Very interesting archival image from James Cottam. Its a nice image of a couple of Sunderlands over Sydney Harbour. But look closer. The upper side of the upper Sunderland has been heavily retouched (when such things were done with grey paints and brushes) probably to tidy it up. But look closer again; the wingtip undersides of both Sunderlands have been retouched, and the upper of the fuselage. This is to censor the late war Air-Surface-Vessel (ASV) radar array, in two blisters under the wings. The Yagi style antennae, probably really where the flying porcupine nickname came from that bristle from the rear fuselages sides and top have been partly removed, but some (on the rear side of the nearer aircraft) have been missed. Another interesting point is the duplicated serials of the rear fuselage of the nearer Sunderland. Unusual but not unknown. And lastly, flying boats generally were operated from Rose Bay, to the right edge of this image, and the nearer aircraft has its flaps deployed for alighting, but its heading for the shore of Sydney harbour, so it may indicate a composite image. Theres a lot if you look!
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 03:13:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015