IS she also your co-pilot in your avatar? 😉 😀

(oh oh oh… terribly male-oriented moment…)

Unfortunately no… but Captain Malochowski can lead my strike element any day…. or how about this year’s Snowbird 12 (public relations officer – and hey, she’s from my neck of the woods)

I have to confess to a terrible infatuation with any woman in uniform.

ohhhh boy! keep those fingers crossed… Potter is supporting the Air Show Ottawa in June with 8 of his aircraft including… Harvard, Mustang IV, Spitfire XVI, Hurricane, Staggerwing, Taperwing… all flying in the display. Joined on static by Sandy Thompson’s Sea Fury.

Yes, aircrafts of the former Saigon puppet regime is everywhere in VietNam. They don’t need to be taken from the grounds of the Independence Palace, I’m sure the VPAF still have more in a warehouse somewhere, but I guess VietNam have the tendency to surprise oursiders 😀

Btw, you spent some time in VietNam? Any photos to share?

A ton of pics- only they’re more tourista and beer drinking shots. All of which slowed my reaction times on the occassions when I could have had a great shot of aircraft.

and now some from across the pond…

I’m a graphic designer who has been fortunate enough to indulge his passion for aviation through various outlets including publication. Many, many a page has passed under my eye/mouse and across my screen.

I whole-heartedly agree that a) those writing/contibuting should at least put the necessary background reseach into their work, and b) that the publisher should also be responsible (through their editors) for correct content. It is also worthwhile to point out that some would point to excessive editing as leading to infringement on freedom of speech. Fortunately, when dealing with historic, (obviously well-documented background subjects) there is the ability to document and publish in a fairly unfettered manner – so long as the FACTs are adhered to.

My point does not deal with the historical facts of a subject, more the grammatical. While those in the UK have primarily only the Queen’s English to deal with, please pause for a moment and put yourselves in my shoes. I am in Canada… I work in English (and French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and sometimes Russian). Here we have the strange situation of reading, writing and speaking a language which we share with our neighbours, but its NOT the same language (nor is it really the ‘Queen’s English’). Canadian English is based on the ‘Queen’s English’ but has been infiltrated by ‘l’autre langue’ and tortured by linguistic laziness through spell-check.

So, that said, while working through 300 to 700 pages of a book, I proof-read – on-screen and in hard copy – not because it’s my job, but because I care about what is in that book (and we still spell favour, harbour and neighbour with a ‘u’).

The idea that someone, other than the writer and the reader, actually cares about what is being printed is unfortunately Quixotic… the desktop computer has laid waste to the typesetters and editors of the world… we (well, not us) will all live on a diet of Wikimygooglegeohistory and MSenglish

Cheers!… i need a beer after that

James

bestill by beating heart…is that Chadian SF-260s??… in Chad?? very nice to see more that one in the same spot… anyone have pics of the 2 (i believe) Chadian PC-7s?

Ohhhh and Zairean (Zairoise?) Chipmunk… simply beautiful.

and Vietnam?? well I think you’d be surprised to see what can fly there… having spent considerable time there in the last 3 years, I believe they could take the F-5 from the lawn of the old Palace in HCMC or a T-37 from the museum in DaNang and have either one airborne in a few months… Chinooks??.. no worries… who needs military aid when they and the engines, parts and fiddley bits are available on the civil market.

hmmm, not an actual gun part but built similarly… like this early 40s Japanese machine-gun style camera. Some interesting similarities with the Lewis too, just no mechanism. Could it also be a training dummy for aerial gunnery school – peep through the reticle and keep your target behind the card for ‘acurate’ fire as we shake and move your cupola.

Some more exotics…

While the SF260s carry French civil registrations, they are accurate markings for Burkina Faso

Peter my friend,

what you have there is a genuine, certifiable underwing pylon from a CF-104 Starfighter.

James