Four engines and slow as hell

[René]

@ Carl: You won’t be disappointed. It’s an incredible documentary. And thanks for sharing the Meuse-Argonne documentary, very interesting indeed.

@ Chris: Yes, that’s the one I mean. It’s a must see, isn’t it?
Impressive piece of family history there Chris, something to be proud of.

I have been to Ypres, although not witnessed the Last post. I have also been to Verdun once with a few mates. That was very impressive. The countless graves makes you realize the madness of war.

I live near Margraten American Cemetery, one of the largest American WW2 cemeteries outside the US. I drive by it every day to work. It’s an impressive place and we already came there as kids to pay our respect. My mother lived nearby when she was a young girl and she can still vividly remember how at the end of the war the trucks with dead bodies drove by their house day in day out. Mostly black American soldiers were commissioned with the transport and buriel of the dead, a terribly hard job. The first black men they ever saw, my mom remembers. How the world has changed in only one generation...

[Carl]

Rene,
          Your mother's recollections are sobering reminders of the cost of war, as are your current reflections. At the time, black servicemen were segregated and assigned the least desirable duties. President Truman, WW1 artillery officer, was soon to order complete integration in the military.

          With two reliable endorsements, I know I will enjoy this groundbreaking documentary. A ticket is already secure in my wallet.

Cheers, Carl

[charleselan]

I cannot write much at present, well nothing that would make much sense, but i have read this and the other recent threads with massive interest. This has been a wonderfully inspiring read all the way through. Fantastic guys, keep up the truly excellent work.

[Carl]

Jan 14, 2019 20:31:17 GMT charleselan said:

I cannot write much at present, well nothing that would make much sense, but i have read this and the other recent threads with massive interest. This has been a wonderfully inspiring read all the way through. Fantastic guys, keep up the truly excellent work.

Your presence at the table makes perfect sense.  We're delighted to have you...    

[chrisb]

hear hear Carl, salute and if I may, a toast, to not only to the welcome return from JC but also to all of the others as well, a toast gentlemen to thank you for your past, present and future comments and contributions and I really hope to hear from you all in the forthcoming days -

[Carl]

Jan 8, 2019 21:45:55 GMT Carl said:

This is a fascinating cockpit view of a beautifully restored Boeing B-17G with a crew of oldtimers as they start the engines and prepare for flight.  There are some wonderful scenes during flight from the bombardier's position.  On the B-17G model, there were four massive .50 caliber machine guns at his disposal, two in a remote turret beneath and one on each side controlled directly.  Its defensive armament is why this workhorse bomber was called the Flying Fortress

I just watched this for the third time and always see something new.  I count at least 30 different instruments. 

When I lived in the San Fernando Valley, our house was directly beneath Burbank Airport's flight path for take-offs.  The passenger jets were quiet because they had already gained altitude by the time they were overhead, but...every summer one of the vintage warplane restoration groups came by for a long weekend.  Those planes I wanted to hear!  Because big bombers take time to gain altitude, the engines straining for altitude were loud and clear and I'd hurry outside to stare transfixed at the broad-winged beauty of the B-17 and the graceful B-25 as they slowly climbed right above.  Awesome! 

Cheers, Carl

[chrisb]

Gentleman, we have another shared interest!

When I was very young I lived near Biggin Hill in Kent and every year we used to be taken there by my Grandfather [oh the blessings of connections] for the Air Show and eventually realised we could see more from his beautiful back garden and I do wish I had clearer memories of those gorgeous days of sunshine and aeroplanes, but it was impressive 

my favourite plane of all time is the De Havilland Mosquito - I just love its simplicity and effectiveness but have never seen one in the air, which is something I would love to see -

Rene, that is such a lovely story and just shows you how quickly our societies have changed

Carl, that must have been a real experience, at Brands we used to regularly get a fly past of the Lanchester and the Spit and Hurri which was pretty breathtaking

[charleselan]

This has been such a great thread with so many interesting comments. Over the past few weeks I have been in contact with Carl and we have discussed many things related to this, and following on from that I thought that I would add a bit of personal information to the topic.

In WW2 my mothers older brother Dennis was a fighter pilot and flew many different planes including Hawker Hurricanes, however as he was too young at the start of the war, he came in later, so had the privilege of piloting the much more sophisticated Hawker Tempest. I believe this to be the fastest English fighter of the period and also it carried some pretty impressive hardware. He often talked about how this was the aircraft that was used to destabilise the V1 Flying Bomb, and also it was used to attack ground positions and rail transport.

Dennis was really into photography even before joining up, and used to process his own work. The rest of his squadron were also very into it as well and there is some excellent documentation of that period which I am fortunate enough to have inherited thanks to my grand mother. I really must get around to digitising the photos, along with my own huge volume of work. 

Earlier this evening while searching for a particular photo I entered a folder of scanned family photos that my other half had done a couple of years ago, and found one of the photos of Dennis sat on his motorcycle in front of his very own Hawker Tempest. I quick run through Photoshop to tidy it up a bit and here it is, hope you enjoy.

[René]

Wonderful story JC. And what a picture to have!

[charleselan]

Thanks René, so pleased you liked it. I have many more of his photos which I must look out and do some work on. Incidentally Dennis and his wife are still alive (in their 90's) and he has had a very interesting life, he spent some years in the early 60's as advisor in the South Atlantic volcanic island Tristan Da Cuna, along with his young family. They were evacuated once when it erupted, and then returned for another spell.

[Carl]

Jan 18, 2019 9:30:05 GMT René said:

Wonderful story JC. And what a picture to have!

The plane is beautiful and fearsome... even parked! 

[chrisb]

they really were true beats of the sky, fortunately, there are some splendid documentaries about the Typhoon and Tempest and such a lovely story JC

[mikael]

A step towards electrification of airplanes (as well):

www.flightglobal.com/air-transport/yak-40-fitted-with-propeller-for-superconducting-motor-test/141750.article

[Carl]

Great experiences are worth repeating...

This is a fascinating cockpit view of a beautifully restored Boeing B-17G with a crew of oldtimers as they start the engines and prepare for flight. There are some wonderful scenes during flight from the bombardier's position. On the B-17G model, there were four massive .50 caliber machine guns at his disposal, two in a remote turret beneath and one on each side controlled directly. Its defensive armament is why this workhorse bomber was called the Flying Fortress

[René]

Great stuff Carl.

I took the liberty to move this entire thread to the new 'Other stuff' section to give it a lift off...