Aeroplane In A Bottle --- With Kitties....

[The Magistrate]

I was working on this one when I had my latest heart attack (quite literally, I was doing touch ups on the fuselage numbers when the serious chest pains commenced). I finished it up a couple of weeks ago. It is a Nieuport 27, of Escadrille N. 87, flown by a Sous-Lieutenant Discours during January of 1918.

The arch-backed feline was the escadrille's ensign, painted on all machines of the unit. Originally it was marked in black, a the unit's first machines were painted in aluminum dope, but when it received camouflaged aeroplanes, the marking was changed to white. The 'kitties' were a large part of my attraction to this particular subject, and they were not easy to contrive by hand.





The model is in the usual 1/72 (six feet to the inch) scale, and began as a lit of an earlier Nieuport, an N.17, which I altered into the later N.27.

[mix]

1. Beautiful, I am glad to see you posting and hope you are feeling better.

I am interested in all things about WWI.
:hi:

[The Magistrate]

3. Thank You, Sir

If you have not already happened upon it, you might enjoy this forum:

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/

There are some very knowledgeable people there.

[RandomThoughts]

2. Nice plane, :) I have done a few models, but have not had time to work on them recently.

Is it an old ww1 biplane? Or a later model ww2 biplane?

Also Glad your heart troubles got better. :)


Where is the bottle though?

And is the spelling aeroplane an old spelling for airplanes?

[The Magistrate]

4. Thank You, Sir, And Yes, Aeroplane Is More Or Less An Old Spelling Of Airplane

As it was current when these old machines I model were in operation, I use it when speaking of them. In those days, 'plane' refered to the wing (a flat extent, like a geometric plane), with 'plane' serving as a synonym for 'wing' in common usage. 'Aero' in those days was the prefix form for things relating to air in any sense.

The machine is indeed a World War One type, the last of line of desugn originating in 1914. Some of them did, however, serve in various air forces fopr several years after the First World War ended.

[redwitch]

5. A story about my uncle John and his flying cat:

My brother just emailed me the link from the 44th fighter squadron group on MSN.


"I thought you all would enjoy this story..............
During WWII 2Lt John Tedder of the 44th FS returned from rest leave in Auckland with a pet cat. He had figured that it would be easier to look after rather than a dog. Tedder's flight was scheduled to take their 4 P-40s up to Guadalcanal from the Quion Hill Airstrip on Efate. Not finding a C-47 to take his cat up to Cactus, he decided to bring it up with him in his P-40. During the 2+ hour flight the Lts P-40 seemed to have a hard time maintaining straight and level flight and much activity was noted in the cockpit. After landing on Ftr. 2 the Lts P-40 made a fast taxi to parking where the canopy came back and the cat came flying out of the cockpit. The cat was none to worse for the wear but poor Lt Tedder seemed to almost in a state of shock and had numerous stratch and puncture wounds. He was off flying status for a week to recover! It also took the ground crew quite a bit of time to clean up the blood (the Lts) and de-fur (the cats) the cockpit. Eventually they made up but sadly Lt John Q. Tedder of Trenton, NJ was KIA on June 16, 1943 over Guadalcanal when he and a Navy VF-11 F4F collided while attacking a Zero".

[The Magistrate]

7. That Is Quite A Story, Ma'am!

A great shame your uncle did not make it through.

It certainly points out differences between cats and dogs. I have read several accounts, and seen several photographs of dogs quite quiescent in the cockpits of open cockpit machines....

[redwitch]

8. I have heard so many great stories about him.

I wish I had known him. He was only 21 when he died at Guadalcanal. Friendly fire apparently.

And I can imagine dogs being quite content in the cockpit. They do love to go for a ride!

[Ikonoklast]

6. The insignia for my company is taken from the 94th Aero Squadron.

Eddie Rickenbacker's command, The Hat In The Ring squadron.






Great book on the history of the 94th.



Nice job on the detail on the model. It's always frustrating trying to get it 'just right'.

[The Magistrate]

12. Glad You Liked It, Sir

As with in many other matters, the U.S. followed French practce in squadron markings.

There were a number of changes necessary to the kit pieces to make a 17 into a 27: the fuselage sides have to be given a rounded section, the upper wing has to be made a little wider, with the trailing edges of the ailerons given a different outline, new tail surfaces and a new tail skid have to be contrived.

[Bertha Venation]

9. Very nice.

:hi:

[The Magistrate]

15. Thank You, Ma'am!

I am glad you liked it.

[Bertha Venation]

17. I enjoy reading about the history of flight.

And I like looking at old planes. :)

[Chemical Bill]

10. Well done, sir!

But where's the bottle?

Bill

[Bucky]

11. Maybe that's Snoopy's plane and he's "tabbylating" the number of kills he's scored

[The Magistrate]

16. Actually, Sir, Someone Has Done A Model Of That....

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal10/9401-9500/gal9479-Doghouse-Crawford/00.shtm

[kimi]

13. I know zilch about models and aeroplanes

but I recognize great craftsmanship, and the detail and care is evident on your model. Love the historical aspect as well - fascinating!

[The Magistrate]

14. Thank You, Ma'am

I do often pick subjects because I like the look of them, and that is certainly the casein this instance. These are beautifully proportioned little things, to my eye, and the French in those days had excellent taste in camouflage....