Just to clarify what I said on the first page of the discussion, and in answer to some of the following responses, the point I was trying to make is that religion is human and God is God (if there is a God, that is!).

Religion is basically humanity’s best guess at how to have a relationship with a god, hence why we have so many different religions. People have different ideas about what religion should entail, including trying to second guess what God would want. This leaves religion open to interpretation, exploitation, manipulation etc.

The bottom line of my argument is that there is potentially something beyond our comprehension and that we therefore have to leave our minds open to the possibility. I can’t explain the logic of life on earth, we do seem to be left to our own devices down here, but we can’t rule out the existence of some form of Almighty out there somewhere.

As for my comments about Atheism being another religion, what I meant was that it can become just another fixed, entrenched position as bad as any form of religious extremism. It’s my personal opinion that nobody should really be an absolute atheist, the best thing to be is an open-minded person with atheistic suspicions.

The bottom line is that we just can’t know, and religions and atheism etc are the big human mess that try to explain it.

As I understand it, Pearse achieved skimming along in ground effect (think floating along the runway). Whether that counts as “flying” is a matter of definition and different observers might have different opinions.

I’m by no means an authority on what counts as flight, but from what I’ve gathered in the past the difference between Pearse and the Wrights is the bit about controlled flight. Pearse got airborne but he was in the lap of the gods after that, the Wrights had some measure of control, poor though it was.

I don’t usually get involved in the General Discussion forum, but here goes…

For me the bottom line of religious debate is the question of the potential scale of God. There was an ancient philosopher (I think it was Aquinas) who basically stated that God is the greatest thing that man could possibly comprehend, and then a bit more. What he was basically saying was that in order for God to fulfill the definition of God, it/He would have to be beyond our comprehension.

As I see it, it’s possible that there is a God (not that I’m an out and out believer) despite appearances to the contrary, eg. illness, earthquakes etc. The potential scale of God is so great that we just can’t know whether there is something else going on beyond our earthly comprehension.

Of course it’s also possible that there’s nothing, but I don’t see how anyone can be an absolute atheist. To my mind, being an atheist is exactly like being religious, ie. that a person believes something in total confidence that in truth they can’t possibly know for sure. In that way Atheism becomes another religion rather than a truth.

Perhaps I’m being idealistic, but has anyone tried contacting Hochtief directly? They might also have a “don’t mention the war” attitude, but on the other hand they might be surprisingly supportive. In my limited experience, I’ve been surprised by the number of Germans who seem to have a very sensible attitude about “the war” and who understand the need to respectfully commemorate without taking the slightest offence.

A long shot, but if it they proved supportive it would surely allay the council’s nerves.

Well I now wish I hadn’t said anything! When I mentioned the IWM having the wing tip, I didn’t realise it was the port one and I wasn’t trying to contradict or detract from Posart’s wonderful painting.

As Tangmere says, it’s still a wonderful work.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been told the prop blades (and possibly hub?) are Shackleton. Not that it really matters in my opinion, it still manages to look very convincing.

The fighters appear to be Fiat G.50’s, and the bomber in the background is a He111- there’s someone standing near the end of the tailplane, making it look twin-finned.

I don’t know where the D.VII is now Mike (I expect someone here will know), but I have fond memories of it displaying as part of the Great War Display Team in the early nineties. If I remember rightly it was powered by a Ranger engine.