Winged Heroes

[PanBiker]

I thought you might like that TIz.

[Stanley]

Opal also told me wonderful stories about the changes in air transport that you don't see mentioned elsewhere. For instance, she said that the introduction of I think it was the DC6 was the best thing that ever happened to the cabin staff. They were forced to wear pencil skirts which hampered their movements and she said that the new plane was the first that flew level, all the preceding ones had a 'nose up' attitude and it made pushing the trolley forwards very difficult. She also told me about the advent of the Boeing 707, the early models had a disconcerting habit of suddenly falling 10.000 feet before the pilot could regain control. She also told me that on the first 747s they still had to cook the food. Great stories about baked beans exploding at 35,000 feet! There was also the story about the panic-stricken male passenger who managed to inflate the escape chute inside the cabin.... Borrowed penknives and much frantic stabbing was needed to solve that one! An interesting woman. She's dead now but until the demise of American Airlines, for whom she edited the in-flight magazine, she had free travel First Class whenever there was a seat empty and she turned up at the airport, and she used the privilege in retirement. She went everywhere!

[Stanley]

See this LINK for the salvage of the Dornier 50 fft down on the Goodwin Sands.

[Stanley]

I always thought during the war how lucky we were that the Germans never mass-produced a large bomber like the Lancaster which in its later variants was the only bomber capable of carrying the Wallis 10 ton Grand Slam bomb. (LINK)

[Wendyf]

A couple of low flying jets came over earlier. I wonder if they were the ones doing a fly past over Derwent Reservoir?

[Stanley]

Haven't seen any jets on training exercises for yonks. Is the RAF saving money?



I used to like to see these flying over so slowly you wondered how they could stay in the air.

[Wendyf]

We still get them occasionally on a clear day. I saw these two coming before I heard them...not quite as scary that way! I was thinking how menacing they looked, and imagining what a terrifying sight they must be if it's your enemy up there.

[Stanley]

I used to think just that when I heard the undulating sound of the German bombers during the war. I was once told that they de-synchronised their engines deliberately to sound more menacing. If so, it worked!

[Stanley]

See this link for news of the scrapping of the Ark Royal. LINK
Why does it sadden me that it is going to a Turkish scrapyard? Silly I know, but ships have an identity and it would have been good if we buried her here.

[PanBiker]

I thought this as well Stanley. We are perfectly capable of decommissioning ships and it would have been a fitting end to her if she has to go. I hope she does not end up being butchered on a random beach in the way some of the Asian scrappers work. It will all come down to cost no doubt but a travesty that the jobs could not be kept at home. I think it should be a bit like tidying your own house.

[PanBiker]

BBMF aircraft around and about today. There will be a Spitfire and Hurricane operating flypasts at various venues including Liverpool for the Battle of the Atlantic commemorations. The aircraft will depart Coningsby at 12.35 with Flypasts at Easy Kirkby, Shrewsbury and Liverpool then onto Llandudno for a display at 14.00 then landing at Blackpool at 14.30. They will depart Blackpool at 16.00 for a flypast at Bury at 16.10 and then onto Brigg before landing back at Conningsby at 16.55.

Bury is too far south for us to catch the transit home but worth keeping an eye and an ear out if you are round and about any of the venues.

[Tizer]

Just back from a holiday in a cottage near Porthleven, Cornwall, which is only a couple of miles from RNAS Culdrose at Helston, and claims to be the biggest helicopter base in the world - rather homely for us as we live only about 10 miles from RNAS Yeovilton! Culdrose has a great public `viewing point' and cafe that does an excellent cup of tea, pasties etc and sells lots of interesting aircraft-related goodies. As it was a cold wind we sat in the `caf' and watched Merlin helicopters being tested and training Harriers being taxied about.

On decommissioning, perhaps it was on one of the `Coast' TV programmes that they showed how even big trawlers from the UK are sent to Denmark for scrapping when they get old or are no longer needed. The owner of a trawler was shown, practically in tears, leaving his ship there to be broken up and crushed.

[Stanley]

We had a good thread about ship-breaking on the old site which originated in the story of how Matt Hartley bought fittings from the old liner 'Makjestic' and used them in his new Majestic Cinema. I used to pass a small ship-breaking yerd at Briton Ferry in my tramping days. Such a sad sight. Something very evocative about and old ship and it must be terrible to have to scrap one that is still in good nick but redundant.....

[Stanley]

Scrapping Nimrods.

[Stanley]

See this LINK for the successful raising of the Dornier bomber.

[Tizer]

I've just bought an excellent value s/h book on aeroplanes for a mere £3.50 (inc. postage) and I think others might be interested in acquiring a copy, so here are the details.

`The Colour Encyclopedia of Incredible Aeroplanes' by Philip Jarrett and published by Dorling Kindersley. It was originally published in hardback in 1996 with further versions in 2006, 2007 and then a paperback in 2011. I've had the 2006 version from the library and was very impressed, so looked on Abebooks and found there were lots for sale s/h and very cheap. I had to have a copy! So I bought a 2006 edition because I knew what that would be like from the library copy. It's hardback bound in cloth with a stitched binding, 8.5 inches (21cm) wide by 7 inches (18cm) tall. It has 356 pages, is a hefty, solid tome and is almost all double page spreads with text to one side and a full page photo on the facing side. It covers from Henson's Aerial Steam Carriage of 1843 to the Airbus 380 of 2005. The photos are superb and I can guarantee you'll find aeroplanes in this book that you've never heard of before.

If you want to buy a copy, go to Abebooks - you can use this link which I did as a search for the book:
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... aeroplanes

Don't jump at the first one you see. Check the year of publication and whether it's hard or softback. The bookseller I used was AwesomeBooks who were quick to mail the book and it was well packed in a special cardboard cover printed with their name. Happy reading!

[Stanley]

Get thee behind me Satan! Here's me trying to stop buying books and what happens? Temptation all round me.....
Tiz, have you ever read 'Wide Body' by Clive Irving? Story of the design of the 747. Fascinating....

[Tizer]

We had our own air display in the mid-afternoon today...eleven Hawks of the Red Arrows team flying slowly north-east at a few hundred feet in a formation of 5, 5 and 1, each 5 making up a V shape (so two Vs and a tail-end Charlie bringing up the rear). They must have been in transit from today's display at Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week to Sunderland for the International Air Show where they are on today and tomorrow. There we were, quietly having a cup of tea in the garden in the shade of a Japanese maple, then a wonderful sound reached our ears...a total of 57,200 lbs thrust from 11 Rolls Royce Adour engines! I've just found the transit times page and it fits perfectly:
Friday - 26 July
1146hrs - Take off EXETER
1200hrs - Display LYME REGIS
1236hrs - Land EXETER
1530hrs - Take off EXETER
1632hrs - Land NEWCASTLE
1920hrs - Take off NEWCASTLE
1930hrs - Display SUNDERLAND
1957hrs - Land NEWCASTLE
http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/teamnews/ind ... EF1F04A2FE

[Stanley]

Harts over the Himalayas.

[Stanley]

Another oldie. The largest bomber ever to attack London in both world wars.

[Tizer]

We took an opportunity between showers to go for a walk on the moor this afternoon and it was very good timing. As we walked on the flat moor with big skies all around us there was the wonderful sound of an approaching pair of piston-engined aircraft which had me yelling "Look, look!" and Mrs Tiz saying "Where, where?". Having past us close by at no more than a few hundred feet they banked then circled around us, as if they knew Mrs Tiz needed a better view! Then they continued in their original direction...the Hawker Sea Fury of the Royal Naval Historical Flight and the Percival Provost of the Royal Naval Air Museum, both based at RNAS Yeovilton air station about 15 miles away. What a treat!

Sea Fury: http://www.royalnavyhistoricflight.org. ... eafury.htm

Provost: http://www.airfighters.com/photo/100157 ... T1/G-MOOS/

RNAS museum photos here: http://www.pbase.com/airpicimages/faam&page=all

[Stanley]

Isn't it wonderful when you hear a sound and are taken aback. That happened to me at Ellenroad one Saturday and the BofB Memorial flight flew over at about a thousand feet. Must have been on their way to or from a show. Back hairs to attention!

[Tizer]

Great photos from the RAF's Photographer of the Year:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-li ... e-24672979

[Stanley]

Good talent and splendid pics Tiz. Thanks for the link.

[Tizer]

A couple of interesting, related stories here with some good photos...
The three-month flight along the Nile
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25578363

Frank McClean: Forgotten pioneer of the sky
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21518157