Flying Officer Kite

Not only 4 legs, but an extra arm - and a long one at that! I wonder if this pic qualifies for a Trump Fake News Award?

Huh? I'm still trying to work out how Baby Powder works...

Priceless!

Neither do I Nev! The particular forum I referenced is far from being one of those boards and contains a considerable amount of informed comment and technical references on the subject. Perhaps I worded it incorrectly in making a passing reference to mythbusting. Neither do I disagree with you and Space Sailor that recycling of all kinds of materials was an integral part of keeping factories going throughout the war - and afterwards, obviously. My point, which I don't really want to get into verbal fisticuffs over, is simply the fact that not all the collected scrap went into aircraft production. - Mike

No argument from me on that Space Sailor. Yes, a lot of scrap metal and household items collected to help the war effort from the patriotic citizens of the UK, and USA, was able to be melted down and reused to alleviate the shortage of raw material. But facilities for recycling in WW2 Britain were not as efficient as they are today and relatively little of the aluminium used for cans and domestic utensils was high enough grade to be used in aircraft production. The inspirational "Turn your Pots and Pans into Spitfires" slogan was used because it fired people's imagination, not because it was necessarily 100% true. (Yes, governments lied to us even in those days!) As a war baby (born 1941), I've long had an interest in WW2 history and come across many historical references and books in relation to the scheme, which was introduced by Lord Beaverbrook, Minister for Aircraft Production (1940-41) . A good starting point for anyone interested in a bit of myth-busting would be Scrap metal drives in WW II - Straight Dope Message Board . -Mike

Fascinating. From the same Pathe source, there's this: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/pots-and-pans-for-planes . In reality, the highly successful drive to donate railings, gates, pots and pans and anything else made of metal was as much a "home front" morale-building exercise as an effective supply of material, since much of it was unsuitable for aircraft manufacture. Fortunately, the Mosquito fighter bomber was built almost entirely of wood! - Mike