Regarding Gore’s Nobel Prize, I have a suggestion for what he can do with it.

When I was young I associated the Nobel Prize with names like Planck, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Fermi, Schweitzer, Marshall, Churchill, Pauling, MLK Jr., Bohr, Friedman, Sadat, Begin, Walesa and Wiesel.

For the last 3 decades I have watched the decline in standards and selection criteria to where the name Nobel just means politics. Maybe it was always like that, but now the Nobel Prize clearly doesn’t mean what it used to, and has lost its prestige. At least with me it has.

Now I associate the name with Arafat, Annan, Carter, Gore, Krugman, and BHO.

Colonel Olds never flew F-105s, he had a ‘interesting’ spell flying the Voodoo with my favourite old wing, the 81st TFW before he converted to the F-4.

You are correct sir, I was thinking about the flying he did with the F-105s, particularly during Operation Bolo and I misspoke. My mistake. Thanks very much for the correction.

Also interesting to note that the film above documents his second MiG kill, but at the time he was already a double ace having been officially credited with 12 German air-to-air kills and 11.5 on the ground while flying P-38s and P-51s during WWII. He claimed several more than that but like many they could not be officially confirmed. Watching him tell of his adventures in that Dogfights episode is a real joy, some of my favorite stuff.

Cheers

Most people I know who are involved in aviation know of Burt Rutan. I personally have a great deal of respect for him and for all he has done in aviation design, engineering, and now space exploration. Several of his groundbreaking designs hang in our national air & space museums. He is an aerospace engineer and a man of science who believes in proven methods of testing and evaluation.

If you haven’t read what he has written about “GW” then you should take a look at it. I’ve yet to encounter a single human being that could provide a coherent answer to the key points of his presentation. Without exception, everyone that I have confronted with Mr. Rutan’s data is left stuttering and stammering or sometimes speechless. The best response I’ve gotten so far is “I’ll have to study this and get back to you.”

Never heard back from any of them.

There will be something for every budget.

I have a question regarding types of huts. I was in Malta not too long ago and spent a couple of days at the fairgrounds in a modern hut that was similar in shape to a Nissen or Quonset hut but it was aluminum arch trusses covered in vinyl or plastic covering. It sits just a few hundred yards from the Malta Aviation Museum at Ta’ Qali where there are real Nissen huts of galvanized steel construction. The locals, particularly the older men insisted that it was a Romney hut. I’ve only heard British WWII vets speak of Romney huts, is the name taken from the company that first made them or where they were first constructed? Thanks.

Also must recommend to those interested in Col. Olds to watch his episode of “Dogfights” (S01E02 Air Ambush) where they use CG animation to tell his story. Col. Olds tells of his experiences in WWII including shooting down a Bf-109 while both of his P-38s engines were shut down. (He claims the only air-to-air kill while in “glide mode”.) And he also goes into great detail regarding his time in SEA flying Thunderchiefs and Phantoms and Operation Bolo. Straight from the horse’s mouth.

Yes Andy after I saw Versuch’s post last night I thought that your picture does look more like a wheel. Here are two main wheels that look very similar to the ones mentioned. These are CASAs and not actual Heinkels, but they do look very much like the one in your picture.