Nope, was a single seater, the *fin* was about 5 times the size of the one in the pic with the 2nd cockpit & it was above the wing, not ahead of it.

Lets not forget Trustee of the Toolroom for all the lathe/mill heads out there…

& from what I’ve read elsewhere, there was no love lost between Wallis & Shute….

The safest places on a Para DZ are the centre Impact Points (IP) – the Alpha (for personnel), or the Juliet (for stores)! In 5 years recording (and subsequently researching) drops and drop winds I never knew anyone/anything actually hit the IP! Although some came bl***y close!
HTH
Resmoroh

Back in the day when we did night drops in the desert we’d set up the lights etc & then fire up the BBQ at the IP & settle down for the night. It was the safest place for miles..
The only “near miss” we had was the night one of the guys was recycling some beer into a bush away from the IP when his stream was interupted by a pallet of 55gal barrels full of water landing right in front of him.
That got his attention, he face was so white when he came running back he just about glowed in the dark:D

From it, I figure that to us emy a/c for static the fee would be about $1500/day and for flying about 500-650/hr.
Would this be reasonable.
Any opinions?

Higher…..

I was getting $400/day just for motorcycles used in static shots 10 years ago…

Awww. Now you’ve gone and got me all jealous.

My step dad has a mate who saw his R2800 ex valve sat on his mantel, got all gooey eyed about wanting one. Absolutely fell in lust with it. Asked every time he visited, almost pleading for step dad to part with it.
Fast forward a few months & step dad mentions it to me while he was visiting… So I gave him a R3350 ex valve to take home…

Step dads mate drops by after he gets back to the UK & does the usual pleading for the R2800 valve. After much haggling step dad finally says “ok, you can have the bloody thing!”
Mate says “I never thought you’d give up that valve!”
Stepdad: I don’t care about it any more
Mate: Why not? It’s a thing of engineering beauty!
Stepdad: I know it is, but now (produces larger R3350 valve from between the couch cushions) I’ve got a larger one!
Mate: 🙁

LOL!!

Not in the garden but a useful item at home, as a paper weight. It has been used in my study for the majority of the noughties and will remain the most impressive piece of aviation material that I own.

This Merlin 45 exhaust valve is the founding piece of genuine WWII Spitfire in my collection. The valve was retired from RAF service following a mishap to the engine. It seized in flight. Now mishapen it cannot form part of a rebuild so I am still missing every single component necessary for an airworthy Spit. :p

Was scrouging around a scrap pile one day & found a 5 gallon bucket full of valves. NEW valves: intake & exhaust for R2800’s & exhaust for R3350’s. Most of them covered in cosmoline & with a bit of paper under the cosmoline with 1950’s dates etc.
Most of my friends now have rather unique paperweights & mantel ornaments. I only have a few left, 1 2800 intake, 2 or 3 exhausts (one still in cosmoline) & 2 3350 exhausts, all sat in a row on my mantel next to a Merlin conrod. 🙂
The doorstop in my garage is a mainwheel from PA980

Starship Enterprise 🙂

Van Nuys ANGB, Forever Young

ok, that was a stretch… 🙂