tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post4215621439177646836..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Wikiwander.Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-59107717601316552392008-06-10T17:07:00.000-04:002008-06-10T17:07:00.000-04:00Although to be fair, it's hard to call the Gladiat...Although to be fair, it's hard to call the Gladiator a fighter, at least in terms of WWII aircraft.the gripping handhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11066673935771239385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-76692872378727113932008-06-09T01:20:00.000-04:002008-06-09T01:20:00.000-04:00"Dahl was rescued and taken to a first-aid post in...<I>"Dahl was rescued and taken to a first-aid post in Mersa Matruh, where he regained consciousness, but not his sight, and was then taken by train to the Royal Navy hospital in Alexandria. There he fell in and out of love with a nurse, Mary Welland. Dahl had fallen in love with her voice while he was blind, but once he regained his sight, he decided that he no longer loved her."</I><BR/><BR/>Too funny!Matt Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03500429239798601210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-49509547923461617542008-06-09T00:05:00.000-04:002008-06-09T00:05:00.000-04:00My Dad was in the Eighth Air Force flying B-24s. ...My Dad was in the Eighth Air Force flying B-24s. He flew over 30 missions. I'm going to start posting some of his stories on my blog soon.<BR/><BR/>http://jwiley.typepad.com/back_home_again/2005/11/eightyeight.htmlJerry in Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14156795615903611248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-39255570966301028212008-06-08T19:16:00.000-04:002008-06-08T19:16:00.000-04:00The major problem with the Spitfire was the Britis...The major problem with the Spitfire was the British system (or lack of it) for training pilots. During the Battle of Britain, there was massive resistance to speeding up the training of fighter pilots. Because of that, amazingly large share of RAF pilots was foreign. The manufacturing processes were also slow. The marvelously efficient elliptically shaped wing required that each longeron (for and aft structural members) be separately fabricated by skilled craftsmen. By contrast the Mustang and Messerschmidt used longerons which were cut to length from common stock. The tapered wings of the Mustang and Messerschmidt Bf-109 was ever so slightly less efficient, but having more aircraft is a benefit too.<BR/><BR/>The Spit was also developed into a naval variant. Not a bad run for a nice little plane.Don Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06057058763094040058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-28409700371989109772008-06-08T17:52:00.000-04:002008-06-08T17:52:00.000-04:00We had a better class of actors back then. Actors ...We had a better class of actors back then. Actors that had class.<BR/><BR/><BR/>http://hollywoodheros.tripod.com/<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>TokarevAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-14892780617440656492008-06-08T16:20:00.000-04:002008-06-08T16:20:00.000-04:00My Grandfather knew Jimmy Stewart. He (my grandfat...My Grandfather knew Jimmy Stewart. He (my grandfather) flew Liberators as well. Three different ones, in fact.<BR/><BR/>He was shot down three times. The last time, he was kept hidden by the French Resistence for 8 months. He also fathered 4 illegitimate children (one Britsh child, two French children and a German child; my family is still in touch with the French 'offshoot'(s) of our family tree). Two of my uncles, Rene and Michel are named after the two guys that smuggled him back to the allies.<BR/><BR/>My grandmother still had all three different letters that were hand delivered to her, informing her of my Grandfather's death(s), when she died at 74 years of age. Needless to say, the bastard children strained her relationship with my Grandfather. But they stayed married for 56 years and had 9 legitimate kids,my mother being the 8th.<BR/><BR/>My grandpa hated talking about the war, for many reasons, but he always had a pretty high opinion of Jimmy Stewart.<BR/><BR/>By the way, I remember reading of Roald Dahl's close friendship with both Ian Fleming and Christopher Lee. I've read that Lee was a highly feared commando in his day. Could be apocryphal. But plausible, knowing what we know of their generation.J. Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00524149847037349007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-89912267607319557852008-06-08T13:53:00.000-04:002008-06-08T13:53:00.000-04:00I was watching some episodes of The World At War (...I was watching some episodes of The World At War (Wal Mart bargain DVD bin, of all places) last week and saw the European strategic bombing campaign one. It featured an interview with Jimmy Stewart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-52961290712127837362008-06-08T13:36:00.000-04:002008-06-08T13:36:00.000-04:00That was a different time to be sure. The world wa...That was a different time to be sure. The world was different. We were different. A good read on D Day plus 2.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-27698282101993928962008-06-08T12:34:00.000-04:002008-06-08T12:34:00.000-04:00I knew Stewert was a bomber pilot, but I didn't kn...I knew Stewert was a bomber pilot, but I didn't know he was involved on the Schwienfurt raid.<BR/><BR/>I cannot imagine being in the cockpit of a bomber, being attacked by enemy aircraft not for minutes, but for hours.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-89304827190546389572008-06-08T10:41:00.000-04:002008-06-08T10:41:00.000-04:00".... one of his offspring said he would come to t...".... one of his offspring said he would come to tell them stories in their beds at night, and always managed to convince them there was something impossibly grotesque lurking just outside the window..." <BR/><BR/>In some places, the .gov would consider this child abuse..... any pretext to separate the kids from their parents...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-75352186148030058102008-06-08T10:16:00.000-04:002008-06-08T10:16:00.000-04:00I love love loves me some Roald Dahl, particularly...I love love loves me some Roald Dahl, particularly his adult short stories. If you haven't read his Uncle Oswald stuff, you really must track it down. Although he appears to have been an unusual person in childhood and before the RAF, his writing clearly indicates he'd seen something of life. I read recently that one of his offspring said he would come to tell them stories in their beds at night, and always managed to convince them there was something impossibly grotesque lurking just outside the window, knowing this delighted them far more than any happy ending could have done. In an age of governmental menace and micromanagement, there's something rather comforting about facing terrors barely evolved beyond slime-mold.<BR/><BR/>That's my kind of odd.phlegmfatalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08636803080525003892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-13902034730969076112008-06-08T10:14:00.000-04:002008-06-08T10:14:00.000-04:00hard to imagine some of our "celebrities" today be...hard to imagine some of our "celebrities" today being real soldiers and real Americans...<BR/><BR/>hunger tours, aids tours, rights tours? crib tours? same thing...just another pr gig...they're the ones that should be tithing their agents...<BR/><BR/>jtcthe pawnbrokerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16643081755036536592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-32887090459141779782008-06-08T09:47:00.000-04:002008-06-08T09:47:00.000-04:00Early carburetted Merlins had problems with pullin...Early carburetted Merlins had problems with pulling negative g's.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-89664530842836677172008-06-08T09:44:00.000-04:002008-06-08T09:44:00.000-04:00Another small problem the Spitfire had was that it...Another small problem the Spitfire had was that it couldn't dive steeply because the carberator float would cut off the gas.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Ooops.<BR/><BR/><BR/>I think they fixed it by the last year of the war, though.KurtPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12205267944616413162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-40994394806360827402008-06-08T09:36:00.000-04:002008-06-08T09:36:00.000-04:00And during his stint in the service, he sent 10% o...And during his stint in the service, he sent 10% of his wages to his agent. Jimmy figured that's the way his contract was written.rremingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07700598824835257409noreply@blogger.com