The key thing to remember is that none of the early jets were that great, it was the amalgamation of Allied and Axis technology that really led to the development of trully effective jet aircraft. The Vampire, Meteor, P80 etc were a bit slow and a bit behind the times aerodynamics-wise, whilst the German types suffered severe engine and production quality problems.

That’s a great illustration! 🙂

Not photographic evidence, but the illustration on p.76 of Osprey’s “332nd Fighter Group: The Tuskegee Airmen” shows the yellow recognition band going over the landing gear doors.

Revell kit is a re-boxed Matchbox, quite a few old Matchbox kits have been re-released under Revell labels in recent years.

I’ve commented several times on threads here regarding Scottish independance, and I have to say the more I’ve debated and thought about the situation the less sense independance makes. Not just for Scots, but for everyone.

As I’ve stated in previous threads, I’m a lover of Scots and Scotland, and a lover of the UK. I see myself as British, rather than just English, and I’ve never felt Scotland (or any other part of the UK) to be some distant or inferior place. Every time I watch the weather I still think it’s silly that there’s no mention of the weather for southern Ireland, slap bang on the map and right next door to us all as it is. I sincerely wish the history of UK/Irish relations could have been different. I really don’t want a future generation looking at a ‘headless’ UK wondering why there’s no weather up on the top bit…

The single question I’m struggling most with is what do the supporters of the split hope to gain? Yes, they would have their independance, but at what cost? It seems to me that the uncertainties are very great, and that the disturbance of the current UK format could be for very little gain. Is it worth ripping up so much that’s good? I have to emphatically say ‘no’. If it aint broke don’t fix it, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, and so on.

I really think the carrot of independance is being dangled in front of patriotic Scots without anyone having any firm idea about where following the carrot at all costs might lead. I see the SNP as a pied-piper leading the people toward a goal it doesn’t fully understand, and inviting trouble where there was none before.

In short, I see independance as a needless disturbance of the peace. I think for a political cause to be noble, it has to have noble aims. I don’t think that “Independance for Sctoland, so there!” is a particularly noble angle to adopt.

I would also like to say something about the idea of seperate national identity between Scotland and the rest of the UK. I live fairly close the School of Military Music at Kneller Hall, in west London. Each Remembrance Day, I go to a local memorial and wait for the School’s band to march up the road to the service. There’s nothing on earth that moves me more than catching the first whisps of the distant bagpipes as the band marches up the main road. The pipes and drums play, the band appears bedecked in tartan and bearskins. London traffic is brought to halt for a very British moment. Not English, not Scottish, just British.

I don’t know how anyone who has attended such an event could for a moment consider splitting us up.

Ok, thanks for the correction Robbo.

That’s a rather poor and completely inaccurate choice of words.

In what sense? I didn’t intend any secondary meaning by it, the last Collection pilot to have flown the Comet retired from flying a year or so back as far as I’m aware.

Please correct me if that’s wrong.

On a more serious note, are there any plans for a Collection pilot to go out to the States and get some time on the above replica? As I remember it, the last Collection pilot to have flown a Comet has since had to hang up his gloves.

Great picture! 🙂

Click the following link for some recent pics of the Israeli Spit.

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?cnsearch=17-1351&distinct_entry=true