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My Flying Control Jeep - The Ongoing Story


Jessie The Jeep

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National Museum of the Royal Navy ( Hartlepool ) - Sept 30th/Oct 1st

While I took the Dodge on day one, it was Jessie out for the second day, parking up with Andy again. Several other vehicles were there for the second day that weren't there on day one.

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Most of the re-enactor displays were the same, although a couple had gone, to be replaced by the Seatones singers. It was mostly sunny today and quite a bit warmer than Saturday.

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Photos for both days were a combination of DSLR and phone images. High shots of the vehicles were taken on my phone on a selfie stick, using the timer on the shutter release.

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HMS Trincomalee was the backdrop for this first 1940s event held by the museum. The Trincomalee is one of two surviving British Leda-class sailing frigate, built shortly after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Work on the Trincomalee began in May 1816 and was launched on 12 October 1817. Trincomalee holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat, as although HMS Victory is 52 years older, the Victory is displayed in dry dock.

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This appears to be our last event of the year, ending the season at Hartlepool, very close to Heugh Battery, where we started the 2023 season.

More pictures here - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2023/royalnavy.htm

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Remembrance Day Memorial Tour - November 11th

About a week before the 11th, I passed through part of a village I don't normally travel through and spotted a rather nice war memorial. This set me off planning my 2023 memorials tour. The whole trip was a little over 19 miles and took about two hours.

After a few problems getting the Jeep started, I think due to failing batteries, I headed off to my first stop. Shortly before getting there, I made a quick stop to fit the flag and grab a couple of photos in the sunshine, then on to the first memorial where I planned to keep the two minutes silence at 11am.

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The first memorial was at Littletown, a small and simple engraved stone, dedicated mostly to those from the village lost during World War 1. One name, Thomas Hopper, dates from World War 2. After the two minutes silence, I set off for the next stop.

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Heading North, the next stop was Thornley village. This was quite a large memorial wall, but in front of it, was a separate memorial to 2nd Lt John Scott Youll V.C. He served in the 11th Service Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He was killed in Italy on the 27th of October 1918, age 21. He's the second local soldier I've discovered who was awarded the Victoria Cross.

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On one of your future memorial tours  - can I suggest you head to the real west Co. Durham  - a photograph of Jeep  parked next to Tow Law memorial located Wolsingham Road just off the 90 degree turn of the A68 (a most imposing location on this now not so busy trunk road to Edinburgh).   I often travel past and have always considered this memorial / statue the best in the area.

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2023 Season Review

As we head into mid December, it's time for my annual season review. With salt on the roads and a hacking cough ( a plague brought home from school by my daughter ), I'm probably not going to be out in my green vehicles during the remaining couple of weeks of the year.
 
Normally I post a composition of one or two pictures from each event, but this year I've put them all into a short video. We've done ten public events, nine local runs and the Dodge has done nine sessions of moving materials around the garden for my landscaping and garden railway feature. We also did a couple of weeks around the Normandy beaches and museums in the Summer, but sadly without the vehicles.

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First Run Out of the Year - February 3rd, 2024

The Dodge hasn't run or moved since the Historic Quay event at the end of September and the Jeep was last out for Remembrance Day. I wanted to get two of the three vehicles on the road to stretch all their joints and splash some oil around the engines. The GPW needs a head gasket change when the weather warms up.

While it felt mild today, it wasn't warm, I began with a fan heater under the Jeep sump to pre-heat the oil. After that, I turned the engine over several times with the starting handle, to get some oil moving around the engine.

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Once I felt I'd moved enough oil, the carb was primed and I went for the start. Oil pressure was up straight away. I pulled out of the garage, locked up and went for a short drive.

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I took the Jeep for a 5 mile local drive and shot a few photos around the route.

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I just followed my usual route out of the bottom of the village and to sun set lane.

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When I got back, it didn't go back in the garage straight away, as I had some work to do on Lynne's Juke. That was parked in the garage out of the wind, for a sensor and electrical plug change. An RAC man managed to mangle the plug during a call out after the sensor failed. Fixing that took until noon, then the Jeep was put away and I had lunch. The Dodge was out in the afternoon, but I'll post that in the Dodge thread.

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19 years ago today, the 18th of February 2005, we went up to Scotland for a long weekend break. While there, we also planned to check out a Hotchkiss Jeep for sale at WHB Jeeps. At the time, it wasn't registered and was still in French army three tone camouflage. We placed a deposit before the weekend was out.

Before we collected it ( in April ), I'd asked for new roof and seat canvasses to replace the French vinyl and a respray into olive drab. It would then be immediately presentable for the various events planned for the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

That was the beginning of Jessie the Jeep.

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43 minutes ago, Jessie The Jeep said:

19 years ago today, the 18th of February 2005, we went up to Scotland for a long weekend break. While there, we also planned to check out a Hotchkiss Jeep for sale at WHB Jeeps. At the time, it wasn't registered and was still in French army three tone camouflage. We placed a deposit before the weekend was out.

Before we collected it ( in April ), I'd asked for new roof and seat canvasses to replace the French vinyl and a respray into olive drab. It would then be immediately presentable for the various events planned for the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

That was the beginning of Jessie the Jeep.

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1971  was circa.  the best time to see dozens and dozens of  WW2  Ford / GPW stacked 4 high at what had been Darlington Forge - certainly most in NE originate from that source ,  by 1980 - he did have some good M201  + recycled Hotchpotch . Because of the Alsation - it was always best to phone for appointment , that is when the prop. (deceased) was not doing time as the main part of the business was 'recycled' artic trailers  LoL

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Heugh Battery - April 6th

It was a nice bright morning as I set off to Heugh Battery, for my first event of the year. It was windy as storm Kathleen was slowly moving North up the country. I must have been lucky on my trip as other people set off in rain. I got there early, so there was still lots of setting up going on. I parked up where I was last year, leaving a space for Andy's 9th Air Force Jeep.

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It clouded over fairly soon after I got there, with quite a strong wind from the sea. Fortunately, the battery courtyard is quite sheltered behind the gun emplacements and a wall around the rear of the side. Around half a dozen vehicles turned up, as some had been put off by the storm forecast.

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There were also several dioramas and equipment displays, both within the courtyard and up on the grass around the gun emplacements.

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They were in a much more exposed location and I was pleased to be parked where I was!

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Hartlepool and Heugh Battery was the scene of a German Naval attack in December 1914, trying to provoke the Royal Navy into sending out ships. They wanted to tackle the superior British forces in small numbers, where they hoped to whittle them away in small engagements.

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I think new for this year, was a painting of the attacking ships, on the glass of the ranging building.

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In one of the other buildings, there's a large painting depicting the attack.

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The Sun came back out after lunch, but as the storm moved North, the wind strength picked up to the point where it snapped the flag pole located in front of the ranging building.

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We packed up around 4pm and for part of the trip home, I was following Bob in the Dodge Command Car.

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Yorkshire Military Vehicle Trust Crank Up at York Castle - April 14th

It was an early start to the day, setting off from home at 07:50 hours, for the journey south to Tadcaster; the meeting point for the convoy into York. It was a nice bright sunny day, 'though quite breezy. However, the route was quiet and it was a nice drive, cutting through the country lanes to avoid the fast roads.

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It took about two and a quarter hours to do the seventy seven miles to Tadcaster, where there were already several vehicles of all sizes, parked up, waiting for the start at 10:30.

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There must have been at least thirty to forty vehicles in the convoy, trundling along at around 30 mph, so it took us around thirty minutes to make the ten and a half mile trip from Tadcaster to the Green at York Castle.

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