Kickstart

If there is to be compulsory voting, then there needs to be a "none of the above" option, and that option to actually be meaningful - if "none of the above" wins then a follow up election with completely fresh candidates (open to how long "the above" are blocked from standing) All the best Katy

France had the Dewoitine D520. Performance was just below that of the Spitfire and BF109 (~350mph), and superior to the ~340mph of the Hurricane. Further it was equipped with a 20mm cannon. All the best Katy

Some things had just become viable in scale. For example the Junkers J1 was an all metal monoplane with a liquid cooled inline engine built in 1915 (but not accepted into service). The 1920s had very little development (the Bristol Fighter was still in RAF service into the 1930s) for various reasons, with development getting more advanced in the 1930s All the best Katy

Sometimes varies, or even the wrong item is packed (had that with some titanium replacement nuts!). Do you have a thread gauge? All the best Katy

Down side of a 4 engined bomber is twice the chance of an engine failure! But that is not much help if the aircraft can't fly with one engine out, but the 4 engine one can. From the video earlier, looks like they had a fair chance of sorting out the Vulture engine, just better to spend the resources on the Merlin. Although I expect the space issues on a single crank with 24 con rods was probably ultimately a lot more restrictive on power levels. All the best Katy

Engines are the limiting factor, and the UK had only moved on from the Kestrel relatively late in the 1930s (and the prototype BF109 flew with the Kestrel engine). France in many ways had tried to rearm. They had some good tanks, but had failed to understand over burdening the commander in the turret. They had develope the MAS36 bolt action rifle and MAS40 semi automatic rifle before the battle of France, but the first had not proceeded to full production and the 2nd was only in very limited use. The British were still using the Lee Enfield, which for a bolt action rifle was very good. But they had been close to replacing it before WW1 (replacement was stopped by WW1, as changing calibre, etc, in wartime would have given horrendous logistical issues). The Vickers water cooled machine gun was in use, but the Bren had been introduced. Ironically the British didn'y have a good tank machine gun and had resorted to using the BESA, which used different ammunition than pretty much anything else they used (shared the 7.92 ammunition with the Germans!). The Matilda II was a very good tank for its time, but the cruiser tank concept (accounting for most British armour) turned out to be unsuccessful. The British were (I believe) the only army not relying on horses. If the war had been delayed a few more years the progress could have been very different. The British, French and the Germans were all still in the process of rearming (most German tanks during the invasion of France were Panzer 1 or Panzer 2, with very few Panzer 3 or Panzer 4). Germany would likely have had at least 1 aircraft carrier (how long they would have lasted is another question!). France was on the cusp of producing a more powerful aero engine. Britain would probably have had cannon armed Spitfires and Hurricanes in use. All the best Katy

The FZR now runs! The carbs now need balancing, but I have managed to lose some of the adaptors for my vacuum gauges (my fault, knocked over the container - I have found 3 of each size but not the 4th!) It isn't charging the battery, but to be honest I am not surprised as I have a feeling I swapped the regulator / rectifier from it onto my TZR250 when that one failed (they are common to loads of Yamahas). Getting the airbox back on is proving to be a nightmare. The rubbers from the carbs to the airbox have shrunk and hardened, and I can either get them to stay on the carbs or in the airbox - but not both. I have left the attached to the carbs for now, and will leave them there for a few days to hopefully regain their shape a bit - then glue them to the airbox. No pictures - I have a video but can't upload that here. All the best Katy

What was the reliability issue with the Vulture? Was it something that would have been fixed given development time (inevitable on a new engine), which wasn't viable at that stage in the war, or something that was central to the design? All I can find was big end bearing failures which they were confident of fixing - but whether that fix would allow further power increases to keep it significantly ahead of the Merlin I don't know (the Merlin was within ~20% of the power output of the Vulture in 1940, despite being under 2/3 the capacity) Not sure whether a twin engine aircraft is more reliable than a 4 engine in a bomber. Yes less engines to go wrong, but less redundancy to cope with battle damage. The Defiant turret fighter concept (and it wasn't the only turret fighter) was different to other heavy fighters in that the turret was the offensive armament, unlike a BF110 where the rear gunner was for defensive fire. Its performance might have improved usefully if given earlier access to higher performance engines. The Defiant II had 1260hp (rather than 1030 of the Defiant I - prior to availability of higher octane fuel), but this wasn't introduced to service until relegated to night fighter duties. The Defiant was also developed as a single seat aircraft with a win capable of carrying 12 machine guns, with similar performance to the the Spitfire (worse manoeverability though). Think this had been developed as a quick option to give more single engined fighters, but by this stage aircraft availability wasn't really the issue (compared to pilot availability). However, if this gun wing had been used with the turret version of the aircraft (even without the full number of weapons) it would have removed a big vulnerability of the type I have a book on turret fighters somewhere, bought at the Cosford air show a fair few years ago. The seller was surprised how many copies they had sold there - not realising that the most notable turret fighter was the Defiant, designed and built just down the road. All the best Katy

Hiya For the Dambusters raid, for me the surprise isn't the navigation skills to get to the locations that I find difficult (especially when there is a large body of water illuminated by moonlight for final targetting), rather it is the skill required to fly a massive 4 engined bomber at very low altitude with great precision. Imagine trying that in a 4 engine airliner (incidently, the height the bouncing bombs were dropped from was lower than the height of a 747). As to single actack that stood a chance of changing the course of the war, if the Italian attack on Alexandria had happened earlier then the impact on Malta could have been massive, with then a good chance of a different outcome in North Africa. All the best Katy

Suzi to her friends? All the best Katy

Bit more of a look. Cylinders 3 & 4 are certainly not contributing much. I checked the float height on one carb last night. On these downdraft carbs you check the float height by instead checking the fuel level in the float bowl, which you do by attaching a clear piece of pipe to the float bowl drain and then opening the drain screw. Did this and the level was way too low. I cannot find a figure for the actual float height. I took the needle valve assembly out again and looked at the needle. Realised that the replacement needles I used are ~0.5mm longer than the ones I had replaced. This is presumably messing up the float height. So looks like the carb rebuild kits were rubbish. I have ordered another rebuild kit from a reputable supplier. Fingers crossed. All the best Katy

Well, the FZR600 started and ran yesterday. Although the word "ran" might be a bit generous. Exhaust temperatures are all over the place, which suggests the left 2 cylinders are running, and the right 2 are only occasionally contributing. Carbs have been apart loads of time. Coils and leads measure up as pretty much in spec (one cap is slightly higher resistance than spec, but not much out) All the best Katy

That looks like a T34/76 turret to me. If I am correct, I wonder if it is from the battle of Berlin, or an earlier tank brought back for trials Maybe I should dig out the book I have on the T34 in German service! All the best Katy

Looks like the engine was 39hp in the Seicento. So detuned compared to the older version of that engine in the UNO. The reduction in capacity from 903cc to 899cc must have been critical! All the best Katy

Thought they were 45hp for the 899 engine. But that might be Brochure Horse Power! My sister had a Seicento sporting as her first car, which was great fun to drive. Down side was the clutch cables only lasted a short time (but only took 15 mins to change), and the handbrake mechanism in the drums would seize up regularly (drum off, penetrating oil and percussive maintenance, and it would be sorted for another 6 months). I had to change a petrol tank on it, a job I hate. Not long afterwards Fiat did a recall to replace the tanks! I was looking for a copy a couple of years back (neighbours son was looking at Minis). Price at the time was silly. Not sure if reprinted. All the best Katy

When first mentioned I thought it was closer to the emergency starters on some tanks. But fortunately seems to be somewhat more civilised! All the best Katy

Hiya I bought a new toy this weekend. A CBR250RR. Always fancied one, just because of the silly red line at 19000rpm. It is a pretty small bike. It will be a while before I get around to recommisioning it. All the best Katy

I was at Cadwell park taking photos at a track day years ago. There were 3 Aprilia RS125 superteen riders there. One was the fastest bike in the intermediate group by a fair margin (would of held his own in the fast group). The "instructor" following on a Triumph Daytona 650 was having to work very hard to keep up. As an aside, minor fiddle with the FZR yesterday. It now cranks over on the button. Ordered a new fan switch. Waiting for the carb gaskets to rebuild the carbs. All the best Katy

Found more on that Vincent. Seems to be a new build engine https://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/vincent-motorcycle-cafe-racer/modern-black-shadow/ All the best Katy

Not my layout I am afraid. The loop runs underneath a 16mm narrow gauge layout. As to the A4, I like them but the chances I will never have space to run one on myself properly. But it can look pretty on a shelf. I possibly have space for a smaller O gauge layout. All the best Katy

Hiya The A4 running All the best Katy

Had my A4 running tonight. Runs very nicely at speed, even with half a dozen coaches behind (Dapol mk1 for the test run). Occasional click, mostly on curves. At low speed with no load it jerks. Not checked exactly, but seems to be about every ~3 turns of the wheels. With a load it wouldn’t pull away. Just juddering. I pushed it up to a reasonable speed and then it ran nicely. This was running on DC Looks very nice though! All the best Katy

There are inkjet printers that can print onto a patterned surface like the side of a coach or wagon. All the best Katy

Hattons list the weight of the A3 at 3390g and the A4 at 3400g - but that is with packaging. All the best Katy

Mine arrived today. Hopefully be able to put it on some suitable track tomorrow All the best Katy