Cold Ale - The Blokes' Thread!

[prendrelemick]

^ With power comes privilege.


Earlsdon sounds the kind of place where you're more likely to get a pint of Evian than a Tetleys.

[Paulclem]

^ With power comes privilege.


Earlsdon sounds the kind of place where you're more likely to get a pint of Evian than a Tetleys.

It certainly does. I'll have a gander tomorrow during the festival. It might provide entertainment of one kind or another.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

The missus and I finished the "Boddies" and she followed up with a purchase of Becks last week.
Today we swung by the grocer to get some hamburger buns for our grill night. As fate would have it, the bread aisle is adjacent to the beer and wine section and what to my wandering eye do I spot? Newcastle Brown Ale, right next to the Boddington's. I'm on my second bottle. Quite good.
Bass Ale was on the shelf as well. - How does Bass Ale stack up with you blokes?

Paul - A character from one of those bizarre tales of mine was named "The Dungloader"

.

[prendrelemick]

Quite good! Well I suppose it could be an aquired taste. I think it is akin to a food, its a nourishing drink designed for these cold damp cilmes, to be had in front of a warm fire of a winter evening, rather than with a barbie. Course I drink it all the time.

It sounds as though your grocer is better stocked with good beer than our supermarkets are these days. I like the Bass Premium Ale - that's a black can with a big red triangle on the front, it comes in at around the Tetleys mark, so not bad at all, a bit over priced though.

We have Becks Coors and Buds over here, I find them flavoursome though a bit gassy for my taste.

[Paulclem]

I didn't make it to Earlsdon for the festival. A bloke at the gate barred my way with a spear and called me a knave and a wastrel. I took umbrage at being called a wastrel, but he wouldn't let me in, and, as he was backed up by a big bloke with a large axe, we went on into ye olde Coventry and had a pubbe Lunch instead.

Instead we saw a Hurricane, a Spitfire and a Messcherschmidt109 in the newly paved centre, and I had a burger whilst Mrs Paulclem had a curry. They didn't have Tetleys on tap either. We had a pleasant time of it though.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

...Instead we saw a Hurricane, a Spitfire and a Messcherschmidt109 in the newly paved centre...

Wish I were there to see three of the greatest fighters of the time. The local air museum has a Spitfire and a Messerschmidt 109 fitted with a British Rolls Royce Merlin engine. (you can tell by the position of the exhaust ports) oh the shame!
Regardless, both are beautifully restored aircraft.

I just finished the last of the "Newkies" and now I'm starting on a Warsteiner.

[prendrelemick]

I just finished the last of the "Newkies" and now I'm starting on a Warsteiner.

As Hamlet put it.-

Could'st thou on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this Moor?

[prendrelemick]

Wish I were there to see three of the greatest fighters of the time. The local air museum has a Spitfire and a Messerschmidt 109 fitted with a British Rolls Royce Merlin engine. (you can tell by the position of the exhaust ports) oh the shame!
Regardless, both are beautifully restored aircraft.

I just finished the last of the "Newkies" and now I'm starting on a Warsteiner.

As a matter of intrest GG, what would the American equivalent of those three aircraft be? Iconic dog fighter, that is.

[prendrelemick]

Here's a joke from my school days.

After the war Douglas Bader goes to a girls convent school to give a talk about his wartime experiences.

"I was on patrol over the Kent coast, when suddenly two Fokkers came diving out of the sun towards me -"

Noticing some giggleing on the front row, the Mother Superior stepped in. "I should tell you girls that a Fokker was a type of German aircraft. Isn't that right Mr Bader?"

"That's right Mother Superior, but these Fokkers were in Messerschmidts!"

Ahh how we laughed.

[MarkBastable]

. A bloke at the gate barred my way with a spear and called me a knave and a wastrel.

Was this one of these Mediaeval Crafte Fayre things, which involves unconvincing broadsword jousting between a portly greengrocer and sallow History postgrad, and some pale hippy chick attempting to make a loom interesting and a bell-hatted wanker on stilts scaring children while discomfited parents look on murmuring, "It's alright, Jocasta. He's funny."?

Or not?

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

As a matter of intrest GG, what would the American equivalent of those three aircraft be? Iconic dog fighter, that is.

I’ll give the top three to:
Lockheed P-38 Lightning (J and L models),

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLKiQ06z7_g

*North American P-51 Mustang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEpzG...eature=related

and the Vought F4U Corsair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQxb-...eature=related

*Mustang’s were eventually fitted with the Rolls Royce -Packard Merlin V-12

Now most folks would give the Mustang the nod for top U.S. fighter but I must go with the Lightning for reason of personal pride. My father flew the Lightning in the Pacific theatre. Here he is on the wing of “Blood & Guts” assigned the Captain Elliott Summer somewhere in the Phillipines. They were in the same squadron:






I’ll see about rounding up a few more shots I found among the rolls of film from my father’s Leica.


"LIGHTNINGS IN THE SKY"
George A. Evans
Oh, Hedy Lamar is a beautiful gal, Madeline Carroll is too.
But you’ll find if you query a much different theory amongst any bomber crew
That the loveliest thing of which one can sing This side of the heavenly gates
Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set
But an escort of P-38s

In all the days past when the tables were massed with glasses of scotch and champagne
It’s quite true that that sight was a thing to delight us intent on feeling no pain
But no longer the same nowadays in this game as we sail onto the missing state
Take your sparkling wine but always make mine
An escort of P-38s.

Byron, Shelley and Keats ran each other dead heats describing the views from the hills
Of the valleys in May where the winds gently sway an army of bright daffodils
Take your daffodils Byron, the wild flowers Shelley, yours is the myrtle, friend Keats
Just preserve me those cuties, all-American beauties
An escort of P-38s.

Sure we’re braver than hell on the ground all is well, in the air it’s a much different story
As we sweat out our track through the fighters and flak we’re willing to split up the glory
Well, they wouldn’t reject us so heaven protect us until all this shootin’ abates
Give us courage to fight ’em and another small item
An escort of P-38s.

Here's a joke from my school days.

After the war Douglas Bader goes to a girls convent school to give a talk about his wartime experiences.

"I was on patrol over the Kent coast, when suddenly two Fokkers came diving out of the sun towards me -"

Noticing some giggleing on the front row, the Mother Superior stepped in. "I should tell you girls that a Fokker was a type of German aircraft. Isn't that right Mr Bader?"

"That's right Mother Superior, but these Fokkers were in Messerschmidts!"

Ahh how we laughed.

Brilliant !!

Was this one of these Mediaeval Crafte Fayre things, which involves unconvincing broadsword jousting between a portly greengrocer and sallow History postgrad, and some pale hippy chick attempting to make a loom interesting and a bell-hatted wanker on stilts scaring children while discomfited parents look on murmuring, "It's alright, Jocasta. He's funny."?

Or not?

We have Scarborough Rennaisance festival http://www.srfestival.com/
One year we attended with our son, about 8 years old at the time. A wench with clevage was flirting with our son. Suddenly from acroos the green we hear a ragged knave pushing a cart of rags yell "Leave him alone, he has not yet known woman"

.

[prendrelemick]

^Thanks for thar Gilliatt, I had a feeling you'd choose the Lightning.

The sound of those supercharged merlins (in the Mustang) with that doppler effect as they fly past makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.



Madeline Caroll, a prototype Hitchcock blonde who gave it all up when her sister was killed in an air raid.

Who can forget this .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5tmP...eature=related

[MarkBastable]

A wench with clevage...
.

Yes, fair enough. Bloodye Irrytating Crafte Fayres do have that going for them - women with cleavage. Though most of them tend to be of the sturdy English oak rather than the slender green willow variety. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

And I do have a sneaking suspicion that all this Mediaeval festival stuff and the Sealed Knot palaver and anything that involves bustles and bonnets and top hats and twirled moustaches at neighbourhood Christmas Fairs - all that - is actually no more than extended Method-acting foreplay in anticipation of sepia-tinted oh-Sir-Jasper owzyerfather when the participants get home.

[Sancho]

Strange times.

Great photo, Gill. I may be projecting, but your dad looks like a man who is ready to take on whatever life is going to throw at him. At any rate, it’s a great photo.

I agree. The P-38 was the king of the Pacific. Everything in aviation is a tradeoff – speed for maneuverability – fuel for weapons load – etc. But with the P-38, the sacrifices made for the extra engine were more than paid back by getting the plane back home, over long stretches of ocean, with one feathered.

The Cats did fairly well against the Mitsubishi Zero. The Navy has always liked Grumman as an air-framer. The U.S. got ahold of its first A6M Zero in the Aleutian Islands. Japanese Petty Officer Koga took a .50 cal round to an oil line, but rather than scuttle the plane in the ocean and wait for a submarine rescue (as were his instructions), he decided to land the plane in a meadow and then, presumably, planned to torch it and walk down to the beach and wait for rescue. I suppose he figured that Alaskan water was awfully cold and the meadow looked so inviting, but the meadow turned out to be muskeg (tundra) and a really poor landing surface. The plane flipped and Koga was killed – he had a broken neck, but he also had water in his lungs indicating he may have drowned as water filled the cockpit. Anyway, the plane was recovered by the Navy and taken to San Diego where it was repaired and flown against everything we had. Those tests strongly influenced the design of the F6F Hellcat, which turned out to be very effective against the Zero. The F8F Bearcat was probably an even better plane against the Zero, but it came along so late that it didn’t see much action.




If the Cats did well in the Pacific, there was a junkyard dog of a fighter plane that did well over Germany – the P-47 Thunderbolt. The Jug had a reputation for making it back across the channel with an obscene amount of battle damage – even with cylinders shot off. The P-51 Mustang, by contrast, was more of a finely tuned racehorse; one shot to its pressurized liquid-cooling system and it was out of commission.

The P-47 wasn’t pretty, or particularly lovable, but was effective, like a junkyard dog:

[prendrelemick]

How does the Corsair measure up? A plane that looks menacing even when it's on the ground (or carrier.)

Our junk yard dog was the Hurricane. Though out performed and out graced by the Spitfire, it could be patched up with a bit of cloth and a slap of glue, and be ready for the next scramble, it was also alot cheaper and quicker to make. these were pretty important factors during those desperate times.

I've just been reading about the De Havilland Mosquito, the World's fastest plane of its day, it was built of balsa wood which meant its airframe parts could be produced in small workshops all over the country and not take up stratigic resources and materials. In fact it was only because of this, the Air Ministry approved its development.