Wow this is great!!!
Hunters in ‘official’ use in military capacities……….globally!
Never realised this, fantastic!

I also noticed in the HHA link the following piece of info:-
‘November 2009 – HHA engineering deployed to Brazil for the first time, having been tasked to Inspect and Repair as Necessary Embraer’s Hunter T72, used for chase purposes. After four weeks and many late nights ( working) the engineering team returned to RAF Scampton having undertaken a multitude of additional engineering rectification tasks’.
So I guess that makes Brazil another Hunter ‘official’ user.

Bomberboy

I am told that on the second day, there was the massed attack sequence formation with more Hurricanes in it than Spits. 4:3, and even then there was still one other Hurri on the ground.
I never thought i’d see that day.

Bomberboy

The German tanks might well have been much better than ours

Nothing like a good ole bit of Tiger Fever is there?
There’s no doubting that german tanks did look the dogs, but Tigers were both unreliable with gearbox problems and thirsty, yet somehow people think they were the epitome of WWII tanks.

Just remind me how the Bovvy Tiger was stopped and by which tank?
What ever happened to Michael Wittman?
The much feted so called tank ace that ran through Villers Bocage I believe, shooting up mostly a load of infantry tanks and armoured vehicles (which later hero folklore translated into just tanks, 28 in a matter of minues I believe) and as soon as he spotted a couple of Fireflies coming up at him from the other end of the street, what were his actions…….turn and run (reverse) I believe!!!!!
He knew that they were not all they were cracked up to be and eventually paid the ultimate price against another Firefly, whilst trying to make a run eastwards.

Pound for pound a firefly or even better still a Comet were good tanks and don’t forget the Centurion made its debut right at the end of WWII.
How would a Tiger or King Tiger have stood up to a battle situation with a Centurion?

Bomberboy

It’s great to see these guys turn out for these reunions especially as they are all getting reasonably ‘well on’ in their years.
It would have been nicer for them to have had a B-17 do a flypast for them as i’m sure Sally B went to Horham yesterday to do a flypast after her display at Dx, didn’t she?
Now I may be wrong, but isn’t this airfield fairly close to Horham?
I’m sure if the right sort of communication could have been put in place, this could have been covered.
A missed opportunity perhaps for want of a very little reasearch (a phone call perhaps)?
I’m sure the verts would have absolutely been over the moon if the 17 had flown by?
I sometimes wonder whether some of the reunion organisers, which although have to work really hard on these visits, are still perhaps working in a little ‘bubble’.

Bomberboy

Tom Blair’s ‘Black 12’ in the states (again needs confirming)

I remember seeing this dismantled in the hangar at Kissimmee in Dec 2007.

Bomberboy

I see that the bulbous bow section of QE was floated out of Babcock’s yard yesterday on a barge.
Considering it’s only basically that piece, it don’t half look big.

Bomberboy

Errr….ok?

I think you might have misunderstood.

Generally speaking, airplanes are meant to fly. That’s where they belong. A Sony Playsation is meant to be used for games. A car is meant for the purpose of driving it. A book is meant for reading.

Of course, you may include the pragmatic way. Using a toothpick to stick it into the tiny “reset button” of some kind of device is one thing, but the item is still meant for…picking stuff out of your teeth.

I did not refer to money, I did not say I had money. I simply referred to the choice another member put up. Keep the plane as a museum artifact in Europe, or sell it to the States and make it fly. I might have misunderstood the point, but I got the impression he was poundering what would be the best. I simply meant the States option is the best, as airplanes are meant to fly. That’s why they have wings and all of that you know…

Quite sensible and realistic to include an option to sell it to some hot shot millionaire in USA and keep it flying. No?

Agreed to a point, but not necessarily at any cost.
As was pointed out earlier by another poster with regards the BBMF, would there be an outcry to having it shipped abroad just to fly it or keep grounded in this country?

When the Shackleton went to the states, I was dssappointed and of course it then didn’t really do anything for me as I could not see it, but look what’s happend to even that now?

I was merely trying to point out that the utopian skies for old aircraft, (irrespective of which country that may happen to be in) are sometimes too easily overlooked when simplistic and understandable emotions are voiced.
Sometimes we have to take a step back and re-think.

At the end of the day, the owners of any aircraft or even playstation (as used in your reply), have the absolute right to do what the hell they like with it, even if one’s own rationale does not agree with them and sees it in a totally different light.

Bomberboy

A Merry Christmas and Happy new year from Bomberboy too.

Here’s hoping for a good sucessful 2010. 😀

Bomberboy