Random Cool Photo Thread

[Micawber]

Probably posted it here before, but one of my Dad's old mates who I used to go round and pester when I was young, and had flown Spits from '41 to '45, said to me one of the first times I met him, "Yup we had it pretty rough but if you want to really know who had it terrifying beyond belief, look at those chaps from the first show, no parachutes, no armour plating, and no second chances."

I've never forgotten that.

Some of my fondest memories stem from the period in my youth when I would visit a retirement home whose residents served during the Great War in order to help out around the place. My problem was spending far too much time asking questions and listening to their tales and experiences instead of actually helping out. They were all still relatively young and memories fresh. I was the just the same with older family members and friends.

Lest we forget.

 

[Silver Surfer]

here, here

 

[Smithy]

Harry Tate of 59 Sqn over the Western Front, photo taken by the observer on another 'Arry...

 

[Pa12]

Harry Tate of 59 Sqn over the Western Front, photo taken by the observer on another 'Arry...

Very clear picture for the time

 

[Smithy]

Very clear picture for the time

One of the best and famous because of it. Photo was taken by Tom Aitken and was published in several newspapers under the caption, "One of our planes over the German Lines taking observations" in 1918.

 

[Smithy]

Post-WWI, an observer in the tail station on British airship R33 at Selby, England, 6th March 1919...

 

[Micawber]

Post-WWI, an observer in the tail station on British airship R33 at Selby, England, 6th March 1919...

Ah yes, the R33, a Pulham Pig named after the airship station at Pulham St Mary just a few miles away from my home. One of the two giant airship sheds at Cardington, Bedfordshire was moved from Pulham. Many believe that both sheds were constructed at the former RAF Cardington around the same time.

I believe I posted in the books and film section not to long ago about the book I was reading about the ill fated R101 airship. The work also goes into the history of airships in quite some depth. Fascinating.

 

[Smithy]

Ah yes, the R33, a Pulham Pig named after the airship station at Pulham St Mary just a few miles away from my home. One of the two giant airship sheds at Cardington, Bedfordshire was moved from Pulham. Many believe that both sheds were constructed at the former RAF Cardington around the same time.

I believe I posted in the books and film section not to long ago about the book I was reading about the ill fated R101 airship. The work also goes into the history of airships in quite some depth. Fascinating.

I love the old airship history Steve. Unlike anything before or since.

 

[Smithy]

Portrait photo here but deserving in a thread for "cool" things.

Kiwi Ace, Keith "Grid" Caldwell with 25 victories. He also famously flew a stricken SE5a standing outside the cockpit so he could jump clear over No Man's Land.

Recreation of Grid's "hopping" off a dying SE as seen with the recreation by Sir PJ's Vintage Aviator...

 

[B-Man2]

Wow!!

Talk about a will to live and flying by the seat of your pants …did he survive the jump ?

 

[Smithy]

Wow!!

Talk about a will to live and flying by the seat of your pants …did he survive the jump ?

Yup.

Amazingly he rolled a few times head over heels, got up, amazingly uninjured and (he'd landed on the British side of the Lines) asked some boys in a trench for a strong drink

 

[Pa12]

Yup.

Amazingly he rolled a few times head over heels, got up, amazingly uninjured and (he'd landed on the British side of the Lines) asked some boys in a trench for a strong drink

That’s crazy. Would be like jumping off the roof of a car at 50 mph. Maybe a bit slower if he had a good headwind.

 

[Smithy]

That’s crazy. Would be like jumping off the roof of a car at 50 mph. Maybe a bit slower if he had a good headwind.

He was unbelievably lucky. The fellows in the trench raved about it to the press and it became quite a story at the time. It was witnessed by several dozen fellows.

Grid maintained afterwards that he was lucky that there had been lots of rain prior and that he landed in a substantial amount of mud.

One of the fellas in the trench apparently took a photo of him gliding in, but it's sadly been lost.

 

[B-Man2]

That’s crazy. Would be like jumping off the roof of a car at 50 mph. Maybe a bit slower if he had a good headwind.

True … but then again I guess it beats riding it down into the ground and your body pierced by metal and wood shards

 

[Smithy]

True … but then again I guess it beats riding it down into the ground and your body pierced by metal and wood shards

Exactly Burt, back then no parachutes!

 

[Smithy]

Good timing as his biography is just being released...

 

[B-Man2]

Good timing as his biography is just being released...

Looks like he’s about 19 or 20 years in this photo.

 

[Pa12]

True … but then again I guess it beats riding it down into the ground and your body pierced by metal and wood shards

Yep. Or in the middle of a very well fueled fire.

 

[Smithy]

Looks like he’s about 19 or 20 years in this photo.

He was 23 in in that snap Burt.

Those eyes have seen a hell of a lot though.

 

[Pa12]

He was 23 in in that snap Burt.

Those eyes have seen a hell of a lot though.

That’s probably older than average at the time.