LMA Journal issue 142 (Spring)

[Dave Parry]

Hi all, You always know that the show season is about to start when the next LMA Journal is due after the Christmas issue, well it will be winging it’s way to you all by the end of next week, I have to admit it has been the hardest to date but the most pleasurable in the form of some great articles, but I will let you judge that for yourselves.

As usual, please let me know whether you received yours or not as the case may be, it really does help us to keep track of it.

[Dave Parry]

Hi all, just a quick update, your Journal should reach you for Good Friday or Saturday.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

if the posty can get through the snow drifts it will, 3inch down here today, what season is it again???

[stewart clifford]

I look forward to the journal, it's miles better than the waste of paper that is the BMFA news. I just got the recent one, absolutely no representation of anything interesting.
Keep up the good work LMA people.

[Dave Parry]

Don’t worry Alan, they are hardy postmen up North, ours postie where’s shorts even in this zub zero temperature we are having at the moment.

Stewart, thanks for the comment, I have to admit I am glad I didn’t rejoin the BMFA it is going down the pan for me (Just my opinion) and I refuse to pay for insurance twice.

[Alasdair Sutherland]

Thanks Dave, looking forward to a good read this weekend as I've had to cancel my visit to Woodford due weather.
Just a pity I can't drive to Stornoway (in Lewis) for the weekend, the warmest place in Britain at the moment at 7 degrees, light winds and sunny. Fine for flying.

[Dave Parry]

Hi Alasdair, Yep we are gutted that we have had to call the event off, we will be there over the next four day just in case anyone feels like coming over for the day, (weather permitting of course), just ring DJ so he can arrange to get you in.

[Dave Parry]

Hi all, I hope most of you have received your Journal today it was a bit of a hit and miss over the Easter break. I have to say I am a little disappointed with the quality of some articles they didn’t turn out as I would have hoped, are well you can’t win them all; I will just have to try harder next time.

[Bob Thompson1894]

I dont know about that. Not read it properly, but the quality of the pics is excellent, and I noticed a couple of articles I filed for reading later. The one I read (from ITW) was very good! Looks like a smash hit to me.

[Dave Parry]

Cheers Bob, you are to kind, I suppose if I was happy with everything I wouldn’t have anything to improve on. It wasn’t how I visualised it that what was the disappointment. As I have said lessons learned for next time. I have to admit there is some great articles in there some of the best yet.

[Bob Thompson1894]

Sometimes you can be too close to see the real picture. If you have gone over it a few times, altering, correcting, you will never see the finished object in a true light. It looks fine to me.

[chris willis]

Nice one Dave the journal is always good and we are lucky to have someone who is prepared to do all this work
Chris

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Great read Dave, love the all our yesterdays with the JDM spitfire story, i remember them well, how the hell did they end up St Fransisco airport??? not read it fully yet, but the quality is superb,

[stewart clifford]

Is as always a great journal although I must say that I'm a bit sad to see the article about the Spitfire flying the channel in the seventies to appear now with such gusto. Don't get me wrong it was a great achievement for them back then but I know that this event had been long retired to the history books until Mike Booths flight last year, then all of a sudden after nearly 40 years someone crawls from the woodwork to say he'd done it first. I feel the article is just about how "we did it first" and that "it was much harder in our day". Some of the text even seems to have copied Mikes story. Why did this need to come out now if not just to say "we did it better"? I think this kind of attitude could discourage people from putting themselves out to acheive and contribute to our hobby. Mockery is all too common place in this hobby, it seems many modellers find it too hard to congratulate each other but yet find it easy to critisise.

Stewart

[Mike Booth]

Is as always a great journal although I must say that I'm a bit sad to see the article about the Spitfire flying the channel in the seventies to appear now with such gusto. Don't get me wrong it was a great achievement for them back then but I know that this event had been long retired to the history books until Mike Booths flight last year, then all of a sudden after nearly 40 years someone crawls from the woodwork to say he'd done it first. I feel the article is just about how "we did it first" and that "it was much harder in our day". Some of the text even seems to have copied Mikes story. Why did this need to come out now if not just to say "we did it better"? I think this kind of attitude could discourage people from putting themselves out to acheive and contribute to our hobby. Mockery is all too common place in this hobby, it seems many modellers find it too hard to congratulate each other but yet find it easy to critisise.

Stewart

There's a lot of beige anoraks in the pictures.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

You could be right Stewart, it could indeed be a we did it first article, thats never even occured to me, but you know what? WHO CARES, it was a story that gave me info about something that happened in my modelling early days, something we were in awe of, and i was glad to see the story, i had not seen it before, it was also nice, if not strange, to hear the models are alive and well, in a rather strange place

[Bob Johnstone]

I quite enjoyed this issue. I also was very surprised to see my photos from the LMA 2012 Strathaven Fly-in having a sort of "Pride of Place". I think a mix up of credits though, easy done so no big bricks thrown. I doubt I will be able to compete with the expertise and camera's at Strathaven 2013 Airshow though.

Best one missed out,,, The BIG GUY getting stuck into his birthday cake

[Dave Parry]

Hi Bob, I was acting on information received, nothing wrong with a bit of lime light, I didn’t receive the picture of the Big guy stuck into his cake, that would have been put in without a doubt. Glad you enjoyed the Journal.

Dave Parry (LMA Journal Editor)

[Bob Thompson1894]

Great read Dave, love the all our yesterdays with the JDM spitfire story, i remember them well, how the hell did they end up St Fransisco airport??? not read it fully yet, but the quality is superb,

Alan- all the best models from Goosedale were sold to San Francisco Airport Museum, they were packed into a container and shipped over. We in the club tried our best to contact people who owned the models to let them know, but there was little interest retrieving them. Somewhere I have pictures of them in situ, I shall dig them out.

[Mike Booth]

It's a funny old world , but you put yourself out on a limb to achieve something unique in its own form
, at considerable effort, with a healthy dose of chance thrown in and there's always someone that wants to rain on your parade.

My Channel crossing was inspired directly by Dave and Gregg Hayfields Hurricane flight of 1990 which cellebrated the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
As far as I was aware they were the first.
In true 'esprit de corps' known by true pilots, they came out to support me and greet our arrival at Manston.
Dave even offered to accommodate some of the team at his home overnight should the need be whilst we waited for the right weather conditions.
While I acknowledge any pilot that achieves a channel crossing as something special, what the Hayfields didn't do was to pursue every journal that sponsored me to say 'they did it first' nor did they then take the opportunity to rewrite their own event based on my article.

I could bang on about the fact that I was the first to do a crossing based on a formation take off strapped into another aeroplane, or that I was the first to do it with a true scale replica.
All of that is pointless as the over riding quest was to honour all pilots who crossed that water in our defence and directly highlight the LMA and our wonderful hobby on a national scale.
Fortunately I had several radio interviews afterwards with the BBC where I was able to highlight this.

So I salute all Channel flyers simply knowing how tricky it is to pull this off.
I'm also in a strong position to guide any other soul who wishes to set a 'first' through the necessary paperwork trail.
I would also be happy to be part of any future team in the support role to help them achieve their little bit of history.
Below is a picture of Gregg Hayfield and me at Manston on the 4th of May 2012
enjoying the moment of both being in a very small club for Channel flyers.