Heads up, "the plane that saved Britain".

BlueNoser and other Colonies,
Follow this link http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtR-_qiY5I

Geoff.:D

Even corrected to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtR-_qiY5I

it doesn´t work for me – I get at message saying the content is “private”….

Regards

Jon

For those who missed this a while ago, it’s on more 4 at 21.00hrs tonight.

BlueNoser and other Colonies,
Follow this link http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtR-_qiY5I

Geoff.:D

Hope someone will get this on Youtube …that would be a nice gift for us all …..in particular over here in the colonies !

Thanks BlueNoser352!

Hi All,
What a wasted opportunity, continuity alone was awful Beaufighter/Hinkle 111/Boston /Mitchell etc.etc, lots more could have been added missing Avspecs restoration of KA144 and their current second Mosquito restoration/W4050 restoration/Peoples Mosquito/The go action stations project (Please correct me if I am wrong)let alone the many other restorations around the globe plus the Airworthy restoration of Kermit weeks etc.etc. some new facts but mostly mish mashed bits of film mainly the Mosquito but as mentioned continuity,at least try not to insult the memory of the veterans who flew these magnificent aircraft do the research properly and if your in doubt get off your **** and do a proper job of it, there no excuse these days for sloppy research which has resulted in a Well presented (Host wise) but very untidy documentary,paying a little attention to detail could have taken it from an also ran to a winner.
I would have assumed that when making the programme the host would have had a good deal to say on the content ? but was he bullied into an average run of the mill docu or was he just told we’ll edit our way ? either way the above still applies like I said a good effort from the host but missing vital links in the whole story in my mind but that is just my opinion and that’s all it is like it or lump it.

Geoff.:mad:

Agree, also didn’t appreciate the comment about the DH Museum looking like a “Boneyard”.

Yes and if he had gone there when those ‘bones’ are used to ably demonstrate to visitor parties how a Mosquito is made and what bit is what he would realise that they were deliberately laid out. Unlike other museums you come away with how amazing the design was and how it was all put together and how much strength is in each part.

I visited the deHavilland museum last Summer and was told of plans to build a new large hangar to put some more of the airframes undercover. I had always thought that moving to one of the hangars on the aerodrome would have been better but I can understand that having the prototype on the site where it was built was important. Perhaps it would have saved the Trident from its fate rotting on the airfield.
mmitch.

I would agree that the Mosquito was not really a ‘forgotten’ aircraft as the film -makers claimed – think of the ‘633 Squadron’ and ‘Mosquito Squadron’ films and all the ‘633 Squadron’ books. Also it was not made clear that only one squadron of Mossies was equipped with the 57mm Molins gun and I think the reason was that underwing rockets were available later in the war which – though lacking the pinpoint accuracy of the 57mm gun – had far greater destructive power. COLIN

Ted -the ex RAF stations are very quickly put in the hands of land agents for sale/rent.Therefore whilst it would be nice to put everything undercover at one -to find one suitable in the South East is mission impossible! Hatfield could be said to have been a very good opportunity -however the value as building land massively exceeded what any privately run museum could afford!
So the best option is to visit the museum -put more in the donations box than your normally would and accept that the amateur museums do
a good job in massively cash strapped times!

I’m ashamed to say that as someone who served in the RAF for over 23 years and always considered myself a “warbird” enthusiast, I learned more about the Mosquito in that programme that I’d ever learned to date. I was also very much taken up with the enthusiasm of Arthur Williams’ narration which will, I feel, appeal to people much younger than me and hopefully with much more money. (even my wife stirred herself from the computer and said, he’s really keen on that plane”) Not arf! He was in bits during the flight as would I be! I thought that it was an excellent programme given that it was aimed at a wide audience. Regarding the de Havilland museum, yes, I think a more positive picture could have been painted but, the sight of those airframes outside made me think, why aren’t these all in a hangar for goodness sake?! Heaven knows, we have enough ex-RAF stations you could put them in surely? Put it this way, if the Mosquito Museum rattled a tin in front of me now I’d be much more likely to put money in it than before I watched that programme!

I was also miffed with Arthur Williams’s lamenting of how the Mosquito has been ‘forgotten’. Has it? I mean, it was the subject of two films -obviously Mosquito Squadron and 633 Squadron – and part of the reason that there are so few left is because the film makers destroyed them. There are plenty left in museums around the world, although I agree with him that having them on the u/c on the ground is preferable. So compared to the Stirling, Whitley, Wellington et al the Mossie is thriving!

Have to say this was one of my thoughts too, several air forces including our own, operated the Mosquito for a few years after The Second World War. The civilian operators such as Spartan should not be forgotten either.

Overall I thought it to be a good programme, definately worth watching.

Planemike

Mosquito

Always been one of my faves ever since my Airfix model. The thing that annoyed me about ‘Planes that save Britain’ was that the person that build one taking eight years, and put one in the air after 20 years, never got a mention in the credits.

Just be grateful we didn’t get an arm waving Dan Snow.

Had it been a BBC production I am sure the ubiquitous clown that is Dan Snow would have been first in the queue. His live ‘interviewing’ on the 70th anniversary of the dams raid was shocking.

I was also miffed with Arthur Williams’s lamenting of how the Mosquito has been ‘forgotten’. Has it? I mean, it was the subject of two films -obviously Mosquito Squadron and 633 Squadron – and part of the reason that there are so few left is because the film makers destroyed them. There are plenty left in museums around the world, although I agree with him that having them on the u/c on the ground is preferable. So compared to the Stirling, Whitley, Wellington et al the Mossie is thriving!

“I would say that most people probably don’t know that Merlins splutter when inverted”

Only those few who haven’t seen “The Battle of Britain” film, in the opening sequence a Hurricane victory rolls and splutters whilst inverted ; you don’t have to be a fully paid up member of “spotters weekly” to know that!

Full marks to Arthur Williams for his easy style and infectious enthusiasm for his subject. The way he hauled himself into the cockpit by his arms was something to behold. Just be grateful we didn’t get an arm waving Dan Snow.

Really? Cotton, even linen.. but actual canvas?

Oops!!! My apologies for a basic error, which I have corrected…!!!

Probably wouldn’t have bothered watching this documentary (or is it better described as a “show”?), had it not popped up on the +1 channel just as we switched the telly on. Bostons charging across the screen within a few minutes of the start tells you what to expect.

It took “dumbed down” to a new low, imo.

Aircrew egged on to brag about their exploits “Took out a whole squadron of Dorniers in one go”, “Bomb in the tunnel entrance every single time”, Tsetse Navigator reciting the text from a kid’s comic story based on his own submarine sinking sortie – just wtf was all that about?

“This is the plane that allowed us to bomb German cities.” Oh yeah, just how exactly? Might the Oboe blind bombing device that the Mosquitoes carried have had something to do with it perhaps? But not worth mentioning in case it all becomes too much information for a modern audience to handle?

I could go on. Utter, utter dross…

There, I feel better now!

Now if he had said the aircraft was made from wood and it’s surfaces were then covered in canvas, then that would be correct. .

Really? Cotton, even linen.. but actual canvas?

But was it REALLY made of ‘wood and canvas‘ ?????

Now if he had said the aircraft was made from wood and it’s surfaces were then covered in Linen (not canvas), then that would be correct. I have problems with this film. We didn’t need to see the demise of RR299 – twice. I was not happy with the remarks made about the DH Museum. I cannot distract from Arthur Williams’ enthusiasm for the Mosquito – such passion is shared by many, but you don’t make many friends by comparing a much loved volunteer run museum to a boneyard. I do hope they paid for the access. Most national museums do charge for the privilege of filming on their property. Having worked on a BBC documentary as a cameraman, I know how much these productions cost. Accordingly, I’d imagine that “The Plane That Saved Britain” would have cost around £150,000 to £200,000 to deliver.