siznaudin

Fascinating: good post, Michael :)

Welcome to TAA Karl - you will find it is a very friendly place. Which part of the world are you from, I wonder... ? All the best from Geoff...

Bienvenu, Myr, au forum “L’Aviateur Australien”. Nous sommes très heureux que vous êtes devenus un membre de cet groupe.

Hi Doug, I've just come from a walk around your website: it is superb...a great tribute - my congratulations and a recommendation for any viewers of TAA to pay a visit and also to pay their respects in thought at least, to those who sacrificed for our way of life and values. I note that the accident report indicates an 11 o'clock approach by the Spit, and that the bomber was in a gentle left turn at the time. All of this throws into question the "right side" gunner making the observation, I guess. Again, congratulations on a really superb site. :appl:

The text was lifted from http://www.adelaideriverwargraves.com/kelly1.htm Doug, and I think you're correct: one would expect the left-side gunner to be the one to pick it up. Even more likely perhaps - the front gunner or bomb aimer..? BTW - there's an image out there in cyberspace of a 452 squadron Darwin Spit which is given as a MkVc (tropical filter fitted). I think Kelly was flying a MkVIII when he went down. Cheers, Geoff.

Yea, thanks, Chainy.. I wear my coffee on my sleeve, or to put it another way - I'd never make a poker player.. too easy to read Doug, I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but I'd be surprised if Spits fitted with the Vokes filter were used in the UK: they were fitted at some performance cost, to get around the damage caused to the Merlins by the dust on North African (and Pacific theatre) unsealed strips. No doubt I'll be proven wrong here.. all contributions are welcome:wink: BTW, my father-in-law did a short stint on B24's out of Darwin in '45. They were evidently a seriously heavy thing to handle control-wise: needed LOTS of muscle power. The right door gunner, SSgt Ellie V. Hester, saw the Aussie Spitfire closing in and knew it was going to hit them, but could not warn the pilot in time as the Spitfire flew into the B-24's number one engine. The impact sheared the number one engine propeller off of the bomber and left wing of the Spitfire.

MkVB(trop) or MkVC(trop) ... it's fitted with the Vokes filter. Any idea which theatre of war the shot was taken?

Gallery: Vintage Aircraft & Warbirds.

If only you could see the wrinkles: my avatar isn't too far off the real thing:redface: First three shots posted. More to come. BTW .. I guess there'd be a few out there who know the lineage of the Renault V8 - which eventually transmogrified into the Dripsy Major...?

Merry New Year to you all.... Self & co-driver had a couple of hours at the above establishment while on our way back from the eastern states holiday and I was VERY impressed at the range of stuff on display there. Can highly recommend that you call in if anywhere near. One display is a superb in-cabinet pair of R-R donks, a Merlin and a Kestrel. The other surprise was stumbling upon an Armstrong Siddley Python donk which was the type used in Westland Wyverns, except that this came from a somewhat different source - an Avro Lincoln :eek: If enough interest is shown, I could post some piccies. Let me know...

Some years ago I watched paragliders and hang gliders using the same field to land in. Para gliders were like gossamer gently alighting - hang gliders very mechanical and very FAST. I'd take paras anytime, thankyou. Half your luck

A bit of toilet humour...

How was the $Au cf the $US 12 months ago .. that might be part of the picture too..

Well, sort of anyway .. heard on the steam powered radio this morning that KLM have flown a 747 on (well, partly on ..) bio fuel. It sounded like a promo cum publicity stunt more than anything else - only one engine was run on a 50-50 mix of JetA1 and the "green" fuel, and the other three stayed with good old fossil fuel. Said green fuel only needs 3 squillion hectares of otherwise food-producing arable land for its production, which leaves one wondering how the world will be able to feed itself while we hurtle around the planet in carbon neutral fuelled lumps of aluminium, doesn't it!

G'day Doug, and welcome to the group.. My pa-in-law was an instructor at Temora (Tigers, and lots of 'em) and right at the end of the war had a short time with Libs out of Darwin. They must have been an extremely "physical" thing to manhandle, as an entry in his service record suggests that he wasn't quite up to the energy levels required for the controls. We've come a long way (eg fly by wire..) since then. Some would suggest too far !! Geoff

Here y'are... [ATTACH]544.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]17939[/ATTACH]

Some days we like to whinge a bit about our lot in life. It pays to get involved with something like this occasionally to remind ourselves how lucky we are...... Good one, Coop - well done! We've done a couple of similar car ride things in the S series, (not the veterans as yet.. although the Hi-wheeler will be ideal - could probably pack about 6 or 8 kids into it), and it certainly brings home just how fortunate we are, in so many respects.

see if [email protected] gets any response Rob...

A superb account Coop (as ever..) - gawd knows, I've flown over this territory often enough, although significantly higher and somewhat further to the West in the "Moomba Express" (Nat Jet BAe 146). One of the features visible, even from commercial altitude, was the rabbit warrens, showing as patches of white against the red dirt.

Dunno if this link to the Coodabeen Champions site will work, but if it does, zip through the MP3 file to about 2/3 distance and hear the dulcet tones of "Cap'n John" (Coop) regaling the listening audience with Auster Tails (tales).... http://www.abc.net.au/coodabeens/stories/2705199.htm He's doing an autograph session at the next AAAA fly in.

Hiya Mr & Mrs Coop ... having spent more years than I might have preferred up in that neck of the woods doing "Santos Service", I have been looking at forecasts during your time away and thinking of you. "North east pastoral - ... areas of raised dust ..." Oh boy, after 23+ years there,I know just what that can mean: hope it hasn't been too fierce and gritty for you. Safe travels & no crosswind landings!

Jeez, Coop - and there was Chris & I doing b*****y house renovations! Good on ya, though...! Half your luck, and as usual, a beautifully told story! We should try to catch up before your trip north.

WHAT Global Financial Crisis..? ..and from the impoverished southerners - congrats on a superb set of images!

Like Kennedy's assassination and Lennon's murder, I remember it like crystal just where I was when the news broke. And aviation for the walk-on baggage brigade would never be the same again.:cray:

The SR-71 set and still holds the "Speed Over a Recognized Course" record for flying from New York to London in 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds, on 1 September 1974 while flown by U.S. Air Force Pilot Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj. Noel F. Widdifield, reconnaissance system officer. This represents an average speed of about Mach 2.68, including decelleration for in-flight refueling. Peak speeds during this flight were probably closer to the declassified top speed of Mach 3.2+. (For comparison, the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes, and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.)