Once more the best forum out there comes to the rescue!

Thank you all for your help…and to Picassa ! 🙂

Ten out of ten for Picassa, used it for two years and it has only had one update, so it must have been good to start with!

Good photos there, interesting reminder in picture 3 that you are looking at the Gatwick Aviation Museum with TWO Shackletons!:)

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/uk/charlwood/gatwickmus.htm

Congratulations on the successfull conclusion of your quest. Patience and perserverance. Presumably the survivors do not mind their personal details being published for the public?;)

All the good stuff on PA474 here today made me think that there might be some interest in this picture of a Manchester on Ebay Deutschland:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=017&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=270111036928&rd=1&rd=1

Not in bidding as you posted some five hours after bidding stopped, but £158 for a photo? From a buyer in Canada? What is going on here?:confused:

Dont Evergreen operated it for Boeing?

Not exactly. The LCF was part designed by Moscow’s Boeing Bureau and the swingtail design was done in Spain. The actual conversion was done in Taiwan by Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation. There will be a total of three LCF’s in operation and these are all ex Chinese passenger planes.

Another sad day in the annals of maritime shipwrecks. In more recent times, what happened to the car delivery freighter that turned on its side in the Pacific last year and how is the salvage progressing on the MSC Napoli in the English Channel. How quickly headlines are produced and then fade like a ‘candle in the wind’:(

For anyone interested in the progress of salvage on the MSC Napoli, you can access the daily progress on the below link. There are now 355 containers remaining on the ship out of a total of 2315.

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracycommunities/msc-napoli-update.htm

And answering my own question about the Cougar Ace which turned on its side carrying 4700 new Mazdas, the ship was righted and towed to Portland for discharge. Mazda said all the salvageable cars would be sold as used and all the VIN numbers would be published on their website.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/11/cougar-ace-update-no-mazdas-aboard-will-be-sold-as-new-vehicles/

History of War.org quotes a ceiling of 42,600 feet.

The PR Mk XIX was the only Griffon powered reconnaissance Spitfire. It was produced by taking combining the Mk XIV fuselage, PR Mk XI wings and PR Mk X cabin. It could carry up to 254 gallons of fuel internally, using space in the wings that had originally held cameras. It could carry a 170 gallon drop tank, although the largest size used on operations was 90 gallons. It had a top speed of 445 mph and a service ceiling of 42,600 feet, making it almost impossible for the Luftwaffe to catch it. All but the first 22 of the 225 produced had a pressurised cockpit.