EV2UK Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 Hi guys Thanks to you who replied to my earlier post reguarding the pilot seats armour plate.... What I want to know now is.. 1). What colour should the actual seat itself be.? interior green or black.? I always thought black but the Tamiya instructions imply green.? 2). The tamiya intructions say to fit the (what apears to be) the pilots parachute, my model isn't going to have any figures inside so am I correct in thinking that it shouldn't be their.? wouldn't the pilot have bought it with him and it wouldn't of been left inside the plane.? Thank you ..Tony.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stona Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 The one at Duxford has a green cushiom on it. The armour is black with the mysterious yellow circle. See here. http://forums.ubi.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/23.../9041092503/p/1 Parachutes were checked in and out for each mission. There are certainly lots of pictures of crews waiting to board their aircraft carrying parachutes. They were not left in the aircraft. The pilot in the right side seat could wear a seat type harness,many did not (providing their own cushion) and used the chest type. They would store the parachute behind the main spar making it difficult to find and clip on in an emergency. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spike7451 Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 My late fathers seat got hit by flak on a raid,part of the pilots seat where the shrapnel hit sliced him across the left shoulder. This is my dad's crew,dad is back row,forth from the left. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gordon Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 Tony,--the seats were black--all cushions, padded armrests etc. were green leather. There are many questions asked about the colours of a Lancaster's interior. As far as I'm aware, the cockpit AND the front fuselage interior, (nose to radio op's position), was black. I've seen a number of Lanc. models painted with the black stopping immediately behind the pilots seat in line with the front edge of the upper fuselage, and an equal number as I've outlined. Certain refurbished aircraft have similar differences. You pays your money etc. Gordon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bmccarron Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 Hi initially the pilots wore the same type of harness as the rest of the crew. One of my F/E fathers' jobs in an emergency was to hand the pilot his parachute which was stored behind the pilot' throne. Later, many pilots switched to a fighter pilot stye of 'chute/harness where he sat on his parachute. On many Lancs, everything back to the main spar was black although some of the wiring run covers along the starboard side of the cockput were interior green. You couldn't go wrong with black if it is a WW2 version. HTH, Brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stona Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 As above, here's the seat. teve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ian lanc Posted September 9, 2010 Share Posted September 9, 2010 The armour is black with the mysterious yellow circle. I always like this one about the yellow circle ! and the yellow circle was also on the back of the head armour too Some say they were 'Gas Patches' as you see on the nose of early Lancasters, but the real reason for these two large yellow circles on the armour was so they could be clearly seen if the head armour was up or down as they went by the control tower and the ground crew would shout through the radio ''the pilot of Lanc' **** get your head armour up now'' Alot of early Lanc' pilots got shot by their own upper gunner in battles at night, this is the reason why later Lanc's had that upper turret gun deflecting blister fitted, this also stopped them from shooting the rear gunner and rear fins. This was told to me be a 97yr old Lanc' pilot, so if i'm wrong he's wrong [bless him :wacko: ] I would not fit the parachute to the seat neither as the pilot carried his parachute out with him and would never be left in the seat. ian. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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