Engineering | Going Postal

The Fat Albert Saga

11th July 2019 Going Postal 0

In the 1960’s Boeing designers were years behind the McDonnell Douglas DC9 and BAC 111 and knew they had a problem as these two twin engine aircraft would beat them to market gaining a considerable [more…]

Is Your Watch Killing You?

4th July 2019 Going Postal 0

In 1902 an inventor called William J. Hammer left France for America. With him he carried a curious souvenir from 2 friends of his which would later result in the deaths of many, many young [more…]

TSR-2

26th June 2019 Blown Periphery 0

“All modern aircraft have four dimensions: span, length, height and politics. TSR-2 simply got the first three right.” – Sir Sydney Camm The TSR-2 was designed as a tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft by the [more…]

Big Shed

19th June 2019 Sweaty Dave 0

In my last piece I talked through the attempt to refurb a lawnmower, replacing the rusted body, which is now back to happily chewing all it crosses, without spitting bits out at random. As long [more…]

Musings about Electric Vehicles

13th June 2019 Going Postal 0

My Citroen C3 will be three years old in January and knowing that in the past I have often changed my car then, a friend asked me if I had considered going Electric. Several years [more…]

An Afternoon at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum

20th May 2019 Going Postal 0

Although we moved from Yorkshire to the South Coast 38 years ago and despite living only two miles from his premises in New Milton, I had only once previously visited Sammy Miller’s wonderful motorcycle museum [more…]

Oxcart, Part 3

13th May 2019 Æthelberht 0

This will be the third and final installment in the Oxcart series. In the first part we looked at the early airborne reconnaissance missions of the Cold War and the requirements which led to the [more…]

Project Mower Refurb

8th May 2019 Sweaty Dave 0

It is the Easter holidays. The Missus is at work for the day, so I’m not being dragged around the shops, the kids are revising/ generally avoiding dad. I’ve pottered for a day or so [more…]

Oxcart, Part 2

6th May 2019 Æthelberht 0

In part one of this series we took a look at the early spy flights of the Cold War and the vital intelligence they gathered from behind the Iron Curtain. We mentioned some of the [more…]

Banana and Walnut Loaf

11th June 2018 0

Derived from Delia Smith. 3oz butter 4oz caster sugar 1 large egg, beaten The grated rind of an orange The grated rind of a lemon 8oz plain flour 2 level teaspoons baking powder 4 medium [more...]
When the Angels Landed on the White House Lawn

17th May 2017 0

When the angels landed on the White House lawn, Politicians were revealed as demon spawn. The hounds of Pwyll took them down to Arawn, Things may be better now they have gone. The marine saluted, [more...]
Crossword No. 30

1st September 2018 0

First correct entry out of ‘the hat’ wins a GP mug – the only way you can now acquire one! Email entries to me by 6.00 pm today subject ‘Crossword’. Last week’s winner. First out [more...]
Carbon: Nature’s Lego Brick, Part One

2nd June 2017 0

Carbon is black (in most cases), non-toxic (a lot of us eat some for breakfast with butter) and doesn’t easily react with other chemicals. An unassuming element. In fact its name comes from the Latin [more...]
A History of Pop Music – 1961

23rd November 2018 0

Featured song: The Shadows – FBI – as performed on Crackerjack (It’s Friday what do we all say?) This is a series of articles looking at pop music from 1955 when in my opinion proper [more...]