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The Silver Fern

Per Ardua, Ad Astra

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Per Ardua, Ad Astra
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  • HoorooH Offline
    HoorooH Offline
    Hooroo
    replied to Machpants on last edited by
    #5

    @machpants said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    @snowy said in Per Adua, Ad Astra:

    @hooroo said in Per Adua, Ad Astra:

    Super Thread title. As soon as I saw it, it took me back to the RNZAF. I think that was the first Latin I learnt

    Albeit spelled incorrectly I think.

    Might have to read his book.

    Lol yes, bloody phone typing!

    Also my first Latin was from Asterix

    Ha true! Although when I read "Et Tu Brutus" in Asterix and Cleopatra (I think) I thought Caesar was telling Brutus to Stand!

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  • jeggaJ Offline
    jeggaJ Offline
    jegga
    replied to Snowy on last edited by
    #6

    @snowy said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    @hooroo said in Per Adua, Ad Astra:

    Super Thread title. As soon as I saw it, it took me back to the RNZAF. I think that was the first Latin I learnt

    Albeit spelled incorrectly I think.

    Might have to read his book.

    Have you read Alan Deere’s? I’ve got it at home somewhere, never got around to reading it.

    SnowyS 1 Reply Last reply
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  • SnowyS Offline
    SnowyS Offline
    Snowy
    replied to Machpants on last edited by
    #7

    @machpants said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    Also my first Latin was from Asterix

    Nunc est bibendum (now is the time for drinking).

    Think it is from something more high brow, but was in Asterix somewhere.

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  • M Offline
    M Offline
    Machpants
    wrote on last edited by
    #8

    Yeah Veni, vidi, vici and Alea iacta est turn up a fair bit.

    Al Deere's book is good, tho Geoffrey Wellum's better.

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  • SnowyS Offline
    SnowyS Offline
    Snowy
    replied to jegga on last edited by
    #9

    @jegga Not read it, but heard of it. "Nine Lives".

    Read "Tempest pilot" a few years ago, was pretty good.

    jeggaJ 1 Reply Last reply
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  • jeggaJ Offline
    jeggaJ Offline
    jegga
    replied to Snowy on last edited by
    #10

    @snowy said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    @jegga Not read it, but heard of it. "Nine Lives".

    Read "Tempest pilot" a few years ago, was pretty good.

    That’s the guys based in Tangmere right? Enjoyed that , Richie’s grandad features a few times in it .

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  • SnowyS Offline
    SnowyS Offline
    Snowy
    replied to jegga on last edited by
    #11

    @jegga Yep that's the one.

    A great line from him -I had many close calls during the years I spent as an operational pilot, but was never unduly disturbed.

    Words to that effect anyway.

    jeggaJ 1 Reply Last reply
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  • jeggaJ Offline
    jeggaJ Offline
    jegga
    replied to Snowy on last edited by
    #12

    @snowy I found this last year, those f4us were apparently a real handful on takeoff .

    Too Young to Die: The Story of a New Zealand Fighter Pilot in the Pacific War: Cox, Bryan: 9780813802053: Amazon.com: Books

    I wish Geoff Fisken got around to writing a book about his experience, he was a tough bastard .

    Geoff Fisken

    Geoff Fisken

    Geoff Fisken, who died on June 12 aged 95, was the most successful British Commonwealth fighter pilot against the Japanese, credited with destroying at least 10 enemy aircraft.

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  • SnowyS Offline
    SnowyS Offline
    Snowy
    replied to jegga on last edited by
    #13

    @jegga said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    those f4us were apparently a real handful on takeoff

    Most of the high power taildraggers at the time were. All sorts of torque and aerodynamic affects going on. Tendency to just roll over on their backs once airborne - or just ground loop and face the other way if still on the ground (esp in the hands of some poor bugger who only had a few hours training).

    Might try and track down a copy of "Too young to die".

    jeggaJ 1 Reply Last reply
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  • jeggaJ Offline
    jeggaJ Offline
    jegga
    replied to Snowy on last edited by
    #14

    @snowy said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    @jegga said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    those f4us were apparently a real handful on takeoff

    Most of the high power taildraggers at the time were. All sorts of torque and aerodynamic affects going on. Tendency to just roll over on their backs once airborne - or just ground loop and face the other way if still on the ground (esp in the hands of some poor bugger who only had a few hours training).

    Might try and track down a copy of "Too young to die".

    Their nose was up so high in the air too to make room for that huge prop too, I’d imagine your sphincter would clenched tight enough to cut rebar if you had the misfortune to be taking off on a carrier .

    They built a special model for the Korean War that was a beast too.

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  • antipodeanA Offline
    antipodeanA Offline
    antipodean
    wrote on last edited by
    #15

    A terrifying thing to be a rookie pilot in WW2: There are two kinds of fighter pilots -- aces and targets.

    SnowyS 1 Reply Last reply
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  • SnowyS Offline
    SnowyS Offline
    Snowy
    replied to antipodean on last edited by
    #16

    @antipodean said in Per Ardua, Ad Astra:

    A terrifying thing to be a rookie pilot in WW2:

    That's what makes me smile about the "never unduly disturbed" comment. Balls of steel. Scary enough getting the things on and off the ground (worse on a carrier) and then you have some prick shooting at you. Better than some of the other options - like being in a tank - though.

    Seem to recall there being a few Corsair wrecks around in PNG when I was there. Not sure if they had been shot down or just crashed...either seems to just as likely.

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  • jeggaJ Offline
    jeggaJ Offline
    jegga
    wrote on last edited by
    #17

    This is some of the most nerve racking stuff I’ve watched , particularly the landings at night

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  • M Offline
    M Offline
    Machpants
    wrote on last edited by
    #18

    Yeah gutted I only ever got to deck land in a helo! Looks like a lot of fun.... swept wing in the Tornado was probably the closest, stupidly fast and the pilot can't see the runway due to having nose up - even worse in the back!

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  • M Offline
    M Offline
    Machpants
    wrote on last edited by
    #19

    Actually I remember the USN exchange guy on my course trashed two engines (over stressed mounts) by touching down just before the start of the runway. He got a lot of stick for that, would've been a lot worse on a carrier!😵

    SnowyS 1 Reply Last reply
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  • SnowyS Offline
    SnowyS Offline
    Snowy
    replied to Machpants on last edited by
    #20

    @machpants Hmmm. I always considered that reaching the runway was a must -at least the crash at the far end would be a slow one. Still embarrassing but preferable.

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  • jeggaJ Offline
    jeggaJ Offline
    jegga
    wrote on last edited by
    #21

    I only recently learned of the existence of these , considering the amount of carriers the yanks ultimately ended up with it explains how they were able to train so many aircrew .
    Apparently if you were shot down in the pacific and recovered by another US boat your pistol and anything else interesting on you was souvenired by your rescuers and your carrier had to swap you for your bodyweight in ice cream.

    USS Wolverine (IX-64) - Wikipedia

    USS Wolverine (IX-64) - Wikipedia
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