" the hatch opens with a lever "
That wouldn't be your way of gently pointing out that the enormous, obvious lever that I had immediately assumed was just to secure the pistol to, is in fact an enormous, obvious lever to open the flap?
And that despite the fact that I consciously thought that it was a ridiculous way of securing the pistol and that it would never work.......Anyway, that's sorted and it all makes much more sense, thanks. I suspect that the lever has a toggle operation and just to salve my embarrassment a little I'd imagine that it was 'in the way' and so had to be pushed open before you could engage the pistol and stop you firing prematurely.
At this point I have ask - anyone know where all those 'drip' pipes go? I assume that the little rubber tubes you see around the fuselage apertures are there to drain away the water that might be pouring/leaking in from outside? Do they peek out of other little holes in the fuselage or drain out of a hole in the bottom of the a/c?
Interestingly, (at this point you realise that you are a man with a hobby), the Pistol holder/flap was one frame further forward in the early Stirlings. In later Stirlings it moved back a frame and the flare cartridges and the flare gun holder appear to have been moved from behind the pilot to above the door in what would be the W/O-Eng compartment and increased in quantity. (Waits for sharp intake of breath.....)
The photo is part of one that you can get from this web site:
http://www.motorgraphs.com/photos/categ ... y-wartime/
I might treat myself to one of these, there are a couple I haven't seen.
Cheers
James