I thought I would be agreeing with Nigel and BastOn on this subject but on looking in my logbook there is a photo of XG588 - you'll have to believe the registration as I can't get a clear scan of it to reproduce here, but I can see it with a magnifying glass. It was taken by me on the 705 dispersal at Culdrose in November 1964. I've logged it as a Mark 3 but it has the cranked tail boom! I am confused!
UK Serials shows it to be a Mark 3 as well, Serial WA83, first flight 30/9/55 well before the date in Savoia's Flight article notifying of the change to cranked tails. Note there are no droopy aft stabilisers - just the straight ones associated with a Mark 7.
Looking in
UK Serials at other HAR Mk3's I've flown there are photos of XJ402, XG577 and XG586. All have cranked tails and straight stabilisers and the photo of the latter is dated as 9/59. The HAR 1 such as on HMS Protector had the straight tail and droopy stabilisers.
The undated photo of Mk 3 XG574 at UK Serials taken at some point prior to storage in the FAA Museum shows it has the straight tail/droopy stabilisers, yet my own photo taken in the Cobham Hall storage section of the Museum a couple of years ago shows the same machine with a cranked tail/straight stabilisers.
BastOn and Nigel went through 705 a couple years before me I think. Maybe most of the tails/stabilisers were changed in the intervening period?
