RE: Pic Of The Week: 50s throwbacks
Friday 7th December 2012
They don't do press pics like this any more, that's for sure... Researching some pics for his rant about engines earlier in the week Dan unearthed this glorious slice of 50s propaganda from the Mercedes picture archive. It certainly paints a lively picture of life in Cold War Germany as a pair of American fighter jocks do the classic 'point over there at something' male model pose aboard an F-86 Sabre Dog while a 300SL Roadster awaits for some flat out autobahn action beside.
Pic Of The Week: 50s throwbacks
Iron Curtain runabouts for fighter jocks on air and autobahn alike in this week's POTW
Life peering over the Iron Curtain probably wasn't always so jolly but we can live the dream, while perhaps skirting over the fact the direct-injection technology that made the 300SL so notable (and its engine so mighty) had in fact been perfected by Daimler-Benz just a few years before for use in Messerschmitt 109s, gifting German pilots a get out of jail free card against carburettor-fed Spitfires and Hurricanes. Fuel injection meant the 109 could dive away, fuel supply unaffected by negative G, while British pilots would have to half roll to follow, losing precious seconds in the process. Disadvantaged or not, the Merlin gatecrashed the thread following Dan's blog about engines as one of the most emotive sounding motors ever so national pride and nostalgia prevail there too.
We digress.
The pic is cheesy as hell but since when has that been a reason not to.
Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone, etc)
Discussion
Still got a F86 at Duxford, wonder if they'd let me reproduce the shot using my VX? ...OKay...Okay.. I'll ge my coat.
Seriously though, if you're lucky and you get the chance to see the F86 flown you'r in for a threat, and the engine is fantastic to listen to aswell.
Good on Duxford for keeping it and many other aircraft flying.
Seriously though, if you're lucky and you get the chance to see the F86 flown you'r in for a threat, and the engine is fantastic to listen to aswell.
Good on Duxford for keeping it and many other aircraft flying.
You can buy an F86 for $20k, but a 300SL convertible will cost you about £3-400k. No idea what running cost comparison is, and no I guess you can't use an F86 as a daily driver, so you'd need another vehicle too.
http://www.military-heat.com/27/military-jets-sale...
http://www.military-heat.com/27/military-jets-sale...
Interesting point on the carb fed Merlin engines - being a Farnborough lad born and bred we have a lovely bit of history in allowing those engines to perform negative G manoeuvres.
If you've been to Farnborough recently, we have a Weatherspoons - The Tilly Shilling - named after Beatrice Shilling, a female engineer from back in the day... she raced motorcycles, and was by all accounts a proper tom boy. During the war, she developed a small diaphragm which was seated inside the Merlin carburettor, which permitted the Spitfire to perform very brief negative G action without the engine cutting out... The pilots nicknamed the diaphragm 'Tillys Orifice'.
If you go into the Weatherspoons, in the back left hand corner (near the Gents), there's a one off locally commissioned painting featuring Beatrice Shilling sat on her motorbike, parked in front of the Clockhouse Tower in Farnborough, with a Spitfire flying overhead.
But yes, cracking photo that is.
If you've been to Farnborough recently, we have a Weatherspoons - The Tilly Shilling - named after Beatrice Shilling, a female engineer from back in the day... she raced motorcycles, and was by all accounts a proper tom boy. During the war, she developed a small diaphragm which was seated inside the Merlin carburettor, which permitted the Spitfire to perform very brief negative G action without the engine cutting out... The pilots nicknamed the diaphragm 'Tillys Orifice'.
If you go into the Weatherspoons, in the back left hand corner (near the Gents), there's a one off locally commissioned painting featuring Beatrice Shilling sat on her motorbike, parked in front of the Clockhouse Tower in Farnborough, with a Spitfire flying overhead.
But yes, cracking photo that is.
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