Warbird Information Exchange

Ive got the contact info for tech stuff on Tiger Moths, -thanks JDK and B25J- but would like photos. Rossjools just posted a real pretty civil Moth photo but I'd especially like to see one in the brown/green over yellow RAF scheme thats correct. Ours is a general approximation but the shades don't look right and it doesn't have all the markings. We plan to correct that in the restoration.

blue skies and bugs in your teeth,
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Hello Doug,
Would these do? This Tiger was at Watts Bridge and was rebuilt at Luskintyre about 35-40 minutes drive from where I live. I'd be sure that these coours would be as close to accurate as it's humanly possible to get these days and even the matt finish is good.

The boys at the Luskin Tigers (Lance Fletcher and Ray Windred) are extremely thorough in their research if a customer wants his plane in its original wartime colours. Remember that Aussie Tiger colours changed a few times during the war, but this one was one of the first 100 aircraft brought to start up our branch of the EATS and always retained its RAF serial. On to the photos. The first shows the owner about to swing the prop for the last time before departing Watts Bridge for Maroochydor.








I hope these are a help to you.

Thank you so much Ross! Those are great and it's a beautiful kite. I've already spotten several inaccuracies on ours. I like the way the military serial and civil reg. numbering was done.
What is the emblem at the top of the rudder? deHavilland? the rebuilders?
Thanks again,
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Ross, could you give me the Luskin Tigers contact info? As far as I have been able to deduce, Lone Star's Tiger is ex RAF and wears RAF colors if not the correct shade.
It would be good to know those fellows when we get into this job.
gratefully yours,
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Hello Doug. No worries on the photos. I have some more of that bird I could email you if you like. I'm not sure what the logo on the rudder is, I think it's the DH Moth logo. If you google for Luskintyre Airfield you'll find (I think) all the info you'll need. Hang on and I'll have a google around and get back to you. Incidentally, do you know how all the de Heavilland lightplanes got the Moth name?

Regards,
Ross.

Doug, the Luskintigers home page is called point contact and their email is lusk@pointcontact.com.au I hope to get up there tomorrow so I'll take my camera with me and get some shots of Ray's hangar and see if I can get some pics of where the id tag is located for you.

Regards,
Ross.

Ross, yes, I'd like to see more photos. That pretty red and cream one is nice too. No, I dont know where the Moth names came from. I have to plead ignorance of most deH.products other than the obvious, since I've been mainly into later warbirds until now.
What province or territory do you live in, just so I'll have a general idea which side of the continent.
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Helllo doug,
I live in New South Wales, about 100 miles up the east coast from Sydney. The name Moth comes from Geoffry De Havilland's hobby of lepidoptary, the collection and study of moths. I'll try and get to Luskintyre tomorrow and get those photos. The red Twin in the photos is actually a dH.84 Dragon, not a Rapide. The Rapide had pointed wingtips and Gypsy Six engines and was a little bigger.

Regards,
Ross.

Check out these photos, from Eric Dumigan, who posts here. They are superb -- one was recently the cover of Canadian Aviator magazine.

http://www.airic.ca/html/ccafmoth.html

I had this particular Moth out yesterday.

Dave

Thanks Dave and Eric.
I just heard from Gumby after telling him I'd seen some real nice Moth pix but we're basically keeping all options open for the repaint as long as it's historically correct.
Ross, I believe you said that the RAAF used several different paint schemes in the course of the war. Do you or anyone else for that matter, have any photos of those other colors?
Did the RCAF use anything different from the RAF colors? What about NZ?

Getting more involved,
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Hi Doug,
I managed to get up to Luskintyre this morning and got some pics of some Tigers there and some of the rebuild hangar. I'll pm you Ray Windred's phone number and snail mail address (he doesn't have email). He is currently helping a guy in California to rebuild a Tiger that was damaged in a hurricane recently. He is only too happy to help in any way he reasonably can. A couple of other schemes I know of was the foliage green over yellow, foliage green and earth brown over yellow, and foliage green over sky blue. Immediately post war I'm sure they were trainer yellow overall and then in the late 40s early 50s they went to silver overall with trainer yellow bands. I'll contact you later this evening by pm. Ray may be ablw to give you even more schemes that those.

Regards,
Ross.

Actually Doug, the overall yellow was also used during the war. I used to have an older mate who trained on Tigers in 1943 and he said the Tigers at Narromine were pretty well all yellow overall. I think as the Japanese threat receded camoflage was gradually dropped as aircraft went through the major servicing cycles. Combat aircraft became natural metal if they were metal skinned and fabric covered non-trainer types became silver painted and trainer types went to overall trainer yellow.

Regards,
Ross.

The Canadian Tiger is the DH 82C. It was painted all-yellow. (Do a Search -- there are thousands of photos on the net.) I fly this one... http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=221&lang=en-CA



The Collingwood Moth that Eric photographed in the previous link is a stock 1943 DH 82A, an English RAF Tiger Moth, totally unmodified for modern ops. It's a time-warp -- slats, no electrics, no avionics, tailskid, no brakes, anti-spin strakes.

I don't know what it's doing in Canada but I'm sure glad I get to fly it.

Dave

Hi Dave, If the RCAF Tiger Moths were designated at DH82C, then you have helped us narrow it down. Lone Star's is a DH82A.
I like the black/yellow scheme. I have a book "Flying Colors" with an illustration of an RCAF Fairey Battle trainer that's solid yellow with three broad black diagonal bands on the fuse. Looks like a big flying construction barricade! lol!
What are the official names of the colors on the two tone brown camo tiger? ex. mid stone, dark earth, etc.
Tommy wants to do something different from the green/brown over yellow but we're all together that it must be correct whatever we go with.
How are you coming with the Warner?
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

I've always found the de Havilland DH-82B which was known as the Queen Bee
a fascinating story. It was a radio-controlled target tug version of the Tiger Moth II with nearly 300 in service at the start of World War II. The Fleet Air Arm operated small numbers of the Queen Bee on floats.
Steve

This shows de Havilland DH-82B Queen Bee (LF858, G-BLUZ) at the 2008 Open Day, Kemble Airport, Gloucestershire, England

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“Try to fly in the middle of the air. The edges are filled with mountains and oceans and rocks and it’s much harder to fly there.”