one side of the fuselage to the other. The engine exits were also closed so I opened them up and extended the front wheel well as it was too short. The first decals fell apart so I had to use spares for the under wing lettering and roundels but a coat of gloss varnish saved the others. Overall it hasn't come out too badly but if you want a Sea Hawk there are better options out there.

Great news

This Me 109E was recovered from Russia in 1993 and is currently the only one flying in Europe. I saw some footage of it flying in Germany last year and wished I had made the effort to go to the show but it will now be at Shuttleworth next month and I booked my tickets a while ago🙂

Diamond Seven?

It is being reported that, apart from official flypasts, the Red Arrows will only display as a seven ship formation for the current year and that rhis will continue until at least 2030. The age of the aircraft and engines is cited as the reason. With nothing definite on replacements have we seen the last of the famous Red Arrows Diamond Nine?

Morane Saulnier MS 230

The MS 230 was the main French training aircraft through out the 1930s, having first fliwn in 1929. This is the Smer 1/72 scale kit of the aircraft built straight out of the box.

BAC-111 scrapped

I gather that the BAC-111 previously on display at East Fortune was scrapped a short while ago. It is a few years since I saw the aircraft and it was looking a little sad then but years of exposure to the UK weather had caused corrosion particularly in the wing roots and it was uneconomical to carry out repairs. Only two complete 111 airframes now remain in the UK.

Red Bulls addition

Europe's only airworthy F86 Sabre, as seen here at the Duxford Battle of Britain show last year has joined the Red Bulls fleet. This should be good news with their resources hopefully keeping it on the show circuit.

Manston Airshow

Given the lack of any information for a show that was scheduled to be taking place in around a month's time it was no surprise to see the official announcement over the weekend that the 2026 show, like the previous year, has been cancelled. Anybody who had left their ticket monies from 2025 to cover the 2026 show will now be refunded.

Apparently the organisers will now be looking towards a show for 2027. Third time lucky? I won't hold my breath.