Err, the New Zealand Maori team is also a mixed team who have probably had less time together than the British and Irish Lions, so that excuse doesn’t wash.

I am so impressed with how the AB’s performed against Fiji on Friday, they were amazing, the best and most cohesive AB team I have seen in a long long time, perhaps in a decade! By comparison the Lions have looked a bit lack-lustre, but it will be interesting to see how they step up the pace when it comes to the test. They still have to play Wellington yet too, and they’re a top First Division team, unlike Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.

One point that is interesting, AB coach Graham Henry must be the only man in history to have coached both the Lions and the All Blacks.

The idea for Len Deighton’s book ‘Bomber’ started from his once learning that Lancaster crews at a briefing cheered when they heard they were sharing a raid with Stirlings as the latter would keep the German defences busy and away from the Lancs. Sounds like your B17 / B24 analogy.

Whoa, that is a really sad story. Quite, quite awful really. Human nature, preserve the self and all, but man… I’d hate to think what the poor Stirling/B24 crews thoguht if they knew this, and I’m sure they did know it.

JoeinTX – what you say is very interesting and puts things into perspective.

Stormbird, can you please post the names of the aircraft you’re posting so we know what they are? That would be a help, thanks.

I personally think the CA-15 was tremendously ugly, it doesn’t have clean lines and looks mishapen. No matter how fast it went, it never outran it’s ugliness.

Why has this thread got a five star rating? There’s nothing in it!

As for the comment about lack of interest because it’s not a Spifire, rubbish. There has been a lot of interest in the Vimy threads that actually have something in them. This is a significant story, many people are looking forward to seeing what happens. Especially since Steve Fossett is involved, he’s a much bigger name than previous Vimy pilots in this replica.

I believe that it’s story is so thin it will be roasted by the lawyers in court, and will no doubt fry for its crime

Starbug?

http://www.ganymede-titan.info/articles/images/starbug-daa.jpg