Henry Crun – yes, but my point was that the RAF apparently never even asked for blown canopies and so were never in a position to be told "it cost too much”.
ExAscoteer – the first “flat engine" conversion in Australia was quite early (in1960); VH-BVP was fiited with a Continental O-470. Our DCA promptly designated it a DHC-1C, but that designation never caught on!
I can see the advantages of this, more power, lower overhaul costs and oil consumption for a start, but as a purist it just looks odd - and it reminds me of people who put Chevrolet engines in Jaguars. The general consensus seems to be that the extra power made for a better rate of climb and thus made aerobatics easier to manage, but did little for the cruise speed.
Thanks too for the photos of the re-converted Mk.23 – the slats really stand out!
In Australia, engineer Mike Sassin in partnership with the Bankstown NSW based Aerostructures produced the SA29 “Spraymaster”. It differed from the UK-built design in many areas, most notably in having a simply gorgeous blown canopy, wing endplates in lieu of slots (initially), a dorsal fin fairing, a Scott spring tailwheel assembly plus the previously discussed tapered strakes.
It’s a long and sad saga, but despite the initial promise only three Spraymasters were ever built. In a situation strongly paralleling that of G-ATVF, the last survivor of this trio (VH-BCA) was recently also converted back to the normal DHC-1 configuration. The only clues now to its ancestry are the tailwheel and the strakes.
