De Havilland Mosquito question

[The Loggie]

G'Day all. The show is over, but I'd like your opinion on this.

During WWII, BOAC operated De Havilland Mosquitoes from England to Sweden. IIRC, they wore RAF cam, but BOAC markings and were flown by civilian BOAC crews.

So - should a model of such a Mossie be placed under Military aircraft, or Civilian aircraft?

TIA. George, out...............

[TheFlyingDutchman]

What was the purpose of the operation? I think that gives you the answer :)

[vince14]

Civilian - they were operated by a civil operator, on the civilian register and with civilian crew.

Vince

[Jennings]

This question has been being asked at least since I did my BOAC Mossie decals in 1999, and probably before. There is no single answer. It depends on the show, who's running it, what kind of categories they have, and the phase of the moon.

IMHO, the aircraft was designed as a military aircraft. In BOAC service, other than the removal of the guns (barely visible externally), it looked like any other Mosquito, even down to being camouflaged (even if it did have "civilian" markings). Other than the paint and decals, it is still a military airplane, and should be put in the category with other WWII twin engined bomber aircraft. How is it fair for a 1/48 Mosquito to compete against a 1/200 DC-9? They're utterly and completely different. If you did the DC-9 in USAF markings, it would still go into the civilian category (or it should), since it's still a civilian airplane designed to haul passengers, even though it has USAF markings. Would you want it to compete with your 1/48 B-25? Same thing...

[Trevor]

By WCRMC rules - it has a registration, its therefore civilian. That covers warbirds too.

[vince14]

This question has been being asked at least since I did my BOAC Mossie decals in 1999, and probably before. There is no single answer. It depends on the show, who's running it, what kind of categories they have, and the phase of the moon.

IMHO, the aircraft was designed as a military aircraft. In BOAC service, other than the removal of the guns (barely visible externally), it looked like any other Mosquito, even down to being camouflaged (even if it did have "civilian" markings). Other than the paint and decals, it is still a military airplane, and should be put in the category with other WWII twin engined bomber aircraft. How is it fair for a 1/48 Mosquito to compete against a 1/200 DC-9? They're utterly and completely different. If you did the DC-9 in USAF markings, it would still go into the civilian category (or it should), since it's still a civilian airplane designed to haul passengers, even though it has USAF markings. Would you want it to compete with your 1/48 B-25? Same thing...

Nope, you're wrong. If it's got a military registration then it's military. If it's got a civilian registration then it's civil. Doesn't matter what the aircraft was originally designed for, or what it's carrying.

By your standards Air Force One must be a civil aircraft.

Vince

[Aaronw]

I understand that there are probably as many opinions as there are contests.

It seems to me covert civil airlines like Civil Air Transport, Air America or military contractors like Black Water would fall into a similar grey area. Although nominally under civil registration they fly a lot of direct military missions and often fly military / ex-military aircraft. This is rather different than an established airline like Pan Am flying military personnel and supplies into "safe" areas under contract.

Converted military aircraft like "borate" bombers, racers, research or executive transports are on the opposite end, often being ex-combat aircraft but used for entirely non-military tasks.

Personally I would think the primary mission would have to be the deciding factor, do they perform military or civilian tasks?

A DC-2 impressed into service by the USAAF as a C-32A is a military aircraft. A surplus C-47 used by the US Forest Service to drop smokejumpers is a civil aircraft.

Well that is how I would handle it if I were running a contest anyway.

[Chuck1945]

FWIW, I used Jennings' BOAC markings on a 1/72 Tamiya Mosquito in either '99 or 2000 and entered it in a local level IPMS show in the Airliner category. No issues with that (and it even placed).