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Upgraded Bf109g-6 uploaded!

lewis11777 said:
Pardon my ignorance Nigel, were the D520's originally made by the french or italians?
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French. It was France's intended main fighter type at the Armistice, and production continued off and on. It never finally entirely supplanted the other types; Curtiss Hawk-75s were still very much in evidence during Operation Torch, for example - but by the end of the Vichy period it was their principal fighter.

When the Vichy air force units in Metropolitan France were disbanded following the German/Italian invasion of the Unoccupied Zone in November 1942, the aircraft were confiscated and shared between the victors. A number went to the RA, as here, while others were kept as advanced trainers by the Luftwaffe, or sent on to client states such as Bulgaria or Croatia.

Their final operational use was at the hands of FFI - French Interior Resistance - air units, which were thrown together at the liberation out of ex-French Air Force personnel and any aircraft they could get their hands on - mainly D.520s and Ju88As.
 
greycap.raf said:
Make that one of these and we're talking. Illustrated is the very same model I had as my sidearm during my own time as an NCO and yes, it is just as sharp as it looks.

167015-primary.jpg
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Tolerably wicked-looking. My favourite was this, equally evil but not so subtle:

survivalknife.jpg


Still got it somewhere, in fact.
 
ndicki said:
A number went to the RA, as here, while others were kept as advanced trainers by the Luftwaffe, or sent on to client states such as Bulgaria or Croatia.
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And there were rows of them available at the side of an airfield ready for flying away, probably bound to the scrap yard, when a Finnish committee went to pick up more M.S.406s from German stocks. If someone had been smart enough to open their mouth we might have got 30 Dewoitines instead of 30 Moranes. What could have been...

d520finland.jpg
 
dmaloof said:
i'd rather have this:

6FWTDGLA72EL3GII58.jpg
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I wouldn't. That sort of thing is about as much good as a hole in the head in a real-world situation. And if you actually do have to use it on someone, as well, how do you get it back out, with those saw-blades on the back? And they break, believe me.
 
greycap.raf said:
Make that one of these and we're talking. Illustrated is the very same model I had as my sidearm during my own time as an NCO and yes, it is just as sharp as it looks.

167015-primary.jpg




Very true. It came to Finland from count von Rosen who presented the newly born country with a Thulin Typ D in 1918. He had painted the blue swastika on the aircraft's wings as his own lucky symbol. And then the Nazis decided to destroy it for ever... the big difference being that the Finnish swastika is always set at a straight angle. Never tilted 45 degrees.
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Very nice Knife Rene but hopelessly inadequate in a gunfight! I suggest something like I carry (a 44 magnum).

View attachment 7215
 
You need to do an awful lot of training before such a short-barrelled effort is much use - the shorter the barrel, the more difficult it is actually to hit anything with it. Even a full-sized automatic is not much use in a flap - you're too agitated to shoot calmly.

If we are talking serious unpleasantness, I'll have an SLR from 300 yards. Of course, in Europe, if you carry ANY of the above toys, you're likely to be spending a lot of time in the local nick. Not clever.

Get a dog.
 
:kilroy:Very good work there, Nigel. Very good.

As an American, these would work very well for me (LOLOLOLOL):
 
Actually I never carry it around there are required permits, training and fees. Our govenment is doing everything possible to make it more difficult to own or carry firearms. I did carry it when I was bear hunting in Alaska as back up if my rifle jammed or failed for any reason. I have spent a fair amount of time on the range and I'm fairly handy with a revolver especially at close range but the hope of most gun owners is to never have to use it. If I had to choose a weapon however against an opponent with a knife it would be a handgun without question.
 
In the Army, we weren't even issued with pistols. They're little more than expensive status-symbols, and can get you noticed and killed. Pistol = Officer = target. I've shot one a few times - Browning Hi-Power, mainly - but I don't want to have to try and hit anybody with one!

Dogs apart, the best defence against somebody with a knife is probably leaving quickly and discreetly... If possible!
 
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