Broadsword calling Danny Boy…

“Where Eagles Dare”…..

Picked up a new copy (well, 1998 reprint saved from the pulper) from Asda for £1.

Not read Alistair MacClean since I was at school – its as far fetched and as enjoyable as the film (and the film is close to it so far)

Trying to read it with Richard Burton’s voice in my head if you follow me….what a voice that man had. War Of The Worlds narration anybody?

[I]

The A-10 was and is a very limited airplane that does a very specific job very well…………….but in the world of maximized economies it doesn’t endear anyone but the USAF. …….

But, in a word of limitless defence budgets under Reagan they didn’t like it either and wanted more F-16’s – fast and sexy don’t you know;) – other than gunships (AC-130 and AH-64) the A-10 is surely the best option with the curent USAF deployments? (IMHO anyway)

Wrong.
I believe Boeing (or was it NG?:)) ended up with the design…and the tooling, I believe, still exists.
With the tooling existant, and without any real high-tech components or special parts like a titanium wing box
(I once had a Fairchild tech rep say to me…only half joking…he thought there may have been F-84 parts lurking in there…and he wouldn’t bet against finding some Thunderbolt pieces as well), you could set up an assembly line just about anywhere.

I thought that some of the original component manufactures were long gone and that was a “stopper” – I may be wrong but I thought that was the case. USAF would use any that came their way with the current needs – and the recent upgrade left out the engines, still has to be an option to rebuild somewhere. Boeing do some work now NG held “the rights” I think? should be possible in this day and age to restart the line if needed. Then again, USAF not flavour of the month with the budget folk in Washington.

probably the strangest dogfight(well it was an air to air combat…just not quite a dogfight) was between an Air America Jetranger helicopter with the armament consisting of the Guy In Back armed with an Uzi SMG taking on an North Vietnamese Airforce AN2 I believe it was. They flew alongside the biplane while it was trying to bomb a Hmong outpost and the guy with the Uzi was able to do enough damage to force it down.

Cheers
Gary

IIRC it was a UH-1 but without a doubt an odd “combat” – there is an oil painting of it commisioned by the CIA I think?

Blimey – Are those “Commando” books still being published? 😮

Don

They are in compilation issues – we had a good thread a while back on the bandits at 12 o’clock one – check out Amazon, waterstones etc….

Rambo

Never seen so many body parts go in so many different directions at the same time….

mindless, violent pap – passed a mindless morning though !

I am not advocating acceptance of hate words in a hate scenario but the recent news items about the Princes and the speed with which the media get onto the relatives of the recipients just get up my nose. So I want my share of petulance too.

anybody noticed now we have “hate crimes” – (to quote Gene Hunt, “as apposed to one of those I love you crimes” ) – pure George Orwell…. and we have a seperate offence for “racially motivated” crimes. So, Daz wigs out and takes pot shots at the co-workers (assuming his mellow out doesn’t work;)) he gets X-years – but if he takes a pot shot at one because he is purple skinned – he gets sentenced differently. Gene Hunt for Prime Minister I say…..