Airfix used to make a 1/72 Beagle Basset – in RAF colour scheme.

Paul F

Buy it!

Both “Typhoon Pilot” and “One more hour” are worth buying. The exploits covered by “Typhoon pilot” are pretty self explanatory, but “One More hour” also covers Scott’s earlier WW2 experiences, including time on nightfighter Hurricanes, which includes working with the “Turbinlite” Havocs.

Both are on my bookshelf, and both have been read and re-read many times.

At £3.50 it’s a bargain.

Paul F

Loosehead,

We were enjoying an early summer holiday (no children in those days, so we weren’t tied to the UK school holidays), and were staying in Northumberland. I can remember sitting watching the TV news in the hotel lounge, in near silence as the story unfolded, along with many other guests. The images were horrific.

It made everyone stop and think just what risks are being taken by those who provide our daily gas and petrol/oil supplies.

Thanks for reminding us.

Paul F

next question would be, do they have one of these units at each possible emergency site?

Yes, during trips round Kennedy Space Centre earlier this year (and during tours in 2005 IIRC) the tour guides confirmed NASA do indeed have purpose built “Mating/De-mating” rigs at each of the main Shuttle main landing sites (Edwards, Kennedy etc) – but I’m not sure about any being present at the (few) designated “emergency” landing sites though.

I presume they may have some sort of air-transportable “contingency” lifting frame/rig that can be flown out to any of the other landing sites, and then be fitted to a heavy-lift crane or similar?

I assume they have similar issue with all the other “orbiter-specific” ground handling equipment too.

P.S. KSC is well worth the round trip for anyone holidaying in Orlando/Central Florida.

Paul F

Wisley was slated to become the site of a waste incinerator at one point – not sure how “true” that rumour was.

Paul F

If they can’t fix the problem maybe the Military can take over and turn it into a Hare Force base

Or, if conventional means fail to remove the pests, then maybe it’ll be time to call the Italian Airforce Tornados in to perform a(n) “Hare Strike”?

Paul F

Have been watching this thread, and simply cannot believe some of the attitudes expressed!

I lived in Woking 1969 – 1987, so grew up with “Vickers” (as it was known locally) almost on my doorstep. I frequently travelled past the site when the old Vickers plant was still standing. In the late 70’s I worked just outside Brooklands banking, and we had a second site located inside the circuit, and most days I had to drive through one of the entrance gates cut into the banked section on Oyster Lane (the road that runs on the western side of the circuit) I think that gate still exists as the smaller “back entrance” into the retail park area?

In the late 70’s most of the site, and most of the banked track, was still intact. The old Vickers/BAC/BAe site ont he Eastern side still stod,a dn there was one (or two?) large more modrn hangars on the western side of the runway. A helicopter charter firm (name escapes me) still operated from the northern end of the runway close to the railway line. Sometime in the late 70’s the Brooklands society held an open day, a few aircraft flew in, and a number of old cars ran on the members banking section of the circuit. The main factory was empty by then. No real museum to visit, no Concorde, no Loch Ness Wellington, just an “ex-factory” site and a bunch of Brroklands enthusiasts. A few years later the developers moved in big-time and the place started to change.

The killer blow for many locals was when the Vickers fabrication and assembly hangars and the old office blocks on the old main entrance were destroyed almost overnight – the old “Brooklands” was gone forever. Houses appeared towards the southern end of the field (on the well established flood plain – the powers that be never seem to learn, despite well documented history of flooding), the retail park sprang up, more of the banking was lost to widen entrance roads, and the modern office blocks arrived. Roads were laid across the site etc. Brooklands was all but gone for good. But, someone had the foresight to work with the developers/owners, and the museum started to blossom.

I’ve been to the museum many times since, and seen it grow. Yes, there are many (unsightly) modern buildings very close to the museum site, but take a walk round the banking under the re-instated members bridge, climb up the test hill, or stand and face the old clubhouse, and the place still reeks of atmosphere. Sure, I’d rather have the whole outer circuit intact, the runway and Campbell circuit restored, and none of the modern business units there, but realistically it was never going to happen that way.

As has been said earlier, given the value of real estate in the area over the last thirty years, the fact that ANY of the old site has survived untouched is miraculous, and beyond any sort of economic sense. How many of us would allocate a chunk of potential revenue-generating land to a non-profitable cause (even despite earning possible tax breaks for so doing)? So, rather than knock the current owners of the site, why can’t more people simply thank them for not bulldozing the whole site!

The team running Brooklands do a bl**dy good job in my opinion, I’m sure we’d all prefer to have racing cars from the 30’s thundering around the whole banked circuit once a month or so, with the airfield preserved and in regualr use – but what point in time shoudl it reflect? The pioneering days pre 1910, when A.V Roe and T.O.M Sopwith were making first hops? When the Brooklands Flying school was in its infancy pre WW1? When Vickers were building Vimys at the end of WW1? How about early 30’s with a Moth-equpped flying school? Or perhaps a snapshot of the late 30’s and 40’s when Wellingtons and Hurricanes were being test flown? Maybe late 50s and ealry sixties with Valiants, Viscounts and Vanguards? Or perhaps in the 60’s or 70’s when BAC were building chunks of 1-11s and Concordes there?

Think about it – the site has evolved over the last 100 years, and so much history had already been “lost” as a result of the site’s natural “evolution” by the time the site was redeveloped in the 90’s that it didn’t reflect any particular period in it’s history anyway. Surely the museum as it currently stands is just another stage of evolution in the site’s history, but one that does try to reflect on the site’s past in all it’s aspects?

Be thankful any of Brooklands is left for us to visit – it could so easily have gone the way of Hatfield, and have been buried under more offices and houses. Stop knocking the sites current owners, and maybe consider praising them instead. 😡

(oops, sorry, rant over….:o )