Hurricane Mk XII 133 RCAF Squadron s/n 5389

[Crimea River]

Originally Posted by Bill Walker

Some partial answers:

1) I have never heard of RCAF serial numbers being painted over, but Squadron codes were removed, leaving only individual aircraft letters, later in the war.

2) CC&F would have used RAF paint standards, as most of their production went to the UK.

Bill, thanks for the quick reply. Your input is duly noted and I'll make some further inquiries on item 1. On item 2, I should have been more specific. I am wondering if the CC&F might have used a standard Canadian paint that was close to, but not quite matching the British spec for Dark Earth/Dark Green/Sky, similar to what Grumman did for their Fleet Air Arm supply contracts for Hellcats, or did they do a custom mix of colours to match the British specs?

Alex,

Thank-you also for the quick reply. I'm following up on your reference to the CAHS article to see what, if anything, new we can learn but our aircraft history is well documented in the link I posted. Our aircraft 5389 was taken on strength in June 1942 and assigned to 133 Squadron as FN*M in Lethbridge on July 3, 1942. Two weeks after the transfer to Tofino, the aircraft suffered a Cat C crash and was sent for repairs. It did not serve on 135 Sqdn so that is consistent with your statements. Our president of the restoration team happens to also be the chapter president of the CAHS so he may have already scoured the contents of the article you referenced. Nevertheless, I'm sending him the reference as we speak.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in our project, a quarterly report of the restoration process can be found here:http://www.calgarymosquitosociety.co.../feature52.htm

Andy