Hi Deryck
According to http://www.silentwingsmuseum.com the Hamilcar towrope was
2 inch Dia Hemp or Manila Rope.
The US would appear to have used Nylon for their Gliders and I wonder if us Brits got hold of any nylon rope before the end of the war,it would certainly absorb shock loadings better and be easier to maintain.

Hope that helps-i have done a fair bit of gliding myself but probably 95% winch launch the rest aerotow plus a few car(auto,motor)tows as well.

Lovely shots of the JU88 EN830,the middle one i think is brilliant.
If anybody likes reading pilot autobios i can highly recommend…..
THE DIVING EAGLE by P.W STAHL.
He was a prewar highly qualified Lufthansa pilot but was not from a ‘military’
family so they made him a corporal JU88 captain,it is a fascinating book and gives a good insight into some of the internal politics etc in the Luftwaffe.
The diving eagle refers to the squadron badge not the writer! the title put me off for a while!!

Alert in the west is a really good book to read….highly recommended!!!!
well worth buying a copy..easy to get hold of… autobiography by Willi H

I would imagine that the pilots who ‘liked’ the P39 had not flown any other operational aircraft at that time.It was used more as an advanced trainer by the USA than as a bone fide combat aircraft,although i know it was used a bit by them in one theatre.In Tex Johnston’s autobiography he quite liked the P39(he was a test pilot for Bell Aircraft at the time) although he seemed to tentatively admit that without ammunition loaded(or after it had been fired??) the aircraft might ‘tumble’ during combat manoevering.Presumably very sensitive to c of g position then!!
He raced one to victory in the thompson trophy post war but really the aircraft was not a good design for combat ie over complex,poor pilot visibility and extremely difficult to bail out of(to put it politely)

James Stewart was a highly decorated combat pilot on B17’s and B24’s,he fought a long battle with the top brass to get to Europe(they wanted him safe as an instructor!!).To his great credit(and great cost to his career!!)he refused to make war films on his return home.There is a memorial to him at Polebrook airfield nr Peterborough UK.Not sure if any memorial for him at Tibenham Norfolk where he flew B24’s.