Snowman on the rails ?…..you need this baby !
http://www.flixxy.com/snow-plowing-train.htm?a=1

A yes….’discussing’…it was bad enough when they flew Snoopy out of here…half of Boscombe Down was out, or peeking through the window blinds, to see if it made it off the end of the runway.

I dare say, they’ll do a tannoy five minutes before hand.

What’s the feeling on this? Some years ago I went to a US/UK event where the US host gave everyone a name badge. The Yanks proudly wore them, but the UK contingent stuffed the badge in their pockets.

If we go for badges, do we all make our own, or will someone stop off at W H Smiths and buy a dozen?

I’ll be easy to spot…I’ll be wearing an Airshowbuzz.com Hat…signed by the ‘Horsemen’….Ed Shipley and Jim Beasley !!

A 4X4

Yes most 4×4 drivers are self opinionated *wats. Like Volvo drivers , the lights are on, but the driver is not !

Hmmmm. It’s funny that you’re very quick to slag other drivers off and just add short little sentences to other replies.

I’ll make this easy for you to understand because its a small sentence as well…..

What car do you drive that sets you above all other road users ?

Now assuming that one wasnt too difficult, perhaps you’d like explain to the other forum users exactly what causes you to dislike these 4X4’s. Are you making a blanket statement that ALL 4X4’s from the smallest Panda, through the Landrover, not forgetting the Discovery right upto the biggest American dodge Ram on the UK roads are all the same ? and if so how do you make that assumption. Are you also calling the Army 4 tonners like the MK Bedfords and the newer stuff (all 4 wheel drive) *wats ?….you wouldn’t last very long in Wiltshire mate, I can tell you !.

You appear to have iether been badly miss-treated / scared at some time by a 4X4, or are you sounding off because you dont have one ?

Just interested to find out where all this hatred comes from, is all.

I’d also like to point out that I also own a ‘sensiblemobile’ and join the rest of the PondLife in the great rat race known as modern driving. Crickey, its a good job no-one dislikes motorcycles as well !!!

Hmmmm lets see here….ahh yes, the old ‘lets have a dig at the 4 x 4 brigade’ has reared its head again. What is it now ?…oh yeah, poor driving habits, pollution, careless attitude and umpteen other things….so nothing new then !. Boring boring boring.

Ok, you decide to have a go at this branch of motorist’s, fair enough, I’d like to reply (tongue in cheek, and including the stereotyping jibes as I didn’t start it ! ). Please make note of the last two paragraphs !

I have owned and driven 4 x 4 for the past 9 years and currently own one of Mr Nissans nice big Twincabs but as it’s a 4X4 I’m tarred with the same brush. That’s stereotyping!.

Rightyho, so Mr Sensible anti 4X4 (I’ll leave the forum members to work out who fits this moniker) has decided to have a rant. I look down on Mr Sensible anti 4X4 from my lofty comfortable perch in my Twincab and class him as Pond Life ( a dweller in the primeval mire at the bottom of the Pond and therefore beyond contempt (ooeeeer missus…more stereotyping !)). He obviously is missing something as we all know that drivers of little cars are lacking in a certain department (stereotype again !) but as he’s not a particularly clever individual, I’ll call him Mr PL (that’s short for Pond Life) from now on.

Lets have a look at this non factually based fallacy that all 4X4 drivers are numpties.

Mr PL probably drives a sensibly sized small saloon car with a sensibly sized engine and drives sensibly on the road at sensible speeds, never ever drives without due care and attention, never parks inconsiderably, drives sensibly, very economically and leads a very sensible life with Mrs PL and the 2.5 amoebas. He has no need for the ability or capability to carry a large item or even to pull a heavy load. He never has the need to wish he had 4X4 capability until one day he gets stuck in driving conditions that have caught him out (he forgot his sensible head that day and ventured out and got caught out of his depth accidentally). He is quite sensibly happy with his frugal fuel consumption happy in the knowledge that his life style enables him to drive on the modern roads with a clear conscience that he is doing his bit for the care of the Globe. Maybe I’m stereotyping here ?

Actually, Mr PL is being very sensible at this time, he quite rightly does not need a 4X4 capable vehicle and so sees it as his God given right to have a dig at those poor unfortunate drivers who have to operate these giants of the road.

Now lets look at the 4X4 brigade. There are a number of classes of 4X4 vehicle which Mr PL does not seem able to identify (his one brain cell is having difficulty in remaining sensible…sorry….more stereotyping here.) There are the Farming / Industrial community with the Landrovers / Disco’s and Twin / Kingcabs that use these vehicle purely because no other vehicle will do what they do. Then there are the ‘pretend’ 4X4’, the little family cars that have the ability to wear big tyres and talk the talk but not walk the walk (These I believe are the real culprits, but as a Twincab driver I can look down on them as they are only pretend and so not worth bothering with….ooooops, stereotype !).

Has Mr PL thought of the safety aspect of driving a big 4X4 ?. Nope. Mr PL has read all the blurb in the motoring press that having crumple zones and 9 airbags will protect his family in the event that one of his inbred cousins T-bones him at a junction. Even a certain TV presenter on a popular TV car show, clearly says that these air bags and safety zones are a good thing…so it must be right then OK!.

But, has Mr PL thought of this aspect. There he is one day in his sensiblemobile and said T-bone happens. How high off the ground does Mr PL sit in his crumple zone on wheels ?. …spookily enough at the same level as the engine in the crumplezone that’s just shagged his own pride and joy…so he is in direct line of sight. Us 4X4 drivers sitting up on high do not need to worry about being hit by a crumplezone as the main impact will happen below our seat line so we are essentially sat above the line of impact. Additionally being up high we can see Mr PL’s crumplezone approaching and am prepared for when he suffers a strange case of dashboard overhang and looses control (incidentally, how many accidents happen solely between 4X4’s..not many….I think you’ll find that the majority of accidents are between Mr PL and his fellow slime dwellers in their sensible mobiles ….must stop stereotyping !

On the rare occasions when Mr PL decides to travel fast, he has to rev the nuts off his pride and joy because it has a little toy under the bonnet. On the other hand, my 4X4 has a big bore lazy engine with huge amount of torque that allows me to go fast with out having to rev it hard, if I so desire. Because my engine is turning over slower, it uses less fuel.

Assuming that Mr PL manages to go fast and then…..shock horror probe!…..gets involved in an accident is he going to fare well…errrr, Nope. Reason is he has no ‘bulk’ to back him up. His sensiblemobile probably weighs in at under ¾ of a ton, so has no mass. My 4X4 weighs considerably more and is built like a brick outhouse. If Mr PL wants to go head to head with me, then he should be aware that I’m going to be able to walk away from an ‘endo’ that would mash his crumplezone whereas he’s probably going to leave feet first. His sensiblemobile will either go under my 4X4, or my 4X4 will ‘go through’ him and it wont matter one bit how many air bags he’s got. Of course most drivers today, myself included !, will do their utmost to avoid a collision but these things do happen. Personally I’d rather be in my 4X4 any day of the week, it’s a far safer option as far as I’m concerned

My nice big Nissan suits my lifestyle perfectly. I am an commercially endorsed, advanced powerboat instructor and use my nasty big 4X4 to launch and recovery various sized boats up and down slipways (Does Mr PL know why a slipway is called a slipway ?, nope !. Its called a slipway because its invariably steep and covered in seaweed and as a result is surprise surprise, very slimy) Mr PL’s sensible vehicle probably would not be able to pull itself up the slipway let alone with upto 3 tons of boat /trailer combination latched on the back !.

My wife owns a horse and we use a twin axle horse box to transport said horse and all the gear that’s needed, to various events around the county. My son races in Motocross events and we use the horse box for transporting his bike and stuff to the race events every weekend. Lets see Mr Pl do that with his sensible car ….ooooh not allowed to, might get it dirty or even stuck somewhere and have to rescued by a big 4X4 !. Oh, sorry, forgot to say that my wife drives the 4X4 and is not intimidated by its size and is actually very good at handling it even with a big trailer on the back (Can Mr PL reverse his sensiblemobile with a trailer…errrr probably not because he doesn’t see the need to ever want to tow anything …its just not sensible enough…so hasn’t acquired the necessary skill set to handle a towbar equipped sensiblemobile and a trailer ).

Additionally I use my Twincab to do the weekly food shop. There is actually a safety aspect to this as well, as all the shopping goes in the pickup bed and not balanced precariously on the back seat / passenger footwell because Mr PL’s sensiblemobile doesn’t have a suitable boot !. So if Mr PL decides to leap out at me on a roundabout / T junction and I have to stop in a hurry, all the loose stuff is not in the main passenger compartment!. Oh, did I mention that I also have dogs and that these travel in purpose designed transport cages that I fit into the pickup bed so protecting the dogs and the passengers by keeping them separate in the case of an accident ?.

In short, my unfeasibly large Twincab (without the rear towbar, its actually four inches longer than a big Volvo estate !) that pollutes dreadfully (its funny but car tax is based on emissions and I pay the same tax as my missus does for her small two door hatchback!), that takes up all of three spaces at the local car park (actually it fits in the spaces, its just the annoying cousins of Mr PL that feel the need to bang their sensiblemobile doors against my running-boards), that enable me to see over the rooftops of the most vehicles on the road (safety enhancement or what) is a perfectly suitable vehicle for my lifestyle.

Yes, I do go off-road and I’m not talking driving over the curb outside the local school (my kids walk to school) and if Mr PL ever went to an Equestrian event or even an off road event such as a Motocross race (unlikely because its just not sensible enough !) then he would see that most times, a decent 4X4 is not just a nicety, it’s a necessity !

Another thing that Mr PL hasn’t thought about is that in the big wide world where he ventures he will find it occasionally scary. He should be aware that in a race, there will always be a winner, a second place and there will always be someone who comes in last. And there will always be a Mr PL who because of a deficiency in a certain department (confirmed by his choice of sensiblemobile…ooooh…more stereotyping !) will feel the need to make himself sound more important than his inbred cousins by sounding off.

To Mr PL, don’t judge others by your own inadequacies and if you feel the desire to sound off about a topic for which you have not thought about in any detail, all you are doing is making yourself look more foolish to everyone else than before you started…..No, on second thought please carry on, we could all do with a laugh at your expense.

I will finish off by stating to Mr PL that if one day you are out and about in your sensiblemobile and you end up in a situation that you where unprepared for…its coming up to winter and even the most conscientious Mr PL can be caught out, hey, you might even slide off the road in rain ! and you need some assistance, Yes I will stop and assist if I can. I will pull your sensiblemobile back onto the road, I will stop and check to see if Mrs PL and the amoebas are OK and just perhaps one day when you want to move a large item you no longer want (or maybe even collect like a new fridge freezer / cooker) I will be quite happy to help you with my unfeasibly large, gas guzzling anti social transport system.

Drive safe and treat all others with respect

Got the cigars ready for Monday !.

We’ll celebrate then !

I wonder if there’s anything aviation orientated we could go to to celebrate you gettting another year nearer to your free bus pass ?

Teehee

Oh yeah, congrats on your 1000th !