Click images to enlarge!
The Battle of Britain started in 1940, and numerous events to
commemorate the 75th anniversary of that epic battle took place around the world in 2015.
Winston Churchill described the airmen that fought their German
Luftwaffe foes as the "Few" in a famous speech. No. 1 Squadron Royal
Canadian Air Force, a fighter unit flying Hawker Hurricanes and
Supermarine Spitfires, participated in the Battle of Britain as a
Commonwealth squadron. Slightly more than 100 Canadian pilots flew
combat missions with No. 1 Squadron and other units, while several
hundred more Canadians served on the ground keeping the aircraft
repaired and serviceable during the months-long air campaign. Today's
Royal Canadian Air Force chose to honor the "Few" by painting their 2015
CF-18 Hornet Demonstration Team aircraft in a scheme reminiscent of a
Battle of Britain era Hurricane of 1 Squadron. The design was created by
veteran designer Jim Beliveau of the 4th Wing, at Cold Lake, Alberta.
This was his 25th Demonstration Team design and painting project! The
aircraft, serial number 188761, was sandblasted and painted by a team of
3 Wing technicians based at Bagotville Quebec. It captures the
camouflage patterns on top of the aircraft, right down to the red guns
patches along the leading edge of the wings. The vertical tails feature
murals depicting Battle of Britain history, with Sir Winston Churchill,
an unnamed Canadian fighter pilot, a Spitfire and St. Paul's
Cathedral on one side. The other side depicts Battle of Britain ace F/L
Gordon MacGregor, whose "YO H" letters (those of his regular mount during the
Battle) are painted on the sides of the airplane, along with
ME-109 and He-111 adversaries.
From "Classic Warbirds" (see complete article here).
No comments:
Post a Comment