Australian Coast Guard Turbo PrivateerAs already related, the Australian Coast Guard was established in 2003. As part of that establishment surplus aircraft were passed from the RAAF and the RAN to the newly formed post guard. The RAAF donated F-28 Friendship transport aircraft. The RAN Curtiss Privateers.
The Privateers had come into the hands of the RAN in 1945 as part of a hand over from the USAF. Australia had, at the end of WWII ended up with a huge Lend-Lease credit. It had fed most of the Occupied populations of the Japanese with grain and other agricultural goods. These aircraft had soldiered on for 30 years until retired at the end of the 1980s.
The Coast Guard took the Privateers on and had decided to re-engine them with Rolls Royce Darts so as to be common with the their dominant fleet of Friendship transports. In doing so, they created the Turbo Privateer. With the twice the installed power of their original radial engines they were able to fly higher and faster. Considerably faster. They were reconfigured as well as primarily transports to support the far flung bases of the Australian Coast Guard.
The Kit.The kit is a Revell Privateer model, kindly supplied by Kit. The four engines came from kitnut617. This model was then painted with a hairy stick and decals came from the spares box and of course from Kit Speckman.
