Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
I had no idea Lithuania operated a couple of them - 6348 and 6349.
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Go to Poland, hang a left. 
It's the Undiscovered Land of Supermodels. The women there dress up to take the garbage out, and pull out all the stops to walk the dog. I don't think there's a pair of Ugg boots in the whole country. More breweries per capita than any other nation on the planet. 1/3 the size of Alberta, 1/10th the population of Canada. Everyone drives like the only liquor store is across town and closes in five minutes.
It's kind of amazing. I recommend it. And because it's a pic thread, here's the Lithuanian President with some guys from work:
The Yanks sent literally tons of M14s to Lithuania when they joined NATO. One wonders where they are now.
It's the Undiscovered Land of Supermodels. The women there dress up to take the garbage out, and pull out all the stops to walk the dog. I don't think there's a pair of Ugg boots in the whole country. More breweries per capita than any other nation on the planet. 1/3 the size of Alberta, 1/10th the population of Canada. Everyone drives like the only liquor store is across town and closes in five minutes.
It's kind of amazing. I recommend it. And because it's a pic thread, here's the Lithuanian President with some guys from work:
The Yanks sent literally tons of M14s to Lithuania when they joined NATO. One wonders where they are now.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Cozy...
We had a line up of pilots wanting to fly "Ringo" - Army Air Corps got first dibs, then RAF followed by commercial airline pilots who wanted a "seat of the pants" flying experience.
It was a thrill to be behind the pilot on landing after dropping a stick of jumpers, seeing it from his point of view. Jumpers generally made it to earth long before the aircraft whereas he had to maintain engine heat and not stress the wooden airframe.
The rubber bungee shock absorbers made for a bouncy landing on a grass strip.
It was a thrill to be behind the pilot on landing after dropping a stick of jumpers, seeing it from his point of view. Jumpers generally made it to earth long before the aircraft whereas he had to maintain engine heat and not stress the wooden airframe.
The rubber bungee shock absorbers made for a bouncy landing on a grass strip.
Might find this of interest:
https://britishskydiving.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/006-1965-3.pdf
I assume the above picture was additions to comply with current VFR rules.
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More than a little interesting!
I was happy to see the name and pictures of S/Sgt. "Mick" Turner RE, the Chief Instructor at RAPA during my time. We referred to him as the "Chef" as that was what the French Parachutistes called their Chief Instructor at Chalon Sur Soane where he learned from the best. He also did some jumping with the Paras at Pau, the French airborne school.
It was amusing to watch him as we approached the release point as his hand would be on the edge of the door, the middle finger of his gloved hand flapping in the slip stream. He lost it during a bridging competition by putting the finger in a bolt hole prior to placing the final bolt. You know what happened next .....
He was bitter towards higher command for what he regarded as a betrayal of trust. He jumped during the Suez Crisis after Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. As a Bisley competitor, he was keenly interested in small arms and like many, he collected a few Egyptian guns to take home. He said they had tacit approval from Officers, but when they landed back in the UK, they were confiscated and all Sr. NCO's were busted.
I was happy to see the name and pictures of S/Sgt. "Mick" Turner RE, the Chief Instructor at RAPA during my time. We referred to him as the "Chef" as that was what the French Parachutistes called their Chief Instructor at Chalon Sur Soane where he learned from the best. He also did some jumping with the Paras at Pau, the French airborne school.
It was amusing to watch him as we approached the release point as his hand would be on the edge of the door, the middle finger of his gloved hand flapping in the slip stream. He lost it during a bridging competition by putting the finger in a bolt hole prior to placing the final bolt. You know what happened next .....
He was bitter towards higher command for what he regarded as a betrayal of trust. He jumped during the Suez Crisis after Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. As a Bisley competitor, he was keenly interested in small arms and like many, he collected a few Egyptian guns to take home. He said they had tacit approval from Officers, but when they landed back in the UK, they were confiscated and all Sr. NCO's were busted.
Zaire. Battle of Kolwezi. 19 May 1978. Snipers of the French Foreign Legion's 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) during Operation "Leopard", a hostage rescue mission.
The Legionnaires went wild when they saw the bodies of white hostages murdered by the Simbas,just like how their Belgian paracommando compatriots had in 1964 during Operation Dragon Rouge- therefore, no quarter to captured insurgents
My first flying experience was in a Dragon Rapide as a kid in about 1950 or thereabouts. A cheap pleasure flight from the beach at Blackpool in Lancashire up and along the coast, around Blackpool Tower and land back on the beach. Way better than the donkey rides that were popular for kids in those days.
Also there used to be a Dragon Rapide hangared in a big old open barn and visible just to the east of Highway 806 about half-way between Beiseker and Acme, AB.. If I remember correctly it was supposed to have been bought over in Scotland and flown to Canada about 40 years ago by the 2 brothers who farmed that land. The barn is still there, but after sitting for several years the plane is long gone someplace.
To second Dark Alley Dan's quote - The Dragon Rapide remains one of the loveliest things built by humans, alongside the Spitfire and the Lockheed Constellation.
Also there used to be a Dragon Rapide hangared in a big old open barn and visible just to the east of Highway 806 about half-way between Beiseker and Acme, AB.. If I remember correctly it was supposed to have been bought over in Scotland and flown to Canada about 40 years ago by the 2 brothers who farmed that land. The barn is still there, but after sitting for several years the plane is long gone someplace.
To second Dark Alley Dan's quote - The Dragon Rapide remains one of the loveliest things built by humans, alongside the Spitfire and the Lockheed Constellation.
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Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
It's that elliptical wing. That is to aircraft design what opera gloves or the glimpse of a stocking top is to the female form.
Something very special and worthy of attention.
Something very special and worthy of attention.
Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service flew the DH.84 Dragon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Dragon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flying_Doctor_Service_of_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Dragon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flying_Doctor_Service_of_Australia
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
A little bigger, two more engines, and you have the De Havilland DH.86 "Express":
Very popular in Australia and NZ apparently:
Sixty-two were built. Here's all that remains:
Very popular in Australia and NZ apparently:
Sixty-two were built. Here's all that remains:
ipscgraz
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
It's that elliptical wing. That is to aircraft design what opera gloves or the glimpse of a stocking top is to the female form.
Something very special and worthy of attention.
Not to drop the gauntlet, but an elliptical wing is not just pleasing to the eye. It's about as perfect an airfoil planform as you can get. Both the lift and drag decrease with the width of the wing, so most of the lift is close in and there is less L & D on the way out the span. Not a training aircraft by any means, but very efficient.
I have heard armchair historians say that the elliptical wing was a problem because it was slow to build, but it is what made a Spitfire a Spitfire.
