East West airlines Fokker F27 for me in the late 70,s I can remember.That was my first of a few flights with them.Waiting at the terminal at Inverell with that god awful noise as it taxied in still gives me a smile.Most hair raising was in the early 80,s when an army Iriquoi pilot decided to do wingovers at 2000feet,then do low level runs over the beach near Newcastle.After that was a noisy run in a Chinook over to watch the paratroops do a dive near the Williamtown gunnery range.God bless the ATC..Only flown once while I was in control,well sorta.During my apprenticeship with QANTAS part of our TAFE course was flying.Being copilot for the jaunt in a Piper/Cessna got handed the stick and proceeded to try pull a few small negative Gees for the guys in the back seat..Thing was we were over Sydney at the time….”hmmm is that a Jetranger below us??”

Was always wondering at what point a Spit becomes a Spit.We are well down the food chain with our project but we are trying our best.Any spit part in any condition can lead you to that vital clue of what the subassembly looks like.We built our rudder bar from the factory GE drawing,a sketch kindly given to us from a mate over in the UK,a few detailed pics and the remains of the end off a crashed one,perhaps 2.5 inches long.We are not passing it off as original,but for our static she will look the part and will be functional..Also seeing the original part number and QC stamp on the part on display shows the public the history of the type and gives a clue to the manufacturing process.Anything you don,t need can be passed on to someone to help with their project.It,s all Karma.Treat others like you would like to be treated yourself.I know that sound idealogical but the universe works in strange ways…..

Depends on your skill level.Have you any sheetmetal experience,machining,woodwork,fabric work??All these things can be learnt but being proficient enough for the Chippy not to fall apart in the air is another thing.Don,t worry we get that glazed look of …”you have got to be kidding”… when we tell someone we are doing a spit from scratch.Like everything,it takes time,a ****e load of work and a lot of money.Also listen to guys who have done it before.Don,t be afraid to ask questions and be prepared for a lot of heartache but as they say,the journey is much more important than the destination.First step is to well take the first step.Have you got drawings,are they complete,do you have all the manuals,have you got the right grade material,have you got an engineer on side,do you have access to a workshop,how often can you work on it,how much(or little ) money have you got,how can you get more.It took us at least 6 months planning before we even lifted a ruler.Make heaps of plans,contingency plans then a plan c,d,e,f……There are lots more as well but at least you have the dream and without that,your screwed.Good luck and please drop in and let us know how you are going.

Commando Comics and there were Battle and War Comics as well.Think they still do Commando,s or they are reprints,great for a quick read while the missus watches one of “her” shows on the idiot box.Battler Briton I had one of his issues,had about 4 stories in it with a thing about the BoB in the middle of it.Killer Kane,yep and there was a heap of american stuff out too had WW2,korean War in them.Stuff like GI Joe and Kellies Heros.Still got a lot of them.Dropped a bag of my Commandos out to the museum a couple of weekends ago to go in the kids corner we have.Let the next generation enjoy them.Hmmm might make a call into the 2nd hand book store tomorrow.

Mark 12 did a thread not long back about wrecks in PNG.Get it out girl.Take plenty of good quality pics to go with the display,restoration and thank everyone involved in the recovery and restoration(if it comes to that).Everything in the past will dissapere eventually if left to the elements.

In regard to feelings between Aussie pilots and what not,in the Pacific theatre the pilots frequently became friends with groundcrew as they knew they were the ones breaking their backs keeping the planes in the air.Sorry to go OT,but showing off was common in regard to 18 year olds in high performance planes.The CO,s put a dim view on it as many planes were bingled by hairbrained louts.One reason Pilot Prune became so popular(the issue,not the person).

There was a special German unit that toured the airfields with captured equipment to show the pilots how to attack and defend against them.Some kind of Circus if I recall.Someone with less holier a memory than me will answer.

Lol the F111,s are older than me and I,m in my mid 30,s.Our crews are amongst the best in the world.Why because we have a looot of country to defend and not many pilots to do it.