Seconded.

Some detail on the Henshaw/Spitfire incidents here: http://spitfireforums.com/index.php?topic=198.0;prev_next=prev#new

– at the foot of the thread.

Yeah, when I said about Ceconite being the sensible option earlier I was referring to non-flyers as well. When it comes to certified flyers, I had assumed the predominance of Irish Linen in the UK was due to the fact that people who could afford to keep these historics airworthy could also afford the linen. I was put right by Tony T and Mark V – it seems that in the UK, Ceconite is legally no longer an option for flying aircraft where natural fibres were originally used..

Irish Linen is most comonly used today where ‘authenticity’ is required. However, it wasn’t the only covering used, and sometimes where it appears on an early aircraft it isn’t in fact correct. British Cotton was seen as superior, with a higher weave density and a smoother finish. This is roughly equivalent to American Grade A cotton, which was also commonly used. Both of these are near impossible to find today.

Where authenticity is less important than cost and practicality you’ll find Ceconite – polyester – used. This is altogether a longer-lasting and more ‘sensible’ solution, but rarely historically accurate.

Dumb question, here. Are we to be forever “America” in the English psyche?

Absolutely not.

Not sure about ‘bailing out’, though. It didn’t look good for the world really, not just Great Britain. We in these isles could have sued for peace. A decision was made not to, a decision that I HOPE the Dominions would have supported. We all paid a price for that, but why are we squabbling about who paid the most? It’s not a competition.

Also, why is an industrial war effort profiteering when it happens in Britain, but some kind of sacrifice when performed in the Dominions?

which is why I get so mad at glib, snide remarks made by people who haven’t the faintest notion of what life was like, during that period.
Edgar

OK, glib remarks aside, I DO agree with you.

As for sabotage, I understand it was particularly prevalent in Canada among French Canadian workers – see Denys Braithwaite ‘Target for Tonight’. I posted asking the same question a while ago – it seems no formal study was ever made (or at least ever made public). There were also instances in the UK that Alex Henshaw refers to in ‘Sigh for a Merlin’, and the number of times that one reads about it in various memoirs suggests it was fairly widespread. I am also interested to know – what was the motivation – was it organised and sponsored by Axis inteligence or local action for other reasons?

I’m interested in the “Battle of England” in 1941. Did the Luftwaffe ask for a re-match, but with stricter team selection rules?

PS welcome to the forum Mike. I guess you’ve worked out that a) the consensus is ‘no’, and b) we’re a slightly sarcastic bunch here