homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks,

Sorry the fishing not as good on your side of the Atlantic, or is it called the Sea of Wales there? I personally had no trouble with Win 10 although I launched the installation prematurely by accident. he only difficulty I had with it was a few games that I could not coax it to run. Most did. You should do fine with it. I am back to Win 7 on this little notebook.

The game server was down you say. Well, that explains why you were available again. That is odd for the server to be down for weeks without explanation. Perhaps they were struck down by hackers or forgot to pay the electric bill? If the service isn't free I'd demand an explanation. This may also explain the radical change in your appearance manifested by your lovely new avatar. With more time on your hands you could finally squeeze in that metamorphic operation.

My own avatar has me looking quite different as well. Slightly younger, I mean. .

Do you recall that rather friendly nurse practitioner by the rather descriptive name of Winsey Doo? She used to help out old doc Ben Dover make house calls. He couldn't drive after that unfortunate accident. The one involving the horse drawn milk wagon and the local Vicar's outhouse. I'd say that if Winsey were a fried egg she'd be charitably be described as "over easy".

She had married early. Her husband was a respected naval officer with great promise. He put his wife through nursing school then got himself killed just before hostilities began. He fell off his ship into an Admiral's barge. Even though he landed on his bum, the small dud shell he was carrying at the time proved not to be such a dud after all. Though she loved her husband and was pregnant at the time, when she received the terrible news, Winsey took it all in stride. Within the hour she was seen walking down the high street in Studley Grange on the arm of Lieutenant (pronounced Leftenant*) Randi Kidde. A fortnight later they were quietly wed in a civil ceremony. Yes, sharp tongues did wag.

To say Winsey Doo was prolific would be like saying rabbits are mildly productive. That girl churned out a newborn once a year, more or less, until she was the mother of 12 from age newborn to age 11. It got to be so normal to be expecting that if someone should greet her on the street "Hello, Weinsey Doo." She would automatically answer something like " a week from Tuesday."

* Over time the word "locum" evolved into the French word "lieu", which is pronounced in French as it is spelled. It is possible that when the English heard the French pronounce the compound word "lieutenant" they perceive a slurring which they heard as a "v" of "f" sound between the first and second syllables. Or maybe not. What do I know about why the English do anything? I can't even figure out why I do what I do.

Gents,

A very windy and overcast day today but the forecasts say that the next three days should be gradually better and warmer.

I remember Roger, you wrote about Stephen Hawkinge's message about humanity having less than a hundred years to get off this planet and with the population pushing 6 Bn + people, one argument for his case would be to simply search for new territory for Homo Sapines to expand to. Another very valid reason that the giant killer extinction event comet that is going to finally find and hit Earth might appear any day and such an event it would indeed be finis, lights out, curtains for humanity with no DNA off-planet.

While astronomers are finding interesting places in the universe on a daily basis, these places are very far away and while they might look Earth-like through images obtained from telescopes and various scientific observation methods, we know very little about these places. Do they support life as we know it, or can they? Getting there is a long and hazardous journey only to find out as you reach the destination, if the prospects are indeed as promising as envisioned. How will we get there. With faster than previously used spaceships? With generation-ships, en route for hundreds of years? The movie Interstellar entertains the first idea, Kim Stanley Robinson explores this latter scenario in his excellent novel Aurora, where the eco system in the generation ship slowly but surely deteriorates and then finally breaks down.

Before even thinking about going to worlds around distant stars, how about just going to Mars, and trying to terra-form that planet? Apart from being a huge task requiring the removal of many technical challenges, building of a transport infrastructure etc. Mars does not, as we are all well aware, not have an atmosphere, and if it ever had it, I wonder if it could not maintain it, even if mankind could produce a new atmosphere on the red planet, it might very well bleed away into space without being constantly replenished?

All good questions. Let me think about them.

That is if we get the forecast rain tomorrow.

If not I will be focused on getting the rainmaking ceremony ready.

Folks,

Oh, god, more dancing? I should have paid more attention to that final lesson in that correspondence course on long distance swimming after all....

MG:

Unless Captain James T. lends us his handy dandy Terra forming tool I am not sure Mars can help us. True enough, Mars was once much wetter and warmer with an atmosphere. Possibly it might have been a world that nurtured life at that time. Mars once had a strong magnetic field—like Earth does now—produced by a dynamo effect from its interior heat. But, as the smaller planet cooled, Mars lost its magnetic field. The atmosphere of Mars was then eroded by the solar wind. As you would know, the solar wind is a steady stream of particles, mostly protons and electrons, emitted by the sun. I do not know how tha magnetic field could be restored on Mars making it suitable for life as once it may have been. If it is not yet understood how to do it, we do have an unknown amount of time to figure that out before the next meteor, comet or magnetic field dissolving disaster strikes. It might be 100 years or it might be more. It could also be less. I'd guess scientists are looking at all the possibilities. Hmmmm. Hawking is arguably our smartest so why hasn't he shown us how?

I have begun watching the 5th season of House of Cards on Netfllix. I have also started watching the 1952-53 B&W TV series I remember from my childhood, "Victory at Sea" on YouTube. There are 26 episodes in total. The score for the series is almost enough to make watching it again worth it. That sold many long playing records in the 50s.

Chaps,

Win10 Home installed and didn't need the key. One annoying thing: Recent topics column here is in Chinese!

Folks,
On this very first day of June 2017, we enjoy a toasty temp of 80°F. at 11:00 AM. There is a 6mph wind out of the SW and a humidity of 66%. The vivibility reported is the customary 10 M. We received just 0 .01 inches of rain during the night. There is a slight possibility of scattered showers this afternoon.

Dux:

Fortunately you speak and read Chinese, right? I mean you did have a fairly long flirtation with that female Chinese pilot Wan Wing Lo

BOIZ ITZA BIGGUN

Sorry Howard. Move over Spruce Goose. That huge aircraft Paul Allen has been quietly building in the California desert is complete, and the vehicle, which must surely be the world’s largest airplane with a wingspan wider than Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose, was wheeled out of its hangar yesterday. Called Stratolaunch, the plane has some impressive stats: a wingspan of 385 feet, or longer than a football field, and a height of 50 feet. Un-fueled, it weighs 500,000 pounds. But it can carry 250,000 pounds of fuel, and its total weight can reach 1.3 million pounds. But, really, how big is it? It’s so big that it has 28 wheels and six 747 jet engines. Wowza! Looks like paul wants to compete with the Rocketeers.

Dux, that is so big you could put 10 of Olga's favorite Snud 14 Soviet cargo planes on the wings and still have room for a Tiger Tank or two. This plane does not have cast iron wheels either and no wooden dorsal gun turret. I wonder if the new plane has an equally advanced chemical toilet that also functions as a shower and three man escape vehicle?

Chaps

JRT,

I saw that roll-out yesterday. But why two fuselages presumably with two control cabins? Long haul maybe with two crews, one of which can doss down as the other takes over?

Not sure yet about Win10...seems slower if anything. Maybe its because I am using the Edge default browser that came with the OS. Any recs for a faster one?

Gents,

Dux: I assume that the rocket would be carried in the middle for weight distribution reasons and possibly it is the most economical design achieving best performance for the least amount of Bucks.

Perhaps it could carry a rocket with one of the engines invented by late grand dad to the nth degrees. I'm sure you remember him. It was he who invented the steam driven rocket ship, only, his design wouldn't generate enough heat for the steam to turn into plasma and the engine, the coal and the coal shovellers proved to be to great a weight to carry in the ship, so he never finished that engine.

No, the engine I'm thinking of would be his "Schrödinger's Cat Principle" engine; It works or it doesn't work, you'll only know for sure if you test it.

Re. W10, in my experience, a well trimmed and maintained W7 is just about as fast on startup as W10. If you ad TSR's, or resident programs that load every time you boot, W10 might well have the upper hand in terms of boot time. In every day use, I didn't experience significant differences in speed. You could try Chrome or my personal favourite at the momemt; Opera.

Folks,

At 10 AM on this lovely Friday we see that the temp is 73°F., the visibility is reported to be 10 M and there is an 8mph wind out of the NNE. The humidity is a very pleasant 53%.

Dux:

I think Jens is right. I am running a well optimized Win7 with several TSRs and it boots rather fast on this little notebook. It however is quite slow shutting down as it waits for everything to go to sleep. I did not like Edge and preferred Firefox on my desktop. Now I have Firefox 53, the latest ver. of Chrome, and IE 11. I am using Opera mini on my LG phone because it is the lightest browser I could find and it does the job. I do not surf much on my phone. Chrome is on the phone too but runs too slow. I cannot remove it without rooting my phone.

Yup, old Allen has his mind set on space with that huge plane and its intended cargo. Kinda like old Yeager's X1 that was lofted by a bomber before it was dropped and blasted itself and Chuck into the history books. The plane would take a rocket and its payload as near to space as it can before dropping it and returning to earth. Unlike Gen, Yeager's X1 the rocket would then power up and head into space and orbit or continue on to some other interplanetary adventure. The power to weight ratio required must have been a real headache to accomplish. Howard couldn't do it.

I wish someone had mentioned steam power to Mr. Allen before he put so much money into those 747 engines. Perhaps OG and his neighbors might have sold him the water now that they have such an abundance. Has he mentioned if it rained last night?

It did not rain. They are forecasting it for the next 72 hours, but we are already inside the time window without any. If no rain today, I will have to start the rituals going. And it seems the girls have found another participant. While reluctant at first it seems that they have found it to be an enjoyable event. The more the merrier.

Folks,

OG:

You dance, me get wet. You dance again. Me get wet again. Dancing continues. Me get wet again and again. Me think and think why this happen to me? I no dance. Then no dancing day or two. Me dry off.You no dance, me no get wet. Bright light go on in head. What happen if me dance? Me betcha you get wet. Everybody happy. Head hurts. Too much thinking.

Still dry but now me hurt all over. First strange woman me ask dance naked stop smiling and poke me in eye. Next one kick me in privates. Two more chase me with stick and big dog. Big Policeman come tell me buzz off. I no ask no more women. You dance, Me get umbrella.

Folks,
I knew I had been doing it wrong. Or something is off in the big universe or as an old movie title proposed, "The Gods Must Be Angry." Yeah, I am sure we could each come up with a different reason. ..Like I ran out of coffee yesterday and a forgotten Christmas present jar of coffee saved my morning.

I had looked at the weather map and it seemed that rain was going to be enveloping most of the peninsula. That would be good news for OG. A little rain, more flamingos to look at as well as egrets, and the sister in law could dance and wash her hair in the sweet rain.

For this area, the weather guessers were covering their tracks and their expanded slots and forecasting areas of no rain to scattered rain in others, and up to two inches where it did rain. Oh, and of course a fifty percent chance of rain for everywhere. Well, that covered it all right.
So I looked outside, decided I'd raise the solar shades, secure the free-standing one and pull up the attached electric Sun-Setter monster.

It did not seem like a good call for a few hours; that is, until three o'clock in the morning when a thunderbolt interrupted a very nice dream that, in spite of all my efforts I could not recoup. A serenade of thunder followed.

That same forecast has been playing in all friendly stations for a few days:
It will rain fifty percent of the time at any given place; there is a one hundred percent chance of getting wet if you get rain, and for those that do not get wet, make plans to be able to carry the fun inside in case you want to stay dry.

They were right! That is, in some sort of algorithm.
Half the time it has rained, and the other half it has just looked like rain, maybe clearing a bit, but...touch that lawnmower handle and the skies turn liquid and the dog barks. I don't even have a dog.
(Note to self: Use more cumin when cooking beans.)

I had been dreaming of and missing the tropics. But I now think it's because the rains have been coming at night as they sometimes do in the tropics. By nine am the streets are dry, and I am tempted to once again lower the solar shades.
I know what I am doing. I am procrastinating working on my real estate tax protest. But really, area real estate prices doubled in six years??!?

All the rain was inland to the East. Other side of I-75. We didn't get any.

So decided to do our rain rituals. I got all the materials ready and built the bonfire. The drinks started flowing and then painted the girls while they giggled and posed. At midnight we performed the ceremony to everyone's satisfaction. Some more drinks and late night snacks.

Hoping for rain tomorrow.

Folks,

This fine Saturday morning the temp at 10:30 is 77°F. There is a 6 mph wind from the W and a reported visibility of ... yup, 10 miles. The humidity dropped yesterday into just 38%. Today it is still a comfortable 53%.

Fittop:

We didn't need the A/C yesterday even though the temp rose well into the mid 80s. Mostly this was due to the very low humidity. We actually had our windows open to the great outdoors. There was a buzzing sound we could not immediately identify. Turns out there are still flying bugs out there that buzz by open windows now and then. There was pleasant twittering in the background I vaguely remembered way back when we had no A/C as bird song. Soon the house filled with an unaccustomed fragrance. Turns out that was oxygen replacing the stale carbon dioxide laced air we'd been re-breathing all winter. It took my lungs a while to cope with that. Before long memories coaxed out by the healthier, warmer atmosphere came flooding into mind. Things were so different in the 50s. Sex was considered dirty and air was thought to be clean for one thing.

As we wait for what must certainly be a downpour of Biblical proportions tomorrow due to the renewed dancing ritual down south of us, we are considering possible retaliatory actions. I am researching all possibilities to create a MAD situation that would prevent future flooding of our bird houses, ditches and septic tanks. Unfortunately at this time I am conflicted. Florida needs rain for all those palm trees and beautiful green lawns. So many retired Americans live down there and are even older than Dux. Thousands of gallons of clean water is desperately needed just to apply those colorful rinses to the heads of the fashionably quaffed blue haired crowd. No, I cannot in good conscience bring myself to continue the MAD research. Doubtless OG is at this very moment tweaking the ritual so that the rain falls where it is needed most.

OG:
Speaking of you, Oldgrognard, and someone just did, as I was entering my notes into the newly created database, I came upon many references to old computer games. WW2 Fighters, EAW, FCG, MiG Alley, Dawn Patrol, Fleet Defender, Fighting Falcon, U Boat Commander, Luftwaffe Commander, BoB, IL2, Strike Fighters and many more. My first title bought back in the 80s was the Microprose "Jet". The next was "Gato" a sub game. As the "Oldgrognard" nom de plume indicates an interest in old games, I wonder how old? What was your first game? Don't say "Pong".

Folks,

MG:

I somehow forgot to tell you that I recently saw a funny bumper sticker. It was attached to the trembling bumper of a yellow MG with a black ragtop. The printed words were:
"THE PARTS SEEN FALLING OFF THIS VEHICLE WERE MANUFACTURED BY THE FINEST IN BRITISH CRAFTSMANSHIP".

Folks,

The Mongolian Flame Bee Remedy

Do you boys remember that homeopathic, non-invasive, surgical orthopedist, Eustace Kane? Frankly, I always thought it was a bit odd for someone to be a “homeopathic-non-invasive surgeon” in the first place. I figured he had been struck off the rolls for some heinous transgression and could not practice in the accepted college of orthopedic surgeon’s manner.

For whatever reason he left his fashionable offices on Harley Street in London to set up shop just off the high street in Studley Grange. In no time there was a long line of prospective patients snaking down the street and around the block. This continued daily for several months. Then one morning the doctor’s nurse, the ever lovely, Ophelia U. Heartthrob, was astonished to find there was no queue.

Doc Kane rushed from his richly appointed consulting room, through his waiting room to the door. It was quite true. In shock, the doc looked up and down the street finding only one man waiting. Patting that man on the back, the doc ushered his patient through the waiting room and into his consulting room. He noted that the poor fellow seemed in considerable pain.

Seconds after the door had closed, it opened. Out popped Kenny Holditt in a big hurry. He seemed quite distressed as he whispered something in the ear of the surprised nurse. Ophelia instantly directed the man to the men's room. He was not a patient after all.

What had happened? Where were his patients, wondered Doc Kane? He stood at the door fretting for a moment as he watched Kenny walk through the waiting room and out the front door. Then he turned and walked over to his desk and slumped into his chair.

What had happened? Perhaps, as Farmer Drubbins suggested, that it was due in part to the undoubted fact that it is difficult to repair skeletal problems like a compound fracture entirely homeopathically?

Perhaps word got around that the local vet, Kitty Lidder, stated Polly Wannakracker’s pet parrot’s damaged leg would never be the same again just two weeks after Polly said Doc Kane recommended she coat the limb with honey taken out of the underground nest of the deadly, wingless Mongolian Flame Bee 6 times a day. He allegedly sold her a large jar.

On the other hand, Constable Billy Klubb’s testimony at the trial suggested the long line of patients at the practice door had more to do with the fact that many of Doc Eustace Kane’s homeopathic remedies were found to be laced with cocaine than with the success of his medical treatments. It was never proved, however, that the good doctor ever at any time treated animals, not even parrots.

Folks,

Today is an important and historic anniversary. That's right, it is the second anniversary of my visit to Canada. 06/06/15 Air Canada seat 10A. I remember it with great appreciation for the hospitality shown me by C51 the Magster and their friends. Maybe in looking through these notes I may find their e-mail address?

Oh, you may have thought I meant that "other" historic event that fell on the sixth of June 1944? I haven't forgotten and I'm sure neither have any of you. D-Day, the invasion of Festung Europa. The beginning of the end for NAZI Germany. Look here for D-Day videos:

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day/videos/d-day-invasion-of-normandy

IMHO Zanuck's "The Longest Day" was good in its time but Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" is far better in its violent portrayal of the landings on those beaches. And friends, I have it on unimpeachable authority from one who was there that even that film doesn't come close. He wouldn't watch much of it so I am not entirely sure how he knows. I do not however doubt his opinion is correct and faithful to his subjective memory of his personal experience. He is gone now as are so many who survived that day. We owe them all plenty. He will ever be a hero of mine.

Yes, I'm an oldgrognard. Started playing the board games by Avalon Hill, Strategy and Tactics, etc. Squad Leader was probably the apex of my board gaming. One of the very first computer games was some kind of flight simulator that used wire images with no fill. Just a black screen with wire frame airplane. The first war game that I can remember was by SSI ; Guadalcanal Campaign. I got almost all the SSI games. That was my favorite war game company. The early flight sims like Aces over Europe and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. Really loved European Air War (EAW) and that was the sim that led me here to SimHq.

Folks,

OG:
I had AH board games too. "1914" which took forever to set up for play and "Luftwaffe". "Tactics 2" I think was one of their titles. It had a tank on the box. Sadly I lost those in a fire. No, the house was fine... my wife grew tired of the board and pieces being all over the kitchen table every weekend. I made the singular and profound mistake of ignoring her ultimatum. OK, just kidding. I was not that stupid. They are in storage now. I found the computer games "Gettysburg" and "Waterloo" and that, along with my first computer, was "Waterloo" for my board gaming. I still remember some exciting board game sessions though. I had a neighbor who was as keen as I was and that made all the difference.

I well remember "Aces over the Pacific" and "Aces Over Europe". I enjoyed playing those too. I even found a fairly thick companion book for those. The EAW forum has been here longer than we have and it seems to be busier. I still played MiG Alley until a few years ago. When I got Strike Fighters 1 and added the Korean mod I liked the graphics much better and MiG Alley was replaced by that. Third Wire no longer develops titles for the PC but you can still get their old games from their website. SF2 is still a viable game. I managed tinker with it and get a well modded SF1 running under Win 10 Pro a few years ago. This notebook is worthless for gaming. I still have my XP gaming computer in storage. If i don't get my new PC fairly soon I may get that out. The last game I bought was Cliffs of Dover. i liked it but there were a few compatibility issues with the motherboard installed Video Card. I had to learn to lead without a gunsight in all the planes except the 110. I did learn to do it. Like old Oswald, I got up real close on their six and couldn't miss.

I have never been a member of the "After Burner" crowd myself, preferring props. My son among other things is a surveyor. He loves jet flight sims, hates props. He was surveying a large tract of land in Goldsboro, NC not far from Seymour Johnson AFB (about 30 m from here). He enjoyed seeing all those F-15s taking off. He met a Vietnam vet (also a surveyor) who flew F4s over the North without a gun. The only name I know him by is "Crutch". He told some exciting tales of Thuds and MiG 21s, and flack so thick you could get out and walk on it. He said the MiG 17s were more common. The MiG 21s were scarce and used hit and run tactics. I don't know what outfit he flew with. he had met the great Col. Robin Olds he said. That guy fooled the Red RADAR into thinking his flight of F4s was a flight of Thuds and when the 21s came up expecting an easy fight they received a nasty surprise. Now I don't think the Thuds were helpless by any means. They were very fast, designed in fact for nuclear strikes, but heavy with bombs, jamming equipment etc. they were no match for a silver 21.

I admit that I did enjoy flying some jets and doing some dog fighting and ground pounding with SF1. I loved that chain gun in the later model F4s. It made 21s go BOOM close up and too close for a missile. SF 1 and 2 are two of the most customizable games I've played.

Gents,

Roger, I think I can explain the disappearance of patients form Doc Kane's queue. You see, some of us were convinced that the E. stood for Euthanasia.

I've just finished watching the movie Atonement with Kiera Knightly James MacAvoy et al. Although not a war movie as such, actually it made a huge impression on me because the drama part of it was so very well crafted that you really feel for the persons depicted. Especially the part of the movie set during Dunkirk and after were very moving since by now you know the back-story. Recommended viewing and it has actually made the list of the 1000 movies to watch before kicking the bucket.

The reason I'm watching movies on a Sunday afternoon, in case you wondered, is thanks to Oldgrognard. Yes! the rain dances are working extremely well I'm happy to report. It has been raining here all day! Now, if you get that range right, you should be good to go!