grendel

we also saw the red arrows last year at the battle of Britain memorial they made the final pass right over the memorial

bundle the cable up and slip into an empty toilet roll tube, then they dont tangle. Grendel

we used to go to Manston airport to watch planes (sadly the airport is now closed despite efforts to keep it open) over the years I have had Lightning's taxi across the road in front of me, we have seen Concorde land (it had the longest runway in the UK) watched the battle of Britain flight take off and land. There was one spot just outside the perimeter wire, probably a taxi way from the wartime, as the taxiway joined the runway just opposite, if you walked up to the fence on a display day, the red arrows would come up the taxiway 30 feet inside the fence, and turn onto the runway right in front of you (the noise even when taxi'ing is quite loud when the exhaust is only 30 feet from you) then they would line up on the runway in formation and the takeoff run would start just in front of you, (maybe 10o yards away on the runway). after the display they would strafe the runway at about 4m off the deck (with wheels up) then come round and land, touching down just past where we would watch from. the only other place I have been as close was at Bournmouth airport, where the garden of the air museum sits about the same distance from the grass runway they use. One time we were watching at Manston one lone red arrow came back to the airport trailing grey smoke, despite being obviously in difficulties, he still did a pass and wing waggle for the watchers before swinging round and landing. the plane was still there a week later as they had to ship a new engine in to allow it to fly again. Grendel

that is why you should wear safety glasses when working with the stuff, that said I have managed to get molten grinding dust in my eye, while wearing goggles, the trouble with that is it sticks and they have to pick it out with the point of a pin - not at all fun. Grendel

it might also be worth while contacting marquee companies to find where they get it or if they could supply it to you. we once made a tent canvas (Viking) from the backdrop curtains from an old theatre, or another source you might be able to get some second hand from would be the side curtains from lorries - maybe a haulage company might have some older ones that had been replaced. Grendel

most modern laptops have a slot for a standard SD card, so even if you dont have a cable you just take the card out of the camera and plug it into the laptop, easy peasy. Grendel

I have had to use insurance in a similar- potentially threatening situation, As some may know I used to do Viking re-enactment, this involved real (but blunt) weapons. One time while packing up the weapons had been gathered up and put ready to pack into the cars, a group of youths who had exited from the local pub turned up, and before we could stop them they had picked up weapons and were encouraging each other to be the first to attack us. not wanting injuries I started talking to them - asking them to put the weapons down. It was at this point that I realised their leader had backed himself into a bit of a spot, he couldn't back down in front of all his mates, and he didn't like the look of the way the 20 odd unarmed Vikings were looking at him as if appraising his abilities (any one of us could have easily disarmed him ). Spotting this I asked once more adding the fact that if he kept on we would have problems with our insurance - this gave him a let out, he was able to apologise and hand back the weapons, whilst making it appear that he was doing us a favour to his mates (thus not losing face). So by invoking the almighty insurance we were able to defuse a potential problem, sometimes people realise they are in the wrong, but need a way out without losing face in front of their mates / family. Grendel

the battery isolator should be close to the battery to minimise the run of wiring, personally I would have a isolator solenoid with a remote switch for preference, this would be a fail safe method as you would be remote while switching. in an explosion rated package. I have also been the subject of a battery explosion (internal fault - battery exploded when I turned the key on a van) in my case I was in the van and the battery in the engine compartment, so I avoided the spray of acid, but battery shrapnel was found up to 30 feet away, so presumably the acid went at least that far. Suffice to say, having seen that I dont want to be around if a battery goes up. I have also seen the effect a battery has on someones finger when they accidentally short across the terminals when using a screwdriver and their wedding ring touches screwdriver and the other battery terminal, having the wedding ring cut off was the least of his worries, for a while they were worried about saving the finger. (moral, take your rings off when working with batteries). I too work in the electrical industry (in the drawing office) we work at up to 33,000Volts, so we have a great respect for the stuff. Grendel

or you could just acquire a few spare boathooks, and take the hooky bits off the ends. Grendel

if you want a specific wood, then try here - http://www.toolsandtimber.co.uk/timber/wooden-dowels/ it does seem that lengths longer than 2.4m might be trickier. Grendel

even wickes has them - http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-28mm-Light-Hardwood-Dowel-FB157-2400mm/p/128529 Grendel

softwood... http://www.timcom-ptc.co.uk/pd2824-premium-quality-pine-dowels-28mm-x-24m--minimum-order-quantity-5-1253-p.asp just google the diameter an 'hardwood dowel'

in oak - http://www.timcom-ptc.co.uk/oak-dowel-24-mtr-x-28-mm-we-will-send-no-less-than-3-dowels-1238-p.asp

http://www.timcom-ptc.co.uk/rd2808-hardwood-dowels-28mm-x-2400mm-997-p.asp How about - 28mm hardwood dowels @ 2.4m length

if your boat was a Broom, I would suggest Broom handles . sorry.. how about looking at stair handrails, though I think they are nearer 50mm. Hardwood or softwood? maybe approach a boatbuilder who makes bits for saily boats, quant poles, spars etc, I am sure they must have the tools to round off timbers to a desired diameter. Grendel

I was looking at the pictures and looking at that 'nut' in the middle of the steelwork, and thinking that it was a sizeable rod threaded through, much like the rods they thread through house walls to stop them spreading and collapsing. Grendel

No Doubt to it the boy done well, its just my head doesn't like fast panning - there are certain video games I cant play for the same reason. Grendel

we use a similar type of cable as pilot cables to run alongside 22kV and 33kV cable routes to provide the intertripping of the protection for each end of the cable routes, these come with a number of twisted pairs in a steel wire armoured PVC cable. (generally though we default on 19 pair). Grendel

I spotted LR's spelling mistake in the MTB102's email address, I only have one complaint about the filming, Griff remember to pan the camera round slowly, I have problems with the fast pans, by the end of the film I was feeling seasick, but still the content was so good I stuck it out to the end. (Griff don't take that as criticism by the way, it was meant to be constructive and let you take even better videos, even I have made that mistake in the past, ending up with video's I cant stand to watch - but then I seem to be sensitive to the effect.) Grendel

I still have at least another 11 or 12 years to go (presuming they don't change the rules on retirement dates again), I would love to be able to live on a boat full time though, and have a little workshop space to build model boats -(maybe one day). Grendel

welcome Rincewind, I know all about where your nickname came from, I believe I have read all of the Authors books - even Strata and the Dark side of the sun, not to mention the Bromeliad trilogy and carpet people, with the possible exception of the latest book out (unless that was Raising steam). Terry is one of my favourite authors. Grendel

I will watch it tonight when I am on my home pc with no restrictions on watching youtube videos (I am lucky to be able to get on forums at work to be honest) Grendel

with cars I can say that larger lower horsepower engines give better economy than smaller higher horsepower, take the example of 2 Volvos I have owned, one was a 2.0 litre turbo, on a smaller car, this averaged at 32mpg (if I was careful), my current, bigger- heavier Volvo with a 2.5 litre engine (no turbo) gives me an average of 36mpg on the same run (as most of the time it is doing less work to keep me moving) The actual BHP for the two vehicles is practically identical (that is pulling power vs weight, or towing power) as both are capable of towing my caravan easily. Neither has as good economy as the Volvo before those with a small 1.4 litre lean burn Mitsubishi engine which could average over 45 mpg on the same run, but then that couldn't tow my caravan (to be honest it sometimes struggled to pull itself). sometimes that bigger engine can deliver the same power with less effort and thus gets the better economy. (well that's how I see it anyway) Grendel

Just spotted their track entering the inner Harbour at Lowestoft, welcome home. Grendel

Just been Told they are Passing Orford Ness, 14 knots, visibility good, 1m swell on the bow, sunny and warm, ETA Lowestoft 16.00, JS and ploughmans for lunch. Apparently he is having an awesome day.(that would be a top day on my list too) Grendel