willedoo

The Queensland Government has a website on WW2 historic places, including a bit of RAAF history.This page, http://www.publicworks.qld.gov.au/sites/qldwwiiplaces/Pages/Searchonmap.aspx (search on map menu), divides Queensland into regions & clicking on a region opens a Google Earth interface with WW2 sites bookmarked on it. Some of the sites are aircraft wreck sites, RAAF bases,airfields, bomb shelters etc.. Quite a few of them are still around. To cut a long story short, I was wondering if anyone knows of any similar websites for other states. Cheers, Willie.

Putting an Annie through it's paces, dropping 3000m in less tham 3 minutes after a parachute drop. Cheers, Willie.

Today, September 12th., is seventy one years since the only known aerial ramming performed by a female pilot. Lieutenant Yekaterina Zelenko, a Ukranian Soviet, piloting a Sukhoi Su-2 was attacked by a group of Messerschmitt Bf-109's in 1941. After running out of ammunition, she performed a top down ramming on one of the 109's, cutting it in half, but lost her life when her own aircraft exploded. As with a lot of Soviet WW2 pilots, she was posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest Soviet award, forty years after the war. The long delay in awarding honours seemed to be common with posthumous awards and in particular, returned POW's. Senior Lieutenant Zelenko [ATTACH=full]1341[/ATTACH] Sukhoi Su-2 [ATTACH=full]1342[/ATTACH] Bf-109 [ATTACH=full]1343[/ATTACH] Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18261[/ATTACH]

Very interesting viewing, thanks Peter. Also interesting to see the crew of the KM Caspian Sea Monster wearing tank helmets instead of the usual ShL leather inner/com helmets. A bit more padding in the event of a prang at least. Cheers, Willie.

An interesting story, for sure. Looks like he was still in Darwin 4 years ago: http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2007/12/08/2795_ntnews.html Found this extended version of the 7.30 Report interview, same interview as in the original post, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1149010.htm Cheers, Willie.

Link to an article on research by NASA and partners into low thrust, solar-electric propulsion, and it's potential application in deep space cargo missions. http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_08_13_2012_p21-483700.xml

Thanks again Geoff, that's the sort of price that makes more sense. Some booksellers try it on a bit, I've seen the same book advertised for crazy prices. You'd have to be crazy to pay them. An example is this book advertised for almost a thousand US dollars; whishful thinking, a bit like the million dollar Chihuahua on ebay. Cheers, Willie.

I see Airliners has some nice images as well, some in flight and others giving a good view of the open hatches etc.. Airborne photos with the gear up really shows up some complex shapes in the hull. That Flyingmag pilot report linked above is really interesting reading. Cheers, Willie.

Thanks,Geoff, I'll give them a try. The Book Depository in the UK usually has most books, but I noticed if they haven't got a title, they suggest AbeBooks as well. Must be some link between them. Cheers, Willie.

Seems like that was a bargain, AyeEss, I'd hang on to that one. I've been looking around a bit, and his books seem to be rare collectables. Copies of 'The Sky Beyond' seem to be selling for $150-$200 and more, if you can get them. I'd guess that would be first editions. There doesn't seem to be any modern re-prints out there. I tracked down a copy of 'Call to the Winds' last night for about $40; it's apparently the story of the last unsuccessful Tasman crossing in the opening post above. Looking forward to getting that and reading the story straight from the horse's mouth. Cheers, Willie.

I like this quote from the museum curator when asked what is his favourite object in the collection: " but I’d have to say, that the Boeing PB2B-2 Catalina “Frigate Bird II” is very dear to my heart because I like large round engined metal aeroplanes." Cheers, Willie.

Thanks AyeEss. I found a reference to the book last night & am trying to track down a copy. It sounds like a good one. It never ceases to amaze, the bravery and capers the early aviators got up to. Edit: Found this site with a few quotes from his 1935 book, 'Pacific Flight', from back in the Lady Southern Cross days. Sounds like another good story. http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/altair/pgtaylor.htm This is the list of his books that they quote, I'd guess some would be a bit hard to find. Pacific Flight (1935) VH-UXX (1937) Call to the Winds (1944) Forgotten Island (1948) Frigate Bird (1953) The Sky Beyond (1963) Bird of the Islands (1964) Sopwith Scout 7309 (1968) This seems to be the home page to that link above, with a fair bit of Lockheed info: http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/lock1.htm Cheers, Willie.

Knowing very little of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's history, and even less of that of Sir P.G. Taylor's, I came across the story of their last attempted trans-Tasman crossing in a book on Australian Aviators. Certainly an interesting way to do an oil change. This is the story, as far as I can figure out. On the 15th. of May, 1935, the Southern Cross departed Richmond for New Zealand with Taylor as navigator. Six hours into the trip, an exhaust pipe split, damaging the starboard prop. Kingsford Smith shut down the engine, gave the other two full throttle, and headed back to Australia, jettisoning as much weight as possible, including excess fuel and eventually having to dump the mail as well. In the meantime, the port engine had burned more oil than normal due to the extra load placed on it and was on the point of seizing. John Stannage, the radio operator, came up with the idea to transfer oil from the shut down engine and was about to climb out with a thermos flask, when Taylor stopped him and took over the job. With a rope tied to his belt, he climbed out on the struts, filled the thermos with oil, then back inside and out to the port side to fill the other engine. He did this a total of six times. This is Kingsford Smith dismounting the Southern Cross at Wheeler. It wouldn't have been very easy for Taylor to climb around out there while in flight, holding a thermos flask full of oil. Every trip became more slippery due to oil on his clothes and hands. [ATTACH=full]1317[/ATTACH] Filling the port engine presented another problem with the prop wash; Smith had to climb to gain altitude, then cut power to the engine while Taylor topped it up with oil. They say at times the wheels touched the ocean, picking up bits of seaweed. The remaining two engines kept going, and 16 hours and 45 minutes after leaving Richmond, the Southern Cross limped into Mascot. For his efforts, Patrick Gordon Taylor was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal. This award was later revoked by Royal Warrant, and exchanged for the George Cross by all living recipients. [ATTACH=full]1318[/ATTACH] Smithy and P.G.Taylor. [ATTACH=full]1319[/ATTACH] Apparently Smithy had a bit of wing walking experience as well. Seen here doing stunt work for the movies in California. [ATTACH=full]1320[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1321[/ATTACH] Here's a link to an article on the Powerhouse Museum's collection of photographs of Sir P.G.Taylor and his Catalna, Frigate Bird ll. http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/insidethecollection/tag/p-g-taylor/ Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18251[/ATTACH]

Thanks for posting the link, Peter. Always enjoy the 360 degree views; the detail in this one seems sharper than most. Cheers, Willie.

Always been a big fan of ABC radio. It's basically the only one I listen to, but it's also one of the worst offenders. And you're right, siz, they should know better. Once upon a time the BBC, and hence the ABC by proxy, set the standard. Nowdays they seem to be following the pack a bit ( the ABC, that is ). Cheers, Willie.

Heard the tail end of this on the wireless a couple of days ago. Part of a wing trawled up with three 50 cal. Brownings attached. The Queensland Air Museum says they are most likely from an American Vought Corsair fighter. http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/08/10/fishermen-haul-in-wing-guns-from-ww2-plane/ http://au.news.yahoo.com/queensland/a/-/newshome/14515389/sunken-machine-guns-probably-from-us-warplane/ Cheers, Willie.

Good quality video clip of Russian Air Force RA-78845 departing from Logan International Airport at Boston in a bit of weather. It's not bad in full screen mode. Cheers, Willie.

Svetlana sure was one of the best. She retired a while back to start a family, but still seems to stay involved, making public appearances at shows & competitions now and then. Always liked this one of her with the Hungarian aerobatic pilot, Peter Besenyei, as well. Cheers, Willie.

I wonder if it was directly related to the engine conversion, or just an unrelated design modification done at the same time. Cheers, Willie.

Rolls Royce Snecma have been contracted to the UK Ministry of Defence to study the proposal of a next generation combat aircraft engine. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/rolls-royce-snecma-powers-up-next-generation-military-engine-study-374930/

Today is the 69th. anniversary of the death of WW2 ace, Lydia Litvyak (Лидия Литвяк) in combat , one of the world's only two female fighter aces. A squadron leader, she lost her life at the age of 21. Whilst attacking a flight of German bombers in her Yak-1, she was set upon by a group of Bf-109's. Her short life & career is quite a story; the wiki page has a fair bit of info on her. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Litvyak [ATTACH=full]1308[/ATTACH] Yak-1 [ATTACH=full]1309[/ATTACH] Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18244[/ATTACH]

Yes Dexter, it's a common one. A lot might depend on where it's used. Posting or replying on a forum, a lot of people just use etc instead of etc. or etc., or etc.. Mainly out of expediency, otherwise we would probably be here all night. On the other hand, websites, publications, documents should be written correctly in my view. Might be a bit off topic, but I have a bit of trouble getting my head around some of these new American based pronunciations that are hitting our language in force. Like the word innovative, even our PM pronounces it innavittive. Going by that, why don't they pronounce innovate as innavit & be done with it. Call me old fashioned, but the English language is slowly being degraded by things like texting etc., & I can understand the American theory of simplifying the language, but there must be a point where we revert back to grunting at each other. Cheers, Willie.

I sometimes wonder if it's caused by people reading less these days. The theory being that even if you don't know the rules of grammar, you can still recognize what a word looks like in normal useage. If you read the right word enough times, it should be easy to pick one that just doesn't look right. Not everyone is good at spelling, but it's expected with books, newspapers, signs, official letters etc., but it's getting worse. Even government publications are starting to read like Pidgeon English . ( hope I got my apostrophes right, Kaye.) Cheers, Willie.

I'd be just guessing at anywhere within visible range. Reading between the lines on those articles, the F-22 is no better up close (no surprise) but the problem is how to get close to it with an unstealthy aircraft. Looking at it from the other side, the Raptor doesn't need to get that close if he detects the other from outside visual range. All this assumes the Raptors missiles can work properly and hit the target, though. The Russian theory is a bit different, they believe it will always come down to a tangle at some stage, no matter how good your aeroplane is. Probably explains why they've never stopped dogfight training, they do it all the time. But it makes you wonder if all those combat maneuvers they pioneered in the Su's are only good for airshows, or if they really would work in a modern dogfight. Cheers, Willie.

Interesting articles about German Typhoons in close combat with F-22 Raptors at the last Red Flag. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/f-22-germans/ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/07/f-22-fighter-loses-79-billion-advantage-in-dogfights-report/