one of the very few battleships present at Pearl Harbor, that survived the bombing undamaged was the USS Pheonix, which was decomissioned at the end of the war.

In 1951 she was sold to the Argentinean navy and re-commissioned as "General Belgraneo"

Why does everyone, including the dumbed down media, insist on calling all surface warships "battleships"?????

Belgrano / Phoenix was a light cruiser – another class of warship that became largely extincy after WW2.

why we are building it, and what we are going to do with it are a mystery to me when we have nothing for it to do.

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Why do you ask that?

I'm not at all comfortable with the "self promotion" aspect – and don't have an account.

My Brother in Law seems to use it to show of his materialistic lifestyle, with photos of any new acquisitions / projects etc… photos of a fancy new dining room table anyone??

From comments made by friends in the Police, both they and the crims use it as an excellent piece of open source intelligence

i'm getting some play in mine at the moment (eggies) – a sure sign that a rebuild is imminent…
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But, nobody seems to have any stock of the rebuild kits. anyone know if these are still available / know when they will be available??

Regarding listening to boats leaving NY – they were peddling that line in the 60's when my father was involved in sonar upgrade trials on one of the RNs frigates

The EU are not going to spend money developing Surrey, end of story.

Yep – very few areas in the Uk now qualify for EU Objective 1 funding, which is what this is about.

From Wiki

Objective one regions are (NUTS:2) regions most at need of the regional policy. To qualify for objective one status the GDP per capita for the region must be below 75% of the EU average; areas with very low populations such as much of Sweden and Finland also qualify for objective one status.

The recognition of Objective One status is usually accompanied by structural funds support from the European Community as part of its regional policy.

Achievement of Objective One status is frequently the subject of much political debate and manoeuvring. The current areas were designated in 1999 for the period up until 2006. Some regions in the pre-2004 member states had their objective one status phased out in 2006.

Regions qualifying for objective one status include nearly all the regions of the new member states, most of Southern Italy, East Germany, most of Greece and Portugal, and much of Spain and western and border regions of Ireland. In the United Kingdom, Cornwall, Merseyside, South Yorkshire and much of Wales qualify under objective one. Scotland's objective one regions are due to be phased out. Northern Ireland, although having a GDP per capita above the qualification threshold, benefits from objective one status because of the peace process.

Good point about vulnerability to public sector budget freeze. EU assisted projects require 50% match funding in order to go ahead.

Friend comes from there – Smoke on Stench I think she calls it…

Anyway – what to do, based on her advice – LEAVE

LS also has shaped oval TT and DT – can't quite see from your photos. And wishbone shaped seat stays and chainstays – definately visible in your shots

I think the Lancaster was plain tubing??
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As per one of my other posts – I'm gutted as my Lucky Strike broke end of last month. Beautiful bike, stunning ride.

Lucky Strike – literally
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Not familiar with the Lancaster, but the older LS's had the wishbone seatstay arrangement. The replacement Black Widow went to a webbed plate IIRC – same as on the current VN xc race model

Deffo not an on one – it has an Airborne head badge

DIY??

Football

One word will do…
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…elusive

No.

Did anyone see Joolze Dymond at MM?
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It occured to me on one of my laps that I hadn't seen her. Unusual

In the car, or locked to the alloys…
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… but this appeals….

There was a very good article on the net a few years ago, covering the merits / drawbacks of different frame materials.

Can't find it now – thought it was on Sheldon Brown, but it isn't…

And – at least this farce will be what everyone remembers from this WC and not England's sad demise…

Demise, demise, what demise??????

That suggests that England were good at some point in the rose tinted past. They have been sh!t all my lifetime, and I was born in 1967….

The talking heads were on the box (last night??) going on about what a strange WC with disappointments for France, Italy, Germany and England… – I nearly spat out my tea over the table at the inclusion of England in the same sentence. Deluded or what?

Van Nicholas Tuareg,

Doh – obvious choice really – isn't the Tuareg the old Airborne Black Widow (ie tweaked LS??)

My feelings towards VN might be being unreasonably influenced by the warranty situation though….
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All have racey geometry similar to my old Lucky Strike.

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Can I asked what happened to yours? Most Airborne riders I have come across seem to have a soft spot for their bikes

Do you have an email I can contact you on..?

just updated my profile

Get the airborne welded?

Have considered this – but it is a longitudinal hairline crack along the top of the TT – not sure how you would stop it poropgating further along… drill and weld??

Don't VanNick honour the warenties?

They haven't responded to my emails….

Not sure that the 456 / Cotic etc hardtails are the sort of geometry I'm after.

To get a ride feel like the Airborne I think it's going to need to be short rear triangle, long top tube and 80-100mm forks….
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If were only dreaming …

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In that respect, an Independent Fabrications Ti Deluxe, with geometry based on my measurements might be the answer……
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….best not tell the wife or bank manager though….

What's your definition of auto then?

Not basing it on my definition…

auto

DSG

What're you trying to say? That I am some way initiating the gear shifts and not noticing it?

No, you clealry drive it in the auto selection mode.

I drove mine in the manual (sequential semi-auto) mode.

Whatever shift mode, the gearbox remains a manual.

from Wikipedia…

The Direct-Shift Gearbox (German: Direkt-Schalt-Getriebe[1]), commonly abbreviated to DSG,[2][3] is an electronically controlled dual clutch[2] multiple-shaft manual gearbox

molgrips – The system I had was in a Mk5 GTi. Might have been set up differently thanother models. It could be controlled via the auto selection programme, but never was – I always used it in the manual mode, so both paddle and sequential lever systems are essentially a semi-auto manual.

It is a very good system, but I'd have the manual if I was making the same purchase again.

As well as the no dropping 2 cogs and drivetrain shunt issues above, it could also get confused if you went for a gear that the control unit wasn't expecting – eg, quickly dropping two gears with a double tap on the paddles, when the control unit might have anticiptaed an upshift.

Read the manual??

It stands for DIRECT shift gearbox…?

See my edited clarification to my earlier post…

Confusion seems to have crept in as the technology has been trickled down to the more mundane models – presumably drivers of these models are more interested in carpet slippers than driving dynamics and technology

Although in fairness to you, VW might well have changed the way that they market the system (and for that matter may have dropped their traditional auto box, on the basis of the success of DSG)

I enjoyed DSG whilst I had it, although missed being able to drop 2 ratios at a time etc.

Wtf? It's a gearbox that changes automatically, ergo it is an auto. Doesn't make any difference how it works internally does it?

I seem to remember that when I bought the Golf, VW were marketing 2 systems, one was the traditional auto, the second, DSG was marketed as a clutchless manual – ie, as you state in your earlier posts, basically a replicate of their manual box, but with a dual electronically operated clutch. Totally different.

DSG is / was designed to be a manual gearbox. It has set ratios, that are selecetd by the driver. The driver changes gear at the revs / load, road conditions of their choosing. The difference is the shift mechanism – ie electronically actuated rather than pedal / hand lever actuated.

In an auto box, the car's systems choose when / where to change gear. The driver may have an over-ride, but even those tend to be slow at changing ratio.

Confusion seems to have crept in as the technology has been trickled down to the more mundane models – presumably drivers of these models are more interested in carpet slippers than driving dynamics and technology 😉

I thought someone was trying to disguise a rude thread title….

Autos – nasty things, can't imagine why someone would want them.

VW DSG is good, but it is a clutchless manual, not an auto, and FWIW I found it to be a complete pain in traffic (no clutch control for biting point, drive train shunt etc), but wonderfull for spirited driving.

Full autos still have the tendency to select the wrong gear on twisty roads, even in "sport" settings

Its the 21st century and most of us are manually changing gear with a bit of bent metal shoved through a hole in the floor of the car. In what other area of consumer products would such lack of progress be accepted? Why do we accept such antiquated technology in one of the most expensive products we buy?

Easy answer to that – control feedback

No electronic linky thingies can replicate the control feedback you get from a mechanical connection. We all love it – nothing tells you quite what the bike is doing (or going to do) like pedal, bars and saddle contact – direct, mechanical, immediate.

IIRC The previous Focus RS was praised because Ford went back to the old style steering rack, rather than the cheaper column mounted electromechanical power steering. Alfa have just taken a similar decision for their new Giulietta, to improve the "feel" that had been lost over the previous few generations of "advances"

Non Fiction, so not in the genre(s) you list, but something to take the heat out of a summer hol

Stalingrad by Antony Beevor, makes fictional adventure seem rather dull and detached from horrific reality

I've done all the MMs at Eastnor, and that was best one by far.

Just goes to show how good those trails can be in good weather!!!

Glad the old gravel Kenda Klimb of old was now largely absent, although even the last little bit of gravel climb up to the ridge was a bit of a punisher.

Got on ok with the main climb and the new, short KK, but hated the new bit of singletrack in the woods. In the depths of night lap mutterings I even figured it would put off going back to Eastnor…

Anyway, who marked it out – a 5' midget on a 14" framed bike??? I would have needed a chainsaw to negotiate my 20" Anthem through the narrow right angled bends in those woods.

All the other bits were great, including the dusty descent

Cheers

Bin Laden has been mentioned a couple of time in posts above – today's universally accepted image of the craven evil of terrorism (in Western minds)…
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…But yesterday's honourable freedom fighter, as instrument of the CIA in their proxy war against the Soviets.
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Clear as mud isn't it?

I come from a military background, and can understand that perspective – but it takes a little thought, time and detachment to stand back and consider the wider perspective…

The troops on the ground hav had an element of "blame" attached to them because their individual split second, under pressure decisons resultesd in shots being fired. That behaviour was clearly inappropriate by any standards, but particularly so within a civilian context in the British Isles. True culpability however must lie further up the chain of command. Decision making comes with responsibility, and the decision to deploy the Paras was were the majority of the responsibility should reside.
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As an interesting counter thought to the staunch defence of the military being shown here – how might the view of history (and judicial outcomes) be different if such an event had occured in occupied France, and troops involved wore grey or black uniforms???

At least one of our team will be there fri am to pitch – but other team members prob wont arrive until Sat am due to work commitments…
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… and there's the problem. Previous years it's always been bloody dificult getting a space to pitch the whole team (including latecomers0 in one place.

Tape or no tape, peeps need to leave sufficient space

Is that bstrd off-camber traverse tucked away in there somewhere too?

isn't that the litle loop mapped out after you drop off from the Obelisk?? – Loops around the base of the word "Obelisk" on the route map…. might (hope) I'm wrong

You weep like a baby when your baby breaks…
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My Lucky Strike passed away late last month – cracked top tube

'taint called "Somme Woods" fa nuthin y'know

£200 million wasted for nowt IMHO

Really???

"For nowt?"

Or because "Gov'ts of the day" find it rather uncomfortable to establish / grasp / communicate the truth at the time…..

Up a singletrack climb to the Somme woods, through the Somme then out by the hut at the top of the old LR track

Is that the Landrover track climb that I endured (pushed, sobbed, crawled) in the 2004 monsoon???

There has been persistant talk of 2010 using land on the castle side – but can't see how that would work unless the whole lot was moved west of the main road – camping, arean the lot…
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…. unless there are underpasses / overbridges that can take the course safely across the road.
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Can anyone add anything?