IainMackayDall

Chasing Bears Part 1 – RAF intercepts of Soviet aircraft https://coldwarconversations.com/episode44/ along with this link; https://omegataupodcast.net/172-chasing-bears-with-the-phantom/

A recent trip to Orange NSW, caught my interest with their family connection to this nose art on a B-24. There are a lot of Pistol Packin nose art examples, this one was flown by the owner of the vineyard, who trained US crews in Australian flying conditions with RAAF Liberators out of Darwin, there were other training camps further south at Tocumwal NSW. The vineyard has a special bottle designed to celebrate the connection, http://cargocollective.com/ninaharcus/following/ninaharcus/PISTOL-PACKIN-MOMMA

Did many flights remove those rear perspex covers that we expected to be in place? or am I seeing a maintenance shot here?

An odd find from facebook on a Lancaster rear turret "I have managed to confirm what the two pipes are. They were fitted and filled with two roman candles. Two separate colours and fired when a GH Leader crew had a GH malfunction. Usual colour Red or Green" Lots of images of tail turrets, they all seem to have customised differences

This explosion has raised fears from a the nearby town of Newcastle, where Orica has a stockpile of ammonium nitrate that is four times the size of the one that exploded in Beirut https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/how-chemical-stockpile-could-wipe-out-newcastle/news-story/fc4d3a747bb7a64dfa799dde961d4c97

Sone shocking details from this NY Times online article https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/video/beirut-explosion-footage.html

I came across this image of a Hellenic Air force A7-E. Great extreme example of weathering!! You can find other similar images online too

As we look forward to getting through this COVID-19 2020 Pandemic, looking back on the history following that 1918/19 Pandemic, I never realised just how it could have altered history is such a way. It seems now to have set up the seeds for a future aggressive Germany. (explained in the podcast below ) Plus, I never realises just how many of subcontinent India's pandemic victims there were, and all ignored by later reporting and history, that and how if affected Mahatma Gandhi actions. That old 1918/19 Pandemic is still with us virally, but it seems our COVID-19 is a new beast.

Surely we should be pushing for a 1/32 ( or 1/35 corrected ) scale model! has anyone a 3d printer ready to take on this?

Ever wondered what pilots were doing when they did a walk around on the tarmac before each flight? Here is a 747 walk around done just before she went to the desert for retirement.

My thoughts would be to defend those big planes, but only if we all still has such a rosy and growing tourist industry, especially the one that I knew between Europe and Asia. But yes, smaller or mid sized twin efficient by pass turbine craft are much more flexible, and probably the future, as in our new dreamliner route from Perth to London. As for Greta, please don't dismiss her. If you know anything of our past geology and climate, and the fact we have added more carbon into the atmosphere between the 1980's and today than of all the past Industrial revolution. Then we are on track to some

Well it looks like all 12 Qantas A380's will be stored in the Mojave desert. The 4th QF A380 is already there, or on its way. I flew on one of the first Australia bound A380's back to SYD from London, thinking that this was such a huge quiet and wonderful craft. Actually I flew up to London to get this flight, on an Emirates A380. I had a very Aussie comparison on both craft back then, the Emirates craft had a lot of gold trim and overt opulence compared to the more starker Qantas cabin decor, it was rather like the Holden (GM) model equivalent of the Commodore range. Emirates was the

Love the Flag detailing

I'm fated to have to use up my Tamiya 1/32 spitfire to build a version of this LVC Spitfire, like this grand 1/48 version from Serge Dompierre http://www.hsgalleries.com/gallery04/spitfirevbsd_1.htm I've just been sent copy of "Gone is the Angel" by the Deputy Commanding Officer, 151 Chadburn Sqn, Ontario