Folkbox1

I'll keep an eye out for that, thanks

An interesting topic, I shall have to see if I can find any interesting books on that era RAF

I've read somewhere that they were experimenting with drop tanks in the 1920s so perhaps the interceptor role was prioritised over any other type of single engined figher

Is this because of the pre war thinking that the bomber would always get through so they didn't need an escort nd as they were as fast as fighters.

Cheers, still seems dodgy balancing the on their tail fins and then man handling them. Rather them than me

Saw this on X this morning. Any ideas? Never seen bombs stored this way, only seen bomb trolleys for allied planes. Wondered if they weren't bombs at all, gas bottles? If they are bombs then surely they must be light enough to safely be manhandled into the bomb bay. Could they contain leaflets or something similar that isn't explosive?

Did they do shrinkflation back then? I remember (it must have been in the 80s or even 90s) someone proposing a way of measuring the relative costs over time was to use the price of mars bars as they hadn't changed the recipe, ingredients or size for most of the 20th century so if a plane cost the equivalent of 100,000 mars bars in 1940 it would give you a good idea of the price of that plane in 1990 money. That doesn't tally with your memory though (I don't think I had my first mars bar till the mid 70s so can't say - I was into Kitkats or flakes at the time)

Thanks guys. Interesting subject and one of my favourite planes. After years of thinking it was the engine it was interesting to hear why it wasn't (aerodynamics isn't my forte but I think i've understood the reasons). Still baffling that they stuck with that propeller and didn't go for the one used on the prototype - perhaps that was needed more urgently by Spits or Hurris, I don't know. Darren

Blackburn Blackburn - a seriously unloved machine for some reason

Prompted by a comment from the We Have Ways.. history podcast a search on t'net revealed that the problem with the Whirlwind was not the engine but the propellers. Turns out they were not the same as fitted to the prototype, were too thick and caused too much drag at high speeds/altitude. The constant speed unit couldn't adjust the angle of the blades to compensate enough so power and performance dropped off. Admittedly, merlins would probably have had enough power to compensate but if the Whirlwind had the same props as fitted to the prototype the Peregrine would have been sufficient. Who knew?

Thanks 🙂 Yes, it seems like that to me too 😞

My wife has just completed a masters (woo hoo) but a while ago when she was starting she said degrees were called that because they were made up of 360 credits. I thought this was just some sort of urban myth or a wind up but although I'm sure degrees were degrees before credits modules and semesters when did British universities start using them? I was at Uni in Newcastle in the mid 80s and I'd never heard of credits, modules and semesters except in American films. We just had subjects, exams and three terms and if you failed a subject you retook it or retook the whole year - it was never expressed any other way.

I asked about this a few years back and as others have said it doesn't look like any protection was issued (although perhaps Naval gunners had ear protection along with their flash hoods). I was prompted to ask as one of my uncles served on AA guns in WW2 London and my mum told me she had read letters to his wife about how much pain (enough to bring him to tears) he suffered from his ears at that time. As long as I knew him he had to have a hearing aid and could hear sod all without it.

No idea what the differences between Ausf D and A and B etc might be but two things spring to mind. Could the various versions been designed at the same time and the D happened to be ready first (like the Tempest 5 came out before the Tempest 2 iirc). Could it just be different manufacturers had different letters for some reason?

Lol - logo looks like a U with an umlaut but didn't notice the clearer print below🤣

No experience of this company's kits but they do an interesting range of Universal Carriers in 35th scale. Anyone built, looked at or in any other way interacted with these kits? Any good? How do they compare with the Tamiya offerings? Darren

Just read this in Wikipedia (so I know it must be true LOL) Used in the aerial reconnaissance role, the P-38 accounted for 90 percent of the aerial film captured over Europe.[6] This can't be correct can it? After all the RAF had been doing Recce flights over Europe for almost three years before the P-38 saw action in Europe for the first time (August 42 according to wikipedia). Americans over boasting again?

Just realised my category A has restriction 79(3) which allows me to drive a trike - I presume without category and L plates

One of the group of letters on my licence fklnpq covers tracked vehicles which I assume includes tanks🤣🤣 This is wrong h is for tracked vehicles

Thanks peeps 😁 Have thought of possibly getting a moped but was confused when trying to understand the categories and their meanings. Possibility of riding a Honda goldwing on L plates appalled me🤣 Looks like I drive a tank though😁😁😁

Just found that category A is provisionally only, so does that include A1 and A2? I can ride any motorbike as long as I put L plates on it with not a single lesson?

Ok, bit puzzled here. I passed my test (car) in 1983 and I'm sure I remember that I could drive a moped and a motorbike up to 125cc (with L plates) on this licence. Looking at my modern photo licence it looks like I can drive a moped (AM catedory) and motorbike (A category) there is nothing to say I need L plates for either. Looking at the DVLC website hasn't really helped although it does say having category A means I can drive A1 and A2 which seems to cover all motorbikes. This can't be right, can it? That I can drive any motorbike on my car licence? Category AM You can drive 2-wheeled or 3-wheeled vehicles with a maximum design speed of over 25km/h (15.5mph) but not more than 45km/h (28mph). This category also includes light quad bikes with: unladen mass of not more than 350kg (not including batteries if it’s an electric vehicle) maximum design speed of over 25km/h (15.5mph) but not more than 45km/h (28mph) Category A1 You can drive light motorbikes with: an engine size up to 125cc a power output of up to 11kW a power to weight ratio not more than 0.1kW/kg This category also includes motor tricycles with power output up to 15kW. Category A2 You can drive motorbikes with a: power output up to 35kW power to weight ratio not more than 0.2kW/kg The motorbike must also not be derived from a vehicle of more than double its power. You can also drive motorbikes in category A1. Category A You can drive: motorbikes with a power output more than 35kW or a power to weight ratio more than 0.2kW/kg motor tricycles with a power output more than 15kW You can also drive motorbikes in categories A1 and A2. Puzzled

Anyone out there playing this game? My daughter got the Oculus for Christmas and i chipped in with this game. So far it is fun with 5 levels of difficulty, the graphics are ok and as a flight sim it doesn't seem too bad. There's a reasonable range of planes to choose from and you can fly as Entente Cordiale and Axis

Now you've posted that I have a feeling I may have these in my stash somewhere Wow, they look fantastic. I don't have a 3d printer but I know a man who does

thanks Jack - sounds like whatever is out there will need drastic surgery. Shame as 32nd scale seems quite well served for WW1 pilots