Adam Elsdon

Was at RAF Leuchars Airshow yesterday, and seen the last Vulcan flying, hadnt seen one moving since they were in service, fantastic stuff!!

And i believe it was intentionally airborne!

I am going to have to get the PlanesTV DVD when it comes out, as there was a chase helicopter filming the Vulcan when it was on its taxi run to the end of the runway, and it was a few hundred feet above it as it started its take off run, chasing it, so should be a fairly impressive bit of film.

I suppose that would depend on your definition of the UK circuit.

I know of quite a few interesting vehicles heading up north and into Scotland that arent generally seen.

Instead of going to europe, have a "Run to the hills" :yay:

I sincerely hope you are wrong Rlangham.Unfortunately I think you are spot on with this assessment. The government should assist with the restoration of historic assets such as this. I would prefer them using my hard earned tax money in this manner rather than feeding and housing asylum seekers and pledging money to Africa......!!!

I think it would more likely fly in Africa, Thunder City in South Africa, and join the Lightnings and Buccaneers.

you forgot the 1/2 pint of oil in the 2speed generator if its sat for more than 2 weeks;)

Ah the bonus of having a single speed generator! it might only bung out a small amount of wiggly Amps, but its only got to run some lights and keep the battery topped up.

The Royal Air Force used jeeps painted blue, whether that was wartime or post war, who cares! infact it is very unusual to see a wartime built vehicle painted in a later postwar scheme for which it probably served longer.

I use Motorola HT600 sets they are ex home office, and i had them reprogrammed to PMR446, and made up some headsets with a press to talk on the lead that clips to your collar or where you want.

The power output is just a "Little" bit higher! but they are excellent in noisy environments and work well from inside armoured vehicles over a good distance, they are also very good for marshalling vehicles, instead of being on a long lead like when working to a tank etc, they arent small, but they are a brick outhouse of a radio.

 

I was on an exercise in North Carolina at Cherry Point (USMC airbase) and played the Marines at Rugby (Yes they had a rugby team) after we thoroughly thrashed them, (Our unit had two team RAF players!!) they then said they also followed the british tradition of beers after the game and they had a "Keg" which turned out to be a small tin that held about 5 litres!!!!

So we took the van downtown filled it up with crates and showed them how to have a proper post rugby celebration, we even showed them the dance of the flaming mummy, which involves stripping down to your kecks then getting wrapped in toilet paper until you look like a mummy, this is then set alight, with the resulting hilarity, burns and loss of body hair!

 

We drank US Marines under the table. We didnt have any livers, were out of our minds and didnt have any morals!!:-D

For a rough working replica, its certainly looks accurate enough and to most will probably appear quite real. That really is an excellent job you are making of it, you are quite clearly talented in the metal work department, and it goes to show it isnt just the tools that make the difference.

Nathan, do me a favour and go up to Wellington, and give my mate a kick, you'll enjoy it He's ex RAF! and tell him to give me a call.

Useful size truck is that! welcome to the forum.

Done a search for Ladoga, and found this picture, i dont know where the gunner is, but Ladoga looks particularly hot between the start of August and the end of September while the Russian army exercises!

Must admit from the WW2 british era i am a fan of the AEC Matador, but i think enough has been posted about them in the Matador thread.....no wait i can feel a gratuitous Matador picture coming on!:-D

I would try and keep your speed down though, if not only for mechanical longevity, they arent in the first flush of youth.

And it doesnt matter how good your kit is, it'll be granny in her Fiesta that pulled out of a junction because she "didnt see you". 10 Tons of heavily armoured vehicle will go through it like a knife through butter.

And then it'll be on the news, it wouldnt be your fault but questions will be asked and then the usual goverment department knee jerk response to anything different, fun and in a minority will probably get us banned from driving them, or we will have to jump through legal hoops, tests and legislation.

Personally i like to cruise along, with a passenger as an extra set of eyes, and be very courteous to other road users, and in return i get waved at and the thumbs up!

And coming soon to a station near you...........MoT testing for trailers.

Do you think they would have an age exemption on them, and would they be able to test trailer electrics with military jack plugs, because surely they would have to test the trailer free of the towing vehicle!

This is my starting routine, might be useful!

I always D.I. (Daily Inspect) the oil, water and fuel levels before i do anything, as it may indicate any problems.

If i havent started my Pig for a while, i prime the carburettor off of the fuel pump lever until i hear the petrol squishing in the carb float chamber(Your head will be next to the carb as you reach down to the fuel pump lever!) give the accelerator two full pushes and leave the choke off, generally it always starts first time, i then keep the revs low until the oil has had a chance to get around the engine and give the throttle a few blips to clear its throat, let it warm up to temperature and its ready roll.

If i crank it over without priming, generally it floods the engine, i hardly ever use the choke, it has to be really cold for that, and if i dont let it warm up before driving, it isnt a particularly great driving experience as it sluggishly drags itself along "groaning" is the best way to describe it, not a happy Pig!

I Like the crew modifications to the halftrack, on a lesser scale we used to fit out our hard top FFR landrovers with extra dexion racking above the radios, some of this was to store extra kit, but we used to put a small B+W portable telly in as well, and the whole interior including the roof and sides were covered in carpet in various shades of green, blue or orange blagged from barrack stores, which stopped the condensation, made it alot warmer and made it quieter, if you drop a microphone in the back of a landrover at night, the noise didnt half travel!

Strangely i have never seen a Landrover fitted out like that at shows!

Having a .22 SLR would be like having a bottle of Vodka, only to find somebody had filled it with water.

Quite like the description of why your friend wanted the sound recording, they certainly had a nice cocking action sound.

Fortunately along the untouched coastline up here, the old defences are still intact and in fantastic condition, given the conditions. Its Amazingly nothing is mentioned about the 3 pillboxes and the 150 or so remaining tank blocks, the shooting butts or the remains of a large gun emplacement and observation posts a mile or so further on, however the birds get a mention on the information board!

This is at Kingston on Spey:

Hello Harry, no doubt someone will be along to tell you how the Clubhouse rules work, once thats out the way, pop around to the POL locker and check out the Single malt antifreeze.

After that, tell the love of your life that you dont want to grow up, and that a White half track really is the way to impress your friends and neighbours! :cool2:

Oh dear!

I do have a spare one, but was it you that asked before or was it the other Adam I promised it too. So Other Adam speak up if you were there first. If not I can bring it to GDSF £25, but I will need reminding. I'm back on Monday to load up.

It was i! it was my blog that you put a nice exploded diagram of the servo on etc.

I am suffering from Pig withdrawal at the moment, hardly done any shows this year so far due to a knackered ankle etc, that and the fact the brakes sometimes work fine, sometimes dont is a little off putting, it'll be right eventually though.

Croc has instructions to find you at GDSF, he will be there with his missus and Mike's collection of trucks, Militant, Matador etc.

Mine are good, and i have spares!

Just need a servo to make it stop, do you still have that spare going, Croc is going to GDSF if you have!!

Anywhere you go in the country are the remains of wartime activity, North East Scotland where i live had the coastal strike wings.

If you look deep enough, they are remembered, a plaque here, a small stone monument on the edge of an empty field.

I would say if you are going to do anything, find out about what it was all about, and pass it on, the monument on the fields edge suddenly takes on a new meaning, it turns into a living airfield with dozens of Beaufighters, mosquitoes and mustangs, strike wings crewed by pilots from all around the commonwealth, and europe, thousands of personnell in mini towns which sprung up in a matter of weeks all dedicated to destroying the nazi war machine, and then disappeared just as fast at the end of the war

Its not the enormity of the monument, its remembering what they done and why they did it and how they carried it out in at times arduous conditions at a time that was perceived as one of our darkest.

The historians can only speculate.

For those interested in the Banff strike wing look here, good photos and timeline of sorties, and the Germans definitely weren't a spent force, have a look at the sortie 4 days before VE day its a belter.

http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/rafbanff.html

I jetwashed it, then rubbed down anything vaguely flakey or bubbling and then washed it down with a degreasing detergent and gave it a good rinse, let it dry thoroughly and then painted.

Its still looking good now, no bubbling or lifting, personally id give it a go, if its shiney bust the shine with a scotch pad or similar to give the paint a key.

Im not too bothered if it flakes a bit, as it will look authentic, i have driven plenty of service vehicles with most theatres camouflage flaking through on them.

Don't think the Nazis would have had a court decide mate ! We can't judge what was thought to be neccesary at the time because we never suffered the horrors of the war ! Thank God !

Absolutely on the nail Andy.

The Nazi's had invaded the majority of europe, even near the end they were still a force to be reckoned with, and they had exterminated millions.

"Hindsight" is a wonderful thing.