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NevH

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May 18, 2008 at 5:42 pm in reply to: The XH558 Discussion Thread (merged) #1181017

NevH
Participant

Message from Andrew Edmondson, Engineering Director VTST, 9th May 2008
(excerpt)

“XH558 returned safe and sound to Bruntingthorpe today, touching down in a blaze of glory and sunshine at around 13.00. For everyone on the ground it brought back memories of 1993 when she was delivered to C.Walton for safekeeping, a moment you’ll remember was tinged with both joy and sadness….
… Now we hold our breath and wait for a Permit to Fly, and a corporate sponsor to unclip XH558’s wings…
…For everyone at the project it is unfathomable that any number of sponsors are not locked in a bidding war to be associated with such a great British icon. Unfortunately they are not. If a major cash injection is not forthcoming the hanger doors will remain closed at Bruntingthorpe and XH558will once more sit in darkness pondering what more she could have done to have a few more seasons in the sun.”

Not having a pop at anyone at TVOC. Just one question: “How much profit did BA make recently” Or BP, Shell etc. :confused:

Of course if TVOC was a Bank, the Government would nationalise it with everyone’s money and everything would be ok;)

takatakatak (sound of distant parabellums opening-up over the sandbags, back down off the firestep, chaps..)

May 18, 2008 at 5:27 pm in reply to: Dams Raid Flypast, May 2008 #1181029

NevH
Participant

Armchair historians are ok, so long as they look at the whole picture (but by the nature of things they/we often don’t). True, it is right to remember the civilian deaths and those suffered by the captive PoW’s who were drowned as a result of the Raid. In a comparable scenario today (if that were possible), probably the Raid would never have got political or legal sanction. neither would Hamburg or Dresden, but that’s another matter. They happened, and become part of an awful warning from history that we are right to remember.
On the other hand, in 1943 we had suffered a pretty straight run of defeats and set-backs, and the Dams raid was brilliantly conceived and executed with absolute heroism by the young British and Commonwealth crews. Moreover, it helped persuade the Americans that the Brits had the expertise and still had the will to carry out dramatic strikes in the heart of enemy territory. That strengthened the hand of those who proposed “Europe First” as a strategic priority over the Pacific and Japan. If it had been the other way round, how many more might have died on all sides in Europe…
So long live the BBMF, and it’s right to remember all aspects of what happened when we see them at work. [tuppence worth had:rolleyes: ]

May 16, 2008 at 2:24 pm in reply to: Dams Raid Flypast, May 2008 #1182773

NevH
Participant

I hereby humbly withdraw my slanderous reference to the BBC’s reporting accuracy in such matters – ‘tho I notice the website refers to 2 “Tornadoes” (as in “toes”). OK, nit-picking, at least they covered it and sounds like an excellent event – look forward to seeing some photos! BBMF will have to re-edit their excellent DVD.

May 12, 2008 at 8:38 pm in reply to: The XH558 Discussion Thread (merged) #1186237

NevH
Participant

I have already got my ticket for the Biggin Hill Air Fair on 7/8 June – I guess if XH558 is servicable and makes it, the queue of cars will stretch back to the M25!

I still have my nice certificate from TVOC dated Sept. 2000, thanking me for my (first) donation, and promising that my name would be written in (very small) letters inside the bomb bay…hmmm, I’ll need very powerful lenses to spot that one!

More memories – of chatting to Dave Thomas at the 1995 Air Fair when the idea of a possible return to flight was first a tantalising thought – I never really believed it would happen, there have been so many ups and downs (which have followed on this forum and elsewhere ad nauseum), but I guess “Never give up” is truly the motto here!

On a practical note, it will interesting to see what sort of routine ‘558 will follow on the display circuit. I remember the old days when Paul Millikin and Mr Thomas would open the taps, pull up in a near-vertical climb (incidentally removing large chunks of tarmac from the runway last time they did that at Biggin), stand the old girl on a wingtip etc. I suspect she’ll be put through rather gentler maneouvres to save airframe fatigue this time around – and at least to start with, there probably won’t be time to evolve anything too fancy before display commitments start. (But here’s hoping 🙂

You see from the above, I AM an optimist:rolleyes:

May 12, 2008 at 12:42 pm in reply to: Spotted #1186583

NevH
Participant

Spotted Recently

Living where I do a few miles from Biggin, over the past few months I have several times heard the rumble of a nice throaty radial engine in the distance – by standing on my garden seat I can just make out what seems to be a single-engine monoplane type (?possibly a Yak?11), but it is frustratingly quite a way off. The aircraft seems to be flying due West from Biggin, over Warlingham and heading towards (?Redhill). Ring any bells? If so, please fly a bit further N-W over Selsdon next time! 🙂

May 10, 2008 at 10:56 am in reply to: Sexiest Warbirds #1188029

NevH
Participant

Sexiest warbird?

What, nobody mentioned the Hunter yet, I see? Barely a straight line there, all curves!

I think certainly the Mark IX Spitfire (all the original curves with the power and armament to go with it). I have always liked the HP Victor to, esp. Mark I and the B. variants before all the Refeulling/Tanking apparatus was added (sorry Andre Tempest, Lust Lindy is still one of my favourites!)
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