:eek::eek:

Who are these low lives 😡

What sort of virus?

JS.Downloader.Agent ( now in my Virus vault : unfortunately I opened my mail first without seeing the Moderator’s mail, but I had taken it (foolishly) on trust that a PM would have been secure: I’ve had a few issues this week with my Forum postings and had PM’s from moderator Peter in Canada.) I used to derive a lot of pleasure from posting and reading threads, particularly enjoyed the banter as threads developed and passed to and fro, but I think from here on in my participation will be minimal.:(

PS…DazDaMan…is Penicuik that bad?!!?:dev2:

…Can we get back to talking aeroplanes now?:rolleyes:

…it’s an aeroplane, Mr Bader, or an aircraft, not a kite nor a crate nor a ship…

A question for pre-war Hawker experts

I’ll stick with Leuchars, but have to agree with Dave on the Hart…on closer scrutiny of photo sources, subtle differences discount the Osprey. Doh!!:o
Brian

To paraphrase Bob Dylan ‘The times….they are a ‘changin’…”

As one of the older (in years) members who pops into this forum now and again, I was once resident in the thick of things in East Anglia. Local airfields, or those that were within easy reach by car included Coltishall, Honington, the ‘ Heath, the ‘Hall, and still within comfortable reach with a reasonably early start were Wattisham, Alconbury, and Duxford. My work involved working every other week-end so family commitments precluded me from volunteer work at Duxford, but regular trips there with the family were the norm to keep abreast of events.

My son and I were the ‘spotters’ and other trips, usually during a mid-week day- off,to a particular base when exercises were on were eagerly awaited , thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding with a great variety of military aircraft of many nationalities. I am now rather sad to have witnessed the decline in the types of aircraft from these busier times, and to see those types that passed us on the peri-tracks as we photographed from the crash gates, now in museums , really hammers home the passing of time, but it is gratifying that so much effort is put into preserving these aircraft and even more that so many are still being maintained as airworthy and are regularly flown at airshows.

It is sadly inevitable that rising costs of all aspects of such activities will affect all of us, one way or another : fuel costs must have a direct effect on such operations, insurance and safety considerations must also impinge, and I think very often that I may have seen airshows at their best. The important aspect of terrorism was almost unknown (was there ever any other threat then than the I.R.A?) when I was most active in enjoying the airshows and airfield visits, and at that time, believe it or not, on the days running up to a Mildenhall Air Fete in the early seventies, there might have been a score of other fellow-enthusiasts watching arrivals. Latterly the hundreds of cars on arrivals days ( not talking about the show days remember,) made parking, traffic handling and just finding a viewing area a nightmare with police and traffic wardens all over the place moving you on.

It is true to that the general enthusiasm for such aircraft has blossomed over the years, and although I’m beginning to sound like an old ‘un, the interest some twenty to thirty years ago was minimal to that of today, with the advances in digital photography, air band radios and scanners,and proliferation of specialist magazines. We do live in good times, but I think we had some of the best of better times, and my prognosis has to be rather gloomy for the future, unless circumstances, often worldwide, over which we seem to have no control, such as oil prices, poverty, continuing conflict and terrorism continue to affect us all, directly or indirectly, and are addressed successfully , we may see a massive downturn in airshow participation, and leave an impoverished legacy for the new generation of enthusiasts.:(
Brian

The Canadian modification is obviously a permanent arrangement – see the undercarriage legs, but does the Finnish mod have skis fitted on the wheels? They’re obviously unretractable as they are, and the handling performance and speed must have been drastically reduced if left down, besides if they were only temporary and abandoned on take-off, leaving the wheels as normal, how would it then land if unable to find an area without snow? I imagine we’re talking really hard winter situation in Finland, and they would have been called upon to fight, unlike the Canadian mod. which seems like more of a luxury than necessity. Over to you forum pundits now for an answer or two please!

Brian:confused:

Barracuda book

You are correct in what you say, Baz, regarding the conversion from Swordfish to Barracuda, from a forgiving gentle aircraft to the complexity of the Barracuda , probably could be likened to tootling around town in mum’s Clio then jumping into Hamilton’s F1 racing car! It was certainly proved that later aircrew that trained on faster monoplanes had less of an attrition rate than those who were used to flying bi-planes previously, and the later Barracudas from the MKII onwards had more powerful Merlins.

There were many other problems that were found and ironed out in the earlier marks, including carbon monoxide ingress into the cockpit from the earlier model exhaust pipes , and indeed aircraft catching fire from overheating pipes until the smaller exhaust stubs were adopted. The wing-fold locking pins in earlier marks were of substandard manufacture resulting , on occasion, in wing fold failure under stress ; one such incident occured in the vicinity of my local naval air station resulting the the death of the pilot (an RAF W/O Pilot and two P.O Wrens whilst on a radio test flight.)

But then isn’t it always the case that during wartime particularly, abnormal pressures exist to get aircraft into production, and the navy, yes, had their particular requirements and specifications requiring the manning of their TBR aircraft which resulted often in compromise and resultant sub-standard performances. The old Barracuda fascinates me (like the Gannet!) but compare the Barra with the Grumman Avenger (even the early marks) …chalk and cheese.

And in conclusion, yet another worthwhile read comes to mind ‘Wings at Sea’ by Gerard A Woods, an Observer ,who at the end of the WW2 was CO of 822 Squadron, and he gives another interesting slant on the Barracuda in service.

Anyway that’s my slant on the Barra ; I’ve corresponded with a number of ex-Barra pilots, including Captain Brown and Dunstan (Doc) Hadley, and hope to put something into print in future on the FAA and it’s association with my local air stations,whose histories are fascinating and have gone largely unrecorded. Perhaps when I retire and time’s my own!
Cheers, Brian

[QUOTE +bms44 Trouble and strife…G-AEME(S) HM14 POU-Du-CIEL (Flying Flea) and Boy, did they ever get that wrong!!!

[QUOTE=mike currill;1251792]Don’t let your other half read that:)

Mike, if I drop the third one of my wife’s three forenames, leading to G-AEMS we get a BA SWALLOW…and I’m in too much trouble already, so let’s not go there…
I’ll get me coat…..fed up with this game…
Oh to be a Bristol Brabazon 😮