Recent Posts

makes him feel all big and soldier like.... aaaaaw

For your garden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yprfH5ZsAHk

For your ipod swerve

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/merlin%5B1%5D.wav

Brilliant JB! and very spooky how my post echoes Swerves..

Spending years of summers at airshows every weekend from 10 through to 16 made me quite blasé about watching the memorial flight. I can to this day pick out certain aircraft noises from miles away that I like, the drone of a Hercules, the high rotor speed of a Lynx and the high pitched wine of a Galaxy C5. The merlin engine is something that I stop doing whatever I am doing and RUN to the window or outside to catch a glimpse of the thing it is powering, mosquito, hurricane, lancaster etc -hairs on neck and everything for me!

And I am with JB, I often become tearful at the sight/sound combination as the realisation that most of the pilots were probably boys that either very quickly turned into men or never came home!

Little vid that always gets me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBsJFvN7bRs&feature=related  

Triffic stuff guys and that visit sounds amazing JB

I was lucky enough to spend the 2nd half of my youth a couple of miles away from this place:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Raf+Coningsby&sll=53.800651,-4.042969&sspn=10.885322,38.320312&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=RAF+Coningsby,+Coningsby,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.096377,-0.181148&spn=0,0.053773&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.096306,-0.181254&panoid=4GLUh1nm-_RGsJMRwxcGng&cbp=12,138.14,,0,0.47

Back then the base was still an active Cold War airfield so there was no visitor centre for the Memorial Flight, but they thoughtfully housed them in a hangar and provided a viewing area for it right next to the road.

Sometimes you got lucky and you passed by when a plane was out in front doing an engine test, and you would get one or more of the planes flying over on a test flight or on way to/back from an airshow.

There is something very special about the sound of a Merlin engine.  There is an harmonic resonance from it's sound that vibrates at the exact same frequency as the English consciousness.   It is soul music.

Even now it excites me when I hear it.  Evocative is a French word that doesn't come close to describing it.

It is nothing less than a core part of the soundtrack of my youth.....and unlike the other music that helped form me, you cant download a Merlin on iTunes

the Hurricane looks awesome as will the Spitfire I'm sure. I grew up near Biggin Hill and they also had these two hystoric fighters on view at main gates, many a weekend my father would take me and my brother out for a drive in his MG to stop nearby and view the aircraft. It's also were I took my apptitude tests for the Army Air Corps which I passed but unfortunately a career I never fullfilled.

The bunker with a guided tour by the curator must have been a real priviledge. One my favourite war films is the Battle of Britain which was only on the other week, and recreates the scene you described as I'm sure you know. Some brilliant quotes, beautifully shot with a brilliant cast and inspiring soundtrack. The stuff that makes you proud to be British. Everytime I see the memorial flight I can't help but just stand in awe of the beauty of these aircraft and reflect on the men/women who gave their lives defending this country, aswell on those who continue to do on futher foriegn shores.

Cho Cho got invited to the dedication ceremony of one of the "gate guardians" at RAF Uxbridge and I went along with her today as her guest.  The guardian is a Hurricane fighter plane just outside the entrance to the underground bunker in which Churchill witnessed the events of 15 September 1940 (Battle of Britain day).  The other side of the road is going to have a Spitfire in two weeks, but it wasn't ready in time for today.  Just as we were singing "I vow to thee my country" a memorial flight of a Hurricane and Spitfire flew over and I have to admit it brought tears to my eyes.

Afterwards we had some refreshments in the sergeants mess then were treated to an exclusive tour of the bunker by its curator, who talked us through every aspect of its contents, most of which are original from 1939, including the map of southeast England and northern France.  I was in heaven, as I regard this place as the single most significant spot on English soil of the 20th century.  I actually sat in the place where Churchill and his wife sat on that fateful day when the culmination of the battle took place and he asked Air Vice Marshall Keith Park "what other reserves have we?" to which the reply was "there are none".  The lights on the "tote board" have been set to how they would have been at 11:30am on that day.

Here are my pics if anyone is interested.  I was too slow to get pics of the flypast, but Cho Cho video'ed it and I will upload that later.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/junctionbox/sets/72157624878012208/show/

Maybe he was english... and retarded

WTF was that maneuver !!!!

did he forget which side of the road he drove on or just thought he could make it 

Expect I will be on tonight, might even have a drink to celebrate.