Just out of interest I caught something about this on Anglia News at lunchtime, or rather wandered into the living room as my missus was stuffing herself with a butty and got annoyed as to why I wasn’t called in when a spitfire in some museum was on screen, I don’t really know what it was all about, is it a new museum dedicated to the Channel Dash, I assume so as it featured a painting of a Swordfish having ‘a bad time’, presumably it will be on again this evening at 18:00 for those of us in the Anglia Region, have you all noticed, WW2 items seem to crop up in our local news more than any other region.
I echo Moggy’s sentiments, I think that the Kriegsmarine could have got a good stuffing under the right circumstances, I always thought it was a bit of a communications breakdown that caused the poor old Swordfish boys to really suffer, they should never have been sent in, but no doubt their sense of honour was exploited by those at the top.

Valentines Day, again.
My missus hates bunchies of drippy red roses so I bought her a whole bush from a garden centre instead, actually she was most impressed, but more so with the rhubarb plant, apple tree and plum tree, how can anyone be impressed with a rhubarb plant as a romantic gift, on the other hand she did phone me up in a great state of excitement because a Harvard had just flown over, she’s a love.

My missus unexpectantly bought me an Ozark Banjo for Xmas last year, my only problem has been learning to play Deliverance on it.

A very interesting thread, and really impressive to hear from someone on the firing line.
Just out of interest, why was a black line painted down the middle of Cardiff’s funnell and hull, it was obviously done in order to break up the ships outline, but not quite dazzle camo is it, makes a good aiming point I would have thought.
Incidentally, while you were preparing for war, shudder, I was on my way to a wedding near Lincoln, we were listening to Thatchers remarkable speech on the radio informing us that a task force was being sent to the South Atlantic, but happened to be passing Waddo, home of the Vulcan at the time. The amount of activity really freaked us out, it was one thing to be hearing war rhetoric on the radio, and I don’t mean that nastily, but another thing to be driving through lines of Vulcans obviously being prepared for war, with plenty of armed troops on either side of the road, fortunately, I wasn’t driving and got some hastily and secretively shot pictures, they went down well with the happy wedding pictures.
Sorry but they are all on slides.

Having watched the BAFTA awards the other night, I was surprised at the praise being heaped on an American ‘comedy’ film called ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, a film I’d never heard of. Not being a great fan of US comedy films, with momentous exceptions, The Graduate springs to mind, I dismissed it. However sniffing around Virgin yesterday, I discovered it, and on a whim, bought it.
Well, I did madam a very nice Valentines Day candlelit dinner and rather than go out, she fancied watching the film, despite being music fans, we decided not to watch the Brit awards as they were a forgone conclusion, and we were right, is it me or are the Arctic Monkeys crap, and who gives a s### about Take That, and could someone please remove The Scissor Sisters off the face of the earth, only regret was missing Oasis perform.
Anyway, we watched the film and thought it was fantastic, we were killing ourselves laughing, each character was great, especially the self inflicted mute son who constantly had his head buried in Nietsche’s Also Spracht Zarathustra, try and read that without having to keep awake by artificial means. Can highly reccomend this film, and Alan Arkin is brilliant, trouble is, I keep thinking of him as Yossarian, and it won’t go away.
A very good p### take on US young beauty queen competitions, watch it.

Could have been Cosmic Wind, pictured here on the Duxford update website

http://s110605900.websitehome.co.uk/hangar-2/ballerina.htm

I believe it was, the a/c about at DX that day were mentioned on another thread, I suspect that the Spitty that I saw was the MkV due to it’s quiet engine note.

Oh no, I love football, but there’s something about so called enthusiasts attitude to it, how long have you folks been so keen, how would you cope with with leaving the city where you have lived all your life, when your team becomes the greatest ever, just a feeling at the time, could you cope with having phone calls from a Turkish pal, who has just watched the love of his life win the European Cup Semi live on TV when you are waiting for the ITV highlights.
It has now become super money profiters crap, and I really have no time for it anymore, well, it doesn’t go away, we love all those old times, don’t we, whichever club it is.
Incidentally, mine was the late great Nottm Forest, makes the equation more difficult doesn’t it.

At 10:00 this morning, a Harvard of undefinable colour flew across here, Bocking, heading NE.
10 mins later, my missus phoned me from her stables near Wethersfield to report the passing of the same plane heading north, she said it was a sort of buff colour with large black letters under the wings.
At 14:00 I was attending a site meeting at Haslingfield, a few miles north of DX, this was interrupted as a Spitfire in close formation with what looked to be the same Harvard flew over heading south towards DX, the Spit looked to be grey in colour. As we watched, the Spit did a very tight and steep turn
away to port and both a/c dissapeared below the trees.
A few minutes later as I was leaving, the Spit came back playing catch up, then in very close formation with a Chipmunk, heading north, good tribute to Steve Young I thought as it was heading towards his neck of the woods.
As I drove through the village the Spit came back on his own, heading for DX, I noticed how all this time, how quiet it’s engine was.
I then decided to head for DX and could see an a/c performing manic aerobatics in the distance, as I got near the airfield, it turned out to be what looked like a green Extra, pretty cool flying whoever it was.
I parked up in the car park, and could see a yellow Texan/Harvard, but no Spit or Extra, they may have been parked past the tower, car park was full, pity it’s free admission for kids, they could have made a bomb today even at a quid a head, I don’t think that parents would have been too upset about that, the whole place seemed to have been overrun with kids, after all it is half term.