Royal Flight DH Heron XH375

[rossm]

Heron XH375 was apparently the Duke of Edinburgh's aircraft and had a cheatline in Edinburgh Green rather than Royal Blue. It appears to be highly polished metal overall with a coloured rudder and cockpit roof. Does anyone know of any colour photos please ?

Also what do I need to do to the Airfix kit to get a C.2 ? Or is it one already ?

NB - I originally posted this query on Britmodeller and it drifted off into stuff about the Naval Heron that had a green scheme which I'm definitely not interested in. XH375 only please,

Thanks in advance,
Ross

[sanguin]

Ross,
I do not know of any colour photos of this aircraft.
I assume that you have this image:
forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=17968
The AJ Jackson collection has three images, probably all black and white:
www.ajjcollection.co.uk/D10.HTM
(scroll down to 'DH 114 Heron' and XH375 is almost last on that list)

There is a colour post card at:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAF(RV)-20(c)-VISIT-BY-HM-THE-QUEEN-TO-USA-SPCL-SGD-CVR_W0QQitemZ310182690892QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20091118?IMSfp=TL091118177002r22406
but this lacks any contrasting colour for the cockpit top and rudder.

My own personal guess is that the colour is either very early use of Dayglo red or 'Arctic red' to specify a 'Royal' aircraft. However that is a guess based on the one black and white image on the first link.

The kit should be right for XH376, I think, without any additions or changes. I await the inevitable riposte! Magna make an interior for the Dove/Devon (well, the seats at least) which may be helpful to you, try TAHS or Hannants. Do not try ordering from Magna direct, in my experience they do not seem to want customers or to actually sell to the public.

The interior is described here:
www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%200406.html

All the best with that incredibly sparkly clean polished finish, even the propeller bosses. I suspect that a lot of Airfix rivets will have to die to get it that shiny!
John

[rossm]

John,
Thanks for the reply - my knowledge has advanced a bit, as posted on the Britmodeller thread, but the colour for the cabin top and rudder remains based on guesswork with painted silver being another option as the cabin top was apparently perspex and the control surfaces fabric.
The best guess at Edinburgh Green is Tamiya XF05 or Humbrol 101, unfortunately both matt colours.
The news the kit doesn't need modifying is handy although I think it will be out with the sandpaper and scribing tool to get a decent surface for Alclad Polished Aluminium,
Thanks again,
Ross

[sanguin]

Ross,
Looking again at the black and white image, the underside of the elevator also appears to be the same shade as the rudder and cabin top. That supports either the silver or dayglo hypotheses.
However, I have not seen another picture of a Heron with the same contast in colour and tone of the cabin roof. I still do not think it is silver dope; there may be some conjectural evidence that it was indeed dayglo. See this link I have just found and look at the entry by 'merv' on 17th March 2009 (although the whole thing is interesting):
www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-366056.html

Other images don't indicate any such distinct cabin roof tone:
www.abpic.co.uk/search.php?q=De%20Havilland%20DH.114%20Heron%202D&u=type

www.iom-airport.com/virtual/photo/image.gov?id=3202

Here is an interior shot that may be helpful:
www.airliners.net/photo/Gulf-Aviation/De-Havilland-DH-114/0996554/M/

I suspect that without asking HRH The Duke himself you will never know about the silver or dayglo, but a polite letter to Buck House is worth a thought! Will the Royal Warrant as 'Heron Maker Extraordinary' sway the judges in your favour at the IPMS next year?
John

[rossm]

Thanks again John,
Looking at those Air Britain pictures they nearly all have white painted cabin tops so I would expect a white painted cockpit roof. However a couple have something different going on e.g. at the bottom of the first page.
I have another B+W photo, captioned as being taken at Roborough. When I can put it on the web I'll post the link but it is hard to tell what is going on for the cockpit and cabin tops. I also now have that card from ebay which shows the white cabin top and fin/rudder but shows the ailerons in silver,
Cheers,
Ross

[rossm]

My photo: www.hrmtech.com/SIG/images/Heron_dave.jpg

There is a note on the back to say it was taken at Roborough in 1955 and flown back to Hendon by the Duke.

[sanguin]

Flippin' eck, 1955, Ross.
That makes the dayglo bit seem unlikely.

forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56998

That link suggests that dayglo only came into use for the USAF in the mid 1950s so its use in the UK is not probable in 1955. My theory was obviously a red herring....

I'll get my coat and leave now.
John

[rossm]

John,
Don't worry, healthy debate and challenging preconceptions are both good things to do. If there's no concrete evidence (do concrete aircraft fly?) I'll adopt the "It's my model and I'll build it how I want to" approach !
Cheers,
Ross