Lancaster pilot seat

[EV2UK]

After many hours of work I have finnished constructing my tamiya 1/48 pilot seat, I have spent a lot of time adding all the Eduard bits to it and will be painting it in the next few days.

My question is, is should the Armour plate/head rest have a yellow circle on both sides or just one.? the Eduard bit has an out line for ony one, if their should only be one, which side should it be on.? facing forwards or rearwards.?

Thanks..

.Tony.

[bmccarron]

Hi Tony

I have a number of pictures of lancaster cockpits, including the one in the Imperial War Museum. All of these show that the yellow circle was present on both the front and the rear of the armour plate.

HTH, Brian

[Kostucha]

The yellow circle should be on one side only. It was put on the armoured plates so that it could identify which way it should be facing. It's the same yellow circle that airfix gives as a decal in their Mossie to indicate the same thing. If anything it should only be on the rear.

Hope this helps,

Mark.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Kostucha

[Gordon]

It should be on one side only. The reason is that the armour plate was 'softer' on on side. The intention being to slow any projectile hitting it down enough so that when it reached the 'hard' side, it would be slow enough to prevent penetration. The yellow dot was on the 'hard' side, I.E. the side with a body next to it.

[EV2UK]

It should be on one side only. The reason is that the armour plate was 'softer' on on side. The intention being to slow any projectile hitting it down enough so that when it reached the 'hard' side, it would be slow enough to prevent penetration. The yellow dot was on the 'hard' side, I.E. the side with a body next to it.

Thats what I thought but you do often see pictures with a circle on both sides, so the front it is then.?

[Stona]

The yellow circle question surfaces from time to time. The armour "hard side" indicator answer is one of several that comes up. Whether the circle was on one or both sides apart there was much armour plate in other british aircraft that was not marked in this way.I'm sure I've seen wartime images showing the yellow dot on the back of the armour as well as the front. I don't know if it was on both sides of any one piece or not.

In both the Lancaster and Mosquito this steel plate is in close proximity to the navigator's compass and this has been suggested as a possible explanation for the marking.

Most Lancaster crews seem to have seen this armour as irrelevant. One veteran pointed out that it wasn't much protection from an explosion in the bomb bay. Their preferred armour was a suitable bomb load. A full load of 500lb bombs gave an "armoured belly". Least favourite was a load of a cookie and incendiaries.

Steve

Edited September 7, 2010 by Stona

[Finn]

I remember reading somewheres that the yellow circle was to let the ground crew know that the seat was armoured, thus heavier than a regular seat, if the seat had to be removed for maintenance or any other reason.

Jari

[ian lanc]

The yellow circle should be on one side only.

So who told you that then ?

The nose section 'F for freddy' PO * F at The Imperial War Museum London is completely 100% untouched and has the rear yellow dot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eucharisto_de...in/photostream/

1942 War time pic' showing yellow circle on rear of armour plate and my Hero on the far right Roy Chadwick.

Do you know there was another head armour in the cockpit area ? a glass one ! yes a glass one !

this was to the left of the pilots seat just above the navigators head, attached to the top of the fuselage

there are not many pictures of this armour because its glass and i doesn't show up well, though i think

i know of two pictures.

ian. :wacko:

[Edgar]

This has been debated, for ages, here, and even Larry Holmes, who wrote "Avro Lancaster, The Definitive Record," has said that he doesn't know what it was for. The only clue, that I've found, is in a short-lived modification, on the Spitfire production line. 11-11-40, mod 270 was "To paint yellow markings on magnetic armour plate" It was cancelled nine days later. I have never seen any yellow circles on the armour in a single-seater.

Edgar

[bmccarron]

IanLanc wrote:

The nose section 'F for freddy' PO * F at The Imperial War Museum London is completely 100% untouched and has the rear yellow dot.

Further to this, I"ve found two pictures of Freddy which clearly show the dot on the FRONT and the REAR of the plate. This is getting as interesting as the "What colour were the undercarriage wells on a Spitfire?"

Cheers, Brian

[ian lanc]

Anyone read my wrongly placed reply

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....howtopic=216104

ian.

[Stona]

Nice one Ian,I knew I'd seen photos of different plates with circles back and front but it's good to know that they were applied to both sides of the same plate. I've been to the IWM (one of my default "time to kill in London" destinations) and peered at and into that front section several times without seeing the obvious! Then again if you're not looking for something.....

Cheers

Steve

[spike7451]

It should be on one side only. The reason is that the armour plate was 'softer' on on side. The intention being to slow any projectile hitting it down enough so that when it reached the 'hard' side, it would be slow enough to prevent penetration. The yellow dot was on the 'hard' side, I.E. the side with a body next to it.

Well,it didn't stop my dad getting slashed across the left shoulder/back area by shrapnel or bullet during a sortie....

[EV2UK]

Thanks for all your replies guys..

Over the past couple of days I have picked up a couple of Lancaster books and I can confirm that their is a few pictures from wartime where the yellow circle is visible on the bak of the plate..

..Tony..

[galgos]

The truth of the matter is that there is lots of speculation about the yellow circles on the armour, but NOBODY (not even, as Edgar said, Harry Holmes) can put their hands on an authoritative document that spells out exactly why it is there. So choose the one that you fancy, and whether they were front and/or back, cos there ain't no-one can contradict you! Now, that handrail down into the bomb-aimer's position - black or yellow (or pink)???

Max