DH Hornets in New Brunswick

[Gary]

RCAF Station Penfield, May 1951.
Penfield, New Brunswick.
DH Hornet 224 of the RCAF Auxiliary has been polished up for a visit from the station's benefactor, one Kenneth Colin Irving, known a s KC. A first world war fighter pilot and avid aircraft enthusiast KC argued successfully to maintain the airstrip at Penfield as an active fighter base. While the RCAF was winding down and striking off aircraft as fast as possible to keep budgetary restraints in place, KC offered to "pay the shot" to keep the base operational. Not a fan of jets, he went so far as to purchase 25 brand new surplus DH Hornets from the RAF for $34,000 each and had them shipped to New Brunswick on one of his oil tankers. From 1949 to 1954 the RCAF Auxiliary flew the long range high performance fighters. Having maintained his pilot's licence and his passion for high performance aircraft, Hornet 224 was KC's personal mount when he came to visit. He only flew he a dozen times, but those times were burned in KC's memories.  

[Gary]

However, the days of propeller were numbered, and even in the reserve function they performed, the Hornets days were at an end. Sabres were to replace the fabled Hornet, however, the strip at Penfield wasn't capable of handling the CF-86's. Upgrades to the base to handle the jets were even beyond the financial reach of KC. The station was shut down in 1955 and all the aircraft and building were struck off and either sold or destroyed.

[Gary]

Hornet 224 survived the buldozer's blade where several of her stable mates didn't. She rests now, in an old storage building near the Irving Catherwood Garage. And over the years, the man who brought the Hornet to New Brunswick would come and sit in her seat. Memories of the twin Merlin's snarling and reaching almost impossible heights clouded his closed eyes as KC fondled the stick with fond familiarity. It wasn't till many years after his death that someone realized, while going through his memoirs that KC had only ever piloted DeHavlland aircraft, his passion born in the open cockpit of a DH 4.

The kit is the old Froggy Hornet, a love thing except for the wing root seams. The decals from a fantastic (best decals I've ever touched!!!) Flight deck Sabres. The base was a scrap of pine and an inkjet printed tarmac I made from a screen shot of a tarmac and some jiggery-pokery in Photoshop.

[Alvis 3.1]

   ^_^  
Nice!


Alvis 3.1

[Captain Canada]

KC was fondling his stick in a jiggery-pokery way ?

What ?

Very Nice build. Flight Decs decals you say ? I've been meaning to get some of those.......if manufacturers would just slow down a little so I could catch up....

Also, enjoyed the story, but I was waiting for McCain to dive out of the clouds in some late-war German prop and start a dogfight !

[lancer]

Beautiful build. The Hornet looks great in leafy roundels I have to admit. Nice backstory as well..

[Dork the kit slayer]

Beautiful build. The Hornet looks great in leafy roundels I have to admit. Nice backstory as well..

Ill go with Lancer on this.......looks good  

[Ollie]

Awesome Gary!

 

   

[The Rat]

Now that is nice!

Tell me though, does he have enough fuel to keep those things going?    

[Brian da Basher]

Very sweet Gary! I like this one a lot....that NMF is truly eye-catching and I thoroughly enjoyed your wonderful backstory.

There is something very attractive about those Maple Leaf roundels!

Brian da Basher

[K5054NZ]

I love it G!      B)     A terrific little backstory, and an amazing model of a beautiful aircraft, topped off with the best of the best............





LEAFY ROUNDELS!!!






I wanna Hornet! The DH kind, of course! Mmmmmmmmmm!

[NARSES2]

Beautiful job on a beautiful aeroplane    

[Gary]

Thanx guys. She's my one month build for the local club. Not going for the NMF though, I was aiming for the silver doped finish that the silver hornets had. Althouh in some photos I've seen today, I think the engine panels were polished aluminum... Alas, I am not very good at the natural metal finishes even though I love them a lot.

Thanx so much again.