SPITFIRE !!!

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it is more than high time that the men and woman of Bomber Command finally get their Campaign Medals. It wasn't their fault, they were just following orders, and Uncle Hugh was killed a good 4 or 5 years before Dresden et al!

Couldn't agree more, so many people who 'did their bit' in the war have been unrecognised until now. Not at all denigrating from the sacrifices and service given by those recognised up until now, but bomber command should absolutely gain their well-deserved recognition, as have the Bevan Boys, Land Girls etc without whom the war would have been that much harder.

 

[sunnyjim]

BOAC: Better On A Camel.
BOAC were before my time, but some happy memories of flights on VC10s PIK - JFK. Small by 747 standards, but much nicer for what was a relatively short ~5 hr flight.
Amongst other things, one reason for these trips was working with Fairchild Republic about fitting stuff on the A10 Thunderbolt - in contrast, possibly the ugliest aircraft ever made, although impressive in it's own way.

 

[sunnyjim]

Fab!

A few years back, I used to go out to Elvington for the airshow, if you cycled out you could stop on the verge for nothing and get a free show. Near where we sat was a small stand of trees, and the Harrier did fly over the show, and disappeared beyond these trees.

<pause>

Harrier emerged, vertically, from behind the trees, having turned round and crept back at low level. The noise!

I like it when they do a bow to the crowd.

That was one of the maneuvers they practiced using a clump of trees at the edge of the airfield. IIRC they had to fly about a bit between each attempt to cool the engines.

 

[black'n'yellow]

I'm now going to upset everyone here by stating that I actually think the Daimler Benz engine in the 109 sounds better than the Merlin.....

 

[rusky]

I'm now going to upset everyone here by stating that I actually think the Daimler Benz engine in the 109 sounds better than the Merlin.....

BAN HIM!

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

...

But it's not just a noise thing: a Lightning can do this, and keep doing it more or less until the atmosphere runs out....

As a kid I was at the Finningley airshow every year. The big showstopper was a Vulcan doing a steep takeoff.
The SR-71 Blackbird was just about the most awesome thing they ever showed. Those were the days

How Finningley ever got called Robin Hood as an airport is always a laugh for me. Didn't know Robin Hood visited Doncaster...

 

[Arch]

As a kid I was at the Finningley airshow every year. The big showstopper was a Vulcan doing a steep takeoff.
The SR-71 Blackbird was just about the most awesome thing they ever showed. Those were the days

How Finningley ever got called Robin Hood as an airport is always a laugh for me. Didn't know Robin Hood visited Doncaster...

Ah, but he were a Yorkshireman, tha' knows.

Or so they say. In Yorkshire mostly.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Ah, but he were a Yorkshireman, tha' knows.

Or so they say. In Yorkshire mostly.

Never heard that in my part of Yorkshire

 

[Arch]

Never heard that in my part of Yorkshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood

"In popular culture, Robin Hood and his band of "merry men" are usually portrayed as living in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, where much of the action in the early ballads takes place.[6] So does the very first recorded Robin Hood rhyme, four lines from the early 15th century, beginning: "Robyn hode in scherewode stod."[7] However, the overall picture from the surviving early ballads and other early references[7] suggest that Robin Hood may have been based in the Barnsdale area of what is now South Yorkshire (which borders Nottinghamshire).
Other traditions point to a variety of locations as Robin's "true" home both inside Yorkshire and elsewhere, with the abundance of places named for Robin causing further confusion.[8][9] A tradition dating back at least to the end of the 16th century gives his birthplace asLoxley, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, while the site of Robin Hood's Well in Skellow, South Yorkshire, has been associated with Robin Hood since at least 1422. Records show a man named Robin Hood lived in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in the 13th and 14th centuries.[10] His grave has been claimed to be at Kirklees Priory near Mirfield in West Yorkshire, as implied by the 18th-century version of Robin Hood's Death, and there is a headstone there of dubious authenticity.[11]"

 

[Bromptonaut]

I'm now going to upset everyone here by stating that I actually think the Daimler Benz engine in the 109 sounds better than the Merlin.....

Very rare to hear one though. 'Black Six' has been grounded for many years. Might be the odd genuine 109 in Germany but most over here, including those used in the BoB film, were licence built by Hispano in Spain.

 

[Browser]

" 'ees not Robin 'ood, 'ees a very naughty boy!"

 

[GordonB]

I think it's the same deal for the Lancaster, to be fair - the Lanc gets all the glory because it's still flying. Very few people think of the Wellington, Whitley, Hampden, Halifax or Stirling.

My stepfather was a Halifax pilot with RCAF 419 squadron based at Middleton St George, when he joined there were apparently 600 in his intake, almost all of whom were allocated places as rear gunners due to the incredible attrition rate. John was good enough to be a pilot and hence survived. I think a couple of his aircrew are still alive, he's been to Canada for a couple of reunions, but there are no flying Halifax aircraft left.

John doesn't resent the attention given to the Lanc, he knows how good they were and is happy that there's one left flying to remind folks of the sacrifice of so many young men.

Gordon

 

[Browser]

I love the sound of the Merlin/Griffon but feel it's a shame that some of the more exotic-engined fighters are no longer flying. I'd love to hear a Napier Sabre (Hawker Typhoon/Tempest) cut loose, 24 sleeve-valved cylinders hammering out their music

 

[subaqua]

one of the good things of growing up near British Aerospace at Broughton was regular visits of old planes, and being able to talk to guys who had flown them in combat as 20 yr olds

what you call the factory also dates you

call it Vickers or De Havs and you are 60 plus
call it Hawker Siddely you are between 40 and 60
call it Aerospace and you are 30 - 40
call it airbus and you are under 30 .

my gran worked in the factory building Wellingtons during the war. she wasn't on the film of the record breaking attempt of building one in under 24hrs

 

[Bromptonaut]

one of the good things of growing up near British Aerospace at Broughton was regular visits of old planes, and being able to talk to guys who had flown them in combat as 20 yr olds

what you call the factory also dates you

call it Vickers or De Havs and you are 60 plus
call it Hawker Siddely you are between 40 and 60
call it Aerospace and you are 30 - 40
call it airbus and you are under 30 .

Blackburn originally. Home of the Buccaneer and the mighty Beverly.