Clunkmeister

I have two. Not many, but two very special rifles. A 1963 C1A1, and a 1957 US Military T48 trials rifle. C1A1 is inch pattern, T48 is metric, very similar to a Belgian. Plus enough goodies to make a Brit L1A1

The Rhodies are the absolute Holy Grail to us FAL collectors. Or, I should say, genuine Rhodies. Baby poop green with that odd, almost homemade camo job. Because all FALs, including the inch pattern, had a safety sear, they’re classified as “machine guns” by the ATF here in the USA, meaning the upper receiver needs to be deactivated before entering the USA. Usually that means a hacksaw cutting the upper in half, rendering it useless. That means you get what’s called a “kit”here in the USA. You buy the rifle with a cut upper, then replace it with a locally produced upper without the safety sear cutout on the pivot hinge. There are plenty of G1 kits in the USA, but you usually build them with approved Imbel uppers, Imbel being an FN subsidiary, it’s still all FN, but you lose the capability of the “happy switch”. Not that it matters, I’ve yet to see anyone hit something with a shoulder fired FAL on full auto. A 10 lb noisemaker is all you get. The Commonweath had it right: semi-auto fire only. One pull, one round. Make your rounds count, none of this M16 spray and pray garbage.

Ha! Turret ring overhead also takes away from headspace

That RAF interior green seems awful light...

They were built to British specs so I agree. Apparently though, as the war and time went on, more and more North American specific items were used? Sort of like Packard with the Merlin. They started doing little improvements without getting the initial ok from Home Office, so to speak.

The kit spar looks nothing like this, and that big accumulator or reservoir on top of the kit spar looks like it needs to go. Relocated, maybe? And yup, we’ll need a few more radios....

Well, I’ve been doing some of the basic things to modernize the aircraft some. I’m not getting carried away, just the basics. The interior will be completely invisible aft of the spar, so it’ll be stock OOB back there. I’ll add a few radios and do a few minor changes to the engineer’s and naviguesser’s areas. Installed the windows, and now I’ll make them disappear. Does anyone know if Canadian Lancs used British spec interior green, or standard local color interior green?

Well, any of us building a Mk.X will have issues with either set. The engineers panel is all wrong.

I love HGW and RB belts. Very little comes of my dungeon without them.

So are they intending to bring FM104 back to airworthy? That would really be something if they did. That would mean 4 flying Lancs, and maybe 5, if Nanton gets theirs done as well.

I’ll need to check, Carl. Thanks.

I’d like to take it to Chattanooga this year, Phil, so I’m saying early to mid July.

That’s awesome info, Jeff, thanks! That equipment, was it present on 104 in the early 60s? I don’t see those midship windows at all...

What an awesome build, James. The first one finished? OK, I was checking out your interior pretty S.C. as well to compare it with the postwar Canadian SAR Birds... If mine turns out half as nice I’ll be happy.

Well, just playing around but tacked on some side panels to deeper up the seat some and although obviously not great yet, it might be the path I go. Im not at all sold on that look, so here it is without the side panels. It’s looking the part

Feeling for your thumb, Nige. I sliced a big slice off my index finger the other day. It bled like a head wound.

Oh for goodness sakes!

Yeah buddy. I tell you what, bud. Someday you oughta get you one and build one of your dream Gonnybirds. That'd impress me, at least till you put in a Martin Baker seat and painted it grey.

One other thing that needs doping is the installation of dual controls. It appears there was a rudimentary dual control system installed sometime in the 1950s.

Yes, they went through a bunch of alterations over the years. I think I've settled on 104. It's the lesser modeled of the two well known birds, and I'm doing her in her final livery of white/grey/NMF, with the red and white lightning stripe. I love that scheme, and if all works out, I may end up doing an RCAF Dak in the same scheme. The ubiquitous RCAF C-119s also wore that scheme for awhile, as did the C-130s and Argus patrol bombers. I find it a very spiffy and well turned out scheme.

Better safe than sorry, Tony. Being that I FUBAR'd the first one, I really need backup. What's really odd is that Floyd put the blown canopy for V-13 in the box as well. V-14 had a standard hood.

What. I REALLY need is a close up of the radar dome under the belly. And maybe of the rear camera pod.

Thanks for the pics, Jeff. I'm so incredibly relieved we can't see down the fuselage, as doing those ribs looks like one seriously major undertaking. I'll need to see how far down we can really see into the fuselage, because maybe a bit of basic rearranging and changing around in the radio room and the engineering room might be in order. I have to try to keep this sane, as I have a feeling it'd be extremely easy to get lost in all this...

Hmmm, bad information coming from on high. I'm almost convinced I'm being given the Mushroom Treatment...