Sea Dakota MR.2A, No.206 Sqn, RAF St.Mawgan ++FINISHED ++

[McColm]

Right I'm calling this the finished article upgraded to the MR.2A so I'm going to have to write a new backstory.
The underneath view, no markings applied for Covert missions.


D8 has the windscreen from a Avro Lancaster, an experimental fix. To see if the visibility was improved.

[Rick Lowe]

 

[Wardukw]

   Mac

[buzzbomb]

That certainly fits the brief

Nice work

[McColm]

A few extra touches and now the final version.

[McColm]

The Douglas Sea Dakotas were a stopgap until the Avro Shackleton MR.2 entered service with the Royal Air Force.
It's role was costal maritime patrol,  Search and Rescue and support. First used in this new role back in 1949 under the Command of 18 Group and fitted with the APS/AN-20 radar with two torpedoes carried underneath the fuselage. The radial engines were replaced with the same engines used on the early Avro Lincolns.
The MR.2 would get the Rolls-Royce Griffon engines with contra-rotating propellers,  soundproofing and a windscreen made from the canopy of the Avro Lancaster. Which provided better visibility. The bomb rack from the Shorts Sunderland was also fitted underneath the central fuselage with the option of a five gun belly tank.
The crew consisted of the pilot,  copilot,  flight engineer,  radio operator,  tactical navigator,  five radar operators,  two loadmasters and a tactical officer (sometimes referred to as the skipper, depending on the mission requirements), there was a hot water urn and an electrical one burner hob with an oven.
Two inflatable life boats were carried one for the crew and the other for Search & Rescue .Extra crew could be accommodated on bench seats or hammocks strung up at the rear.
The Sea Dakota was a mixture of hot and cold. Short-sleeve order up in the cockpit and sheepskin jackets in the rear due to the refrigeration pipework to cool the radar. Which meant that the milk didn't go off during the missions!
Extra electronic equipment was contained in a 'hump' fitted to the roof of the fuselage.
The MR.2 had an endurance of 6 hours with a range of 1,500 nautical miles at a speed of 300 knots.
 The Sea Dakota MR.2 should have retired from active service with the Avro Shackleton MR.1 replacing the Shorts Sunderland but it was kept on until the MR.2 entered service.
The Sea Dakotas saw service in Korean War and the Malaysian conflicts both in the maritime surveillance role and as a pathfinder for the Avro Lincoln.
The final version was the MR.2A which got a pair of wingtip fuel tanks which increased the range to 2,000nms the other item was an ECM aerial aka Spark Plug.
Delays with the H.S. Nimrod MR.1 saw the Sea Dakotas flying with the Avro Shackleton MR.3s or covering their role due to unserviceable aircraft.
11 Group Air Defence would take the best Sea Dakotas and use them in the Airborne Early Warning role stripping away their weapons but keeping the bomb rack for practice and adding a pair of fuel tanks under the wings. Eventually being replaced by the Avro Shackleton AEW.2.
Yellow D8 is on display at the SJMcColm Engineering Ltd Aircraft of Flight museum, it's kept the invasion stripes from D-day and nose artwork from the missions it flew including the time spent in 206 Squadron based at RAF St.Mawgan Cornwall. The Springbok on the other side of the nose is a reminder of the time spent in South Africa on exercise with the SAAF.
The engines are fired up each month and the public has access to the cockpit whilst on display. It's awaiting approval for flying in displays.

[Captain Canada]

Nice one ! Looks like she's ready for action

[McColm]

Nice one ! Looks like she's ready for action

Thanks 

[comrade harps]

Quite a Frankenkota! 

[Wardukw]

Nice work Mac     

[kerick]

Now that's different Dakota! Well done!

[McColm]

Thanks, I have another idea for another C-47 Skytrain. I might use a different kit.

[Vulcan7]

Top build, hard to beat a contra-prop       

[zenrat]

This has an interesting look.  Good job Mac.