Geoff….the AH number on the wheel casting is what we need. An AH10019 would suggest Spit/Hurri

Well, it’s a bit personal but chances are by the time i meet any of you you’ll have forgotten allll about this 😀 Anyway, it was about three months after my parents decided they wanted to divorce, i was up late at night watching tv and although i’d been pushing it to the back of my mind all this time it just came back up and it just overpowered me, i mean i had cried about it before but it suddenly dawned on me how different my life will be, seventeen years of what i thought was a solid marriage and suddenly i get back from college to hear about it, i’m still suffering now which gets me depressed quite a lot but i’ve got great mates that cheer me up and i just try to keep busy and keep in a positive mood.

My heart goes out to you old chap. My marriage went to poo in 2003 and I was hit hard…too hard….but that’s another story. My lovely daughters (now 12 and 10) kept me going and still do….I am there for them as they were hit hard too by it all……

I chatted to a Guy on a B17 crew at Oshkosh this year, as I paid for a tour, he saw the piccy of my girls in my wallet and said how lovely they looked. I said I was a weekend dad and we realised we have alot in common….he gave me a fantastic line which I will always remember…..’If you have to be a weekend dad, make sure the best weekend dad’….
keep smiling and watch a funny DvD

If I could only have one book on the Battle, it would also be the one that will be buried with me! Battle of Britain Then & Now by Winston Ramsey,
it captures everything sadness heroics everything.

the others have picked good books….other good ones are Men of the Battle…Ken Wynn…

Thought provoking Kev!!

My love of historic aviation is an obsession. It is the only thing (apart from the Lord) that I can fully rely on. I see it as a crutch to help me when my life turned pooy and it helped keep me sane (well the jury is out on that!). My life is unfortunately taking a down turn (hopefully not as deep this time) but historic aviation will help me again.

It is fun being able to see aeroplanes fly, to smell, hear and feel them….they bring tears to my eyes when I see them and associate them with great things that have kept me free and safe.

It is fun to fly in aircraft, to smell the fantastic mix of oils, fuel, dope and polish that binds aircraft from Sopwith Camels to the mighty Hunter. To sit, in safer skies, in a B17 flying a 30min mission trying to get a link with the past. Or to fly fantastic aeros in a Hunter or slower aeros in a Harvard.

It is fun to jump out of an aircraft and come down safely under a ‘hanky’….

It is fun being able to collect and restore parts and assemble them into a cockpit or display. To take something that is absolute rubbish and then through hours of work restore it, chase and get that ever so elusive part to complete it! To present it to your peers and chat excitedly about that aircraft type and then see it bring smiles to others…..fantastic!

It is fun to photograph aircraft…
It is fun to chat to veterans, it is also sad to remember those past and passing.

Sorry so long winded…..the short answer is that my life is all around aircraft and aviation, I still feel as excited as the 8 year old watching the Wright Flyer first clambour into the air or the next generation watching a Hurri despatching a 109 or the next generation boy watching Neville Duke take the world speed record along the south coast or the next generation boy watching the first flight of concorde or the next generation watching Space Ship 1 flying over at Oshkosh.

The shorter answer?…..aviation is WOW

Lovely stuff, thanx Jim!!

I don’t want to see these forums go as they are mostly enjoyable. I do, however, feel that there should be a right to reply/explanation as this is a public place. I am not talking about a huge debate as to why such n such thread was deleted, just a reason…..this would help explain why threads suddenly disappear and smooth things.

I was surprised that I put a reasonable (and for me quite good!) posting on the deleted thread at stupid o’clock this morning and hey presto my post is gone now.

At work we have a self moderated set of forums, they work well, the webbie only steps in if serious personal (vindicative) derogatory or illegal statements are made. The webbie will just put a reason for deletion…but will not enter into discussions….this works and the forum is 9000+

I may have some pix of it at WAM

I have bored you all time and time again with mine so will abstain until I get something new!!!