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Johnny

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Everything posted by Johnny

  1. Definately sounds like an AWACS, but I wouldn't have said that an E3 Sentry was "smaller than a Lancaster". My guess would be one of the carrier borne AWACS, the E2C Hawkeye?
  2. Don't think there are any legal issues as he's been named in the press, so no reporting restrictions have been applied. W&P organisers have said he will be welcome back this year! :shocked: http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/news/welcome-danger-pilot/article-3395792-detail/article.html
  3. I'm pretty sure it would have been Brooke Marine. There might have been other small shipyards or the larger ones may have taken over other smaller buildings. Brooke went bust in 1992 having been sold on in 1987 and renamed as Brooke Yachts. The company was relaunched again in 2006 as Brooke Marine Yachts Ltd but had gone bust again by 2009. There is lots of info on the internet about them. One site lists their wartime production as " Launches for the Royal Navy; Fuel and Servicing Launches for Costal Command. Type ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘D’ MGB’s/MTB’s and Landing Craft under contract to the Fairmile Marine Co. and Airborne Lifeboats." One of the last craft built by the original company was Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Challenger 2. http://www.oceanpirate.co.uk/pgs/brooke.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Marine http://www.lowestoftmaritimemuseum.org.uk/brookemarine.htm
  4. I'm from Bristol, but this dates to a little before my time! I've found this on Google... http://rockinghamforestcider.blogspot.com/2008/07/cider-jar-of-month_11.html Sounds like Dixie's Fine Cider Company was going until the mid eighties, and the brand was then sold to Langdons in Hewish (near Weston and who are still trading). Can't find anything about the lorry though.
  5. The RAF's precision bombing improved dramatically in the later stages of the war.
  6. I hope their attention to detail is better than their spelling! "There are two L's in Scammell boy!" :nono:
  7. "I think the trailer hitch needs to be a bit lower Sarge"
  8. There seems to be lots on Google about it, but not a specific location. This is the best I've found so far..http://www.scribd.com/doc/37880217/The-Lafayette-Escadrille On page 12 of the site is a map of France showing "L'Escadrille Americane" with La Noblette listed . Google maps shows "La Noblette France" as being here.. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=la+noblette&sll=49.353756,4.482422&sspn=1.94656,4.224243&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=La+Noblette&ll=49.061382,4.457359&spn=0.06119,0.197067&t=h&z=13 There appears to be an unusually long straight field to the left of the "A" symbol, on the left side of the D977 road. Could that be the airfield?
  9. I've just stumbled across this rather grainy photo on Flickr. It's titled as a WW1 tank transporter. Is it? Don't think I've ever seen a pic of one before. I don't recognise the tank or the transporter, but the truck appears to be left hand drive; and possibly both a bit later than WW1? Could they be French, or German? Any ideas? This guys Flickr collection also has a few other nice WW1 pictures including a nice one of buses taking Australian troops to the front. http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ww1&w=42428853%40N06
  10. "I told you we should have bought an FWD instead"
  11. Mach Loop in Wales. http://www.mjaviation.co.uk/Lowfly.htm Not sure if that's where these photos were taken though.
  12. Excellent news! A worthy finale after all of your hard work. Look forward to seeing the full report.
  13. Just spotted this on the 28dayslater urban exploration site... http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=53218 They list it as "Depot Cromwell" in Belgium. A collection that was to become a museum but never did. There look to be some gems in there. Anyone know anything about this? I've done a quick Google search for Depot Cromwell but it didn't bring anything up.
  14. 3 x Vespa 400 microcars in the foreground, very valuable even in that condition.
  15. It was an episode of Salvage Squad. The test was quite rigarous and I seem to remember that they had to change the fuel lines to an approved type and I think there was also a problem with the fuel tank. I didn't realise that it had sunk later though! They'd "restored" a Stolly in earlier episode, but ther didn't show any sort of MOT testing in that one! Just found an interesting message here... http://www.amphicar770.com/amphicarforum/general-amphicar-discussion/4634-salvage-squad.html .. from the owner of the Amphicar featured in the episode of Salvage Squad! Copied below........ "Re Salvage Squad, yes, not the same quality as Top Gear but the Amphicar show was good. I must write up what really happened for the club newsletter but to answer a few questions. Yes the discovery was staged, car had been in barn for 20 minutes. It had already been part restored. The doors and hood / trunk had been done well and were removed for the "discover" photos and some rotten ones were fitted, that is why they change colour at one point in the show. They spent $25K on the restoration - but that all went in to body and paint. They did that very well. All joints were sealed with lead and no ripples when you look down the sides. The reason they did the quarters that way is I supplied them with repair panels from the German club. These have the correct profile at the bottom but are shorter than the ones available in the US. (Before anyone asks there are no more of those German repair panels available). After the bodywork the money had run out so everything mechanical was lashed up - the engine is my spare. The starter thing was staged, they wanted to replicate the Faulty Towers scene where John Cleese hits his Austin America with a branch when it won't start. The car had some serious leaks as the door seals were never fitted, the smoke I think was paint burning off the muffler but it could have been one of a number of things. It's pretty much undrivable because they fitted the driveshafts splines 90 degrees out - and the clutch is awful. Filming was 4 years ago. Car hasn't done much since it was finished, I pull it out of the garage and change the fluids and wax it etc at least once a year. I'm going to need to strip it and put it together properly but no big problem - I'm happy that the money went on the body and was done well. Only really annoying part is the guy they used for chrome destroyed the vent window frames - luckily I spotted it and stopped the rest of the chrome going there. I was involved throughout the restoration as they had a few problems - which is why I didn't look surprised at the end. Oh and of course it didn't drive back to me from London. It was never finished to the point where it was road legal. The show isn't on any more. The format didn't really work, TV people these days work to strict budgets and hate the unknown / unbudgeted. I had to tip at least $10K of my own cash in to the project to get it finished to the point the "reveal" could be filmed, some of the vehicles never got finished as their owners refused to do that. David C "
  16. Surely the issue here is that recovery should never have been needed with a vehicle like the stolly. The problem was that it was a bad choice of entry and exit location. It was far too steep to launch from which means that it was always going to struggle to exit from the same spot. Recovery should only have been needed in case of a mechanical failure. If it had tried to exit from a suitable location then it should have been fine. I hate to use the phrase "risk assessment" but there doesn't seem to have been enough forward planning in this case. I don't know what would have happened if Stollys had ever had to cross the Rhine in anger? I assume that the engineers would have been tasked to prepare landing ramps for them on the other side?
  17. And apparently one is in the BBMF Lancaster!
  18. That's excellent news. Lets hope someone will take it on who can look after it and maybe get it back on the road, or at least show it occasionally. I read somewhere that Rush Green had refused an offer of £50,000 for it as they think it's worth much more than that!! :nut: I fear it might be sitting there for a while!
  19. There are some fantastic photos of the second, and possibly now lost, Scammell 100 Tonner (BLH 21) on this site.. http://www.quietwomansrow.moonfruit.com/#/pickfords-heavy-haulage/4541292307 There are also some nice period pictures of the Wynns Pacifics, Diamond Ts and Scammells in action on this page of the same site.. http://www.quietwomansrow.moonfruit.com/#/new-wynns-transport/4541333746
  20. Not military, but didn't they have the second Scammell 100 tonner there?
  21. The industrial museum has been closed since October 2006 and is due to reopen in 2011 as the museum of Bristol. http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/bristols-industrial-museum.en?#internalSection1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Industrial_Museum I don't think they've held the show (it was called a 1940s weekend if it's the one I'm thinking of) since it's been closed.
  22. Have you seen this advert for one for sale in NZ? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Trailers/Single-axle/auction-277347436.htm Is that your type? It has the gooseneck you've described.
  23. I think you'll find they're for sale, there are Stollies listed on his website. http://www.tanks-alot.co.uk/sales.htm I don't think he's a hoarder who won't let things go, just a collector/businessman with a good stock holding! I understand he has quite a bit of kit so probably can't manage to maintain/restore all of it, but they are arguably better being in storage with an enthusiast rather than a standard scrapyard where they would have probably been cut up long ago.
  24. Could it be a prototype that eventually evolved into the Explorer? The off road limitations of the 6x4 layout were aparrently highlighted during the war, so they looked at driving the front axle. No idea how many prototypes were built (or if a 6x6 Pioneer was ever officially released) but the Scammell register site (http://www.scammellregister.co.uk/history-of-scammell.html) seems to show two variations. An early looking one climbing the wall which seems to have the front axle in front of the engine, and the picture beside it which seems to have the front axle under the engine as in the explorer layout. Your picture seems to show a forward mounted axle, so this could be a variation of one of the earlier prototypes, or a later development of the same. Have any of these survived I wonder?
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