>Another blast from the past; looks a bit like a slimmed-down version
>of the Sunderland, right down to the shape and position of some parts.

That makes sense--Kawanishi had a business relationship with Short Brothers in the 1930s. The H8K's ancestor the H3K was developed under license from the Short Rangoon, the H6K (the H8K's immediate predecessor) was designed with some input from Short engineers as well.

>Now I'm wondering if there's any dusty old boxes in a storeroom back
>at Château Saint-Ulrich labelled "Broom: Not For Use By Cleaning
>Staff"...

Device, Flight Assist, Witch, Non-Powered, No. 1 Mk I*

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.