I can’t seem to shift ’99 Red Balloons’ out of my head at the moment. 😥

Zena approves.

Please explain why it’s a poor argument?

Because it is, so there.

Oh and my Dad is bigger than yours.

Can I be the first to ask posters not to refer to the poor argument that ‘pedestrians should wear helmets’?

Yes, likes to let everyone know its there but doesn’t bring much to the party.

😛

Vortexracing – I see your Hornet and raise you a Westland Welkin.

Don’t mean to sound callous either but I didn’t have a clue who she was and after checking her filmography I can understand why.

GJ – My brother flies Nimrods whereas I was very definitely ground-based whilst in the RAF.

Still, I have more medals than him. 😆

Aye, I was thinking of bringing the Dialled Bikes Holeshot to really rip up the trails in a supersweet and gnarltastic huckmeister stylee.

Depending on who you fly with weight restrictions can make traveling with a bike very expensive, the bike may not even make it onto the same aircraft as you and if it does get onto the pan some numpty luggage chucker might make a mess of it whilst chucking it about.

Plus when you factor in that you are supposed to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight and add in airport transfer times each way there isn’t a huge difference in travelling time.

Having driven the last two times I went to the French Alps I don’t think I’ll go back to flying. We even took a spare bike the last time we went ‘just in case’ as we had the room in the car.

Aye, Thunder City.

CFH fancies a trip in a Lightning (very quick, lots of noise, doesn’t stay up long) whereas I’m gonna plump for a trip in a Buccaneer (big, stays up for ages and gets the job done).

The story of the Phantom at St Athan is here

I might return to the scene of the crimes against MTBing on Sunday.

Had to scrap some classified parts that had a fault which were used on some radars the RAF used , they were basically big valves but cost about £800,000 a piece.

We were sent a list of serial numbers which we were informed were the ones requiring scarping, valves were then dragged out into scrap yard and put beyond use.

Later informed that someone at the other end had made a mistake with the covering letter and those serial numbers were for the valves that were ok.

RAF suddenly has zero stock of serviceable valves for one of its main ground-based air defence radars.

Not strictly my fault though.

Snoopy was quite a plane, i remember seeing it fly over Fairford years ago, no longer i operation i believe, last i heard it was being converted back to a standard Hercules, somebody must have had a job on their hands!

Snoopy is now being used as a testbed for the TP-400 D6 engine for the A400M.

Oh and did someone say low level?

Rattling window panes at RAF St Athan.

Ultimately the Queen is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and although the Privvy Council exists as the tool by which the Queen grants Westminster control over the military as an organisation the buck stops with the CinC. This quirk exists in order to seperate corruptable elected individuals (MPs) from having a potential tool of oppression at their immediate disposal with which they could interfer with the democratic process.

In my ever so humble experience whilst large rotors on the front can have a benefit larger rotors on the back are pretty pointless as all you do is add weight and rip up the trails with little additional benefit to braking.

I don’t have a rotor over 185mm on any of my bikes, including my DH bike.

TCW eh? Two C*nts and a Wireless.

I never worked with TCW that much as they were predominately MOB based, we usually had 21 Sigs operating alongside us, far from the MCSU food tents and hot showers. The only time I worked alongside TCW was at Ali Al Salem whilst on Op Bolton.

(Grrrrr, I love sleeping in muddy holes). 😆

Ibuprofen was discovered in Nottingham and HP sauce was first made here.

The Screen Room cinema in Nottingham is the worlds smallest publicly accessible cinema, with 21 seats.

The Broadway Cinema in Nottingham was chosen for the UK premier of Reservoir Dogs.

No, not that sort.

(Ex) this sort,

Tarka – Stars nightclub, classy. 😉

At least it wasn’t The Sands or The Imperial though.

Did you buy some chicken and chips from the place next to Arc Taxis before joining the queue for the long wait in punch-up city?

Not really, marks me as a bit of a rotary geek. 😳

May I be of some assistance?

Endo originally was short for ‘End Over’, or an over the bars moment. Its also used to describe coming to a stop with your back wheel in the air pivoting around your front braked wheel, not necessarily going over the bars.

‘Stoppies’ I’ve always understood as rolling endo’s, doing a wheelie on your front wheel rather than back one. They need not end in coming to a halt, which is kind of confusing as the ‘stop’ part of the name implies coming to a halt.

I like bikes.

A Rooivalk and an Agusta A129 Mangusta.

Rooivalk is based on Aerospatiale Super Puma dynamic components (MRB’s, engines, tail rotor), a necessity based on its early development being during the days of the embargo.

When we drove down to Les Arcs last year the chap who’s car we drove in had an in-built Sat Nav that apparently had comprehensive European mapping.

It ran out of ideas just as we passed Chambrey, luckily I remembered the rest of the route from previous trips.

I still had the power of the gnarl within me at that point, though it would later leave and dump me on the trail. 😳

They could then use the military for their own ends……

Although its often been poo poo’d by a few on here its quite an important quirk of constitutional law that the Armed Forces (and the Police I believe) swear an Oath of Allegiance to the monarchy rather than the government. This came about due to the almost tyrannical actions of Oliver Cromwell after the removal of Charles 1, especially in the respect of his misuse of the New Model Army to carry out his dirty work.

Although outwardly it is the government that decides policy for the Armed Forces of this country the individuals involved have no loyalty to that institution other than a devolved loyalty befitting those of an office appointed by the crown.

I ….. swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and of the generals and officers set over me. So help me God.

It may seem quaint to those who have never taken it but many in the Armed Forces (and may who have since left) consider taking the Oath an important act to take. If push came to shove and they were required to take a side I’m sure most would chose the monarchy and the subjects of rather than an increasingly tyrannical Prime Minister.

Who was that supersweet gnarly huckmeister chucking in a little tail flick as he rode past the camera?

Surely he has the necessary skills to be the new Elbry?

I spent a week on the Urology ward at Stafford General a few years back. It was possibly the most miserable week of my life, surrounded by the nearly dead of both sexes (it being a mixed ward), many of them moaning and sobbing through the day and night and on top of that it absolutely stunk.

I wasn’t even in for a Urology problem (dislocated shoulder with spinal complications), its just is was the only bed available apparently.

Its what convinced me to get private healthcare. I may end up in an NHS hospital but if I have to stay it won’t be on some poxy mixed ward that stinks of p!ss.

Stick it around your neck to keep the wind off.

sootyandjim – your right but if it was the military controlled by gordon brown thats a scary thought.

Do you honestly think that if the military took charge then the one-eyed nostril miner wouldn’t be first against the wall?

There’d be people killed in the rush to pull the trigger I’m sure.

😉

9hrs (as above) is a bit optimistic

Well thats about what the trip computer in the car said (actually 9.21 hours) and that included half hour stop at the last services on the Autoroute before turning off the Autoroute (Cháteauneuf?) for breakfast.

Admittedly we weren’t strictly abiding by the speed limits.

(As an aside most online route planners have Calais – BSM down as a sub 9 hour drive, sticking to the speed limit but not taking into account breaks).

Did you bash your head getting out TM?

The doors on the Blackhawk are quite low, as I found out in Bosnia many years back.

😳

Go late on a Friday via the Channel Tunnel, its usually dead quiet.

Travel with a minimum of one other driver to take a bit of the strain and make sure they are insured for the vehicle you are using and no, third party cover based on a UK fully comp policy doesn’t cut it with the French police.

Remember to check for all the bits and bobs you need in your car to keep the French police happy, which includes a day-glo vest/jacket for each occupant that is to hand in the main compartment of the vehicle, warning triangle, spare bulbs and all the good stuff. Whilst I’m sure you’ll no doubt have many folk tell you that they’ve never carried these would you want to risk the fine?

Depending on where you are going and what you are traveling in from Calais its a safe 9 hour drive (to Les Arcs in this instance) including stops for fuel, coffee and a stop for breakfast after you get near Chambrey. French service station coffee is first class BTW.

Don’t exceed the speed limit after you pass the Pas De Calais department sign on the way back as the French police look out for Brits racing to catch their ferries and quite often Kent Police are to hand to assist their French counterparts with all the paperwork.

When you arrive don’t be tempted to go straight out on your bike, no matter how sunny it is. Get your head down for a few hours and then maybe pop out in the afternoon after the lifts reopen. Better to get some rest than crash on your first day.

Have fun.

– Ghetto tubeless is lighter than normal tubeless and cheaper than Stans etc.

– You can occasionally find it difficult to get the correct kit for Stans etc to fit unusual rim/tyre combos, not an issue with ghetto tubeless.

– Ghetto tubeless is much, much cheaper than any of the other tubeless alternatives.

BTW, what is this adding milk every few months thing? I’ve had my ghetto tubeless fitted on my Ginat Trance for nearly a year now and I can still hear the Hutchinson tubeless milk sloshing about inside.

To be honest this country would probably run better if the military took charge.

Well it could hardly be run worse.

😉

Somerset (saw lots of radars and comms equipment),

Willard – That’ll be RAF Locking (RIP) then, my first posting on joining the RAF.

Speaking of Locking, they used to have one of these on the gate.

Still my favorites though,

If it has a 30mm cannon its a Scimitar not a Scorpion.
The Saracen was a standard production model, not just a Scorpion with it’s turret taken off, part of the same family of AFVs as the Sampson (recovery), Samaritan (ambulance), Sultan (command) and Striker (Swingfire equipped) vehicles.
Oh and I believe the Sea Wolf was a ship-borne SAM system. The UK had very few of its on tactical nuclear missiles, they were operated for the US under the dual key system and as the US is very funny about disposal of assets outside of the USA its very unlikely you have one.