On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:44:33 GMT, dave wrote:

Just a fume to say how pathetic was the sound BBC coverage of last weekends
flypast by several Spitfires. What I was waiting to hear was the sound of those
wonderful Merlins. What I got was two motormouth presenters with who were
terrified of any silence longer than 0.1 second.

The OB pictures were excellent though, great to see those aircraft flying.

I live just north of the Scottish Border. A couple of years ago, I
was having lunch and thought I heard that unmistakable sound of a
Merlin engine - once heard (and like so many folks now retired I heard
my first a very long time ago) never forgotten. Surely not a Spitfire
or Hurricane? I left my lunch and rushed outside, just in time to see
a lone Spitfire cruise overhead at no more than 1000 ft, heading
south. There had been an air show further north a day earlier, so it
was presumably heading home.

One of my neighbours saw me looking up and asked what was the matter -
I pointed to the Spitfire. He wasn't impressed - "What's all the
excitement? Just some bloody aeroplane, isn't it?"

I went into full Victor Meldrew mode, with the wife trying to quieten
me. The poor neighbour retreated down the street with my voice
getting louder as he retreated - "Some bloody aeroplane? SOME BLOODY
AEROPLANE???!! If it wasn't for that 'bloody aeroplane', matey -
you'd be speaking German and eating with chopsticks!!!!!"

I think the poor man crossed the street on his way back home.

Just a few months later, a B17 flew over at low level, again heading
south. A hugely impressive sight and sound. But apart from me, not a
single person in the neighbourhood even raised their eyes. There's a
monument in London that promises we'll never forget. Hell - most
folks have forgotten already.

John

John wrote:
On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:44:33 GMT, dave wrote:

Just a fume to say how pathetic was the sound BBC coverage of last weekends
flypast by several Spitfires. What I was waiting to hear was the sound of those
wonderful Merlins. What I got was two motormouth presenters with who were
terrified of any silence longer than 0.1 second.

The OB pictures were excellent though, great to see those aircraft flying.

I live just north of the Scottish Border. A couple of years ago, I
was having lunch and thought I heard that unmistakable sound of a
Merlin engine - once heard (and like so many folks now retired I heard
my first a very long time ago) never forgotten. Surely not a Spitfire
or Hurricane? I left my lunch and rushed outside, just in time to see
a lone Spitfire cruise overhead at no more than 1000 ft, heading
south. There had been an air show further north a day earlier, so it
was presumably heading home.

One of my neighbours saw me looking up and asked what was the matter -
I pointed to the Spitfire. He wasn't impressed - "What's all the
excitement? Just some bloody aeroplane, isn't it?"

I went into full Victor Meldrew mode, with the wife trying to quieten
me. The poor neighbour retreated down the street with my voice
getting louder as he retreated - "Some bloody aeroplane? SOME BLOODY
AEROPLANE???!! If it wasn't for that 'bloody aeroplane', matey -
you'd be speaking German and eating with chopsticks!!!!!"

I think the poor man crossed the street on his way back home.

Just a few months later, a B17 flew over at low level, again heading
south. A hugely impressive sight and sound. But apart from me, not a
single person in the neighbourhood even raised their eyes. There's a
monument in London that promises we'll never forget. Hell - most
folks have forgotten already.

John

Not in the same league, but years ago as a young man living on the
Mendip Hills in Somerset I used to watch the Brabazon flying overhead.
To my young eyes it seemed as though it was going to fall out of the sky
it seemed so slow.

--
Please do not reply to this Email address,
as all Emails are deleted before opened.

"Broadback" wrote in message
...
John wrote:
On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:44:33 GMT, dave wrote:

Just a fume to say how pathetic was the sound BBC coverage of last
weekends
flypast by several Spitfires. What I was waiting to hear was the sound
of those
wonderful Merlins. What I got was two motormouth presenters with who
were
terrified of any silence longer than 0.1 second.
The OB pictures were excellent though, great to see those aircraft
flying.

I live just north of the Scottish Border. A couple of years ago, I
was having lunch and thought I heard that unmistakable sound of a
Merlin engine - once heard (and like so many folks now retired I heard
my first a very long time ago) never forgotten. Surely not a Spitfire
or Hurricane? I left my lunch and rushed outside, just in time to see
a lone Spitfire cruise overhead at no more than 1000 ft, heading
south. There had been an air show further north a day earlier, so it
was presumably heading home.

One of my neighbours saw me looking up and asked what was the matter -
I pointed to the Spitfire. He wasn't impressed - "What's all the
excitement? Just some bloody aeroplane, isn't it?"

I went into full Victor Meldrew mode, with the wife trying to quieten
me. The poor neighbour retreated down the street with my voice
getting louder as he retreated - "Some bloody aeroplane? SOME BLOODY
AEROPLANE???!! If it wasn't for that 'bloody aeroplane', matey -
you'd be speaking German and eating with chopsticks!!!!!"

I think the poor man crossed the street on his way back home.

Just a few months later, a B17 flew over at low level, again heading
south. A hugely impressive sight and sound. But apart from me, not a
single person in the neighbourhood even raised their eyes. There's a
monument in London that promises we'll never forget. Hell - most
folks have forgotten already.

John

Not in the same league, but years ago as a young man living on the Mendip
Hills in Somerset I used to watch the Brabazon flying overhead. To my
young eyes it seemed as though it was going to fall out of the sky it
seemed so slow.

The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.

The message ews.net
from "Doctor Drivel" contains these words:

The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.

Not 'arf as much as Comets.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 11:02:55 GMT, Guy King wrote:

|The message ews.net
|from "Doctor Drivel" contains these words:
|
| The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.
|
|Not 'arf as much as Comets.

The RAF took over the Comet airframes and flew them for years, and
derivatives went on flying for even more years.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

The message
from Dave Fawthrop contains these words:

|Not 'arf as much as Comets.

The RAF took over the Comet airframes and flew them for years, and
derivatives went on flying for even more years.

Without the corners on the windows, of course.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

"Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 11:02:55 GMT, Guy King wrote:

|The message ews.net
|from "Doctor Drivel" contains these words:
|
| The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.
|
|Not 'arf as much as Comets.

The RAF took over the Comet airframes and flew them for years, and
derivatives went on flying for even more years.

Yep. The Nimrod. Still flying I believe.

"Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 11:02:55 GMT, Guy King wrote:

|The message ews.net
|from "Doctor Drivel" contains these words:
|
| The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.
|
|Not 'arf as much as Comets.

The RAF took over the Comet airframes and flew them for years, and
derivatives went on flying for even more years.

Have they stopped flying them now?
I don't think they have.

Doctor Drivel wrote:

The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.


Wrong as usual, Brabazon didn't fall out of the sky and the Mk 1 racked
up about 400 hours flying time. It was grounded by economics, not
technical or safety problems.

On Tue, 07 Mar 2006 13:37:33 +0000, Steve Firth
wrote:

|Doctor Drivel wrote:
|
| The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.
|
|
|Wrong as usual, Brabazon didn't fall out of the sky and the Mk 1 racked
|up about 400 hours flying time. It was grounded by economics, not
|technical or safety problems.

Wrong as usual, the *project* did fall out of the Sky, for must the reasons
given by OP It was grossly underpowered, and slow. Which would have made
it
| seem as though it was going to fall out of the sky


http://www.unrealaircraft.com/classics/brab.php

Passengers would not spend 12 hours in a Brabazon when they could reach
their destination in a smaller, faster aircraft in seven.


If low speed is not a technical reason nothing is.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

Dave Fawthrop wrote:
On Tue, 07 Mar 2006 13:37:33 +0000, Steve Firth
wrote:

|Doctor Drivel wrote:
|
| The Brabazon project did fall out of the sky.
|
|
|Wrong as usual, Brabazon didn't fall out of the sky and the Mk 1 racked
|up about 400 hours flying time. It was grounded by economics, not
|technical or safety problems.

Wrong as usual, the *project* did fall out of the Sky,

Utter bull****, point to a single report of a Brabazon ever "falling out
of the sky".

If low speed is not a technical reason nothing is.

It wasn't the "low speed" that finished off Brabazon, it was the
economics of a 50 seater aircraft competing with a 150+ seater aircraft.
The economics of pure luxury vs. cattle class travel.

On Tue, 07 Mar 2006 14:11:23 +0000, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

Passengers would not spend 12 hours in a Brabazon when they could reach
their destination in a smaller, faster aircraft in seven.

Passengers would not spend three hours in a Concorde when they could
reach their destination in a bigger, slower aircraft such as the 747
in eight.


--

Broadback wrote:

Not in the same league, but years ago as a young man living on the
Mendip Hills in Somerset I used to watch the Brabazon flying overhead.
To my young eyes it seemed as though it was going to fall out of the sky
it seemed so slow.

As I kid, during the height of the Cold War I lived close to RAF
Finningley, which used to put on an annual air display, one of the
highlight of which was a demo of the "Vulcan Scramble". As a
six-year-old, the significance of what it all meant was somewhat lost on
me, but in a real-life situation the bombers would have been 'scrambled'
to go and drop their payload of nukes on Moscow, before the inbound
ICBMs hit.

The sight and sound of a squadron of Vulcan bombers all taking off
together really was something else; the ground would literally shake as
these things climbed almost vertically on full afterburn. Awesome stuff!

David

In message , Lobster
writes
Broadback wrote:

Not in the same league, but years ago as a young man living on the
Mendip Hills in Somerset I used to watch the Brabazon flying overhead.
To my young eyes it seemed as though it was going to fall out of the
sky it seemed so slow.

As I kid, during the height of the Cold War I lived close to RAF
Finningley, which used to put on an annual air display, one of the
highlight of which was a demo of the "Vulcan Scramble". As a
six-year-old, the significance of what it all meant was somewhat lost
on me, but in a real-life situation the bombers would have been
'scrambled' to go and drop their payload of nukes on Moscow, before the
inbound ICBMs hit.

The sight and sound of a squadron of Vulcan bombers all taking off
together really was something else; the ground would literally shake as
these things climbed almost vertically on full afterburn. Awesome stuff!

David

Even more awesome when you realise they made all that noise *without*
afterburners (or reheat, as we would have called it then), as Vulcans
didn't have them. A lot of noise these days comes from the Tornado and
the Typhoon, but IMHO the real blaster is the B-1, known as the Bone
(geddit?)
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

"Peter Twydell" wrote in message
...
In message , Lobster
writes
Broadback wrote:

Not in the same league, but years ago as a young man living on the
Mendip Hills in Somerset I used to watch the Brabazon flying overhead.
To my young eyes it seemed as though it was going to fall out of the sky
it seemed so slow.

As I kid, during the height of the Cold War I lived close to RAF
Finningley, which used to put on an annual air display, one of the
highlight of which was a demo of the "Vulcan Scramble". As a
six-year-old, the significance of what it all meant was somewhat lost on
me, but in a real-life situation the bombers would have been 'scrambled'
to go and drop their payload of nukes on Moscow, before the inbound ICBMs
hit.


Ermm ... minor quibble ... the QRA (Quick Reaction Aircraft) would
have been scrambled _before_ the inbound ICBMs 'hit' - to drop their
payload of 'nukes' on ????? long after the demise of the UK (and/or the
'Home Service' [aka Radio4) had stopped transmitting.


The sight and sound of a squadron of Vulcan bombers all taking off
together really was something else; the ground would literally shake as
these things climbed almost vertically on full afterburn. Awesome stuff!

David


I was privileged to attend the RAF's Fiftieth Birthday 'Parade'/Review ....
the paddock in which I was corralled was a long way from the Royal Enclosure
. Anyway; the
'Parade' consisted of a _very_ low level flypast of RAF/RFC/RNAS aircraft in
chronological order. The wave upon wave of Vulcans that 'passed before The
Queen'
was truly awesome and the ground did literally shake!

Even more awesome when you realise they made all that noise *without*
afterburners (or reheat, as we would have called it then), as Vulcans
didn't have them. A lot of noise these days comes from the Tornado and the
Typhoon, but IMHO the real blaster is the B-1, known as the Bone (geddit?)
--
Peter


--

Brian

On Wed, 8 Mar 2006 10:42:46 UTC, "Brian Sharrock"
wrote:

I was privileged to attend the RAF's Fiftieth Birthday 'Parade'/Review ....
the paddock in which I was corralled was a long way from the Royal Enclosure
. Anyway; the
'Parade' consisted of a _very_ low level flypast of RAF/RFC/RNAS aircraft in
chronological order. The wave upon wave of Vulcans that 'passed before The
Queen'
was truly awesome and the ground did literally shake!

A few years ago I was driving past the (then) RAF Manston airport, on a
Saturday. They were due to have an air show on the following day.

It was a nice day, and I had the windows and sunroof open. The road runs
about a metre from the perimeter fence. I was looking at the road.

I didn't notice the Harrier getting ready to do a vertical take-off
literally just the other side of the fence. Well, not until I nearly
left the road! It was a bit noisy...

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

"Peter Twydell" wrote in message
...

The sight and sound of a squadron of Vulcan bombers all taking off
together really was something else; the ground would literally shake as
these things climbed almost vertically on full afterburn. Awesome stuff!

Even just one Vulcan taking off isawesome.

One is being restored to fly again.

We're members of the support group.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...
"Peter Twydell" wrote in message
...

The sight and sound of a squadron of Vulcan bombers all taking off
together really was something else; the ground would literally shake as
these things climbed almost vertically on full afterburn. Awesome stuff!

Even just one Vulcan taking off isawesome.

One is being restored to fly again.

We're members of the support group.

There is one in Gibraltar, last time I was there as a door stop.

Peter Twydell wrote:
In message , Lobster
writes

The sight and sound of a squadron of Vulcan bombers all taking off
together really was something else; the ground would literally shake
as these things climbed almost vertically on full afterburn. Awesome
stuff!

Even more awesome when you realise they made all that noise *without*
afterburners (or reheat, as we would have called it then), as Vulcans
didn't have them.

Ok, Ok, I was only 6! (Still *bloody* noisy though)!

David

"John" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:44:33 GMT, dave wrote:

Just a fume to say how pathetic was the sound BBC coverage of last
weekends
flypast by several Spitfires. What I was waiting to hear was the sound of
those
wonderful Merlins. What I got was two motormouth presenters with who were
terrified of any silence longer than 0.1 second.

The OB pictures were excellent though, great to see those aircraft flying.

I live just north of the Scottish Border. A couple of years ago, I
was having lunch and thought I heard that unmistakable sound of a
Merlin engine - once heard (and like so many folks now retired I heard
my first a very long time ago) never forgotten. Surely not a Spitfire
or Hurricane? I left my lunch and rushed outside, just in time to see
a lone Spitfire cruise overhead at no more than 1000 ft, heading
south. There had been an air show further north a day earlier, so it
was presumably heading home.

One of my neighbours saw me looking up and asked what was the matter -
I pointed to the Spitfire. He wasn't impressed - "What's all the
excitement? Just some bloody aeroplane, isn't it?"

That man is a Philistine!

I went into full Victor Meldrew mode,

Understandable!

with the wife trying to quieten
me. The poor neighbour retreated down the street with my voice
getting louder as he retreated - "Some bloody aeroplane? SOME BLOODY
AEROPLANE???!! If it wasn't for that 'bloody aeroplane', matey -
you'd be speaking German and eating with chopsticks!!!!!"

I think the poor man crossed the street on his way back home.

You should have thrown bricks at him.

Just a few months later, a B17 flew over at low level, again heading
south. A hugely impressive sight and sound. But apart from me, not a
single person in the neighbourhood even raised their eyes. There's a
monument in London that promises we'll never forget. Hell - most
folks have forgotten already.

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block. I have see
countless Lancasters (probably the same one), Spitfires, Hurricanes, Vulcans
(when that banks it is impressive), Tornadoes, etc. The Lancaster is a
"big" plane. A South African friend was visiting the UK, I took him up to
the roof so, he could see London from higher up, Coming towards us was a
Lancaster, at about 100 feet higher than us, it passed within 500 yards and
appears at the same level as us and banked away. He was mesmerised. First
day in London he sees a Lancaster at close quarters in flight. He never
stopped about it for days.

Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block.

Now a confession that Drivel lives in a tenement block.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve Firth
saying something like:

Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block.

Now a confession that Drivel lives in a tenement block.

Locked ward in a psychiatric block, more like.
--

Dave

In message , Steve Firth
writes
Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block.

Now a confession that Drivel lives in a tenement block.

I rather think he was talking about the ward where he's sectioned


--
geoff

"raden" wrote in message
...
In message , Steve Firth
writes
Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block.

Now a confession that Drivel lives in a tenement block.

I rather think he was talking about the ward where he's sectioned

Maxie, you have a thing about wards don't you? It is because you are
psychedelic?

In message ews.net,
Doctor Drivel writes

"raden" wrote in message
...
In message , Steve Firth
writes
Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block.

Now a confession that Drivel lives in a tenement block.

I rather think he was talking about the ward where he's sectioned

Maxie, you have a thing about wards don't you? It is because you are
psychedelic?

Maybe in your eyes

... when the drugs take effect


--
geoff

On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:27:41 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:

Coming towards us was a
Lancaster, at about 100 feet higher than us, it passed within 500 yards and
appears at the same level as us and banked away.

Either you can't judge distances very well or the plane seriously
flouted clearance height regulations. I tend to believe the former
is correct. Are you sure this really was a South African you were with
or was it on top of Nelson Mandela House?

Now cut me a pipe 510mm long and don't use a hacksaw.




--

"Matt" aka Lord Hall wrote in message
...
On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:27:41 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:

Coming towards us was a
Lancaster, at about 100 feet higher than us, it passed within 500 yards
and
appears at the same level as us and banked away.

Either you can't judge distances

Lord Hall, you know nothing of airyplanes.

Doctor Drivel wrote:


Lord Hall, you know nothing of airyplanes.

I thought that you were just a plumber/plonker.

I worked in the aerospace industry for over a quarter of a century. What
do you know about airyplanes then?

Already you are out of your depth :-)

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Doctor Drivel wrote:


Lord Hall, you know nothing of airyplanes.

I thought that you were just a plumber/plonker.

PatnDave, you know what thought, thought.

I worked in the aerospace industry for over a quarter of a century. What
do you know about airyplanes then?

More than Lord Hall. I used to commission ILS systems and TACAN in the
Middle East. I f*****g hate airyplanes.

Already you are out of your depth :-)

I would like to keep it that way, but alas I know more than you PatnDave..as
always.

On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 22:50:50 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:

"Matt" aka Lord Hall wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:27:41 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:

Coming towards us was a
Lancaster, at about 100 feet higher than us, it passed within 500 yards
and
appears at the same level as us and banked away.

Either you can't judge distances

Lord Hall, you know nothing of airyplanes.



http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19961393_en_2.htm

The Rules of the Air Regulations 1996

Low flying
5.—(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3):

(a) an aircraft other than a helicopter shall not fly over any
congested area of a city, town or settlement below:
..........

(ii) a height of 1500 feet above the highest fixed object within 600
metres of the aircraft:
whichever is the higher;

.......
(e) an aircraft shall not fly closer than 500 feet to any person,
vessel, vehicle or structure..



--

The message
from Matt contains these words:

(a) an aircraft other than a helicopter shall not fly over any
congested area of a city, town or settlement below:

You might point that out to the tit who does aerobatics over Ironbridge
for hours on end on nice summer afternoons.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Matt wrote:
On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 22:50:50 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:

"Matt" aka Lord Hall wrote in message
. ..

On Tue, 7 Mar 2006 10:27:41 -0000, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:


Coming towards us was a
Lancaster, at about 100 feet higher than us, it passed within 500 yards
and
appears at the same level as us and banked away.

Either you can't judge distances

Lord Hall, you know nothing of airyplanes.




http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19961393_en_2.htm

The Rules of the Air Regulations 1996

Low flying
5.—(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3):

(a) an aircraft other than a helicopter shall not fly over any
congested area of a city, town or settlement below:
.........

(ii) a height of 1500 feet above the highest fixed object within 600
metres of the aircraft:
whichever is the higher;

......
(e) an aircraft shall not fly closer than 500 feet to any person,
vessel, vehicle or structure..



Just as a minor point of accuracy, the rules changed last year and are now:
(2) The low flying prohibitions

(a) Failure of power unit

An aircraft shall not be flown below such height as would
enable it, in the event of a power unit failure, to make an emergency
landing without causing danger to persons or property on the surface.

(b) The 500 feet rule

Except with the permission in writing of the CAA, an
aircraft shall not be flown closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel,
vehicle or structure.

(c) The 1,000 feet rule

Except with the permission in writing of the CAA, an
aircraft flying over a congested area of a city town or settlement shall
not fly below a height of 1,000 feet above the highest fixed obstacle
within a horizontal radius of 600 metres of the aircraft.

(d) The land clear rule

An aircraft flying over a congested area of a city town or
settlement shall not fly below such height as will permit, in the event
of a power unit failure, the aircraft to land clear of the congested area.

(e) Flying over open air assemblies

Except with the permission in writing of the CAA, an
aircraft shall not fly over an organised open-air assembly of more than
1,000 persons below -

(i) a height of 1,000 feet, or

(ii) such height as will permit, in the event of a power
unit failure, the aircraft to alight clear of the assembly,

whichever is the higher.

(f) Landing and taking off near open air assemblies

An aircraft shall not land or take-off within 1,000 metres
of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons, except -

(i) at an aerodrome, in accordance with procedures notified
by the CAA, or

(ii) at a landing site other than an aerodrome, in
accordance with procedures notified by the CAA and with the written
permission of the organiser of the assembly.

Dave

Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block. I have see
countless Lancasters (probably the same one), Spitfires, Hurricanes,
Vulcans (when that banks it is impressive), Tornadoes, etc. The
Lancaster is a "big" plane.

Sorry to be another one to have to correct you. The Lancaster is not a
big plane at all. It is quite tiny when you see it on the ground. The
Battle of Britain Memorial flight were frequent visitors at the site I
used to work at and I would say that it was not much longer than a
Tornado ADV. Higher at the front, but much lower at the back, due to its
back to front tricycle undercarriage. It had a wider wing span, but that
does not make it a bigger aircraft.

The skin panels looked very much like a well patched up aircraft that
had been in the wars, but if I remember rightly, this one never saw
active service in WWII. But I will stand corrected, if anyone can tell
me otherwise.

Many years ago, we had a German working party on site and the boss got
wind of the arrival of the B.o.B. memorial flight's arrival. As we all
looked out to the East for it, as soon as the first plane came into view
(the Lancaster) he turned on his heels to let the rest of the Germans
know that the flight was arriving. One wag turned round and shouted
'Look, the buggers are still s**t scared of them'.

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block. I have see
countless Lancasters (probably the same one), Spitfires, Hurricanes,
Vulcans (when that banks it is impressive), Tornadoes, etc. The
Lancaster is a "big" plane.

Sorry to be another one to have to correct you. The Lancaster is not a big
plane at all. It is quite tiny when you see it on the ground. The Battle
of Britain Memorial flight were frequent visitors at the site I used to
work at and I would say that it was not much longer than a Tornado ADV.
Higher at the front, but much lower at the back, due to its back to front
tricycle undercarriage. It had a wider wing span, but that does not make
it a bigger aircraft.

It looks big in the air. Probabaly because it has wide wings.

The skin panels looked very much like a well patched up aircraft that had
been in the wars, but if I remember rightly, this one never saw active
service in WWII. But I will stand corrected, if anyone can tell me
otherwise.

Many years ago, we had a German working party on site and the boss got
wind of the arrival of the B.o.B. memorial flight's arrival. As we all
looked out to the East for it, as soon as the first plane came into view
(the Lancaster) he turned on his heels to let the rest of the Germans know
that the flight was arriving. One wag turned round and shouted 'Look, the
buggers are still s**t scared of them'.

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Doctor Drivel wrote:

Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block. I have see
countless Lancasters (probably the same one), Spitfires, Hurricanes,
Vulcans (when that banks it is impressive), Tornadoes, etc. The
Lancaster is a "big" plane.

Sorry to be another one to have to correct you. The Lancaster is not a big
plane at all. It is quite tiny when you see it on the ground.

It depends on what you're comparing it with.

Mary

Mary Fisher wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message
...

Doctor Drivel wrote:


Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block. I have see
countless Lancasters (probably the same one), Spitfires, Hurricanes,
Vulcans (when that banks it is impressive), Tornadoes, etc. The
Lancaster is a "big" plane.

Sorry to be another one to have to correct you. The Lancaster is not a big
plane at all. It is quite tiny when you see it on the ground.


It depends on what you're comparing it with.

Compared to a Boeing 707, it is tiny. To a Hawk trainer, it is big :-)

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message
...

Doctor Drivel wrote:


Planes that do the flypasts in London fly over my block. I have see
countless Lancasters (probably the same one), Spitfires, Hurricanes,
Vulcans (when that banks it is impressive), Tornadoes, etc. The
Lancaster is a "big" plane.

Sorry to be another one to have to correct you. The Lancaster is not a
big plane at all. It is quite tiny when you see it on the ground.


It depends on what you're comparing it with.

Compared to a Boeing 707, it is tiny. To a Hawk trainer, it is big :-)

Quite.

It depends on what you're comparing it with.

Mary

Dave

John wrote:

One of my neighbours saw me looking up and asked what was the matter -
I pointed to the Spitfire. He wasn't impressed - "What's all the
excitement? Just some bloody aeroplane, isn't it?"

I went into full Victor Meldrew mode, with the wife trying to quieten
me. The poor neighbour retreated down the street with my voice
getting louder as he retreated - "Some bloody aeroplane? SOME BLOODY
AEROPLANE???!! If it wasn't for that 'bloody aeroplane', matey -
you'd be speaking German and eating with chopsticks!!!!!"

I think the poor man crossed the street on his way back home.

Just a few months later, a B17 flew over at low level, again heading
south. A hugely impressive sight and sound. But apart from me, not a
single person in the neighbourhood even raised their eyes. There's a
monument in London that promises we'll never forget. Hell - most
folks have forgotten already.

A little while ago the equivalent of http://tinyurl.com/ebqd8 was posted
to the local newsgroup here, and received a similar response: it's a
plane, so what? We discovered several Victor Meldrews in residence:-)

Douglas de Lacey

"Douglas de Lacey" wrote in message
...

A little while ago the equivalent of http://tinyurl.com/ebqd8 was posted
to the local newsgroup here, and received a similar response: it's a
plane, so what? We discovered several Victor Meldrews in residence:-)

Living with an aeroplane obsessive and having an RAF son I'm steeped in it.

But, thankfully, only military 'planes. Civil 'planes ARE mostly 'so
what?' -except seaplanes :-)

But there again, I swear that Victor Meldrew was modelled on the Fisher
males. all of them.

sigh

Mary

Douglas de Lacey

Mary Fisher wrote:

But there again, I swear that Victor Meldrew was modelled on the Fisher
males. all of them.


So is Meldrew's Syndrome carried in the Fisher (male line) genes... or
are we looking for some other common factor?

;-)


--
Ian White