Kansan“The Nevil Shute Norway Foundation web site is dedicated to the writing, wisdom and philosophy of Nevil Shute Norway. It is a tribute to his skill that more than 40 years after his death, Nevil Shute’s works are still enjoyed by so many people around the world.”
Worth a look – it’s a pretty big site.
Rob/Kansan
KansanPity you didn’t ask this a couple of weeks back. I flew some 95BG veterans on their return to the UK in June. Doubtful if they’d really remember an individual aircraft though.
Have you tried posting on the, quite active, 95BG veterans web site?
Moggy
Thanks Mog,
Actually, I didn’t even think of that. I’ll ask them.
Looking at the “B-17 story” again it does say “MIA Warsaw (Op Frantic IV) 18/9/44 W/Miller, flak, f/l Russia 4 POW 5RTD; sal & rep” (with the MACR) and then “tran 352BS/301BG Lucera, MIA Ruhland 15/3/45 w/Thornton 1 KIA [which was Sanchez] 9POW”
Which in itself gives more information than I thought I had. The specific machine was only with the group for 5 months in total.
I’m curious as to what the “sal & rep” was (i.e. how much damage) and what route it took to get from Russia to Italy.
(later)
Hmm. The Mighty Eigth War Diary (page 349 in my edition) says 8th AF Mission 640 Was Frantic VII. One machine was lost (from the 390 BG) and seven others damaged (one of which being ‘683). 1248 containers dropped. There is also a picture of a 95BG B-17 landing at Poltava.
So the chunk of sheet metal in the museum is quite significant, IMHO.
Thanks again,
Rob / Kansan
KansanI am wondering since it was about the Eighth Air Force in theUK during the war, did the 1960’s ABC television series play in the UK on television? Anybody…..?????
Intersting book. Weirdly enough I just got a 1949 copy of the paperback on Alibris.
I’m pretty sure the TV series did not get aired in the UK I was an air-minded kid at the time, but having said that I was also the kid who missed every single show of “The Pathfinders” – which I expect never made it to the USA either.
Rob / Kansan
KansanOK we have all overhead people making stupid comments at airshows/museum’s etc so feel free to share some of those that made you laugh the most.
Overheard some people talking about me at a certain Museum in Dayton, OH
“Why’s he getting so excited about a piece of sheet metal?”
The “sheet metal” was the B-17 fin section that had been part of someone’s barn in Germany until 1996 or thereabouts. I’d been reading about it for years. (I subsequently saw its picture on the museum website)
I’m glad they didn’t see me when I realised I was staring at one of “Lady Be Good”‘s engines in another part of the museum.
Laugh? I almost bought a hamburger.
R/K
KansanQuote
Rather like being on the forum sometimes then . . .
A couple of my favourite quotes which seem relevant (almost)
1. “If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” – Albert Einstein,
2. “There’s no sense in being precise when you don’t even know what you’re talking about.” – John von Neumann,
and O/T:
“The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us” – Bill Watterson.
KansanWhat Museum in Dayton, OH?
Once complete this will be house at the RAAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio.”
Shurely shome mishtake? Joplin to St.Louis to Indianapolis and then I cross the state line into… Australia??? I always though Ohio was another land Or is the USAF pulling some agency agreement for the Aussies? 🙂
I’ll shut up now
R/K
KansanWhat, where and when?
Hint:- It is not a Spitfire and it will not be at Legends.
Mark
Bob Hope leads the Tiller Girls out of the back of a 5/8 scale repro model of one of those funny bent American Helicopters for the farewell performance of their Vietnam tour, 1970.
Well, we have to elminate all the options somehow. 🙂
R/K
KansanPlease help with this. I think it is a DH.87 Hornet Moth. The problem is that it carries a Turkish flag on the tail, but there is absolutely no indication in Turkish civil or military aviation that such a plane ever went to Turkey. the number 101 does not appear in any Turkish files!
This is just a wild sugestion, but are you sure that’s a Turkish flag and not the flag of Pakistan? The angle of the crescent moon should be different for the Pakistan flag, I know, but it would be easy for a foreign (British?) painter to get wrong, the only other difference being the different background colour which you can’t see in a halftone (B/W) image.
KansanNice One
Glad you liked my little piece on the Hinchliffe saga, I hope it made up for ruining the Cosford Lincoln tale on the Ghost thread! You lived in W Kirby, amazing coincidence. (Hawker Hart ditched in Marine Lake – definitely salvaged!)
Maybe we should revive a “lost” thread. Have we looked to see how many failed Atlantic crossing attempts there were between 1918 and (say) 1938? I would also like to get some postscripts to some of the stories in “Great Mysteries of the Air” (e.g. the BSAA Tudor “Star Tiger” and the BEA Viking that had the bomb explosion on board) as I’m sure there must be some other evidence turned up by now.
O/T I remember seeing a picture of the Hart in the Marine Lake in West Kirby. I assume the tide was in when the pilot did it?
O/T (2) On an unrelated matter I never worked out exactly where RAF West Kirby was although a lot of people I knew in England seem to have been demobbed through there.
KansanWGR Hinchliffe and Elise Mackay
The most intriguing story, however, is connected with a Stinson Detroiter named Endeavour and crewed by Capt Walter Hinchliffe and film and stage actress Elsie Mackay. They attempted the east-west Atlantic crossing in 1928 but were never seen again after a last sighting by a lighthouse keeper at Mizen Head, Eire. Four months later, a smelling salts bottle was found on a little frequented stretch of the Dee foreshore below where my house is now. The bottle contained a note reading “Goodbye all. Elsie Mackay and Capt Hinchliffe. Down in fog and storm”. Little importance was apparently attached to the discovery of the bottle and no attempt was made by the authorities to check the handwriting with that of either of the two missing people. A strange tale which is quoted in the excellent book Wings Across the Border by Derek Pratt and Mike Grant.
That’s a cracker, AT! I’ve never heard of that detail in connection with the Hinchliffe / Mackay story. The major part of the story also appears in the book “Great Mysteries of the Air” by Ralph Barker which was published around 1967. Captain Hinchliffe appears to have been an interesting figure (Naval 10 / 210 Squadron Pilot, WWI and a lot of post-war airline experience). I think the Barker book says a wheel from their Detroiter was washed up on the west coast of Ireland, so the scent bottle in the Dee wouldn’t be unthinkable. (BTW I lived on the other bank, in West Kirby, years ago!)
Rob / Kansan
KansanHastings Indeed
Off top of head TG 555 is probably in the HP Hastings range but probably be proved wrong.
Brian
He’s right…
http://www.ajjcollection.co.uk/raf6.htm
NEGATIVES OF BRITISH MILITARY AIRCRAFT (SA-TZ serials)
TG501 HP Hastings 1
TG503 HP Hastings
TG507 HP Hastings 1
TG513 HP Hastings 1
TG524 HP Hastings 1
TG527 HP Hastings 2
TG536 HP Hastings 2
TG537 HP Hastings 1
TG557 HP Hastings 1
TG560 HP Hastings 1
The numerals after the name refer to the number of pictures they have, I think.
Rob / Kansan
KansanThis shot, just in from ‘Mike’ at Crystal Lakes, shows ‘LaurieB’ endeavouring to get video shots of his beloved Seafire 47 in Montana.
Mark
“Trying to rip off Mark12’s Avatar was proving to be more dangerous than he’d thought…”
Rob/Kansan
KansanLOL,i was actually given a copy of that 2 weeks ago,very strange watching little dorothy whilst listening to P/Floyd,wierd LOL
To go totally off-topic there’s a whole chunk about the Wizard of Oz / Dark Side of the Moon thing on Wikipedia which lists the alleged coincidences.
Almost on topic I’d love to see a visualisation of the scene from “Grey Eagles” where eight Me-109s fly by an airshow unannounced including one of the pilots wearing a gorilla mask.
R/K
KansanHmm… well, I just looked at the credits of “Aces High” from the DVD itself, and there it says:
Based on R.C. Sherriff’s play “Journey’s End”
and additional material from
“Saggitarius Rising” by Cecil Lewis
Heavens to Murgatroyd! I sit corrected – I’m sorry to have doubted you there, Daz. 🙂 Now that you come to mention it, is there a scene in “Aces High” when the hero is, erm, about to get in the sack with a Mam’selle and isn’t *that* the piece of dialogue which is lifted from Saggitarius Rising?
(Can you tell I’m one of those idiots who listed to “The Dark Side of the Moon” at the same time as watching “The Wizard of Oz” because of an alleged connection? (-: )
Nitpickers and Hairsplitters union comment about “Grey Eagles” – It’s set in 1976 (so say) but the USAF invesitgator sings along to one of the tracks from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” which wasn’t released until 1979 or thereabouts. Picky, Picky. It *would* make a pretty good movie.
Rob/Kansan
KansanOriginally Posted by kev35
I would like to see Sagittarius Rising on screen.
Regards,
kev35
Wasn’t “Aces High” based on that slightly?
Daz
Nope.
“Aces High” (1976) was R.C. Sherriff’s 1928 play “Journey’s End” (set in the trenches) “transferred” to an RFC setting. The plot is almost identical and the dialogue is word-for-word in parts. IMDB says “based on…’ and gives Sherriff (1896-1975) a writing credit.
“Saggitarius Rising” is a whole different kettle of fish. Terrific book but a nightmare to film, I would think. I love the idea of “Shooting Script” or “KG200” “KG 200” especially would fool the American Moviegoer and for that reason probably wouldn’t get made. (-;
Rob/Kansan
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