Monday, August 15, 2011

The Royal Canadian Air Force is Back!

To be announced tomorrow in Halifax. Here is the official release:
01 01 151637Z AUG 11 RR UUUU CAS 022/11

NDHQ CAS OTTAWA
CANAIRGEN
UNCLAS CAS 022/11
SIC WAA
SUBJ: REINSTATEMENT OF ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE
CANAIRGEN 015/11 CAS 022/11
BILINGUAL MESSAGE/MESSAGE BILINGUE
REINSTATEMENT OF ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE
1. IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE I TELL YOU TODAY THAT THE HISTORICAL
DESIGNATION QUOTE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE (RCAF) UNQUOTE IS ONCE AGAIN THE OFFICIAL NAME FOR CANADA'S AIR FORCE, REPLACING THE DESIGNATION AIR COMMAND
2. THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE IS EXPECTED TO MAKE THE
ANNOUNCEMENT TOMORROW IN HALIFAX. THE NAMES ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY (RCN) AND CANADIAN ARMY (CA) ARE ALSO BEING REINTRODUCED FOR MARITIME COMMAND AND LAND FORCE COMMAND, RESPECTIVELY
3. PLEASE JOIN ME IN CELEBRATION OF THIS HISTORIC EVENT, WHICH
RECOGNIZES AND HONOURS OUR MILITARY HISTORY AND HERITAGE, AND PAYS TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US. ONCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS MADE, YOU CAN PROUDLY SAY YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE
4. THE HISTORIC NAMES OF THE THREE SERVICES ARE THOSE UNDER WHICH CANADIANS FOUGHT AND DIED DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE KOREAN CONFLICT, CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEFENCE OF EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA DURING THE EARLY DAYS OF THE COLD WAR, AND PAVED THE WAY IN INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS. THEY ALSO CONTINUE TO BE THE COMMEMORATIVE NAMES BY WHICH MOST CANADIANS, AND INDEED MANY OF OUR SERVICE PERSONNEL, IDENTIFY WITH THE THREE SERVICES
5. OUR AIR FORCE FIRST BECAME THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE ON 1
APRIL 1924, WHICH WE STILL CELEBRATE AS OUR OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY.
WITH THE UNIFICATION OF THE FORCES IN 1968, THE NAVY BECAME MARITIME COMMAND AND THE ARMY BECAME MOBILE COMMAND (LATER LAND FORCE COMMAND). HOWEVER, FUNCTIONAL CONTROL OF AIR ASSETS WAS ALLOCATED TO VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS UNTIL THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AIR COMMAND IN 1975, WHICH AGAIN BROUGHT CF AIR ASSETS UNDER A SINGLE COMMAND STRUCTURE
6. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS DOES NOT REPRESENT A DIVERGENCE FROM THE UNIFICATION OF OUR CANADIAN FORCES. WE CONTINUE TO BE A TRI-SERVICE, UNIFIED FORCE WITH NO CHANGE TO OUR ORGANIZATION
7. ALL CURRENT AIR COMMAND ORDERS (ACOS), DIRECTIVES, RULES,
INSTRUCTIONS OR SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT UNTIL AMENDED TO REFLECT THE NAME CHANGE OF THE COMMAND. ALL REFERENCES TO AIRCOM SHALL BE READ AS READING ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE EFFECTIVE UPON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE
8. THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE RCAF AS OUR OFFICIAL NAME WILL BE
CARRIED OUT IN A PHASED APPROACH, AND WILL HAVE NO IMPACT ON OUR CAPABILITIES, RANK STRUCTURES OR RANK INSIGNIA, COMMAND RELATIONS, ORGANIZATION OR OPERATIONS. OVER THE COMING MONTHS, WE WILL, HOWEVER, MAKE NECESSARY CHANGES TO DOCUMENTATION AND STAFF TITLES, AS WELL AS BRANDING AND WEBSITES, AND ADJUST THE CURRENT INSIGNIA, MOTTO AND COLOURS (WHICH WERE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR AIR COMMAND)
9. AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED OF FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
10. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL J.P.A. DESCHAMPS, COMMANDER ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE, SENDS
END OF ENGLISH TEXT/DEBUT DE TEXTE FRANCAIS

Monday, August 8, 2011

Military Illustrated Modeller Issue 003


So here we have another new modeling magazine from the British Isles. Military Illustrated Modeller is the latest title from the ADH Publishing house and the aircraft issues are edited by Brett Green of Hyperscale fame. Half of the issues are aircraft and the other half are armor. Of course we will look at an aircraft issue.

First off, I'm still not sure what distinguishes this magazine from ADH's Model Aircraft magazine other than the binding. This title has a more book style format then a typical magazine. Within the 66 pages we have articles on building the Eduard 1/48 Bf-110, Hasegawa's 1/32 Ki-61, Pacific Coast Models 1/32 Hurricane, Kinetic's 1/48 Mirage 2000, Blacksheep Corsairs in 1/48, AFV's 1/48 F-5E, and Wingnut Wing's Roland. Also included are short reviews on the Kinetic 1/48 Tracker and Eduard Fw-190D. Notice something? Oh yea, that's right, not a single mention of 1/72. And outside of a quick aside about the Platz Global Hawk, there was no 1/72 modeling in Issue 001. Heck, even the preview of Issue 005 is devoid of 1/72. I guess what that could teach us is that the Hyperscale's discussion boards are right, 1/72 is not for the serious modeler. In actuality, it shows us that ADH and this magazine have bought into the hype that 1/72 is a dead scale, when in reality that is so far from the truth it is almost funny. Anyone could have that opinion, and perhaps the hype is all 1/48 and 1/32, but take a look at tables at shows. What do you see? Often more build 1/72 scale kits than the other scales combined.

That aside, the models are well built, the photography excellent, and there are actual words on the pages. Again, maybe too many pictures and not enough words, but better than some of the magazines. Where this title shines is in the editing...not a typo to be found. Shocking that in the UK modelling magazine press that is a positive and not the norm. The title does feature that rather annoying style of "Part 1 in this issue, Part 2 next time," which seems to be a feature of almost every modeling mag. Come on guys, we know you want to sell magazines, but readers might like to actually finish the article in one sitting. The magazine reminds me of the highly priced, but very nice Air magazine, also from the UK.

Overall a really nice title, but not necessarily one for the small scale modeler.