Anti dazzle shade

[breadneck]

What were these things? Standard equipment on most WWII aeroplanes accessible by the flick of a switch or just loose pieces fitted to a few types when the need arose? Any 1:72 scale kits at all that has these things included? I do ofcourse understand the purpose. Not to reduce the night vision of the pilots. I would like to expand my knowledge here, so please help ;-)

[Jennings]

?????

Are you talking about sun shades? There are many different types of them. What specific type of aircraft are you asking about?

[breadneck]

The ones that stick out right above the exhaust pipes like a roof. Not sure if they are loose metal plates or were incorporated in the airframe.

Most times these things do not appear at all in period pictures. Here`s a link to a pair of shades

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Owl-Parts-1-72-Hurricane-Spitfire-Night-anti-dazzle-shades-OWLP72007-/181430977966?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item2a3e2105ae

[Jennings]

Very few airplanes had them fitted as standard. Most night fighters had some kind of a device fitted to the exhaust pipe (the "pine cone" on the Beaufighter, for example). I can think of some Spitfires that had sheet metal ones field applied. Of course the Germans developed a whole range of flame dampeners for the exhausts of their night fighters.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Jennings

[breadneck]

So how much of a measure to avoid visual detection from the enemy vs damaging your own night vision was this? Had the ones fitted to german nightfighters more emphasis on not being deteced by the enemy than say a prowling Spitfire not neccesarily too worried about being detected by its upcoming victim? How about tracers. Were they always omitted at night?

[Jennings]

I'd say the sheet metal ones were to prevent exhaust flames from blinding the pilot. Flame dampeners attached to the exhausts would generally be to prevent enemy pilots from seeing the airplane.

[Hal Marshman Sr]

Just to add to the confusion, some German fighters had exhaus6t deflectors to keep the exhaust out of the supercharger intake. The ones on Me-109s were bent down over the tops of the left exhaust stube, while FW-190/Ta-152 airplanes had a lozenge shaped metal plate bolted just over the tops of the stubs that might cause trouble.

[agboak]

They are called glare shields, at least on British aircraft. They are common on single-engine fighters used as night fighters, so predominantly Hurricanes. I'll have to go have a look at some Defiant pictures to see if they carried them: presumably they did but I don't recall seeing them. They are also seen on postwar Fireflies - I did think that meant they were the night fighter ones, but they seem to be more common on the anti-submarine specialists. I guess they have to fly at night too. On some Corsair models there is a lump above the exhausts which may represent a small glare shield.

[breadneck]

They are called glare shields, at least on British aircraft. They are common on single-engine fighters used as night fighters, so predominantly Hurricanes. I'll have to go have a look at some Defiant pictures to see if they carried them: presumably they did but I don't recall seeing them. They are also seen on postwar Fireflies - I did think that meant they were the night fighter ones, but they seem to be more common on the anti-submarine specialists. I guess they have to fly at night too. On some Corsair models there is a lump above the exhausts which may represent a small glare shield.

Oh really, do enlighten me further

[agboak]

That's a bit cocky isn't it, as you didn't know what they were called, didn't know what they were for, and didn't know which aircraft to find them on? Suit yourself.

[11bee]

Oh really, do enlighten me further

Why the snide comment? Agboak took the time to answer your question.

Edited November 17, 2014 by 11bee

[breadneck]

Whoops this sure took a turn for the worse. No i did not mean anything by my comment. I just think this is a little known subject and there is much more to know about it !

[Jennings]

There really isn't. This isn't something that's especially complicated or deep. It's a piece of metal to shield the pilot's eyes from the exhaust flames. It really doesn't get much simpler than that.

If you see it on the airplane, that's what it was there for. If you don't see it on the airplane, then the airplane didn't have it.

Pretty simple.

[breadneck]

Ok so it`s a simple non standard equipment then i take. I presume some of these are p.e. and some are resin. I am inclined to think the resin ones (probably thicker) were incorporated in the airframe whereas the p.e. ones were not. Must be a nightmare to try to position them the correct place if there is no way of knowing where it should sit. I`m talking very specific details now. But if noone here has any experience working with them, i will rest my case.

[Jennings]

You're not asking a specific question. You're talking in generalities. If you have a specific question about a specific airplane, ask it. Plenty if people (me included) have experience with this sort of thing.

[Darius at home]

On the real aircraft these items were pieces of metal (as Jennings has said) and they were robustly fixed to the airframe rather than losely fixed otherwise they might become detached in flight which could damage the aircraft.

In model form they can be replicated with PE sheet or with thin plastic card - resin would be too fragile in my view. I would use a small amount of cyano glue for a PE part and liquid poly (sparingly applied) for a plastic card shield.

With respect to placement/location, as Jennings has said, you will need to look at photos of the aircraft that you are trying to model. Or ask here on ARC stating the specific aircraft that you are interested in.

I hope this is sufficiently enlightening.

Darius