I’ve heard it said that the wing flex on a turning Spitfire made the Brownings in the outer bays of questionable value anyway – although that may be giving the average pilot’s shooting ability a little too much credit! I guess the trade-off for the M2 is fewer, heavier rounds vs. extended range and hitting power. Again, it comes down to the bloke on the end of the trigger; the longer effective range might encourage the average Joe not to get in close, thus accuracy plummets. In bomber turrets, however, the further away you keep the enemy, the better! Hence it’s a shame how long the Rose turret was delayed. One other attraction of the .303 was that the round was used absolutely everywhere, so no need for specialist supplies (less of an issue on home soil, granted).

A question which occurred to me, not neccessarily in light of 50-cal v 0.303 – what was the barrel life on these weapons? Presumably not very long if they were getting 300 rounds or more through them on a regular basis? My only (very limited) experience was with the C9 Minimi, where IIRC the recommended barrel life seemed distressingly short. On the bright side, it was dead easy to change – apparently not the case on the .303 where you basically need to dismantle the entire weapon. Firing them is all very well, but some poor bloke’s going to have 12 lots of 8x.303’s to service at the end of the day.

I have a marking stamp here at school that uses a New Zealandism: ‘Your fellas’ work is choice.’

Chur bro, that’s ace, eh? 😎

My company is divided on geographical lines – head office several counties away is a very different beast to my building full of engineers. Hence a fair bit of snickering when emails come around talking about ‘key messages’, ‘looking for synergies’, ‘drivers’, ‘key stakeholders’ and other buzzwords. ‘It’s about empowerment’ was a good one a few days ago, met with cries of “Someone’s been on a course!”. We started a “BS Word of the Day” competition on the board in the canteen a few weeks ago, and some cracking entries there were, too! Among the usual suspects were Blamestorming*, Seagull Management**, and (a particular favourite) Testiculating***

We probably should have wiped it off before the senior management turned up a couple of weeks later. :stupid:

* Blamestorming – getting together in a group to discuss why a deadline was missed and who will carry the can.
** Seagull Management – A manager who flies in, makes an enormous noise, cr*ps on everyone and then leaves them to clean up the mess.
*** Testiculating – Waving your arms around and talking b*llocks.

Thanks Mike – not for the faint of heart, one assumes!

Perhaps he was keeping a sharp eye out for Buchons above and behind! :highly_amused:

Ouch – I really hope as many as possible can be salvaged.

I have to ask; was the tank resting directly on the shelf? I was always told to have a sheet of polystyrene underneath so that there was a little ‘give’ to even out any stresses. Otherwise, with all that weight on top of it, all it takes is one grain of sand…

Good luck.

Seeing this thread, it twanged a distant neuron that I had seen a post either here or elsewhere about a year ago that the AHB were running a consultation with various groups over the release of accident cards/reports to TNA. This was backed up by a press release or other official notification. Of course, now that I come to look for it I can’t find anything.

Does this ring any bells, or have I simply gone completely crackers? It would certainly be a step forward for researchers – assuming all the DPA requirements can be met.

Yours,

Doolally of Tunbridge Wells

Al Deere, wasn’t it?

On 23 May 1940, during the closing phases of the Battle of France, Deere and Pilot Officer J. Allen flew Spitfires escorting Flight Lieutenant James Leathart across the channel in a Miles Magister to rescue 74 Squadron’s commanding officer, who had made a forced landing. In sight of Leathart and White, Deere claimed his first combat victories, shooting down two Bf 109s. Later the same day he shot down a third Bf 109.

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

Regards,
Jeff