The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

6 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear once worked with a Guy who'd had a back-seat ride whilst serving in the RN aboard HMS Eagle (he was a Radar Tech.).  Not sure what aircraft it was (Phantom?) but he said never, ever, EVER again.....

 

If it was Eagle I don't think it would have been a Phantom. Buccaneer maybe?

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

If it was Eagle I don't think it would have been a Phantom. Buccaneer maybe?

 

Dave

Radar Tech doing a flight check on the nav system of a Sea Vixen?

 

No idea what was happening due to  sitting in a hole without a  decent vision port until it trapped and he felt the deceleration.

 

Or ditto in a Gannet. 

 

Scary enough to look at without flying in the thing.

[jjb1970]

In the 1970's the proposed Type 43 destroyer was to have had a Merlin capable flight deck midships, sandwiched between two superstructure islands. Part of it was to allow two independent combat islands with fore and aft Sea Dart launchers, but it was also claimed that an amidships flight deck would move a lot less and be easier for helicopters to land on. That the deck would move less is a fair statement but I am not sure it would be any easier to get a helicopter in between two steel superstructure blocks on a moving ship.

[polybear]

15 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

In the 1970's the proposed Type 43 destroyer was to have had a Merlin capable flight deck midships, sandwiched between two superstructure islands. Part of it was to allow two independent combat islands with fore and aft Sea Dart launchers, but it was also claimed that an amidships flight deck would move a lot less and be easier for helicopters to land on. That the deck would move less is a fair statement but I am not sure it would be any easier to get a helicopter in between two steel superstructure blocks on a moving ship.

 

Agreed - the very last thing a Pilot would want is something in close proximity of his Tail Rotor.

ISTR a story about the T45's being built and then they discovered that the Hangar Doors weren't big  enough to get a Merlin into the Hangar.  Oops.

 

[jjb1970]

Around the same time there was a study to evaluate a Sea Harrier destroyer with a tiny flight deck and ski jump. The idea was one of those pointless exercises where some brainiac decides carrying Harriers in a destroyer would be a whizzo idea and as a result someone has to waste time demonstrating how daft it is.

This was very different to the Japanese helicopter destroyers which were helicopter carriers called destroyers for political reasons. Which is different from the RN Invincible class. There is still an urban myth they were called through deck cruisers as a tip top wheeze by the RN to build carriers without the treasury noticing. The class were built as ASW command cruisers and had carrier flight decks because it was the most efficient configuration for operating a large helicopter complement. As the Harrier appeared it had the happy circumstance of allowing the RN to develop the class into aircraft carriers. The treasury weren't bothered whether or not the navy had carriers, it was the cost of the CVA-01 program they objected to.

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

In the 1970's the proposed Type 43 destroyer was to have had a Merlin capable flight deck midships, sandwiched between two superstructure islands. Part of it was to allow two independent combat islands with fore and aft Sea Dart launchers, but it was also claimed that an amidships flight deck would move a lot less and be easier for helicopters to land on. That the deck would move less is a fair statement but I am not sure it would be any easier to get a helicopter in between two steel superstructure blocks on a moving ship.

The effects of any wind (cross or otherwise) between those two superstructures would be erm, interesting to land a helicopter in....

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

In the 1970's the proposed Type 43 destroyer was to have had a Merlin capable flight deck midships, sandwiched between two superstructure islands. Part of it was to allow two independent combat islands with fore and aft Sea Dart launchers, but it was also claimed that an amidships flight deck would move a lot less and be easier for helicopters to land on. That the deck would move less is a fair statement but I am not sure it would be any easier to get a helicopter in between two steel superstructure blocks on a moving ship.

I think the project maager thought the helicopter could land and take off from the sea and be winched on and off for flight.

 

He/she had probably seen this sort of picture:

 

 

 

[simontaylor484]

I have seen footage on You Tube of carrier landings of Grumman Hawkeyes it looks ok till it hits the arrester cables

 It looks like hitting a brick wall.

It's not just the RN that has had ship designs go awry.

Look at the delays to the USN Ford class carrier that couldn't get the catapult to shoot aircraft off the deck.

There is also a class of ship that looks to have been beset with problems and most of the proposed ships won't be built 

The Zumwalt class I believe 

[jamie92208]

I

10 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Don't know about DavecH but a mutual acquaintance of ours did. Therecis a  video of his first landing on Ark Royal in an F4 somewhere. I'll try and dig out a link.

 

Jamie

I've found it. Dave Tanner , Supersonic of this parish lands Phantom 002 at 3.55 in this video.

He was on his test pilots course and this was his first deck landing. He did several months on The Ark as part of his course.  The pilot of the Buccaneer went on to have a faultless tour.

 

Jamie

Edited September 28, 2022 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

Something has gone badly wrong this afternoon.

 

I was supposed to be painting, but somehow got diverted into  some househoud repairs.  This involved going into the garage for glue and clamps and strangely enough I got slightly diverted doing some tidying up on the wiring loom of Pantmawr North.

 

This evolved into making some wooden fixing plates for the signals which I am waiting to set before I drill them to fit the signal post to.

 

Since no complaints have been made, I shall continue in a similar vein this evening.

 

Although I have to admit, I may transfer my attention to some railway related tasks in the workshop, which is a bit warmer. 

[SM42]

Here at SM42 Towers I have made progress in reducing our impact on global warming. 

 

Mrs SM42 has returned home from work and commented ( complained)  about  the temperature within our stately abode being a little on the nippy side. 

 

I have therefore closed all the windows she opened when she arrived and thus we are no longer heating the atmosphere. 

 

Of course it's not November 1st yet so the heating shouldn't be on at all.

 

Andy

Edited September 28, 2022 by SM42

[Winslow Boy]

46 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Here at SM42 Towers I have made progress in reducing our impact on global warming. 

 

Mrs SM42 has returned home from work and commented ( complained)  about  the temperature within our stately abode being a little on the nippy side. 

 

I have therefore closed all the windows she opened when she arrived and thus we are no longer heating the atmosphere. 

 

Of course it's not November 1st yet so the heating shouldn't be on at all.

 

Andy

 

Wait till you get the gas bill then she'll say it's to soon to put the heating on.

 

I have just received mine and scheming, devious, greedy ba**""""d have upped it by 50% and want me pay by direct debit so that they squeeze me dry.

[polybear]

29 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Wait till you get the gas bill then she'll say it's to soon to put the heating on.

 

I have just received mine and scheming, devious, greedy ba**""""d have upped it by 50% and want me pay by direct debit so that they squeeze me dry.

 

This may be of interest:

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/meter-reading-day---what-you-need-to-know/?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=27-Sep-22-fd7502fc0c94c50ba3d-6333e9ec7921aef4f37c436a2dcafd9c&source=CRM-MSETIP-fd7502fc0c94c50ba3d&utm_campaign=nt-bignote-one&utm_content=2

[Happy Hippo]

I have been plugged into some form of storage receptacle and fed plenty of vegetables, especially baked beans.

 

Apparently when lit, the stored gas has a heat generating capability.

 

Mind you, if it were lit at source, the resulting impression would be that of a V1 doodlebug!

[SM42]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Wait till you get the gas bill then she'll say it's to soon to put the heating on.

 

I have just received mine and scheming, devious, greedy ba**""""d have upped it by 50% and want me pay by direct debit so that they squeeze me dry.

 

What she doesn't know is I turned the heating off after 10 minutes 

 

She also doesn't know the old thermostat in the hall is no longer connected, so she can set it a hot as she wants. 🤫

 

If you think it's warmer, it probably is. 

👍

 

Andy

[Dave Hunt]

This afternoon I actually got fed up with niffnaff and trivia and decided, "Sod it, time for some modelling," and so off to the railway shed where I got a bit more fencing made on the layout and finished a Manvers Main coal wagon that has been under way for longer than I care to remember. With any luck I'll get some more done tomorrow too. Aren't I a lucky boy then? 

 

Dave  

[Dave Hunt]

56 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

What she doesn't know is I turned the heating off after 10 minutes 

 

She also doesn't know the old thermostat in the hall is no longer connected, so she can set it a hot as she wants. 🤫

 

If you think it's warmer, it probably is. 

👍

 

Andy

 

Despite having tried many times I can't seem to convince Jill that turning up the radiator settings in any particular room will have absolutely no effect if the ambient temperature where the thermostatic controller happens to be is above the temperature it is set at. This is apparently a concept on a par with general relativity or possibly even quantum theory.

 

Dave 

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Despite having tried many times I can't seem to convince Jill that turning up the radiator settings in any particular room will have absolutely no effect if the ambient temperature where the thermostatic controller happens to be is above the temperature it is set at. This is apparently a concept on a par with general relativity or possibly even quantum theory.

 

Dave 

 

That is a space time conumdrum which you need a degree in astro physics to understand. Just say the hotter it is the more money it'll cost.

 

As per my early post the saga is twisted because the lying thieving ba............s have cocked up. When I first logged on to see how much I was supposed to pay they wanted £200 pounds which if I had gone ahead and paid would have put me ,£250 in credit. How do I know that well I read the meters and surprise I had an excess of £50. They really are crafty and several other words.

[newbryford]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

Mind you, if it were lit at source, the resulting impression would be that of a V1 doodlebug!

 

Impression maybe, but not the speed though......

[PhilJ W]

My energy supply company over deducted on my direct debit to such an extent that I claimed a £500 rebate last year, yet they still didn't reduce the payments. I was intending to claim back the overpayment this year and I was keeping a record of payments and money owed which showed I was overpaying £30+ per month and asking for an adjustment. Needless to say the rapid rise in the cost of energy has made those figures irrelevant so when they wanted to increase the DD I offered a figure that was a lot lower than they suggested and they didn't object. I'm leaving the credit balance in the account as a buffer in case of any further increases.

[Happy Hippo]

51 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Impression maybe, but not the speed though......

You light up my afterburner and I can fairly motor!

[Happy Hippo]

On my workbench there is a loco that has defied all attempts to make it run.

 

It's an old Farish 'Hall' that was running intermittently and I was told by the owner that it was the pickups.

 

What has been replaced so far is both motor bearings, all the pickups, new wheels as the old plastic gear wheel was worn almost smooth, tender pick ups to improve current collection, and still it didn't want to run really well.

 

The penny dropped when I stripped the motor down.  The brushes are held in place by brass bushes and phosphor bronze spring clips, with a small spring to maintain brush contact with the commutator.

 

I found there was no top bush, so the brush was skating all over the place.  This would certainly acount for the erratic running.

 

I'm now part way through making a new bush.

 

Compared to 7 mm or 7/8ths scale stuff, its a bit on the small side!

[J. S. Bach]

A few days ago while talking to the operator at Northyard Tower, the bell dinged and the inbound house lead TOL lit up. "What the ... ? Nothing is expected today!" Anyway, these appeared on the lead:

On a serious note, I have wanted a set of these ever since I first saw them on RMweb. Oh, for an O scale version affordable version!

 

 

[jjb1970]

12 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

I have seen footage on You Tube of carrier landings of Grumman Hawkeyes it looks ok till it hits the arrester cables

 It looks like hitting a brick wall.

It's not just the RN that has had ship designs go awry.

Look at the delays to the USN Ford class carrier that couldn't get the catapult to shoot aircraft off the deck.

There is also a class of ship that looks to have been beset with problems and most of the proposed ships won't be built 

The Zumwalt class I believe 

 

If not already checked in there are a couple of good threads in the Wheeltappers section on the USN and RN which are worth reading if you are interested in warships.

The Zumwalt is basically a technology demonstrator, the program was cut back to three hulls from an intended 30 or so, and Zumwalt was already an attempt to make the older DD-21 program more affordable when costs were going out of control. The centre piece of the ships was the advanced gunnery system 6" guns but they're just dry ballast as the ammo was cancelled as unaffordable. They are to be removed to make way for more VLS cells. Originally they were to have 57mm Bofors guns with guided smart ammo as CIWS (the same guns going on the Type 31) but that was cancelled when the ammo was judged as unaffordable too (assuming the technical issues would be resolved). However, after the Zumwalt's are modified by removing the guns they will be useful and capable ships. The bigger problem is the LCS, both designs have been highly problematic, very expensive and resulted in extremely fast and stealthy but quite large ships with very limited capabilities and serious problems (hulls cracking up on one of the designs, never ending transmission issues on the other).

[AndyID]

Anyone else still got theirs?