29030 The NewsBiscuit Community en-US Sat, 18 May 2013 18:11:40 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/search.php http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122430 Sat, 12 May 2012 00:08:52 +0000 Ironduke 122430@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Can't beat a spitfire for a crowd pleaser!</p> <p><a href="http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=22796" rel="nofollow">http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=22796</a> </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122403 Fri, 11 May 2012 18:23:42 +0000 Boutros 122403@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>B*gger. My 5-star rating has slipped to 4. Hand over your unwanted stars you swines. </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122391 Fri, 11 May 2012 15:43:05 +0000 DiY 122391@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Top stuff.....carry on! 5 *s </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122381 Fri, 11 May 2012 14:39:57 +0000 RickH 122381@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Whilst the article is tongue-in-cheek, if the Armed Forces wanted spitfire pilots and guaranteed 250+ flying hours per year (it's currently a ridiculously low 110), I would be begging to be recommissioned tomorrow. </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122363 Fri, 11 May 2012 11:45:58 +0000 dvo4fun 122363@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>true </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122272 Thu, 10 May 2012 18:02:50 +0000 Boutros 122272@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>These are all enticing scenarios. </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122271 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:58:13 +0000 RickH 122271@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Maybe you could add that the BBMF has been keeping the Spitfires for just this purpose, or that James May is bound to do a TV special on it. You could even have Top Gear doing a Sea Fury vs Seafire vs Spiteful race-off, with The Stig's fighter pilot ace brother doing the 'driving'. </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122254 Thu, 10 May 2012 15:37:58 +0000 Boutros 122254@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Damn! I can't think of a very good reply as an excuse to get this bumped to the top again.<br /> Shame. </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122094 Thu, 10 May 2012 12:24:06 +0000 RickH 122094@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>I do have some 'previous', so good choice.</p> <p>"Never in the field...." etc, was of course referring to the pilots' unpaid allowances. Some things never change.</p> <p>I liked the Aeromodeller para. You could add one of them saying "We've all seen 'Flight of the Phoenix' a hundred times, so it should be a doddle!" </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122082 Thu, 10 May 2012 12:15:06 +0000 Boutros 122082@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>I've got you down to build the first attack wave, RickH </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-122069 Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:46 +0000 RickH 122069@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Naval Spitfires were called Seafires, but I understand many readers may not get this.</p> <p>The RAF still has 6 airworthy Spitfires, with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight</p> <p>Seafires were never used for ship attack, so I think bringing back the Swordfish would be good. They did halve the size of the Italian battleship Fleet at Taranto, Nov 11 1940. You could have the Italians objecting to British plans (along with the Germans).</p> <p>...but never let the truth stand in the way of a good story! </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-121994 Thu, 10 May 2012 10:08:49 +0000 Bismarck 121994@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>100% Brilliant! </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-121991 Thu, 10 May 2012 09:50:57 +0000 dvo4fun 121991@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Lovely. You're sure it wasn't his brother Richard? </p> http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=42700#post-121981 Thu, 10 May 2012 09:10:53 +0000 Boutros 121981@http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/ <p>Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has ordered six squadrons of Spitfires to equip Britain's new carriers in a move that's already been criticised as pandering to the over-50 male voter. But Hammond has responded by reminding doubters of the high combat effectiveness of the single-engined Rolls Royce Merlin powered fighter plane in Britain's last major conflict not counting the Falklands of course.</p> <p>"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few, which is why we have to have value for money across the defence budget, and the spitfire offers this," Hammond explained. "Not only that, it's cool, and rest assured we will find the money to add that hook it's probably going to need for carrier use."</p> <p>Much of the original plant, tooling and construction details used to manufacture spitfires during WW2 no longer exists, but plans for a one-twelfth scale model published in Aeromodeller March 1971 are to be scaled up by replacing inches with feet. The new fighter planes will be built by enthusiasts in various sheds across the land and assembled for flight testing on Chobham Common in Surrey, not all that far from from many of the historic airfields that got bombed a lot in the Battle of Britain.</p> <p>"We looked long and hard at other options, including the torpedo-carrying Swordfish that was so highly effective against the Bismarck. But we decided quite rightly that Britain deserves a fighting force fit for the 20th Century and the spitfire is certainly that." </p>