London Calling

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Not much going on down here, is there?!?

I know Ferry's on holiday now - maybe other HWS folk are too? - some excuse for not posting...

No holidays here in London. One day the Scum of the Earth try to blow us up on the Tube (= Underground/Subway), the next our spooky police shoot one of them down there (using 5 slugs, just to make sure the terrorist is really dead, you understand?) BTW, that was at Stockwell which I'd been through the evening before, it's a couple of miles away from where I write.

Going to and from work is now more exciting than watching a movie or reading war stories, fictional or factual.

Just to reassure you that we're coping, thought I'd post some screenies of the Virtual London from the Real one. I've plotted a course : ESGB - LFOB (Castle Mill/Bedford, UK - Tille/Beauvais, France)...

For an easy :icon29: (Jaxon!) : what's the significance of that particular journey?

The mode of transport provides an obvious clue; I'm going in an Airship - or at least Bill Lyon's Goodyear Defender blimp, a very nice free download if anyone's interested. Bill Lyons is currently taking a year's sabbatical - hope he's well & having a good, well-earned rest (if you read this, Mr Lyons, sir! We are not worthy!!!) Us Airship Anoraks dream of his Messiah, his Graf Zeppelin...the Defender may give us a few clues as to how good THAT will be!

Screenie # 1: The good ol' Goodyear at Bedford. Not exactly Heathrow, is it? But this is great aeroplane/airship country! Nearby is the village of OLD WARDEN http://www.planestv.com/airshowstv/oldwarden.html home of the wonderful Shuttleworth Collection, also the strange, mystery airfield for which you, O reader, might yet win that :icon29: !

Screenie #2 : We're off! Watering the daisies with a blast of ballast...

After about half an hour's chugging along on the Heading of 153 (powered by our pair of 210 hp Continental six-cylinder engines) we observe a very large city, due south. Turning off course to investigate we soon hit the River Thames and:

Screenie #3: the Millenium Dome. This prickly building is now empty & useless, but it was supposed to be Britain's great monument to the Dawn of the 21st Century. It IS exactly on the Zero Greenwich Meridian (which is nice), but unfortunately nobody wants to go there because it's too far east of LONDON where almost everything interesting in England/Britain/Europe happens! Also, of course, they made it a kiddie-friendly boring turkey - Disneyland without the rides - so it flopped. In fact it is architectually rather interesting, being essentially a 'tent', the spikey bits do hold up the roof. Reminds me slightly of a half-sunk airship...?

Just before it closed there was a brilliant attempted diamond heist there, the gangsters attacking a billion $ display of ice through the wall with a JCB (mechanical digger) trying to getaway by speedboat on the river! Sadly, there was a weak link in the gang & the boys in blue were waiting for them, guns at the ready...but me? I'm on the side of any daring, imaginative thieves (not murderous terrorists, nor anyone who robs me, however).

And Screenie #4 : Ye Olde Greenwich Palace. The two bigger buildings at the back are now the NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM. OK, except that it's always full of AWFUL French so-called 'students', known to the staff there as 'Napoleon's Revenge' (ha! ha!) The small building in the middle back is the QUEEN'S HOUSE, a very fine one by Inigo Jones (early 17th Century). Christopher Wren built all the rest, the six big surrounding bits, & I think, being jealous of Inigo, he spoiled it a bit. The four front large edifices were once the ROYAL NAVAL HOSPITAL (for destitute old sailors), later the ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE (to educate RN officers), now still a (not brilliant) college, but only for civilians. Microsoft don't seem to have bothered with the GREENWICH OBSERVATORY which should be on a steep hill at 1 o'clock to the Queen's House...a shame, because that's where every accurate dam' map on (& off) the planet began it's existence...

...if you've read all this stuff (guff?), I salute you! :wavey: Do write in. Bedford - Beauvais? What can it mean? :confused:

[Hurricane]

Dont know about the journey but glad to see you're ok ralf. I just heard on the news that the man they shot wasn't related to the bombings.
I'm not on holiday yet, fly to paris for 6 days on wednesday from robin hood (finningley) airport.
I seem to be busier since my exams are over! I'm actually able to do some modelling (first time in nearly a year) and more time at the museum. Also cricket to watch on telly now (god damn aussies:violent: ).

[Ferry_vO]

Not actually on holiday, Ralf, just free from work for a couple of weeks. :)

I will be leaving for Germany early tomorrow morning though, will be back by Wednesday. I'll be heading towards jaxon in Hamburg, just a bit further to the east.

Have fun in Paris, James !! You'll need those six days if you really want to explore Paris. I've been there for five days last year, made some long days but really worth it. Don't forget to see paris at night, is even more beautiful then.
The picture included is taken from the top of Tour Montparnasse, 200 meters high.

Anyway, back to London; Never been there myself in real life, but I've flown about the place a bit in Fs. Tower bridge is a nice place to fly under. It's easy with a small jet, but it's also possible with a somewhat larger aircraft as you can see.

Ralf, no running in or near the subway, and no ! rucksacks ! If you need to carry anything, do it in a transparent plastic bag. :)

[Willy]

Hmm, haven't been to London in about 30 years. Can it have been so long ago now? Me and some other Yanks stationed in Scotland rode our old Triumphs, BSAs and one lone Royal Enfield motorcycles down there from Dunoon on the rumor that the first McDonalds in the UK had just opened there. Never found it, but had a good time.

Glad to hear you're still okay Ralf. As for your trip all I can think of is the obvious that it's a channel crossing.

I watched a show on the telly a few weeks ago about that attempted diamond heist. Very brazen. I liked it.

[lefty]

Willy, you went to Dunoon and survived ?? Wow !As for missing the first British McDonalds, well, Willy, just be thankful for a lucky escape..........

regards

Lefty

(Hope you saw some more of Scotland)

[Jaxon]

Ferror, a bit more to the east?
There is not much, half an hour by car and you are at the beach of the baltic sea.

There is a huge Regatta (they say the 2nd largest of the world) this weekend in Travemuende, is that the reason for your trip ?

http://www15.boot.de/cipp/md_boot/custom/pub/content,lang,1/oid,13662/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/local_lang,1

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Hi Hurri, Ferry, Willy & lefty! Great to hear from old friends again, thanks for your messages. Looking forward to seeing your pictures from France & Germany, Hurricane & Ferry. Also looking forward to showing Ferry the real London (maybe next year?), though we'll have to drive or take a train south the way our moving plans are going (might visit you in S. Yorks, Hurri - Mrs RR & I are going to the Nottingham area, so we won't be so far from that interesting museum you've got there).

Yes, that man they shot at Stockwell was a Brazilian electrician. Very sad, but it is rather foolish to run away from armed policemen who are shouting at you to stop, isn't it?!? Apparently they have been trained by the Israelis in how to deal with potential suicide fanatics on public transport...Mrs RR reckons his visa had expired, but he must have known what's been happening here recently.

Ferry, I do have a very guilty-looking rucksack for my sandwiches & books! But as I also look about as Dutch as you possibly can appear (short of wearing clogs), don't think Ralf'll be mistaken for a paid-up member of Al Quaeda. (Anyway, I always do exactly what people with guns ask me to do.)

And still nobody sees the significance of Beauvais? :confused: (Jaxon would get it immediately!)

More of the tour soon...:wavey:

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Dag Jax!
There you are...Beauvais in aviation history?:iidea:

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Inspired - or maybe BADLY INFLUENCED - by Ferry, I decide to pop the Defender through Tower Bridge (nobody will notice). Unfortunately it was a nasty, rainy morning and you can see what happened...

I got into dreadful trouble with something called the Port of London Authority, but as the Defender came off worse (lucky I'm a strong swimmer) & as I'm not a suicide bomber, they accepted the £300,000 I offered in lieu of going to court & all that boring legal stuff (well, the chap I spoke to did - hope Mrs RR doesn't mind about my selling the house without actually getting any MONEY for it...but it was still a bargain in a way, wasn't it?)

Managed to get the Good Old Goodyear up & running again by the afternoon, and the weather has improved too. There's St Paul's Cathedral (another landmark building by Sir Christopher Wren) on the right - quite good in the default Microsoft scenery when you get close enough; but where are HMS Belfast (a WW2 cruiser parked right by Tower Bridge) and the Gherkin? (The Gherkin is a new very tall building in the City financial district which does, indeed, evoke that popular pickled vegetable ('cept'n it ain't much green as Topsy might point out).

Then there's/there are Blackfriars Bridge/s. The nearer one is the railway bridge which actually has station platforms on it, extending about halfway across the river! I change trains there every morning, so it's like getting out of the overground (like the NY El) in the middle of the Thames. The other bridge, right next to the station one, is for road traffic. that's where Roberto Calvi, the Vatican's banker, was found hanged one morning about 30 years ago...it was Freemasons/Opus Dei/the da Vinci Code/Illuminati/Cosa Nostra who were blamed, Blackfriars being symbolic to conspiracy theorists. In fact there are nearly THREE bridges there because the supports of the older RW one are still in the river + some elaborate metalwork on the south (left) side. It had to be moved slightly when they put the station in.

That station still has an amazing Victorian wall made of huge stone blocks carved with letters of gold stating the names of destinations you could (eventually) get to from there. This is unintentionally funny because it says things like : DOVER - FOLKESTONE - GODALMING - ST PETERSBERG or DULWICH - LONDON BRIDGE - VIENNA - CANTERBURY...but you get the general idea. This trick can, of course, be done with aeroplanes today. Alexander Frater is on the lookout for the most bizarre 'Sublime to the ridiculous' (or rather, vice versa) direct flight. His best was LEEDS Intl, Yorkshire UK - MARRAKESH, Sahara Desert, Morocco. Anyone spotted any other nice examples? BRIZE NORTON, Oxfordshire - BAGHDAD or maybe BASRA, Iraq must be quite well subscribed at present...but I'm afraid military don't count (Willy!)

[lefty]

Ralf

Just bring that inflated condom North of the Border, and I'll be waiting with the trusty 12 bore. I'll make sure to bring you down over a bog, though, so after a shower you will be able to share a dram with me !
regards

Lefty

[Willy]

Willy, you went to Dunoon and survived ?? Wow !As for missing the first British McDonalds, well, Willy, just be thankful for a lucky escape..........

regards

Lefty

(Hope you saw some more of Scotland)

I was stationed at the old US Submarine base at Holy Loch for two years (I think it closed down over ten years ago). Quite familiar with Dunoon and the rest of the Holy Loch area. And with a last name like McCoy, let's just say I was at home.

Glasgow and Edinburgh were regular runs as were backing roading trips up to the North as well. Preferred the Northern runs though over the hills and thru the glens. Met a lot of interesting people and saw a lot of pretty countryside up that way.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Ralf

Just bring that inflated condom North of the Border, and I'll be waiting with the trusty 12 bore. I'll make sure to bring you down over a bog, though, so after a shower you will be able to share a dram with me !
regards

Lefty

Sorry, lefty, the Season hasnae opened yet, ye'll be fined many a muckle if ye shoots us doon the noo...but I'll accept that dram any day with pleasure (no closed season on quaffing Scotland's finest liquid invention).

Someone wrote to the London Times asking if any Kamikaze pilots had survived? Today there is a learned answer from an aviation expert in Edinburgh, pointing out that there were several. I thought the answer might be from you, lefty; but not sure that you're in Auld Reekie...

Anyway, time for some aviation questions here, now that we are once more gathered together, Gentlemen!

This is sort of relevant to Beauvais...(1) in the b & w picture scanned in below : who is the man on the landing? Clue : he is quite well-known as an aircraft designer/engineer, but much more famous as a novelist...

...and (2) Where is that room? (Clue : you may observe that, though seemingly luxurious, the furnishings are somewhat sparse (and everyone looks a bit worried, as though something might happen any moment!))

[Jaxon]

Sorry, Ralf - no beer to earn for me here...
I did not know immediately what was meant and had no time to research this.

[lefty]

Ah, Ralf, I think that would have to be Nevil Shute (On the Beach, Requiem for a Wren, etc ). He worked on the R100, sister ship to the 101 which met its end at Beauvais ??

Lefty

PS was born and lived half my life in Auld Reekie - now a wee bit further north in the Kingdom of Fife.

[lefty]

And I presume the saloon will therefore be on the R100 ??

(Actually, I've just found that website, Ralf, very interesting)

regards

Lefty

[Ralf Roggeveen]

:icon29: :icon29: :icon29: to lefty! R101 crashed at Beauvais - Neville Shute helped design R100 and that is the dining car of the R100.

Sorry, I'm into British airships at the moment...making models & setting up a few flights like this one - Jaxon would've got a German luftschiff question...maybe I'll chuck in a few of those too...

And Hurri : I know its Historical WINGS Society...but they did fly, didn't they? :p

[Hurricane]

Don't worry Ralf, I'm flying at 7.30ish tommorrow evening and after that you get 6 days to talk about airships as much as you like!


and if you're moving to nottingham the Newark air museum is excellent and just down the road from you.

[Ferry_vO]

Ferror, a bit more to the east?
There is not much, half an hour by car and you are at the beach of the baltic sea.

There is a huge Regatta (they say the 2nd largest of the world) this weekend in Travemuende, is that the reason for your trip ?

Just got back from Kalkhorst in former East Germany, we visited a friend of my mother, who lives and works there (Temporarily).

Came very close to your city of Hamburg twice, but no time to visit !

We did visit Travemuende yesterday, but we passed through on Sunday. Really busy there, but if you go a bit further to the east, it becomes really quiet.

Guess the landscape still looks like it did before the wende, Small villages, farms and bad roads !

Did you make it through under the bridge, Ralf ? I also tried it with an Avro Vulcan once, but that one ended up as a flaming wreck, not too far from the Tower. :)

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Maybe I'll take the Chippie through Tower Bridge, but NOT the Defender! I've been in Germany today in FS9, at Finkenwerder, Peenemunde & Stendal, all historic German aviation sites.

As for London: yesterday I returned from work through Stockwell station where that poor Brazilian chap got the Israeli treatment from the British police. I was on the parallel platform, but tomorrow I have to pass the exact place where he was shot because I'm going to a conference in Birmingham, so have to travel to a different station from usual. The bombers seem to like Thursdays for murdering people (no doubt so they can be in 'Paradise' in time for Friday prayers); hoping they won't switch to Birmingham this week! Anyway, one of them seems to have been caught now (guess where? Yes, Birmingham), so one hopes that Israeli interrogation methods are being applied to HIM.

Here's the London Eye, the good thing that came out of the Millenium (that Dome in Greenwich was the bad one). Oh, and that's the fairly-recognisable Houses of Parliament opposite.

A little further upriver on the left/south is Battersea Power Station which someone at Microsoft has lovingly reproduced (though it doesn't bother to pop up in the default scenery setting). It isn't really a working power station any more, just an empty shell; but they can't demolish it because it's by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott or some such top architect. Next to the river so they could deliver coal by barge - it still has two massive rusty cranes on tracks outside. Oldies will remember a famous album cover that featured this building ('What's an album?' asks Hurri). And it was used as a good film set for the final battle in Ian McKellern's Richard III - a movie which also featured a lovely DH Rapide and a Spitfire (though sadly no airships).

I didn't notice that chimney till it was too late. Interesting accident...

[Willy]

I used to use Battersea in CFS1 furballs to evade other pilots who had camped out on my six. Amazing how fast they'd come off of there when I ducked between those stacks at high speed. ;)

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Well at least you found a use for the place! It is a bit reminiscent of some of those buildings you have to duck in & out of in Crimson Skies (which I know you like, Chief).

When I was a kid, remember thinking 'Battersea Power Station, yuk! Why did they put it just across from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea?' Now, of course, like everyone else, I say 'Woinderful historic erection! If only they could find a viable use for it!'

Anyone want an easy :icon29: if you can name the band/album sleeve that featured it?

[Ferry_vO]

Anyone want an easy :icon29: if you can name the band/album sleeve that featured it?

Pink Floyd - Animals. (thanks to Google !)

[Ralf Roggeveen]

Another :icon29: to Ferry!


And he was born after that album was released - my friend's big brother had it when I was about 10! :jawdrop:

[Willy]

He he, I think I've wore out about 4 or 5 copies of "Animals".

Longtime Floyd fan :D

[Ferry_vO]

He he, I think I've wore out about 4 or 5 copies of "Animals".

Longtime Floyd fan :D

Did ya see the 'reunion' show in London for that Live 8 thingy ??

The only Floyd song I know is 'Another brick in the wall' (What else ??), but have to admit that the concert sounded nice.

Two of my favourite bands were formed before I was born; Both Iron Maiden and Dutch rockers Golden Earring (Radar love anyone ?) have been in business for over thirty years now !