Hi Stig
Quote:
I suppose your source for the civil Hurricane registrations is the article by Kari Stenman in Air Enthusiast? I have been looking at the picture published in the article, and to me no former civil registration is visible. Incidentally when Stenman published the same photo the first time, he didn't see any registration either... To state that civil registrations were necessary to pass Sweden is possibly correct, but on every photo I have seen, on Brewsters, Moranes, Lysanders, DC-2 etc, none is visible. All aeroplanes carried full Finnish serial number and the only caution taken was to paint out the Finnish military insignia making it into a white roundel.
These aeroplanes were assembled in a couple of places (Trollhattan, Gothenburg and Malmo airfields) and also passed a couple of military bases on their way to Finland. Photography was prohibited, so there are not many pictures that has survived. Of course I have not seen any Hurricane shots taken in Sweden...  . But as I said, I am the first to be happy if anyone can provide a civil registered Hurricane in Sweden!!!
Black and white will do just fine...
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I have civil codes list directly from Kari Stenman, this is one list of HUs codes. There is second one printed in, if right remembr, in Finnish book about planes codes, which sligtly different from Kari's ones.
So far I do not seen the Hurri with black letter on the fuselage too, but I say agian on HU460 is visible very weak, but I see it, the siluettes of black latters.
This photo was done after coming to Finland (it is given in my book too), Maybe not all planes had got (?). Maybe very fast, after coming, were simple removed by crews. So noone had the camera to make photos first and we assuming about this, :-).
The planes, in my opinion, only overfly over Sweeden, without any intermediate landing there. It was direct flight from Norway to Finland over Sweeden.
BTW in the book about Hurricanes and Gladiator by Stenman and Keskinen it is done only color drawing of one such Hurricane, but this of course are not supported by hard evidence - photo (OH-IPL on HU460) with visible letters. The backgroud for this drawing is the photo of HU460 with very weak visible, outline of the latters, mentioned earlier.
Next. There is 2 photos of Blenheim in LeR 4 book (the same authors), where on FAF's Blenheim I (BL-134) are painted the black letter OH-IPA, see page 6 and 8.
So it is most probably that civil codes were used only for transfer flight no matters about flying types - to "cover" military of the planes - neutrality of Sweden. Maybe it could be painted on a few not all planes which overflown Sweden.
Regards
Mirek W
PS
I think, but this could be wrong, that on the FAF's Lysanders, there were cachted the civil registration too, this is only my assumption. I think that a few years ago I have see such photos with this type (?).