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Riddle of Missing Spitfire ace
Riddle of missing Spitfire ace shot down after D-Day is solved after being found in Normandy estuary
By Tim Finan and David Wilkes For 66 years, the brave young Spitfire pilot’s final resting place had been a mystery. Flight Lieutenant Henry Lacy Smith was shot down by the Germans five days after D-Day on a mission supporting the Allied invasion in Normandy. His last radio message to comrades was: ‘I’m going to put this thing down in a field.’ But the Australian’s plane then nose-dived into the sea and he was designated ‘missing believed killed’. http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...cgill/spit.png Mystery solved: A crane lifts the wreckage from the Orne estuary as a local spotted something in the mud Now, however, the puzzle has been solved after locals spotted something sticking out of the mud in the Orne estuary near Caen at low tide and decided to investigate. They could see only small parts of the legendary plane at the site, close to the D-Day landmarks of Sword Beach and Pegasus bridge. But after staging a remarkable rescue operation they were astonished at how well preserved its fuselage and wooden propellor were. The dials on the instrument panel were still recognisable. http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/spitcpit.png Well preserved: The wreck of the Spitfire, including the cockpit and propeller were in excellent condition After the wreckage was towed ashore, the remains of Flight Lieutenant Smith were found in the cockpit. They were placed in a coffin and will be handed to the Australian Embassy in France today. The pilot, known as Lacy to his friends, was one of the first pilots to land in France following the invasion of Europe. He was 27 when he was shot down on June 11, 1944. The former textile worker had enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force in May 1941. He served with the RAAF’s 453 Squadron, motto ‘Ready to Strike’, which was part of RAF Fighter Command from June 1942, and married his English wife Edna the year before his death. Official letters of condolence from his Squadron Leader, Donald Hamilton Smith, were sent to his widow in Bournemouth and to his father Richard in New South Wales, saying he was ‘lying in an unknown grave’. The Squadron Leader wrote: ‘The loss of Lacy has deprived the squadron of a pilot whose skill, courage and cheerfulness were an example to all of us and for these qualities we shall always remember him. ‘I had learned to know him as one whose sense of duty and spirit of endeavour were of the highest order and an inspiration to all his fellow pilots.’ Flight Lieutenant Smith was leading three Spitfires patrolling the beach area five days after the Normandy invasion began when he crashed. Fellow pilots said German anti-aircraft fire ‘came up in front of the aircraft from a wood’ and his Spitfire was hit by flak ‘in the belly’. Their report said: ‘He continued to glide in a westerly direction towards Ouistreham. His aircraft finally struck water and skidded for a short period and then nosed into the water, finally turning over comparatively slowly on its back.’ No one saw the cockpit hood open, suggesting that he never managed to escape. The plane was finally recovered thanks to Brigitte Corbin, 49, and her husband Fabrice, 50, who run a D-Day museum at Ouistreham. They spent days digging out mud from around the Spitfire before it was raised to the surface with flotation bags and taken to the yacht club at Merville-Franceville. Mrs Corbin said: ‘We would like to see the bones of Henry Lacy Smith the hero buried with full military honours here in France. We feel as French people that we owe this to his family. He died for us.’ Taken from The Daily Mail 8/11/10 Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz14gHydmu3 |
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great post, gilly.
RIP Flight Lt. Smith glad you are finally going home. |
a couple vids of the RAF flying my favorite plane. some good shots and nice straffing scenes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyapCAXZbEA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOunw8TYCB0 |
when i was a kid , i saw a documentary on discover i think , they show the MIGHTY MUSTANG and i fall in love with taht plane at the ver moment , and said to my dad i want that plane :D
never own it in real but bought a RC mustang plane :D and it was like my dream come true . . . lolz |
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Its in good condition. Maybe a little work and you don't even need to replace the guns.
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these lakes are fresh water and very cold! there are wooden warships from several nations ( from various fracases in history ) down there that are in pristime shape. i am interested in hunting for a few of those plane wrecks...all i need is time and a few million $$.
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More important then the money itself, a way to make money. I started off by getting some doing one time jobs, then would buy and sell. A AK-47 might cost $200 in Moscow and $15 in Dagestan today, but the reverse 35 years ago.
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Are you a real person or have you made yourself up? (no offence!) I'm not even gonna ask what a 'one time job' is, glad you're in Russia TBH :) Bobby: Good video, The Corsair is my favourite USN plane. Unfortunately I've never found one just lying around in a lake.. |
One time jobs were washing windows, walking peoples pets, normal errands. And yes I was buying and selling AK's, which is illegle in most parts these days. The blackmarket was everywhere in the 70s, so I got myself started and now make my own ammunition which I legally sell to conventional armies, such as the Turkish army. Don't try that in the modern world though, the U.S.A army might arrest you. Make use of capitalism for change and go commercial.
For the last one in the world, its kind of a good thing it crashed where it did. |
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Nice to know someone of a similar trade. I usually only sell old Soviet stuff, but I've sold a Mi-35 down in Venezuella a few times. Pakistan is an interesting place, I used to buy alot of knives from there.
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i've never visited the place. my brother-in-law, an orthopedic surgeon, was there (pakistan) a couple times...on medical training missions during the mid 80s.
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You got to go find some of the groups there, they make some good swords. And guns never get old there, as you can find old 30s shotguns around still.
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actually that is one part of the world i have positively, absolutely no desire to go ( or use for) and its not because of the terrain. on one of my B-I-L's trips a nurse ( also a volunteer ) in the group was shot to death for putting on her 2 piece bathing suit and laying by the pool. this was at a major name chain hotel in the capitol city. someone got "offended" by her manner of dress and decided to rid society of this blasphemer. the man was caught but not charged with a crime. no thanks....
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No, they wouldn't charge him with the crime. It is simply Muslim religion, and no offence intended but most women are warned to clothe themselves.
I would like to make a few more trips to China. I love bread and spices. |
Hell hath no fury like a miffed Chinese lady ( or how i became a tow truck tower ) :grin::grin::grin:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...aign=2010-11-9 |
I counter that!
http://rutube.ru/tracks/3755952.html...26dd16022c9a03 Failed recruits at their best. |
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During a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the
Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler and bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what he did to the plane. The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tires, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He patched the plane together and FLEW IT HOME! Duct Tape? Never Leave Home Without It |
Incredible. Its a good thing the frame wasn't really bent.
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Remembering the Spitfire Days
World War Two Spitfire fighter pilot Peter Ayerst meets Andrew Marr to talk about the days of war and dogfighting. He remembers the pressures put on young pilots and the emotions he felt when he had an enemy aircraft in his sights. They were days that the veteran looks on as some of the best of his life. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11752900 |
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FIFI is doing well. she flew into phoenix ap last weekend for an airshow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3GTVB4D9Is |
Airshows are nothing compare to flying the real thing.
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And to the Duxford Wing- only 9 months to go fellas!!! http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/755acdc7.jpg I'm guessing you'll have flown most of these then? |
I put my iPod on random the other day and this gem popped up. It's my new theme for BoP and I think I will get back in the cockpit this weekend with this pumping in my ears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLrgbMyT4E Like most of my film clips it will mean a lot more to UK 30 somethings. I have this on DVD and the special features have Saturday Morning Superstore special on set report! |
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can you buy a ride in a dual seat spit or stang at duxford? several 51s at some of the airshows offer rides for a hefty $1000 usd. haha...maybe we ought to have a "BoP ride in a spit/stang raffle". 10 bucks a ticket...winner gets to ride...the rest of us drool and turn green with envy...haha.
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Join the airforce. You will get to fly your own jet or helicopter. The millitary has several benefits to it. For example, I can just drive outside of town and fire a grenade launcher.
Gilly, no I never flew one of those. Spitfires wouldn't be my choice if I was offered them. |
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And it's never 'your own' especially where you profess to live |
these arent BoP but a little entertaining when you are on the computer...
http://acn.waw.pl/sturm/ForgottenNoobs.swf http://www.arcade-gameover.com/1942.asp |
1000 years of war in 5 minutes! around 1600ad on central europe goes ape$#!t.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hsDn2kNriI |
Lol@ To be continued.
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hello everybody ,old shaky footage of a spit mk14e,i put it on here because of the sound of the griffon 65,turn it up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8AuY...eature=related
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you can take a virtual tour of the national museum of the usaf. enjoy :grin:
http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/ |
just for laughs...
KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE AS A COURT REPORTER These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place. ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning? WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?' ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you? WITNESS: My name is Susan! ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact? WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active? WITNESS: No , I just lie there. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory? WITNESS: I forget.. ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo? WITNESS: We both do. ATTORNEY: Voodoo? WITNESS: We do.. ATTORNEY: You do? WITNESS: Yes , voodoo. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ____________________________________ ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ. ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS: Are you shitting me? _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS: Getting laid ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: She had three children , right? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS: None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls? WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney? ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS: By death.. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? WITNESS: Take a guess. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female? WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ______________________________________ ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS: Oral... _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time? WITNESS: If not , he was by the time I finished. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample? WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question? ______________________________________ And last: ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No.. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law." |
hi
Do you know how can i Unlock all the planes in IL 2 sturmovik Birds of Prey in psp? Thanks..:)
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welcome Han_23, check out the forum...and use the search option. everything you ever wanted to know is here.
unlocks and trophies? right here... http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=13167 you might want to post your info in the "new pilots report here" thread. |
strange but true....
Mid way thru the war around early 1944, new types of the P-38 and P-51 were being tested at Muroc dry lake in California (today, Edwards Air Force Base). One of the new test pilots assigned to the group was captain Tony Vren of New York. A combat veteran with many sorties under his belt, and also a former engineering student at Columbia University before the war started. Being a thoroughly scientific man, Vren was well known for disliking stories about ghosts, foo fighters, UFOs, or anything else which didnt fit his clear cut view of the world and was viewed as a 'by the book' pilot who carefully followed procedure. On the flight that day, Capt Vren was to take his P38 up to 12000m to test some new air injection systems. Everything went fine and he climbed up to roughly 26000 feet without problems while checking the new systems, when he noticed a shadow over his wing for a split second. Turning to look, he saw what appeared to be a propellerless plane passing over head with great speed in excess of 800 kph (roughly 480 mph). No sooner than he had spotted the unusual plane with no apparent propeller than it dove again beside him of him to reveal a most unusual pilot. There, across from him not 50 meters was clearly a gorilla in a top hat, smoking a cigar. Terrified for his life, Vren pulled a hard half roll and dove for home. All the while, this strange gorilla pilot hung close to his tail and did barrel loops around him. Upon closing to base the strange plane suddenly left his field of view and Vren felt fortunate to land. Although, he was badly shaken, Vren immediately filed his post report and asked to see the base C.O. He explained his wild story of amazing speed, no propeller and gorilla to the incredulous commanding officer, only to be dismissed as having drunk too much the night before (despite the fact Vren was almost a teetotaler). The C.O. assigned him to see the base psychologist and the following week, Vren reported in and explained what he had seen before. Despite the doctor's belief that Vren in fact truly believed he was telling the truth, the doctor wrote off Vren as suffering from too much pressure change during the flight, and simple stress from too many flight hours, and gave him a mandatory two week leave to which Vren protested. It turns out after the war, that just north of Muroc, the Army Air Force had indeed been testing early jet aircraft passed from Great Britain. One of the early test pilots of these planes is purported to have been Jack Woolams, a man who loved to play practical jokes and had a propensity for top hats and fine cigars. It is alledged that he got tired of hearing about the superior flying skills of the P38 crowd and decided to put them in their place. Supposedly, not just Capt Vren, but three or four others all saw Woolams flying with his rented gorilla suit on, and decided from there on out, to shut the hell up about their superior planes and skills. Bobbysocks:..on a sad note after the war Jack Woolams was test flying a P39 getting it ready for the cleveland air race. he took the plane back to the factory due to a minor engine problem. on a shake down cruise after the work the plane suffered a sever malfunction and plummeted into lake ontario. neither he nor the ac were ever recovered. |
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Check this out, Me-163 shot down. Two hits with god knows what was enough. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OSMwIRRLRk |
here's some light reading for you. declassified tactical and technical assessments from 42 and 43...from the russian experience with fw 190s to japanese tactics to....you name it. you are better DLing it.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35978019/T...-December-1943 |
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Great bobby. Cpl of brilliant. Gorilla with a tophat...
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a hawker hunter,jim morrison,nice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Lby...eature=related
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a documentary of the 325th FG...the checkered tail clan. This 90 min flim is a free download.
http://blip.tv/file/4433167/ |
now this looks interesting! ww2 airwar animation...called pathes of hate.
http://www.pathsofhate.com/#trailer |
Airwarfare: Storm Of War
Dedicated to IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs Of Dover - part of the Storm Of War series site is open.... http://airwarfare.com/sow/ |
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another half cartoon half cgi flick called sky fighters. some cool graphics..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llqoq...eature=related |
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fighter pilot university site....check out the rest of the videos..esp gen olds comments about being a fighter jock.
http://www.fighterpilotuniversity.co...2/Low-And-Fast |
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December 2, 2010 — On Wednesday afternoon, December 1, the Flying Heritage Collection’s (FHC) reported on its Facebook page that its Fw-190A-5/U3 fighter made its first post-restorative flight, marking the first time it’s been airborne since 1943 when it was shot down near Leningrad during World War II. Veteran test pilot Steve Hinton was at the controls as the aircraft took off in Tehachapi, California, and tested all major systems during a 20-minute flight. The pilot reported that the aircraft passed its trial flight with flying colors, stating, “The plane is very light, fast, and responsive…This lived up to the history books."
Paul G. Allen, FHC owner, wrote on his Twitter page Thursday, “Yesterday saw FHC Warbird Fw 190A5 fighter fly for 1st time since WWII; Steve Hinton at the controls, pretty amazing.” Adrian Hunt, FHC executive director, told EAA the plane flew again on Thursday and that plans are to paint-seal the airframe in the spring, then get it ready for its first public flight in the early summer at FHC on Paine Field Airport, Everett, Washington. Aviation legend Bob Hoover, who will be honored with a special day on Tuesday, July 26, at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011, famously escaped a German POW camp, stole an Fw 190, and flew it to safety in the Netherlands. Hunt, asked if there was any chance we might see the aircraft in Oshkosh next year to participate in the Hoover tribute, replied, “Paul’s philosophy is to keep the planes close to home.” However, since Hunt did not completely discount that idea, there’s no harm in hoping… About seven weeks ago EAA reported the airplane’s BMW 801 engine had its first run by Vintage V12s in Tehachapi. |
what do you do when your biplane loses a wheel...you call a girl...one with a hell of a lot of guts!!!
http://www.oshkosh365.org/ok365_Disc...0&topicid=5584 |
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Thats just awsome. I would love to see an original FW190 fly, and to hear the sound of that BMW 801. I guess this is the one from here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jueDXiuU6aM I Norway we have some, stationary like this, raised in 2006: http://www.bt.no/multimedia/panorama...16.ece#/59,329 Thanks for sharing Bobby. |
these guys arent as good as bill murry's team in the movie stripes but they hold their own. :grin:
http://www.whc.net/rjones/USN/USN_team.html |
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some nice pencil drawings of ac and pilots and at a decent price...
http://www.lonnieortegaaviationart.c...lectables.html |
stole this from another forum i belong to...but you boys in the UK might want to visit this or donate to the cause...
Hi all a couple of years ago JG668 was put up for sale as a failed project in Australia, and as there are very few spits left in flying condition our aviation foundation was desperate to get our hands on it. So we had to do a deal 1x P51 Mustang and £150,000 later we got her, we had the spit shipped over from Australia to her new home here in Wales United kingdom. It really was a shame to see the mustang go though, what an amazing piece of American engineering all we need to do now is raise enough money to get her finished and flying, so we are appealing anyone interested in Aviation to help us. The Plan: Convert the spitfire into a 2 seater, this will allow us to give people a flight in the spit (all donators will get a free trip in the spit once ready) Build the museum to educate people about WWII pilots and crew who flew the spitfire and to raise further finances to complete the spitfire Travel to air shows in UK Europe and USA Pictures of The Spitfire Can Be Found on our Site In the Gallery http://www.spitfireviii.com/ Anyone living in the UK may visit the spitfire on weekends just contact me from the website auction/contacts page Thanks all |
P 39 found
pics are in a previous post...here's the video. http://link.brightcove.com/services/...id=87804472001 |
some cool pics of republic ac...its a thread from another forum.
http://www.warbirdinformationexchang...41dbffe8993852 |
just in time for christmas. from the archives of ww1.... :grin:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...3960203831616# |
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Forgotten Spitfire to fly again.
Sunday Telegraph, July 25 2010 For decades the fighter plane lay submerged in a river bank, an unnoticed casualty of the Second World War. Now, a Spitfire that crashed in 1940 will finally take to the skies again after the most detailed restoration project of its kind. The painstaking reconstruction of aircraft X4650 coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and a public competition to design a Spitfire memorial. It also shines a spotlight on the extraordinary story of its young pilot, Howard Squire, who was flying the plane on a training mission led by RAF legend Alan "Al" Deere when the pair collided over North Yorkshire. Sgt Squire, now 89, has visited the restoration project and hopes to see the finished aircraft fly over the south coast of England later this year. Those involved in the project believe X4650 will be the most accurately rebuilt Mark I Spitfire in the skies and will contain the highest number of original parts. The wreckage was only discovered in the long hot summer of 1976 when low river levels exposed the metal embedded in a clay riverbank near Kirklevington, Cleveland. It had been there since December 28th 1940, when Sgt Squire, then 20, bailed out after colliding with (Spitfire) X4276 flown by Flg Off Deere, a flight commander with 54 squadron at RAF Catterick. New Zealand-born Deere, a Battle of Britain legend who went on to become an air commodore, was giving his junior a lesson in how to keep doggedly close to an enemy aircraft. "Stick to me like glue," he told Sgt Squire - a line that inspired a pilot training scene in the 1969 film Battle of Britain. However, the young man stuck too close and his plane - then only a few months old - hit Deere's tail with its propeller at 12000 feet, forcing them both to ditch. "I thought I was for the chop," said Sgt Squire, who now lives near Birmingham. "There aren't many pilots who knock their flight commander out of the sky. He was very good about it." Sgt Squire was shot down over France on February 26th 1941, and became a prisoner of war. He said, "The Spitfire was a beautiful aircraft, like a Tiger Moth but with real power. A doddle to fly. We used to throw them about all over the place, as unfortunately I demonstrated." The nature of the crash-landing proved essential to the Spitfire's revival. In order to provide himself with the safest escape in his parachute, Sgt Squire had set the controls for a stable flight that led to a slow almost level descent into the riverbank rather than a high-speed impact that might have destroyed many more of the parts. The aircraft has cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to restore but is now thought to be worth more than £2 million and is expected to enter private ownership. It is currently registered to Peter Monk, a Spitfire enthusiast who has spent 15 years overseeing the complex project in which the engine has been refurbished in Gloucestershire and the airframe restored by craftsmen in the Isle of Wight. There are currently about 50 Spitfires flying - the highest number since the early 1950s. Britain was littered with wrecks in the years after the Second World War until enthusiasts began to recover them for sale or for museums. The fighter plane was designed by R J Mitchell at Southampton's Supermarine seaplane factory following urgent requests from the Ministry of Aviation because of the looming conflict with Germany. So many orders were placed that production was spread to additional sites including Castle Bromwich near Birmingham, where X4650 was built. Air Cdre Deere was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in a ceremony conducted by George VI on June 28th 1940 at RAF Hornchurch in north London. He retired in 1977 and died in 1995. His ashes were scattered over the Thames estuary from a Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.' |
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spitfires daily ops
go to the film tab and then to wasp wings. a 40 minute video http://www3.nfb.ca/enclasse/dday/dday.html |
Aircraft Caricatures
takes a few minutes to load them all... http://www.flickr.com/photos/3118632...7620520651425/ |
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b 29 mission and story of Waddy's Wagon. good original footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxwno...ayer_embedded# |
Pure luck
Just entertainment and some awsome flight clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3L2_...ayer_embedded#! |
WW2 Video - "Reconnaissance Pilot"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2fXoWKUQI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0dn4COqsoY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N81FhmrnV0s |
"Angel in Overalls" an old american new reel.
has some great shots of 24s, 38s... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxB14a0vfSA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhYPVhA9Y20 |
First part of the BBC program from last summer with Ewan Mcgregor and his brother. Parts 2-9 are easily found!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t3gj...e_gdata_player |
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someone posted a trailer or short clip of this a while ago. the whole movie is available....
http://www.animeratio.com/anime/movi...-sky-crawlers/ |
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red sands forts...
wonder if these are on the map in BoP??? The Thames Estuary Army Forts were constructed in 1942 to a design by Guy Maunsell, following the successful construction and deployment of the Naval Sea Forts. Their purpose was to provide anti-aircraft fire within the Thames Estuary area. Each fort consisted of a group of seven towers with a walkway connecting them all to the central control tower. The fort, when viewed as a whole, comprised one Bofors tower, a control tower, four gun towers and a searchlight tower. They were arranged in a very specific way, with the control tower at the centre, the Bofors and gun towers arranged in a semi-circular fashion around it and the searchlight tower positioned further away, but still linked directly to the control tower via a walkway. All the forts followed this plan and, in order of grounding, were called the Nore Army Fort, the Red Sands Army Fort and finally the Shivering Sands Army Fort. All three forts were in place by late 1943, but Nore is no longer standing. Construction of the towers was relatively quick, and they were easily floated out to sea and grounded in water no more than 30m (100ft) deep. Access for the men posted to these forts was via an entrance at the base of the platform. Parts of the ladders that the men would have used are still visible today, but are in a very poor condition. Indeed, attempting to access these forts is extremely hazardous, and they are best viewed from a boat and a safe distance. All 3 forts saw action during the Second World War, and there is no doubt that they proved their worth. So much so in fact that anti-aircraft command called for the construction of more sea forts on the Thames in the immediate post-war period, and various new fort designs were put forward. However, none of them came to fruition and in 1952 the government decided not to pursue the sea fort construction programme any further. Nore Army Fort sustained damage during a storm in 1953, and tragedy struck the same fort again 2 months later when a ship hit and destroyed the Bofors and one of the gun towers. Four civilian caretakers were killed in this incident. In 1955, the War Office decided that the Army Sea Forts had no further operational value. The Nore Army Fort was dismantled in 1959, but the Red Sands and Shivering Sands Forts are still standing today. They have been used as pirate radio stations during the 60's and 70's, but since then have remained abandoned. more links to these.. http://www.undergroundkent.co.uk/maunsell_towers.htm http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/07...red-sands.html |
The Scandinavian Historic Flight P-51 Old Crow....
pretty good vid with shots inside the cockpit. http://www.clipwings.com/clip/771/SHF_P51_D_Mustang |
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remember that fw 190 a5 that was found in russia a few years back. guess what....she's alive and doing well!
on 2 December 2010 in Casa Grande Airport in Arizona... FW-190A-5 werk # 015227 fresh from rebuild....awaiting to be painted back to the exact 4/JG54 "White A" markings that it wore on it's last flight on 19 July 1943... flies again for the first time in 61 years, six months and 10 days. long may she fly! |
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Sadly they're not in BoP Bobby, pity really although they can be seen from either the north or south coast of the Thames estuary. They also feature in the prodigy video below along with several 'listening dishes' built to detect incoming aircraft. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIFia...e_gdata_player |
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would of like to of seen the dover gun batteries in the game,the coast was a fortress during ww2,nothing like the scenery in the game ,more bitch than beach good to see some essex boys on the forum gilly |
I was helping Lost Odessy with some filming in some P51s last night and told him about this scene which he said he hadn't seen.
Probably the nicest flyby in film history http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02BBtN-P0lc |
you think these guys ham it up for the photohounds???
Low flying in Tal-y-llyn-valley in Wales. http://vimeo.com/1466613 |
I couldn't sleep last night and was looking for Zulu Dawn battle on YouTube to watch in bed on my iPhone and came across this. The full original Zulu. Anyone with iPods/iPads/iPhone can enjoy men of Harlech anytime :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOoCrCeHxpI Edit: here is the battle from Zulu Dawn. It's a monster battle so it's in 3 parts. Part 1 linked, follow related for 2 and 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gF52K_qiP4 |
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Surprise Harrier fly-past over the House of Commons, snapped yesterday by a roving reporter / spotter
Says it all really ...... |
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fact or fiction?????
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...-1225995654752 Fact or fable: hunt is on for buried Spitfires Ted Strugnell From: The Australian January 28, 2011 12:00AM IT'S the Lasseter's Reef of warbirds -- a rumoured stash of mint-condition Spitfires hidden underground in rural Queensland. Many have searched for the legendary British fighters, reportedly still in their crates and hidden since the end of the World War II around the Queensland town of Oakey, but so far nobody has been able to lay claim to what would be a multi-million-dollar find. They are the remnants of 656 Mark V and Mark VIII Spitfires that were delivered to the RAAF during the war. RAAF records show that 544 aircraft -- 232 of them Spitfires -- were flown to Oakey to be sold to a scrap metal dealer. That should have been the ignominious end of arguably the greatest single-place fighter ever built, certainly the most legendary and romanticised. But was it? Opinions vary on the mystery and stories range from a high-level defence conspiracy among RAAF officers to a single leading aircraftman who hid or buried aircraft because he couldn't bear to see the magnificent machines destroyed. If hidden aircraft do exist, there are three main possibilities: they are buried; stored in a hidden underground hangar; or secreted in a coalmine. Not everyone believes they are there. Toowoomba resident Laurie Wenham, who was employed in breaking down the aircraft prior to melting in 1948, is sceptical there are any planes. "I do not believe there are any hidden aircraft and various 'sightings' over the years were probably parts or partial aircraft pilfered or purchased as scrap," he said. But a lifetime Oakey resident, who did not wish to be named, claims to be a reliable witness to the burial site of five aircraft in what may have been a trial disposal near the old Federal Mine. He did not see aircraft going into the ground, but he saw contractors digging a trench, and a large crate in it. The contractors claimed a quarter of a century later to have buried the aircraft but could not be contacted for this story. However, this was enough to prompt Bungunya farmer and pilot David Mulckey to launch an excavation in 2001. This was the best search undertaken. It included aerial photographic surveys retrieved from the archives for the years before and after the alleged burial, which indicated substantial digging. Late access to the eyewitness and misreading of aerial surveys were blamed for the venture's failure. "As soon as I arrived I realised that we were in the paddock adjacent to, not on, the correct site," said Mr Mulckey, who did not have council approval to investigate the adjoining property. That property still contained evidence of digging and heavy lifting, even after 60 years, he said, and his aim was to return to at least eliminate this site as a possibility. More recently, another ex-World War II airman has claimed that during an exchange of confidences during an Anzac Day in the 1950s another airman, and lifelong friend, told him he and others had hidden aircraft in a hole in the side of a hill near Oakey. The underground hangar story centres on reports of a squadron of 16 to 18 Spitfires, supposedly Mk XIVs in crates, hidden in underground storage, with spares and fuel, to be used in retaking Queensland in the event of a Japanese invasion forcing a retreat to the infamous Brisbane Line. Believers of this theory say the Mk XIVs never saw service with the RAAF because they were specially imported to be hidden. This version of the story appeared in the Royal Air Force News in the 1980s and British authorities thought it had sufficient substance to send an RAF group captain, wing commander and a technical NCO to Oakey to investigate. A more likely possibility is that the underground hanger theory developed in the telling and retelling of rumours that a few aircraft had been buried, hidden or dumped in a disused coalmine. There were plenty of opportunities to do this, because there are numerous abandoned mines within minutes of the airfield. The number of aircraft and the persistence of the stories from disparate sources suggest it is likely that some aircraft remain. Private pilot and vintage aircraft restorer Bill Martin, who has possibly done more research on this subject than anyone alive, believes some aircraft exist in some form somewhere in the area. Mr Martin has photographs of aircraft in the disposal lines at Oakey around 1945 that look like Mk XIVs, and has spoken to witnesses who had seen evidence that Mk XIVs may have been at Oakey, possibly on loan from the RAF for trials. The RAF had a squadron of Mk XIVs in Australia for the defence of Darwin and some of them could have been at Oakey for maintenance at war's end. Other speculation includes the possibility that a small number of planes were fitted with classified equipment and could not be sold. A common way of disposing of aircraft was to dump them at sea, but what if one of the drivers used his initiative to deposit his loads in a mine to spend a couple of hours in the local pub rather than on the round trip to the Brisbane wharves? Lester Reisinger, who has conducted a number of searches, subscribed to the underground storage theory. "They're there, all right, under the Oakey drive-in theatre," he said. An old mine, The Federal, passed under the now-disused drive-in and was the closest to the airfield. It closed in 1943 and two separate sources believed one driver was never away long enough to make the round trip to Brisbane. It would not have been too difficult for one man to transfer a crated Spitfire from a truck to an old mine wagon, using the hand-operated gantry for transferring coal from mine carts to railway wagons. Mr Martin and Mr Reisinger several times spoke to a man who swore he had been into an underground storage facility containing wooden crates on rail trolleys. However, the witness could not tell whether the crates held complete aircraft, parts, or something else. Both men believe the witness to be reliable, but because he was taken to the site at night by another man he was unable to pinpoint a location. However, it was only a short walk from the witness's house in Federal Street, near the mine of the same name. Mr Martin also had an aerial photograph taken in 1945 clearly showing the portal to the Federal Mine still open, with rails, shiny from possible recent use, going into the tunnel. The mine entrance was collapsed in the 1950s by the Jondaryan Shire Council, and the same aerial photograph clearly shows large crates sitting beside the nearby airfield. Australian Army Intelligence judged these to be the size of Spitfire crates, but they were not there by 1948. The Spitfire was the only aircraft disposed of at Oakey that was shipped in a single crate. Ultimately, there are several possible motives, official and unofficial, for hiding aircraft. There were almost certainly numerous opportunities to do so. There are a lot of old stories and rumours, a lot of circumstantial, anecdotal and highly speculative evidence, as well as a little physical evidence. The living witness located so far is testing a memory almost 60 years old. If the aircraft exist, sufficient resources and modern technology could locate them relatively cheaply and easily, or at least eliminate the most likely place -- the old Federal Mine. It is also possible the planes have already been spirited out of Australia. Recently, another witness claimed to have seen a shipment from Sydney of three aircraft removed from a hole near Oakey in the 1980s and sold for big money in Britain. Either way, and like Lasseter's elusive reef of gold, it remains a riddle waiting to be solved. Ted Strugnell lives in Toowoomba, Queensland, and served 31 years in the RAAF, in Australia and abroad, and a further 21 years with the Department of Defence. Anybody who took part, or who has knowledge of, these or similar events is urged to contact him on eastrug@icr.com.au |
Awesome story.
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ok so we are getting metal detectors, shovels and heading to oz right??? :grin:
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for you guys living in the uk...you can get lanc taxi ride in east kirby! doesnt leave the ground but would still be a thrill...
http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/lancaster-taxy-rides/ |
P 40E kittyhawk flight video. some great shots from the pilots perspective as he pulls some maneuvers.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HAFUVide.../0/EJQThtB1YTI |
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Chinese air force drill looks awfully similar to ‘Top Gun’
one for mav and gloose :grin: On Jan. 23, China's state broadcaster, CCTV, ran a story about an air force training exercise that contained some suspicious footage. Around the segment's one minute 12 seconds mark (see above), as the China-U.S.-oriented blog Ministry of Tofu pointed out, "the way a target was hit by the air-to-air missile fired by a J-10 fighter aircraft and exploded looks almost identical to a cinema scene from the Hollywood film Top Gun." Viewers were led to believe that what they were seeing was a live fire exercise. But according to Ministry of Tofu: "A net user who went by the name "刘毅" (Liu Yi) pointed out that the jet that the J-10 'hit' is an F-5, a US fighter jet. In Top Gun, what the leading actor Tom Cruise pilots an F-14 to bring down is exactly an F-5. Looking at the screenshots juxtaposition, one cannot fail to find that even flame, smoke and the way the splinters fly look the same." Not convinced? The Wall Street Journal's China Real Time Report put the videos side-by-side. The seemingly doctored footage has been removed from CCTV's website. But Real Time China Report notes that Chinese media has in the past been caught red-handed lifting fictional U.S. material in news reports. "In 2002, the popular Beijing Evening News tabloid translated and published as genuine a satirical news article by The Onion about U.S. Congress threatening to leave Washington D.C. unless the city built them a new building with a retractable roof," writes Josh Chin. "Five years later, the state-run Xinhua news agency infamously used an x-ray image of Homer Simpson's head to illustrate a story about the discovery of a genetic link to multiple sclerosis." CCTV has declined to comment in media reports. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecut...lar-to-top-gun |
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