So, do we know who the pilot was? (some of us have an idea) why should the name not be published? after all, condolances have very little meaning unless you know who you are wishing them to & I’m sure next of kin will have been informed by now.
I could add that my thoughts are with his family, but unless I know who it was, how can they be? rest assured, when I know who it was then my thoughts WILL be with them, I, for one, can’t just send a condolance card with a space for the recipiant to fill their own name in, It doesn’t seem quite right & proper to me.

Yep, It fly’s!;)

In my experience if we the BBMF go tubeless and it works

Now that will be worth watching!

I’d think it would be cheaper to commission a set of tubes than a set of hubs for the fleet of later Spits around the world.
Tom

The problem lies in the fact that you can’t ‘just’ re design a wheel for an aircraft so that it is possible to fit modern ‘tubeless’ tyres without a lot of ‘proving & testing’. We have just had some 12″ tyres delivered & have rejected one as the balance ‘lump’ (for want of a better word) may have affected the tube had there been one fitted.
One of the problems with making new tubes is the inflation tube that fits into the wheel so you can pump it up, they will also have to be re manufactured & with that comes approvals & such like, It may be a long time before we see some ‘new build’ tubes as the market is just not there to justify the tooling & R and D for a big company when maybe they will sell a couple of hundred units world wide. Also remember, rubber has a shelf life! so no one would want to have a pile of these things sat on a shelf running out of life before being used. Tubes may be the same size for many aircraft but the inflation tube may not be!

Don’t know what size stencils you need but, I have a vinyl cutter which will cut up to 20″ high & as long as you want, there is a special low tack blue mask vinyl which is around £6 per metre, If you have pictures & sizes, I would be happy to cut them at cost as long as there arn’t too many, as I do this as a hobby not for a living.
(the main problem with vinyl is the wastage & time taken ‘weeding’ out the letters) I would not suggest getting the letters cut from vinyl unless you go for at least a 7 year cast anything less will either peel off within a couple of years or it will shrink over time & leave an unsightly sticky edge. Hope this helps, as you know a paint job can be made of broken by the detailing.
This picture will show you the results of a mask I made for my Smart car,

PR Spit heading west over Didcot Saturday lunchtime………….

Rolls Royce PR19 on route from Filton to Northolt then back to Filton via The Downs school Bristol, Filton RR/BAe Families day then off to somwhere near Derby then to bed at EMA!
All in a days work!!

I think this seems to be turning into one of those ‘my mate is better than your mate’ discussions, I’m sure Ray would have had little time for it, whenever I met him he was a charming person to talk with & had no airs or graces, that, is how I will remember him, (mind you, he was not to shabby flying either!
I imagine Ray & Mark now planning some sharp formations now though!

RIP Ray.