Bits & Pieces
Here you’ll find
some miscellaneous contributions from our members – jokes, gags, funny pics -
just about anything goes!
Pictures from
Weston Aerodrome where Bill attended the Scale Assocication’s AGM and then
joined.
A non flying DC3 acquired by
Weston Airport with a view to installing it in their proposed Air
Museum.
Clever Registration of the DC3
Dakota…. N3 (American and 3 for DC3) 47
(for army version, ie C-47)
and DK short for Dakota..!!!
Front side on view of the Blackburn
Buccaneer from the 60’s and used by the Royal Navy. 8 of these
jets blew up the wreck of the
beached oil tanker, the Torrey Canyon in 1967 after it started to break
up having run aground on the
rocks off off Land’s End in the UK. The
Royal Navy dropped 62,000lbs of
bombs,
5,200 gallons of petrol, 11 rockets and large quantities of napalm onto the
ship. Despite
direct
hits and a towering inferno of flames and smoke as the oil slick began to burn,
the tanker
refused
to sink. It took a further day of bombing before it finally slid under the
water.
This
pic gives some scale to the Buccanneer…
Notice the extended clam shell air brake doors aft of
the
fin and rudder. Again, another aeroplane
destined for the planned Air Museum.
Last
one of the Buccaneer… the nose art is interesting..
!!
A
pic showing most of the attendees. I am
there also but on this side of the camera !!
Very
nice Cessna on amphibious floats. Would make a nice model colour scheme.
Nice
Grumman Goose. Notice the elevator horn
balance on the top of elevator to avoid splashes !!
Beech C-45H Expeditor named Southern Comfort
reputably used by General Eisenhower as a personal transport
plane during the Normandy campaign. I am about to ascend the steps of
greatness..!
¾
head on view of the Beech showing ‘decorative’ nose art and wonderful riveted all
metal finish.
Lovely
Boeing Steaman in proud Tipperary colours belonging to the late Cathal Ryan,
son of Tony Ryan, the Ryanair
founder. The plane is appropriately named Spirit of
Tipperary. Cathal, who was Tony’s eldest
son, died very
suddenly
at the age of 48 after a very brief illness in 2007. Cathal enjoyed the distinction of being one
of the
youngest
pilots to qualify to fly the Boeing 747 Jumbo.
Nice
close up of the name plate of the Stearman proudly displaying their
heritage. Wish the hurlers were as good
!!
Tumble
lock on the small luggage compartment lid on the port side of the Stearman just
behind the cockpit.
Nice
cockpit view of the Stearman
It’s
a trip like this that shows the value of getting some good close up detail for
a potential model. Observe the rear
view
mirror, fuel cock and fuel level indicator.
Submitted
By : Gordon
Aviation
Rules to Live By
- Every,takeoff
is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
- If
you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick
back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the
way back, then they get bigger again.
- Flying
isn’t dangerOUS. Crashing is what’s dangerous.
- It’s
always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there
wishing you were down here.
- The
ONLY time you have toà much fuel is when you’re on fire.
- The
propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot
cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating.
- When
in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky.
- A
‘good’ landing is one from which you can walk away. A ‘great’ landing is
one after which they can use the plane again.
- Learn
from the mistakes of others. You won’t live long enough to make all of
them yourself.
- You
know you’ve landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to
the ramp.
- The
probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa.
- Never
let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn’t get to five minutes
earlier.
- Stay
out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be
another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also
report theit mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
- Always
try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take of
fs you’ve made.
- There
are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one
knows what they are.
- You
start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is
to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
- Helicopters
can’t fly; they’re just so ugly the earth repels them.
- If
all you can see out of the window is ground that’s going round and round
and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment,
things are not at all 55 they should be.
- In
the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of
miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has
yet to lose.
- Good
judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually
comes from bad judgment.
- It’s
always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as
possible.
- Keep
looking around. There’s always something you’ve missed.
- Remember,
gravity is not just a good idea. It’s the law. And it’s not subject to
repeal.
- The
four most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway
behind you, gas back at the airport, and a tenth of a second ago.
- There
are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are,, however, no old,
bold pilots.
Submitted
By: Bill Thompson
How do you know it’s too windy to fly?
·
You point your plane into the wind
and the engine starts without your even touching the prop!
·
When you pull up to your flying site,
a ruffled little girl suddenly appears, saying over and over to her dog,
"Toto, I don't think we are in
·
Helen Hunt (from the film Twister !)
roars up in a pick-up truck, drops off a big machine in your pit area, and
roars off again.
How do you know you have the wrong fuel?
·
You refuel the plane, and the engine
runs away. No, really, it runs away!
·
You suddenly realize that peculiar
"sludge" build up around the cowling is actually your engine's
cylinder head
·
In spite of your apprehensions, your
fuel provider assures you that the fact the oil has separated and floated to
the top is a feature of their quality control allowing each purchaser to
measure the oil content for himself.
·
You give your fuel can a mild shake
and suddenly discover that it has more foam that a pitcher of Budweiser!
Submitted
by: Gordon
When
the popularity of an ARTF just becomes too much to bear…
