Paul Fthis them??. qualitys not brill in the book im afraid. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight by Bill Taylor, Midland Publishing ltd.
the ground shot is from The Spitfire Story by Afred Price
Wrong thread – shouldn’t these photos appear in the “How Low Can you Go Thread!!!!” 😉
Paul FAssuming they do swap the two damaged units for the two “bagged” spares, every flight thereafter becomes “critical”, as they will have no more lives left.
They will need a smart game-plan now, as any engine warning/snag resulting in a precautionary landing away from home (or away form the intended retirement destination) will potentially see her stranded there forever if the fault cannot be fixed, as I cannot see CAA authorising any form of “3 engined take off and ferry flight to intended final destination”.
(Other aircraft types can be landed away from “home” and have non-repairable engines swapped out if necessary (assuming budgets allow), but with NO spare olympus left, and no repairs looking likely to gain CAA approval (?), and no repairs to be had from RR either then this is unlikely to be an option)
Are we likely to see engine replacment and just one more final test/ferry flight to her retirement home? 🙁
As Bomberboy says engines were always seen to be the life-determining factor in the project – it is such a shame that two seem to have been “used up” so quickly through human error.:o
Paul FYeah, had a couple of unsolicited calls over last six or twelve months from similar gentlemen (?), always of of Asian extraction.
When they ask something like “Hello Sir, You may have noticed your computer is running a little slowly lately..?” I usually just say, “Sorry I don’t have a computer, I don’t believe in them” which tends to leave them a little lost for words.
But if i can spare a few minutes I’ll, just string them along and tell them I am following their instructions to the letter, slowly, I even read back their instructions, albeit in slightly the wrong order (while I am in fact making a cup of tea/coffee etc)… I then tell them to repeat the instructions and say I will try again (while enjoying the aforementioned beverage)…if they are really persistent and are still speaking to me at this stage I will repeat the process for a third time. Yes it wastes my time, but it also wastes theirs, and it often takes them a while to realise I have rumbled them.
Alternately just say you can’t understand them, so please will they speak English….. Trouble is they don’t usually have a sense of humour 😉 .
I just love winding cold-callers up.. especially those that start the phone conversation with “Don’t worry Sir, I’m not trying to sell you anything…”. So many options with that one, Asking why they are calling me then – are they are a friend, a relative or an ex school/college chum (whilst trying to guess their name….), saying it’s nice to know someone has the time to phone random numbers and introduce themsleves, but how sa dit is that they need to try to find new friends that way….., saying maybe they’d like to call back when I’ve got time to spare, and give them a day and time I know no-one will be at home.
Or asking them to wait a moment “while I just close the door…”, then leave the phone handset on the shelf and check every few minutes to see how long they will hang on for, the sharper ones hang up quickly, but some wait several minutes before they realise I’m not coming back……
Maybe I should get out more, but I see it as helping them understand my sense of humour 😀
N.B. I’d certainly never connect to an unknown web session to give anyone any sort of “remote” access to my computer, and would warn anyone against doing the same, especially in response to an unsolicited call :eek:.
Paul FYeah, had a couple of unsolicited calls over last six or twelve months from similar gentlemen (?), always of of Asian extraction.
When they ask something like “Hello Sir, You may have noticed your computer is running a little slowly lately..?” I usually just say, “Sorry I don’t have a computer, I don’t believe in them” which tends to leave them a little lost for words.
But if i can spare a few minutes I’ll, just string them along and tell them I am following their instructions to the letter, slowly, I even read back their instructions, albeit in slightly the wrong order (while I am in fact making a cup of tea/coffee etc)… I then tell them to repeat the instructions and say I will try again (while enjoying the aforementioned beverage)…if they are really persistent and are still speaking to me at this stage I will repeat the process for a third time. Yes it wastes my time, but it also wastes theirs, and it often takes them a while to realise I have rumbled them.
Alternately just say you can’t understand them, so please will they speak English….. Trouble is they don’t usually have a sense of humour 😉 .
I just love winding cold-callers up.. especially those that start the phone conversation with “Don’t worry Sir, I’m not trying to sell you anything…”. So many options with that one, Asking why they are calling me then – are they are a friend, a relative or an ex school/college chum (whilst trying to guess their name….), saying it’s nice to know someone has the time to phone random numbers and introduce themsleves, but how sa dit is that they need to try to find new friends that way….., saying maybe they’d like to call back when I’ve got time to spare, and give them a day and time I know no-one will be at home.
Or asking them to wait a moment “while I just close the door…”, then leave the phone handset on the shelf and check every few minutes to see how long they will hang on for, the sharper ones hang up quickly, but some wait several minutes before they realise I’m not coming back……
Maybe I should get out more, but I see it as helping them understand my sense of humour 😀
N.B. I’d certainly never connect to an unknown web session to give anyone any sort of “remote” access to my computer, and would warn anyone against doing the same, especially in response to an unsolicited call :eek:.
Paul FDoesn’t sound good :(, but probably far better it happens “at home” and on the ground than in mid air, or when deployed away from home base?
Let’s hope it is just a malfunctioning warning system rather than a major engine glitch or engine failure….:(
Paul F
Paul Fwhat oh what is following?, im open minded but “””ARE THEY OUT THERE?”””
A dust speck on CCD sensor, or a dust spec somewhere in the optics is my guess 😉
Paul FAn “Inbetweenie” ?
Been a member since 2005, lurked for a while before that… so am I a “newbie” or an “old f@rt” ?
Yes a number of regular posters have “left” the forum for all sorts of reasons since I joined, and a fair few have left this world too :-(.
As Kev35 says there seems to be less of a sense of community and tolerance on here than there was when I first joined, and more people seem to take offence more quickly, or seem unable to accept that other members may have views and opinions that differ from theirs, and that others are fully entiled to hold those different views, ….but that seems to reflect modern society (unfortunately).
The gentle self-mocking humour generally seems to be less obvious, and many “younger” users seem more earnest, less “chilled”, and less able to see the difference between good natured “banter” and a truly barbed comment – again this seems (IMHO) to reflect modern society?
At times I find the inability of newer members to use the forum “search” function, or to have used web-based search engines, a little frustrating, particularly when a simple search would probably have saved them incurring the wrath of older members who may well have seen the same question asked more than once before. Then again, I wonder how may times in my life I have asked a “stupid” question that I probably could have answered myself if I first made the effort to do a little prior research..:o
I understand the complaint about the historic forum being a little too “Spitfire-centric”, but you only have to look at some of the threads about arcane types that Avion Ancien (and others) ask about to realise that we area in fact very broad church, with a near endless breadth of interests and knowledge, though it is perhaps only natural that the more famous types will feature more frequently. Then again, I try to bear in mind that it is probably the more famous types that foster the initial interest that may go one to lead a youngster into becoming an aviation “lifer” like me.
Yes the forum has moved on, membership has changed, but one thing that I appreciate, but that I feel many younger members perhaps do not, is that having this forum available as a reference resource 24/7 (even with its “faults”, occasonally erroneous ‘mis’informaton, and “lovers’ tiffs”) gives us all access to a breadth of information that those of us who existed in the “pre internet” age could never even imagine.
– As a teenager I was lucky enough to live across the road from a friend with similar interests in aviation, and I attended the local ATC cadets twice a week, but apart from that, I had no regular interaction with other like-minded individuals. There was no instant “two way” comms with multiple fellow enthusiasts across the other side of town, let alone across the other side of the globe.
Aviation news and photos came to me via the monthly magazines, and were fairly limited in scope, and often weeks or months after the event.
To badly paraphrase Monty Python’s “Four Yorkshiremen” – “We used to live in an age without the internet….try telling the kids of today that and they won’t believe you…”
-Whenever I find this forum hard work, or see “newer” members taking chunks out of each other, and think “why do I bother…”, I just have to remind myself how much the positives outweigh the negatives.
As with life, friendships come and go, and tastes and fashions (perosnal and global) change…seems Web-forums (fora?) are no different in those respects?
Paul F (An aged relic from the pre-internet era)
Paul FAn “Inbetweenie” ?
Been a member since 2005, lurked for a while before that… so am I a “newbie” or an “old f@rt” ?
Yes a number of regular posters have “left” the forum for all sorts of reasons since I joined, and a fair few have left this world too :-(.
As Kev35 says there seems to be less of a sense of community and tolerance on here than there was when I first joined, and more people seem to take offence more quickly, or seem unable to accept that other members may have views and opinions that differ from theirs, and that others are fully entiled to hold those different views, ….but that seems to reflect modern society (unfortunately).
The gentle self-mocking humour generally seems to be less obvious, and many “younger” users seem more earnest, less “chilled”, and less able to see the difference between good natured “banter” and a truly barbed comment – again this seems (IMHO) to reflect modern society?
At times I find the inability of newer members to use the forum “search” function, or to have used web-based search engines, a little frustrating, particularly when a simple search would probably have saved them incurring the wrath of older members who may well have seen the same question asked more than once before. Then again, I wonder how may times in my life I have asked a “stupid” question that I probably could have answered myself if I first made the effort to do a little prior research..:o
I understand the complaint about the historic forum being a little too “Spitfire-centric”, but you only have to look at some of the threads about arcane types that Avion Ancien (and others) ask about to realise that we area in fact very broad church, with a near endless breadth of interests and knowledge, though it is perhaps only natural that the more famous types will feature more frequently. Then again, I try to bear in mind that it is probably the more famous types that foster the initial interest that may go one to lead a youngster into becoming an aviation “lifer” like me.
Yes the forum has moved on, membership has changed, but one thing that I appreciate, but that I feel many younger members perhaps do not, is that having this forum available as a reference resource 24/7 (even with its “faults”, occasonally erroneous ‘mis’informaton, and “lovers’ tiffs”) gives us all access to a breadth of information that those of us who existed in the “pre internet” age could never even imagine.
– As a teenager I was lucky enough to live across the road from a friend with similar interests in aviation, and I attended the local ATC cadets twice a week, but apart from that, I had no regular interaction with other like-minded individuals. There was no instant “two way” comms with multiple fellow enthusiasts across the other side of town, let alone across the other side of the globe.
Aviation news and photos came to me via the monthly magazines, and were fairly limited in scope, and often weeks or months after the event.
To badly paraphrase Monty Python’s “Four Yorkshiremen” – “We used to live in an age without the internet….try telling the kids of today that and they won’t believe you…”
-Whenever I find this forum hard work, or see “newer” members taking chunks out of each other, and think “why do I bother…”, I just have to remind myself how much the positives outweigh the negatives.
As with life, friendships come and go, and tastes and fashions (perosnal and global) change…seems Web-forums (fora?) are no different in those respects?
Paul F (An aged relic from the pre-internet era)
Paul FExactly, and if someone is up to no good, and is stupid enough to use a phone registered to their name/adresss to aid them in their dark deeds, then I’m all for the Police being able to access their full records…
If they ever want to examine my phone records then all they’ll find is the usual domestic and business chit chat. Oh no, they might also uncover a history of visits to dodgy websites full of graphic images … of vintage aeroplanes.
Paul F
Paul FExactly, and if someone is up to no good, and is stupid enough to use a phone registered to their name/adresss to aid them in their dark deeds, then I’m all for the Police being able to access their full records…
If they ever want to examine my phone records then all they’ll find is the usual domestic and business chit chat. Oh no, they might also uncover a history of visits to dodgy websites full of graphic images … of vintage aeroplanes.
Paul F
Paul FYou know how stupid people can be, I bet there are people who genuinely do think that is the case!
I sometimes wonder who’s the most stupid, those that think like that, or those of us who (continue to) vote them into positions of power where their stupidity can be inflicted on the rest of us to save us from ourselves :diablo:
As J Boyle says, before long the do-gooders will be banning crosses from models of Crusaders (as in “knights of old”, not as in jet fighters :D), and also banning crescents from models related to middle eastern or asian based armed forces where htere may (or may not) have been evidence of extreme religious views or discriminatory policies ….
In fact, why stop at banning swastikas etc, why not actually ban models of the dastardly “war-mongering” aircraft that carried them, and of the war mongering aircraft types that fought back against them too …..oops, that’s probably given them an idea, “why not just ban all models of military aircraft/shps/tanks full-stop, that way no one of a sensitive nature can be offended” ! 😮
Paul FA wild guess…
Reid & Sigrist Desford?
Paul FA wild guess…
Reid & Sigrist Desford?
Paul FIn fact, having re-checked the photo, there appears to be two “ridgelines” behind the tailfin, the lower looks to be a “cut” into soil with trees on the ridgeline above and the more distant “horizon” may be the main downs themselves as they run north-west towards Denton.
This might well tie in with the landscape I have mentioned in my post above – the Bishopstone ridge ends in a sheer “edge” at the A259 almost as if the road was “cut” into the foot of the ridge.
Paul
Paul FAccording to Pete on the Kent & Sussex History Boards (see http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=1839.0), the post-war land sale particulars indicate that the parade/landing ground of RNAS Newhaven was the field marked ‘A’ on the attached map/aerial photograph.
Hi Avion,
The land immediately east-northeast (i.e. within 100 feet) of the A259 is distinctly higher (20 – 30 feet) than that of the flood plain immediately to the southwest of the A259 (where the landing ground “A” appears to have been). The A259 skirts the very north eastern edge of the Ouse flood plain at that point, with a distinct difference in ground level to either side of the current carriageway.
So, if the photo was taken looking towards the east north east, and assuming the aircraft was parked fairly close to the north/northeastern road-ward edge of the field “A”, then the ridge visible in the photo may not be the larger “main” South downs themselves, but the far smaller Bishopstone “ridge” upon which the housing development shown on the modern street map were later built.
I have a number of photos of the area taken during numerous visits/walks, as we regularly walk there in the summer, but probably no photos taken in quite the right direction or from the right place to show what I mean.
As Andy S suggests, a 360 “spin” on google street view from a point on the A259 somewhere adjacent to the farm track (former RNAS service road?) towards the old Tidemills village site (which is very close to the former RNAS base) will show the sudden change in elevation that occurs in the landscape.
One other thought, given the aircraft seems to have crashed at Shoreham, could the photo be taken soemwhere there, either witht he SOuthdowns in the (distant) background or maybe with the riverside embankment in the (closer) background?
Unfortunately I cannot get back to Tidemills this weekend as we are away from home …but I am happy go back at a later date if you want so photos to show the “ridge” I mean.
Paul F
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