Dubbo

Did you ever see the documentary that James Cameron did where he dove the Bismark. Took some Bismark vets with him too and some Brit Navy vets. Brilliant.

Hmmmm indeed. :cyclopsani:

I like Weird Al. My favourite is "One More Minute" Brilliant song. Thanks

Excellent story. Nice to see justice prevail. I wonder what happened to the subordinate officer who rejected the original request......

Scragbat is excellent brother. Haven't seen a ny new ones from him for a while.

Love the old Triumphs too - like to see your pics Delta. It's a weird thing. You can buy a modern rice rocket, thrash the thing to death and have a ton of fun doing it - but I've never been able to bond to Japanese bikes. The old Brits though, what with adjusting the tappets every 500 miles and retightening the flanges on the J-pipe headers (hell re-tightening and re-adjusting everything), priming the carbs and threatening/cajoling/coercing the old girl into starting - it was like a problem child you just can't help loving....or a wilful woman. Sometimes, I could get it to start by pushing gently down on the kick. Other times though, she would kick back and pretty much shatter your shin, or throw you off the bike entirely. And then there were the times where it just wouldn't start til it was ready, no matter what you did - normally when you needed to be somewhere. Still though, more reliable than a Lucas electric start (like the Commandoes had) :wink:

Well that and the practice of disassembling the bases and moving everything by train - tents, hangars, personell and aircraft. They'd pull into town like a travelling circus

We're in the process of moving and everythings packed away. It was also the pre-digital camera era but I do have pics somewhere so I'll endeavour to dig them up.

No worries mate. You will get plenty of ops to set me straight let me tell you :wink:

Nice day out. Thanks for sharing. I like the Commando. Before I left Australia I was the proud owner of a 750cc 1968 Norton Atlas, the last of the featherbed Nortons. It was beautiful to look at and ride and it sounded awesome. I had it totally rebuilt as a cafe racer with single seat, clip-ons, upswept pipes, cafe tank - the whole bit. The rebuild was done with all Norton parts which were readily available at the time (I don't know if they still are) Brand new Smith gauges, brand new Akront rims, brand new Amal carbs & a big 210mm racing drum on the front. Matching #s and repainted in silver, black and red......I miss it I love old Brit bikes - the AJS in the background is beautiful too

Wow :shock:

JP respects no-one. This experience would just have him tolerate the bloke a little easier.....for now. :wink:

Always cool JP

It was reading Commando comics as a young lad that originally got me interested in WW2. I recently found a couple and I gave them to Beebop as he never got to experience them over here in the US

Actually, I'm with Doubletap. I want it to be good and I'd be willing to overlook some things. They actually built several full scale flying aircraft (at least 4 Nieuports) for this movie so it's not all CGI. I first found out about this movie when I came across some company selling a bunch of the aircraft off. Quite impressive really. Working against it is the fact that the director, whilst a producer on the classic film "The Sting", has been working on TV shows since then (Although he did direct Untamed Heart and Crazy People which were ok). Black US WW1 pilots...I know of at least one - Eugene Bullard. I know he survived the war and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in the French army before learning to fly. And he stayed after the war until Germany moved back in during WW2 and then he went back to the States. There was a book about him...Black Swallow something. As for the Dr1 colour schemes, Richthofen's Jasta 11 squadron was painted red for easy identification by one another. Most of the aircraft within the squadron had personal touches but were basically red. In fact Richthofen's Dr1 for some time only had a red tail, top of fuselage and top wing - the rest was varnished clear. Later on a number of Jasta 11 were painted a solid red. Anyway, I hope it doesn't suck. Here is link to a somewhat larger sized trailer...it looks better when you can see it :wink: http://www.themovieblog.com/archives/20 ... ailer.html

Saturday? Please?

Look at this...people. I suppose they will be static but guys....people! :shock: People and a damaged Howitzer...

Nice mate. I hate seeing the eyebolts through the wings but the ship could have a worse fate. That building looks pretty damn impressive.

I haven't done any for a while because I've been buried in a couple of Ken Follet novels. One I read a while ago on Zeuscat's recommendation was called Death Traps by one Belton Y. Cooper. A maintenance officer who served in the legendary Third Armored Division ("Spearhead"), Cooper was charged with the critical task of locating damaged Shermans, directing their recovery, and ensuring the flow of new or repaired tanks to frontline units. From the Normandy invasion to V-E day, Cooper witnessed the folly of Patton’s logic firsthand. The author calculates (with only a touch of irony) that he "has seen more knocked out tanks than any other living American." His eyewitness observations confirmed what American tank crews discovered in combat: the Sherman was badly outclassed by German medium and heavy tanks, most notably the Mark V Panther and the Mark VI Tiger. With their heavier armor, the Panther and Tiger were almost impervious to rounds fired from the Sherman’s 75 or 76 mm main gun; conversely, the 88 mm gun on the German tanks usually made short work of their American opponents. Tabulating the results of this mismatch, Cooper highlights the staggering cost of the Army’s flawed choice for its main battle tank. Over the next 11 months, the Third Armored Division, which began the Normandy campaign with 232 M4 tanks, would see 648 of its Shermans destroyed in combat, with another 700 knocked out of commission before being repaired and returned to service—a cumulative loss rate of 580 percent. Casualties among tank crews also skyrocketed, producing an acute shortage of qualified personnel. By late 1944, Cooper recalls, the Army was sending newly arrived infantrymen into combat as replacement tank crews. Some of these recruits received only one day of armor training before being dispatched to the front in their M4s. But Death Traps is more than a statistical analysis or a collection of wartime remembrances. The author effectively recounts the years of prewar ne-glect and underfunding that sometimes resulted in poor acquisition decisions. And he also succeeds in depicting the valiant tankers and resourceful maintenance crews who battled long odds and kept American tank units in combat. Sometimes I found myself reading stuff that the author had already stated or related but he still wrote fairly well and it makes for an easy read. 2 thumbs up :thumbright: :thumbleft:

If I recall correctly, the winner from last year (in pic 2) is also a Canadian (Russian borne) So I'm partial to the Canadian girls Some of those other pics on the line-up page there....not their best. I like Miss Spain. And Miss Sweden is incredible cute.

Aw c'mon guys. Airshow aside, it's worth it to travel 1000 miles just to meet Waldo. I mean I've met him and I'd still do the trip :wink:

Beebop is still trying to sort the camera out unfortunately.

I would like to invite everyone here to attend the Abbotsford airshow this year. Beebop and Jensenpark are attending this year with me and I would like to extend the invitation to anyone who can make it. (Emann and Waldo Pepper are also on the short list). Aside from me, the list of dogs that may be attending should be an incentive in itself. :wink: We were looking at attending the Saturday show - 12th Aug http://www.abbotsfordairshow.com/ It's not a great airshow, particularly by Nth American Standards although some years are better than others. But it is an opportunity to meet up with some fellow dogs and get some sun & beer and look at airplanes and women. It really is a great combination. Last year Beebop, Jensenpark and myself got together and went and really had a great time. Look at the nerds....... Pacific Prowler Val Halla And of course they had the classic Snowbirds in their Tudors and the USAF Thunderbirds in their F-16s and a display by the A-10, some Stearmans and some Havard/Texans as well as the normal aerobatic displays. Afterwards I will fire up the patio altar and sacrifice some farm animals to the gods of summer. While this goes on beer will be served. (Families and friends welcome also) Please indicate interest here. As the dates get closer I will purchase tickets and the more we have attending, the cheaper the tickets become. The price is $25 per adult but $80 per carload (up to 8 persons). I hope we can get some more attending this year. The airshow is good excuse to meet more of you guys.

Nice screenies. You shouldn't be bored though. Haven't you got a campaign to test?? :wink: