You raise a valid point, Peter. An extension of that it can be difficult to base an identity on a noseart name, particularly when it's a common name, like Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby. Saucy Sue was a prominent English racehorse of the interwar period, so it's entirely possible that it was used a number of times. I have no information about names linked to the Tallichet airframes, which were high-numbered. There may be a Saucy Sue among them.
My three-year process of determining whether the identity of my glasshouse was putative or reasonable was as follows; Corresponding with a Beaufort production historian, and examining the two nose sections at Moorabbin, there are particular production numbers stamped on major sections, the nose glasshouse included. Early on, some of these corresponded with the aircraft serial number, but as issues in production saw various sections failed or removed from the line for rectification, these numbers started to skip one or two, as later sections were fitted to earlier airframes. Among other stamped inspection numbers, the production number is found on this glasshouse, which suggests that it's either from A9-131 or A9-129, depending on whether the number skip had started by this point. I have status cards from both aircraft, showing an identical fate; disposal for scrap from Wagga.
As to the A9-131 - Saucy Sue connection, a 7 Squadron historian pointed me to Kevin Gogler's excellent 7 Squadron history, 'We Never Disappoint'. This book records that 131 carried this name and the code KT-F, and there are references to it in the text, along with a good quarter-angled photo of the aircraft. There are also photos of an aircraft with the same noseart at the Ozatwar website;
http://www.ozatwar.com/7sqn.htm . So, there are squadron records linking A9-131 with the name Saucy Sue.
This glasshouse was purchased with two others from Wagga by an ex-77 Squadron pilot (a fascinating man with a very interesting service history, but that's another story), to use as garden hothouses. He used them for many years, and after his death, two were donated to the Australian War Memorial for their Beaufort restoration, and the third one ended up at the tip. This one was recovered from the tip by a gentleman who passed it on to me. That's a reasonable line of continuity, which passes a reasonable indentity ''sniff test'. By virtue of the fact that a nose section recostruction will contain material from any number of airframes, linking an identity to one component has an element of tenuosity to it. There were a number of Beaufort men living locally, and I intend this nose section reconstruction to honour them.
Cheers,
Matt
_________________
Matt Austin - playing with warbirds since the early 80s.
See my Lee-Enfield videos at -
http://www.youtube.com/user/Jollygreenslugg
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
