20th Century
A Passenger’s Tale
How it all began Not long after our new neighbours Ernie and Maisie Allen moved in next door, my wife and I were invited to join them and a group of their friends for drinks [more…]
Engineering
20th Century
Happy Birthday, Ruby!
Above photo: My ruby laser with a ‘mirror alignment laser’ just off to the right hand side of the photo. A small amount of smoke in the air makes the alignment laser-beam visible. In the [more…]
Arts
The Home Engineer, Part One
Most men, and not a few women judging by the amount of lady machinists who have YouTube Channels, at some point or another in their lives yearn for a workshop. Now, there are a few, [more…]
Engineering
“And what have the Romans ever done for us?”
Introduction It is interesting that in Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ when Reg , the leader of The People’s Front of Judaea, poses that question the very first response he receives from his gang of [more…]
19th Century
Sit Down At Your Computer
QWERTY – Why? Sit down at your computer (or typewriter) and type a few lines. You can work out your speed and efficiency fairly easily – you have a rough knowledge of where the keys [more…]
Arts
Shunting forwards and backwards
Some you win, some you lose. Modelling, like life isn’t a smooth, seamless journey without problems or setbacks. Ok that’s a bit dramatic. We left this saga at the point where most of the layout [more…]
20th Century
Fleet Air Arm Museum
End of January I had a trip down to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton with a couple of fellow Postaliers. Don’t arrive after 11 am if you want breakfast in the cafeteria. [more…]
Arts
Shunting dusted off
Christmas is always a time that makes me nostalgic, harking back to the time when you looked forwards to presents that didn’t induce a hangover or keep your feet warm. It’s also a time when, [more…]
20th Century
Callsign Revlon
On 25th October 1994 29 year old US Navy Lieutenant Kara Hultgreen was killed whilst attempting to land on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean. The case remains highly controversial to [more…]