mdesaxe

I passed my motorcycle test on a 250 cc BSA C15, which I promptly exchanged for a 500 cc Velocette Thruxton immediately after passing and rode it for my final year at boarding school and my first two years at university. I passed my driving test in a Ford Escort in 1968 and promptly moved on to a Mini-Cooper, but kept up my motorcycle licence, too. The quote above is there because my father, who served in the Fleet Air Arm and flew most if its fighters from the Fulmar to the Seafire and Corsair, did not know how to drive when he left the Royal Navy and went home to South Africa in 1948. His CO said as he departed "You can drive, can't you" and authorised a full driver's licence for him. He had to learn how to drive when he was home in South Africa but he never had to pass a test because he already had his licence! Maurice

This is a 3-inch/23 cal anti-aircraft gun, the first purpose-designed anti-aircraft gun for the US Navy. Maurice

Steve, That is a Russian torpedo boat built under licence to a Normand design at the Nevski yard and launched in 1897. 120 tons, 137' 10" long, 14'9". 2 x 37mm QF, 3 x 15" torpedo tubes (one fixed in the bow, two single rotaating) Maurice

Noel, They did indeed - the two I saw were white with Toblerone 'Police' signage on the boot lid. I had a definite love-hate relationship with mine. It was quick, comfortable, and handled nicely (much better than my Austin-Healey 3000 Mk.II). The 'hate' element was the gearbox. It was excellent most of the time except that the aluminium case was not stiff enough to handle the V-8's torque in low gear. Consequently, it would twist and eventually damage or strip first gear. I had to completely rebuild mine twice! Not particularly expensive but a major aggravation in terms of time. Some people replaced theirs with the gearbox from a Jaguar 3.4 saloon but I don't know how successful that was. The luxury car paradigm was very apparent in the lavish owner's manual. One of the early entries read: "Before starting your Daimler, remember to open the doors of your motor house." Maurice

Chris, I sold it around 1980 just before I moved to Fiesole with my newly-purchased Maserati Mistral convertible. I may have some buried photographs somewhere - this was the analogue era, though, so it would take quite a bit of effort to locate them. Maurice

Mine was red with a tan interior and top (and a black hardtop, too) but it had disc wheels. I sold it around 1980 when I bought a Maserati Mistral convertible as I was moving to Fiesole in Italy. I wonder if my SP250 still exists - 184 TPF. Maurice

If I'm not mistaken, that 2.5 litre engine was the same as the one Daimler originally developed for my SP 250 before the company was taken over by Jaguar. Maurice

I was walking back to my temporary office along Man Kwong Street when I was passed by a boxy SUV with RIVIAN in large letters across the tailgate. I've not heard of this, so I looked it up and found it's an all-electric SUV (the company makes an all-electric pickup, too.) The odd thing is that the Rivian company website says that they have yet to set up export arrangements outside the USA so how it got to Hong Kong is a puzzle. Maurice

In 1956 during the Suez operation Eagle embarked 830 NAS with 9 Wyverns, 892 NAS and 893 NAS with 9 and 8 Sea Venoms respectively, 897 NAS and 899 NAS with 12 Sea Hawks each, 849A NAS with 4 Skyraider AEW, and a Whirlwind made up the Ship's Flight. White Ensign offered the Sea Venoms, Sea Hawks, and Whirlwind in its 'Air Strike' range but only the Whirlwind has an undercarriage. The SNAFU Store on Shapeways has all but the Whirlwind (some with folded wings and all with undercarriages). Kokoda Trail Models on Shapeways has the Whirlwind (look for H-19). The Wessex did not enter RN service until 1961. I have some spare White Ensign examples if you are interested. Maurice

A good friend of mine who was his firm's sales representative for East Anglia was given a brand-new Avenger (50 miles or so on the clock) as his company car. He kept a large cardboard box in the boot to collect all the bits that fell off as he drove his rounds; items such as nuts, bolts, washers, window winder handles, dashboard control knobs, and so on. The final indignity was when the entire rear bumper fell off. He was given a new Morris Marina instead. He didn't like it much but at least nothing dropped off! Maurice

Welcome Mark! My wife was born in Corrales and we were married in the old historic church of San Ysidro there. We've also travelled extensively around New Mexico with our two daughters, so it's great to see someone from the state on the site. I have one question for you: red or green? Maurice

The decks were steel and painted. Maurice

While driving to Cavaillon this afternoon I was passed by a rather exotic Lucid Air. Unfortunately, it was quite a bit quicker than me, so I missed a photograph. I've never seen one before but it is an elegant all-electric tourer. I understand that its mechanical components also go into electric Aston Martins. Maurice

It's not just modern cars! I had a Lancia Fulvia 1600 Zagato that had disc brakes everywhere, including the handbrake. It invariably failed its MoT because the handbrake "was ineffective". Not surprising, since disc brakes only work if something is rotating. I finally had to locate an inspector who understood how brakes worked before I could have the car pass its test. Maurice

Gorgeous! Look just like the one I owned for two years until I was obliged to return to South Africa at the end of 1973. Maurice

A brother-in-law had one of these once. While he was stopped, a van clipped one corner of the body. The next thing he knew, he was still sitting in his seat (which was now on the road) holding the steering wheel, and surrounded by bits of fibreglass. Maurice

Coming home from Avignon, I saw a grey Aston-Martin DB5 followed by a maroon Porsche 356 convertible and a red Triumph TR6. Maybe there is a show going on near here that I did not know about? I will have to check. Maurice

Driving back from Arles this afternoon I saw a very nice shiny black early 1960s Ford Ranchero just outside Graveson going in the opposite direction. I did not know there were any of these in France! Maurice

Outside a house near Caumont this afternoon. Dodge Charger R/T Maurice

Saw this one this morning in Lyon. Maurice

Here is the illustration for the painting instructions for the Martlet IV. I'm adding the parallel item for the F4F-4 with 50-inch stars. Maurice

Thank you @Geoffrey Sinclair and @Troy Smithfor reminding me what a poor idea it is to write at 04:30 from memory before I’ve had enough coffee! I ought to have remembered about the TBF-1C in FAA service because some years ago I was able to spend several hours crawling all over and inside what is probably the last surviving Tarpon I – the Avenger in the National Air and Space Museum’s collection, now correctly catalogued as a Tarpon. This aircraft is serialled FN859 (USN BuNo 24085) and has the Grumman plate identifying it as a TBF-1. Currently, it is in storage in a dilapidated condition. Under a fictitious 1943-era USN tri-colour camouflage finish, the original FAA camouflage in MAP colours is visible where the later paint has worn or flaked away. The British roundels and fin flashes also are apparent as ghosts under the later paint. Unfortunately, this is what we bikers used to call a “bitsa” – the port outer folding wing panel comes from a TBM-1C and the starboard panel from a TBM-3 (the fittings for the 0.50-inch machine guns in each wing panel are present but the ports are covered). The original 0.30-inch gun in the fuselage was removed along with its fittings and the slot in the cowl plated over. The aircraft has the appropriate British domed observation windows in the lower fuselage behind the bomb bay. However, the second cockpit does not answer @Troy Smith’s question because it is fitted out with electronic gear appropriate for a TBF-1C, as is the radio operator’s compartment behind the bomb bay. If this is as originally built it throws up questions about TBF-1 production history. This aircraft is slated for restoration in the future but the schedule is indeterminate, as is its final restored state, which apparently is still a matter for debate at the museum. I do have information from Brough about the modifications for the second cockpit but it is buried in boxes in storage, so it might take some time to locate it. I looked at the suggested thread and confirm @Seahawk's reservations about the Wings & Wheels book – the photographs cited are of a TBM-3E (possibly one previously supplied to the French) that has been painted up in FAA colours and fitted out with a vague approximation of the British second cockpit (it is not even correct for the early TBF-1). I promise to keep on topic in the future. Maurice

In 1943 Grumman ceased production of F4F and TBF aircraft and handed over complete responsibility for their continued production to Eastern Aircraft - a General Motors car plant in Linden , New Jersey, reconfigured to build aircraft - so that Grumman could concentrate on the F6F. Feedback from the fleet had not been very favourable to the F4F-4, so Eastern produced a variant that reverted to the four 0.50-inch guns of the F4F-3 under the designation of FM-1. No four-gun variants of the F4F-4 aircraft were built by Grumman. It is quite possible that some MAP paints were sent to Eastern Aircraft before the production line then switched to ANA equivalents for both the FM-1 and TBM-1C for British service. Close - but not quite correct. Avenger/Tarpon I aircraft were designated TBF-1B (for British) and were very similar to the TBF-1 for the US Navy but had the domed observation window on each side in the lower fuselage. All these aircraft (British and American) had what is best described as a three-seat cockpit - pilot, radio-operator behind him in a proper seat, and gunner in the turret. Their forward-firing armament was a single 0.30 on the starboard side of the cowl firing through the propellor. The Avenger II was the British designation for the Eastern TBM-1C (equivalent to the Grumman TBF-1C) which moved the radio operator to a position in the lower fuselage immediately behind the bomb bay and filled the space in the cockpit with radio equipment. The forward-firing armament was changed to two 0.50-inch guns, one in each wing. The British did not like the new crew arrangement, so Blackburn rebuilt the second cockpit position to essentially duplicate the original arrangement in the TBF-1. Nevertheless, there were quite a few other detail differences between the TBF-1 and the TBM-1C, both external and internal, Furthermore, Britain did not receive any TBF-1C aircraft, so the different mark numbers related specifically to actual physical differences, not different manufacturers. Vought built all Corsair I and II aircraft but the two types are quite different. The Corsair I is the original "birdcage" type while the Corsair II has the later bubble canopy. Within the two marks there are many variations, but the two designations exist to distinguish two quite different models. On a side note - the Corsair III, built by Brewster, throws up a puzzle. The FAA never deployed Corsair III's operationally but used them almost exclusively for training British crews in the USA. One reason usually given for this was that the gun mountings in the folding wing panels of Brewster-built machines were too weak to allow continuous firing. The odd thing is that most of the folding wing panels for the later Vought-production Corsairs were sub-contracted to Brewster, and Blackburn (responsible for modifications to British standards) makes no mention in its records of having to strengthen the gun mounts of Vought-built machines! I apologise for wandering off-topic - I could not see where else to put this information. Maurice

@Seahawk According to the finishing instructions for G-36B (Martlet II) and F4F-4B (Martlet IV) in the Grumman archives, the wing roundels, both upper and lower, were 40 inches in diameter. It would be difficult to fit a 54-inch diameter roundel on the wings in the position specified (centred on the middle of the aileron) since the larger 50-inch diameter stars contemporaneously applied to US Navy F4F-4 aircraft (centred just outboard of the inboard end of the aileron) could barely fit in that further inboard position. Maurice

That is a beautiful Sea Hurricane! It looks like Arma Hobby did not get the markings quite correct, though. For some unknown reason, none of the three fighter squadrons (800 with Sea Hurricanes, 806 with Martlets, 880 with Sea Hurricanes) embarked on Indomitable complied with the special instruction to paint up the leading edges and fin in yellow.There are quite a few photographs that make this very apparent. The carrier's Sea Hurricane squadrons also had the aircraft ID painted in small letters on the wing leading edge each side near the wing root, 6+letter for 800, 7+letter for 880 (this may also have been true for 806 but I know of no photograph to show it). Finally, for Exercise Berserk, a fighter control exercise in August just before the operation for all the carriers involved in Pedestal, Indomitable's Sea Hurricane squadrons painted up special white markings: 800 had a white ring around the nose behind the spinner and 880 a white band around the tail. By the time of Pedestal, 800's white markings were painted out, but it is possible that the tail band on 880's Sea Hurricanes was still in white rather than being overpainted in sky (none of 800's aircraft had a tail band of any kind). If I ever were to revert to building model aircraft again I might well pick up one of these after seeing what a splendid job you made of it. Maurice