Spokey

Wow, a lot of holds there, but I expect it was al worked out with available slots out of ORTIA and the meeting up with the Silver Falcons and possible speach overruns!

A little more. They had been in storage for a couple of years since moving from Josie. I picked up the old display cases at auction. I need to install some soft strip lights or lighten the interior perhaps....or not! .

Do any of you guys build these small plastic kits? I started some time ago when trying to show my son the relative size of modern fighters compared to what we had seen at the War Museum in Josie. Chose the 1/72nd scale for ease of display. Detail at my level is a bit compromised on the small scale, but it is fun. Carried on from there. I have not built for a few years but there are around 30 of the little things and around another 30 collected to still build!

Republic P47 Thunderbolt. And a Fairchild Republic A10 Thunderbolt II, of course known as the Warthog. First pic at The New England Aviation Museum at Bradley, Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Scond at The American Hangar, IWM Duxford, UK.

Do whatever you can to try the MT09. Highly recommended.

I had newspaper cuttings from the late 70’s and into the 80’s with these Tu95’s being escorted off Scotland by F4 Phantom’s and Tornado’s. Sadly the scrapbook was lost in a move years ago.

That MT09 engine is one of best engines I have used. I rode the regular MT 09 around Kyalami a few years back at the Bike Festival. Dream engine, great sound, great performance from that tripple. Another for my garage ha ha! That thing would be a hoot on Outeniqua Pass............errr, so would the Tracer really.

Seems a good price for such a machine. Edit.......finger trouble!

Nice looking bike but a bit more hp would have been more enjoyable. Nothing outrageous of course but about 115 hp, IMO! The reason too why I like the Thruxton 1200 R as opposed to the 900cc earlier one. The 1200 R has a bit of “get up and go”. (That is a pretty retro, especially with the fairing)

A stock standard 1982. Saw “Rocket” Ron Haslam at Kyalami in the 80’s hustling one of these around. Awesome sitting at Crowthorne Corner at the end of the straight as the Super Bikes thundered down!

I really do like a CBX too, but in that price range I would actually go for a CB1100R C or D.

A CB 1100 is high on my list of garage residents to slot in next to the CB400F and 750F. This one by AC Sanctuary in Tokyo is gorgeous. I was in Tokyo in February but was unable to visit the workshop as my time was taken dealing with aeroplane tech issues. Perhaps another time.

Your lad is getting some good airtime there!

Which is why my sensible choice of next motorcycle (although not actually a need in that I do have my perfectly able little KLR) an Africa Twin CRF1000, is in danger of being sidelined for a post 2008 Hyabusa! Perhaps a weak argument for “need” is the poor comfort for a pillion on the KLR............well, my excuse anyway!

This just appeared on my FB. I like this Harley very much, despite the fact that at my age I would probably get cramp in the hips inside 20 kms!

I have always liked the Monster, always fancied the 1200. I realize now that I do not need such a beast. But to ride one just once.......!

I have enjoyed these. Viper Pilot is a memoir and covers the Wild Weasels in the Gulf War. He also wrote Hunter Killers, covering similar ops in the Vietnam War.

Quite a neat little thing. It is 15kVA 115 v. The actual airdrop is quite an involved check. We did this in the Dubai airspace. Was very busy. I have suggested to the company that we have an engineer to assist next time. Once on the emergency power you lose a lot of nav and com aids plus half of the instruments. Was very concentrating for the Pilot Flying to be hand flying in that busy environment and for us to run the busy checklist while complying with the controllers instructions with the RAT gen making a racket in the background! A much more difficult check than on the Global!

Air travel can make for some interesting experiences. Back at the Millenium New Year,the Brit DJ Carl Cox played two Millennium events, first in Sydney at Bondi Beach and then a quick flick over to Hawai across the international date line to do it all again!

Loved that Spittie, nearly tok the reporters head off!I also like the sonic boom. Years ago I worked on the QEII cruise ship and the captain would notify the pax when Concorde was passing when on a trans Atlantic crossing. We would hear the double sonic boom. Wonderful stuff. Of interest perhaps, Cunard had a tricket on the crossing that was Southampton to New York on the ship and return to London on Concorde. What a beaut thing to do!

Downwind and final into Dubai this afternoon. Bit of a glare for the pics though.

Perhaps of interest. We had to do an air drop test of the Ram Air Turbine or RAT Gennie this afternoon at Dubai. The thing is a noisy little beast but provides essential AC and DC electrical power as well as power to the #3 hydraulic system in the event of total electrical failure and/ or double engine failure.

Check out Flight Radar app. It is fascinating to see how busy parts of the world are. The route structures were originally built around ground based navigation aids. As GPS has developed along with all the space based navigation and associated hardware/software, the requirement is for saving fuel, time and money. Route structures have developed to this end, trying to be as direct as possible but there are constraints. There are various areas of Restricted Airspace in countries. These could be for any number of reasons, not always military and the routes would go around them. If you are interested to learn more, Skybrary.com has a ton of info.

This I have not heard, however, we aim for the piano key marks and to touch down in the touchdown zone, within the first 300m of the runway. You will see the accumulation of rubber in this area from aircraft landing, wheels going from zero kts to anywhere from 100 to 140 ( 185 kph to 260). It has to be cleared up periodically as it can lead to viscous hydroplaning.

That is a cool system there. For me, I take a good gander at my paper map the night before and then I head on out. However, unless in the forest when I can see stuff all, it is all rather easy. Keep the sea on one side and the Karoo on the other. I do fill up with gas at every opportunity if i am unsure of the route and I do carry a 10 litre fuel bag. The humble KLR can do 350 kms with out the fuel bag and near 500 with. The way I see is that sooner or later I will intercept a main road and then I need to choose a direction based on time of day and location of the sun in the sky........don’t laugh.......that is how I do it. And yes, I carry the most basic of nav aids.........a compass ha ha!