msalvetti wrote:
Wow! You were in a flight of 18 Spitfires? What a glorious noise that must have made. How awesome!
Only been to Duxford twice (on back-to-back days). My wife and I honeymooned in London in 1988, and one day I dragged her to Duxford. I'm guessing it was a Friday, because not much was happening but they told us we should come back the next day for an air show. So I dragged her back again.
Maybe that explains why she's never gone to another air show with me.
Mark
Unfortunately I wasn't flying a Spitfire Duxford but Mr. Schofield was. It was retweeted and showed up in my twitter feed and his composition of the Red Arrows in the mirror of a Spitfire was spot on and worthy of a post.
What is it about new lenses that attracts lousy weather? Very hand holdable and easy to point quickly, the new Nikon 500mm PF lens is going to be great for airshows.
XHawkeye wrote:
Unfortunately I wasn't flying a Spitfire Duxford but Mr. Schofield was. It was retweeted and showed up in my twitter feed and his composition of the Red Arrows in the mirror of a Spitfire was spot on and worthy of a post.
Sorry about that - I was worried I had misinterpreted the links. Still enjoyed the videos, and it has gotten me wondering whether I have any shots of Duxford from 1988. They would be on Kodachrome, and I'm sure the props are frozen.
To Jim and Laura,
I'm hoping the new Dell is as trouble-free as the HP as been. I hear you on Apple, and I did consider it, but a MacBook would have cost about $1000 more than I spent on the Precision, and it would have had less RAM and a smaller SSD. Easier to justify the extra money when downtime means paying work isn't getting done, but I'm just doing this for fun.
Hopefully now with the setup pain behind me I can get back to fun. I just need to find more time and less exhaustion (last night I fell asleep on the couch at 9pm, and I woke up at 5am).
Celestial events also have that effect. That lens would have been a great thing to have this past weekend!
ELinder wrote:
What is it about new lenses that attracts lousy weather? Very hand holdable and easy to point quickly, the new Nikon 500mm PF lens is going to be great for airshows.
Freddie Oversteegen was only 14, petite with long braids, when she became an assassin and saboteur.
It was 1940, Germany had invaded the Netherlands, and she and her sister, Truus, who was two years older, had been recruited by the local Dutch resistance commander, in the city of Haarlem. “Only later did he tell us what we’d actually have to do: Sabotage bridges and railway lines,” Truus Menger-Oversteegen recalled in a 2014 book, “Under Fire: Women and World War II.” “We told him we’d like to do that.” Then the commander added, “ ‘And learn to shoot — to shoot Nazis,’ ” she said.
“I remember my sister saying, ‘Well, that’s something I’ve never done before!’ ”
The sisters, along with a lapsed law student, Hannie Schaft, became a singular female underground squad, part of a cell of seven, that killed collaborators and occupying troops. The three staged drive-by shootings from their bicycles; seductively lured German soldiers from bars to nearby woods, where they would execute them; and sheltered fleeing Jews, political dissidents, gay people and others who were being hunted by the invaders.
Last night a friend took me to see Operation Finale, which shows the detail involved in extracting Eichmann from Argentina. Not a bang-bang shoot 'em up movie, but definitely has its moments of suspense.
Speaking of extractions, last night I was reading about Operation Coldfeet. In 1962, the US found that the Soviets had hastily abandoned an Arctic drift station when the ice cracked and they couldn't fly in and out. The CIA parachuted two men down to the station so they could recover whatever documents and equipment the Russians had left behind (the drift stations were used to try to listen for submarines under the ice).
(Unfortunately the links in the article no longer work, but just Google Operation Coldfeet and you'll find a lot of additional information, including maps and photos).
Oh my, the animals didn't like that testing! Brings to mind a retrieval aircraft or two at the museum, and now it's going to bother the heck out of me....
msalvetti wrote:
That looks like an interesting movie.
Speaking of extractions, last night I was reading about Operation Coldfeet. In 1962, the US found that the Soviets had hastily abandoned an Arctic drift station when the ice cracked and they couldn't fly in and out. The CIA parachuted two men down to the station so they could recover whatever documents and equipment the Russians had left behind (the drift stations were used to try to listen for submarines under the ice).
(Unfortunately the links in the article no longer work, but just Google Operation Coldfeet and you'll find a lot of additional information, including maps and photos).
No they didn't. Laura is referring to a sheep that was killed in an early test when it was strangled by the cable. And then there was this:
Fulton first used instrumented dummies as he prepared for a live pickup. He next used a pig, as pigs have nervous systems close to humans. Lifted off the ground, the pig began to spin as it flew through the air at 125 mph. It arrived on board undamaged but in a disoriented state. Once it recovered, it attacked the crew.
By the way, that article is among many declassified operations on the Center for the Study of Intelligence website. My uncle was the Director of CSI in the late 1990's and early 2000s. They used to publish a quarterly magazine that he used to send me. Fascinating stuff.
Went to Lexington, KY last week for this Citation X, that is based in Chile. Can't imagine what a long trip it would be from the US to Chile in this aircraft, no matter how fast it is.
msalvetti wrote:
No they didn't. Laura is referring to a sheep that was killed in an early test when it was strangled by the cable. And then there was this:
Fulton first used instrumented dummies as he prepared for a live pickup. He next used a pig, as pigs have nervous systems close to humans. Lifted off the ground, the pig began to spin as it flew through the air at 125 mph. It arrived on board undamaged but in a disoriented state. Once it recovered, it attacked the crew.
Mark
LMAO...Wild crazy pig on board, get your chutes on and bail out immediately !!!
I think I have photographic schizophrenia, as I said earlier I love the 1DXII fo iso many reasons, but take a look at theses feathers (iso1600 at 100% crop). The 5DSR is simply incredible. That being said, I can hardly wait for the sequel to both models...................Yup, definitely photographic schizophrenia with a little ADD thrown in.........
That lens would have been a great thing to have this past weekend! 
