Yesterday a friend took me to meet an antique dealer who was preparing to sell off the estate of a Gent who was a retired Engineer for Glenn L. Martin Co. Apparently during the W.W.II he was attached to the Tactical Air Intelligenc, Pacific Ocean Area (TAIPOA) team and his memorabilia included some fascinating stuff.
There were 2 pieces of aluminum skin and the instrument panel from a Nakajima C6N1 "Saiun" (Myrt) reconnaissance plane. He also claimed to have the rudder but that was packed away. I hope to go back when he has it all unpacked. If you have "Famous Airplanes of the World #152, Nov.,1985, you can see the instrument panel at the top of page 52 and the side of the fuselage where the 2 pieces of sheet metal were cut from on page 51.

The instrument panel was a dark olive green color, no instruments remain in the panel. I was surprised at how dark the green was on the pieces of fuselage skin when examined in sunlight. It immediately made me think of the German description of R.L.M. 70, "Black Green"!

The collection also included 2 pieces of the original fabric skin from the National Air and Space Museum's Fokker D.7, that's right, von Beaulieu-Marconnay's U.10.
The fabric samples were sealed in a large picture frame so detailed examination was not possible. One piece was overpainted in a glossy dark color which was probably the original dark Grey fuselage paint. The other piece was very matt in texture and the colors were rather pale. I'm not sure if that was from aging or if the piece was sealed in the frame with the reverse side of the printed fabric showing. I suspect the latter because there was no sign of the coats of shrinking dope that would have been used on the outer surface. I hope to get some pictures on my next visit.

Bill Shuey