Three Wire (#11149),
Thank you for the pic of my cantankerous old steed ! The RAAF got Mk Is and IIs (in which they flew all their 'ops' in WWII) and later Mk.IVs, mostly converted as target tugs. In India/Burma, we likewise operated Mks.I and II, Mk.IIIs (non-op), but no IVs (in fact I've never even seen a IV in the metal). They all look alike at first glance.
It looked what it was: a big ugly brute ! But quite docile and easy to fly, A useless aircraft in most respects ("too clumsy to fight, and too slow to run away"). Like the Stuka, it could only operate in conditions of aerial superiority. But superb when pointed straight down !
Notes: The upper massive airbrakes are hinged from the front, the lower from the back. They are mechanically linked, so the effects of airflow are balanced out. Well away from the wing surfaces, they had no effect on control. Very easily open/closed, they can be partially or wholly extended to make "parking" in your formation station "a piece of cake", after rushing up into position from behind. Fully extended in a vertical dive, they held the speed down to the terminal velocity of 300 mph.
As shown here, they also make a convenient backrest for your crew when giving them a lift between dispersals. The gun ports show up well, but what is that stuff draped over the outboard port on the wing ? And why doesn't it blow off ? There are no wing bomb racks fitted: it is not going to war that day.
The u/c leg shows the pilot's "short cut" to the cockpit: right foot on the (3-ft) wheel, left foot in the "stirrup", a quick scramble - and you're on top. Better than climbing "the North Face of the Eiger" (hand and footholds up to the gunner's cockpit level), then stepping onto the trailing edge and going forward.
As, for some reason, the Jap did not molest us (although he had the "Oscars", which could cut us to shreds), ours were the safest 'ops' imaginable: it was said that our greatest danger was of twisting an ankle when jumping down from a trip !
Last one extant,
AFAIK, in the Camden Museum, Narellan, Sydney.
Danny.
PS: aa62 (#11152), No, saw no VVs, old stuff like the Hawker Demon" (?) - and what is that Lancaster doing out there ? (not in WWII).