Model Airways 1/16 Sopwith Camel

[modelmaker]

Syd, this is great aviation history. Most of us have absolutely no idea what it took to keep one of those flying coffins in the air let alone keep it flying in battle and shooting down another aircraft at the same time. The pilot has always had a certain arrogance about him (or her) that most people find obnoxious. After reading many books and articles and even talking with some of these "arrogant" pilots, this so called arrogance is the exact thing that makes them good at their jobs. You have to have that innate sense of invinceability and over confidence to get into a flying fuel tank with machine guns and get close enough to another flying gas tank with guns and knock it out of the sky without getting killed. I'm also a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, an 8th Air Force veterans' group and the 100th Bomb Group Association. I have been to a number of their meetings and met many historical figures like James England of AVG fame and the P51B Ding Hao, Gabby Gabreski and Robert Johnson, the two top aces in the ETO, Leon Johnson who led the Ploesti mission and countless other names that keep showing up in books. Each one of these people I thought were egotistical, arrogant and even slightly obnoxious but thank God for these men who had the nerve to get into those death traps and do a job that I could never do in a million years. Without them, the free world wouldn't be the free world.

Woo jeff That was Deep!! I'm glad someone else around here is on the same wave length as me when it comes to our past Service men be it Army Navy or Airforce and lets not forget those that didn't come back and made the ultimate sacrifice . LEST WE FORGET

[hot ford coupe]

Sean, I'm glad to see you're a history lover also. Meeting those people really makes past history come alive and truly makes it real. It's a heck of a rush to actually reach out and touch history.

Syd, it looks like you'd need a PhD in engineering to figure out that modern jet ****pit. I hope a lot of that stuff is automatic. Otherwise the pilot winds up working like the proverbial one arm paper hanger. After reading what goes on with the Camel,all you need is a good case of total insanity. You might as well be sitting on a 1000 lb bomb with a finger on the detonator. It's not a case of "if", it's a case of "when" it blows up.

[mouppe]

Sean,

Are you back on the Camel yet?

Mouppe.

[ScaleMotorcars]

Fixed the censor for you guys.

Sorry about that..

[modelmaker]

Sean,

Are you back on the Camel yet?

Mouppe.

I wish I was Richard I'm still up to my Eyeballs in everyone elses gear but I'll catch up some day.

[Don Garrett]

Cockpit.....I'll be darned, it works!