Originally posted by tonydyer
(on that Halifax-lookalike)
It is more than just a representation…it is something tangible that shows respect for the often forgotten sacrifice made by Halifax aircrew. It is something for veterans to look at and remember days gone by. It is something that their grandchildren can be proud of.

All of those statements are perfectly true. But none of them make the displayed aircraft a Halifax.

Gee! What a surprise! We’ve been lied to!

Might i add that the lies were extremely pathetic this time. At least during the Kosovo crisis the lies were a bit better thought out so it took some time before the spins&lies came out in the open. If this trend continues, we’ll see the US invade Lebanon because the Maori’s are killing the Pygmees there with ICBMs :rolleyes:

But hey, in order to get a people ready for war you have to make the people scared of this-or-that threat, existant or not. Too bad that the fairytales which make Americans wet their pants are hardly impressive for the rest of the world. Or at least people with a better understanding of reality.

It is so strange that it was an American president (Frankin Roosevelt, during his inaugural speech) who said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” If there is one country in the world which main motive is fear, angst and possibly even paranoia, it is the US.

Hey! You cheat! Editing your blunder just when i typed such a cheeky reply…

😮

Wreckovery in the former USSR…

In the post-WW2 years up to Stalin’s death, a terrible lot of aircraft were scrapped in the Soviet Union.

First of all, with the advent of the MiG-15 the Soviet brassheads came to the conclusion that props were a thing of the past, and the glorious VVS would not use such obsolete machines – especially not if they were of imperialistic make (like the P-63s and B-25s which were used until the early 1950s). Secondly, those aircraft provided cheap and easy-to-get aluminium.*

Also, there was a distinct lack of interest in the historical value of aircraft in those days. Of many unique Soviet aircraft, nothing remains: no MiG-13 mixed-propulsion fighters, no Tu-14 torpedo bombers, and the only surviving La-15s (something like the MiG-15 with shoulder mounted wings) are highly radioactive after some rigorous testing in Kazakstan in the late 1950s.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t any treasures to find though (i ‘discovered’ a surviving Polikarpov I-17 in a backward way of the beaten track museum myself, and also a Yak-28P of which none are repeatedly stated to survive) but i do agree that any rumour should be taken with a massive pile of salt until some substantial evidence is found.

* Translated for Americans: it was cheap and easy-to-get aluminum

Ahh… sometimes even Schiphol can be worthwile.

This one is actually the only one which was ever flown by a civilian operator, all the other “Aeroflot” birds flew actually with the VVS-VTA (the Air Transport Aviation of the Soviet Air Force) from Ivanovo, Tver-Migalovo and (prior to the An-124’s introduction) Sescha. Although they were officially withdrawn in 2000, about eight were taken back into service at Migalovo the following year. The last time i saw an operational one was in August 2001, when one was at the MiG plant at Lukhovitsi. Best An-22 experience however was when i saw one performing a few touch&go’s at Novgorod-Krechevitsy (an Il-76 base) in 1996.

Well, mine is definately one for this board… with no Polish MiG-23’s remaining active.

I was planespotting for the first time at Slupsk, the former Polish Flogger base. The aircraft were flying massively (i believe some 24 of them were flying several sorties that afternoon) so i was perfectly happy.

We were standing under the runway between some gardens and the airbase, and behind the gardens there was a not-too-big forest. Suddenly, when it was about time for a few Floggers to get back, we could definately hear one screeching (not a roar, a screech. Floggers sound afwully nice for those who’ve acquired the taste). But we couldn’t see it.
It got louder and louder, but still there was nothing to see.
Until one of us looked below the treetops… where a Flogger was thundering towards the airbase, wings swept back, at no more than 40 metres (Soviet aircraft of course don’t use silly measurements only English understand). It flew straight over us, and i have to say:
Polish Floggers flew lower and faster than Buccs!

Other nice ones include my first time seeing XH558 fly (i was at school, it went to a reunion at RAFG Brüggen), the only time i saw a Lightning fly (XS904 on it’s way to the Wildenrath farewell party), Su-17M4’s taking off at dusk…

Earthquakes are no fun indeed. Even though i don’t live in a particulairly dangerous area, we do have a quake here every ten years or so. First one was when i was a toddler – can’t remember much of it, except that the sandcastle i was building collapsed on me. Second time was in 1992, which was 5.7 on the Richter scale and which made my bed walk – with me in it, as it was about 3 am. No fun at all, especially since it took some time for me to realise it was an earthquake and before you know it is one it is even scarier.

I now live some 50kms to the south, but the local earthquakes seem to have accompanied me. Last year there was another one, at about 7 in the morning, strength 4something Richter. It was an annoying wakeupcall, but this time i realised what it was which made it less bad. Nevertheless, scary experiences. Even without casualties or massive collapse.

Moggy,

Could it have something to do with the browser settings which are responsible for the extra compression? Those programs sometimes have a will of their own…

Nice pics, BTW.