I wonder why the pilots flying the Tiger Moths in these pictures deliberately leave their hatches undone and flapping in the slipstream? It was never done in the RAAF Tiger Moth era. It smacks of boganism similar to car drivers who ever so casually drive with their right arm resting outside the door with a cigarette in their fingers and driving with one hand.
The RAAF Tiger Moth pre-take off checks circa 1951 started with "Harness and Hatches....Secure. That meant the cockpit hatches for both pilot positions, and the baggage hatch on the right side of the fuselage aft of the rear cockpit were securely locked in place. If the hinges just happened to give way on any of the afore-mentioned hatches in flight because of the hatches are unsecured in the breeze, a hatch could let go and clobber the tail area with potentially devastating results
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