Bughunter

The weekly update is done but I like to post some thoughts about the real object.

This 1000th airplane (counting all types) manufactured by Ruston&Proctor located in Lincoln had the serial number B7380 and was part of an ordered batch of 200 Camels (B7281 - B7480). On 25th January 1918 it made its first flight.  Photo 3 shows a congratulation to the factory workers for their achievements (1st February 1918). The Camel was later used to promote war bonds and ended up in a training unit.

The Camel was emblazoned with a Behudet (an Egyptian winged sun). It was inspired by Colonel J S Ruston’s Egyptology studies. "As legend has it, the magician Thoth transformed Horus into a winged sun disk. In this incarnation Horus Bhedudet flew ahead of the chariot of Ra, smiting the minions of the evil God, Set, with his magical gaze."

There are not many reference photos of this specific Camel, but they show clearly different states of that airplane. Some letters were added later and also the Rotherham Air Pump was not installed in the first photos. This pump pressures the fuel tank in air.

My reference book mentions that the different colors on the b/w photos are caused by different film types. The book describes the color shades in words, so this is helpful.

Besides the mentioned black and white photos, Ruston&Proctor released a colored marketing brochure (this was 1918 !!!) with pictures of this plane.

I would like to have access to it or at least a good digital copy. So in case you or your family have one or you know someone with access please tell me!

The quality of known scans differs, the shown colors too. So we have a reasonable idea what the colours were, though we can’t be exact due to the limitations of photography and printing at the time.

So I'm not sure yet, which condition of the plane I try to replicate.