The Wedding Day

I'm sure everyone in the club will be wishing the happy couple all the best for the future.

Me and my trusty Hound

Royalist's off to the park before the Wedding starts.

Better than corgi's Kate!.

All the very best William and Kate from Etherow Model Boat Club.

You will be made very welcome if you visit Stockport any time.

Sanding, sailing and selling

What a good day yesterday, and sunshine too.

Got to the lake early and as Velda had sanded down the seating a couple of days earlier, was able to get stuck in right away with varnishing.

Looking a bit worse for wear after the winter

Sweeping out from under benches

Not the pearly gates, but to heaven for some!

Turned out nice again!

Hard work but as the Lo'real  advert says "Cause your worth it"

Then it was on to the sailing ! 

Madam secretary putting her Wyeforce though its paces.

Then it was back to the clubhouse after tea, as it was the table top sale of the late Charlie Ricardo's boats and equipment.

His daughter was there to except any reasonable offer for boats and equipment. At the end of the night because a lot of people had rushed off home with their bargains, she asked me to convey her thanks for allowing her to come to the club, I assured her the pleasure was all our's as the members had got some good bargains and enjoyed the browsing over the tables of stuff for sale.

If you weren't there, you missed a good night.

We were given a large boat to sell at a later date and the proceeds to go to Club funds as a token of the families appreciation, will let you know the outcome at a later date.

So that was it for another good day at the club.

The tale of two lathes.

This morning I received confirmation that the two lathes that Bob Abell had for sale in the "For Sale" section, had  been collected last night. Bob donated them for free after hearing what they were going to be used for .

What a good, kind gesture that was.

Here is the comment I got as well.

Nick Forder Curator of Land and Air Transport at MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester) expressed his sincere thanks to Etherow club member Bob Abell. Bob generously donated two lathes for the benefit of young engineering volunteers and technical crews working at MOSI.

Bob is to be a special guest of the museum and hopes to see his machines put to good use.

A good bit of advertising for the club as well, Bob.
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Don't forget its the table top sale to-night at the club house ,Usual club night time.

Etherow model ferry boat "Hydra"

Had a good day at the lake yesterday, there were quite a few family members there with their children and after the usual bumps and bangs,  the boys eventually got the hang of steering their boats.

After they had run out of power and gone home it was back on the water for the rest of us.

John Goddard arrived with his Hydra ferry boat which I reported on earlier in the week and this time remembered to get my camera in action

Unfortunately my camera packed up during the filming  so only a short snippet of his very nice boat, and before you ask  it wasn't any of us on the landing stage that cracked the lens with smiling at it.

After checking with the shop,it was the view finder at the back that had had a knock and damaged it ,which is not under guarantee , so what's new. 

Bought a new one!

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Don't forget its the table top sale tomorrow night at the club house .

You might get a bargain 

The two boats on the "For sale" section will be there ! ( 10 hatch coaster and fishing boat ) so you will be able to see them in the flesh so to speak, and the relatives might come down a bit from price shown

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My mate's missus left him last Thursday, she said she was going out for a pint of milk & never come back!
I asked him how he was coping and he said,"Not bad, I've been using that powdered stuff."

 
The police came to my front door last night holding a picture of my wife.
They said, "Is this your wife, sir?"
Shocked, I answered, " Yes."
They said, "I'm afraid it looks like she's been hit by a bus."
I said, "I  know, but she has a lovely personality."

"What's that ?" said the stuffy matron looking at the morsel on the plate set before her.

"Its pressed tongue" said the waiter.

"Yuk! I could never eat anything that came out of a beast's mouth", she said.

"Bring me a boiled egg!"

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What's all folks

US Navy's New Pirate Catcher

Thought you might like this I got from a fellow modeller, One for your blog Dad

Subject: US Navy's New Pirate Catcher 

More about the Navy's New Pirate Catcher

Here are some recent photos of the LCS-2  (to be named the USS Independence).

Here she is at sea trials running at only HALF- power at 43 knots! NOTE the absence of a bow wave.

And then there's the massive helo deck big enough for a CH-53.

Last time I talked with the SURFPAC guys years ago. THIS was the LCS they wanted because of the huge storage capacity under that flight deck and the size of the flight deck.

Also turns tightly too. Allegedly this turn was also done at 43 knots...and from the look of the small bow wave, she's still in the turn  Note the absence of any sign of her 'heeling over' even at that speed.

Note that there is very little spreading wake. In fact, it does not look like a wake at all, just foamy water from the water jets. Somehow, at 43 knots, you'd think there'd be more of a wake.

She's aerodynamically designed and kind of strange looking.

Is this beginning of a new design in ships?

WOW! A couple of these should be able to clean up the pirates off the coasts of Africa .....

 This is the U.S.S. Independence (LCS-2)

It is a Triple Hulled, Weapon-Laden Monster.

Here she is under construction....

Here's some more pics of the U.S. Navy's new pirate catchers!

There have been rumors about the U.S. Navy's speedy new triple hulled ships, but now they're for real.

The U.S.S Independence was built by General Dynamics. It's called a "littoral combat ship" (LCS), and the tri-maran can move its weapons around faster than any other ship in the Navy.

(Ironic that with all that high tech, the ship reminds me of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days).

'Littoral' means close-to-shore, and that's where these very ships will operate. They're tailor-made for launching helicopters and lightly-armoured vehicles, sweeping mines and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles and machine guns.

These ships are also relatively inexpensive. This one is a bargain at $208 million, and the Navy plans to build 55 of them.

This tri-maran is the first of a new fire breathing breed, ready to scoot out of dry dock at a rumoured 60 knots top speed.. It's like a speedy and heavily armed aircraft carrier for helicopters.

Pirates Beware!!!

Make a nice model this, would a model handle the same though, and what would one use as a power pack?

How the other half model !

Just thought I'd give you an insight to how the other half model !

This video shows a couple of trains made out of Plasticard by my son on his blog

It gives you an idea what can be accomplished with flat sheets of Plasticard doesn't it.

It might be of interest to those club members that have railways as well as boats

click here

Number one son is in blogging mode at the moment, but will no doubt be back into modelling soon, though not boats, still we shouldn't hold that against him Eh. 

Don't forget its the Harrogate coach trip (4th May 2011) soon, so get booking with Mike, what a bargain at only £12 for members and £15 for guests.

Models of yesteryear

Yesterday after Velda had been to the dentist to have a tooth out, we popped home for Pepe and shot off to the lake, hard as nails that Velda, she was thrown out of the Foreign Legion for cruelty you know.

After a bit of lunch at the cafe with Donald, (she give the rock buns a miss) we went to the landing stage to chat with the sailors there. 

Later in the day along came John Goddard with his Greek Ferry Boat, not seen it for a few years, though it is still looking good. In case some of the newer members haven't seen it before here is a picture I took earlier

Some of you might recognize this as Lyme Park the last year we attended there ( 2007 I think)

Still as you can see a very nice scratch built boat and the cars are " Brittons" models if you are wondering what scale its in.

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The priest had two parrots and taught them religiously to say the rosary. He even had two sets of rosary beads made and after a year of rigorous training he was delighted to have them perform at fêtes and country fairs.

The priest was so pleased he decided to teach another parrot the rosary and bought a new bird from the pet shop . When he put it into the cage one of the originals said to the other "Throw away your beads Fred, our prayers have been answered. Its a Sheila!"

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We lived in a tough neighbourhood.

Any kid in our street with two ears was a sissy.

Any cat with a tail was was a tourist.

When I was seven my Dad took me aside, and left me there.

He made me run two miles every day, by the end of the week I was 14 miles away.

His swimming training was tougher,he threw me off the end of the pier,swimming back to the shore wasn't so bad, getting out of the bag was the hard part.

On Saturday night we had Windmill Pie, (what's Windmill Pie?) You get a bit if it goes round.  

That's all folks

Terry's boat

Recently completed Steam Launch 'Canfly'.

Another fine quality built boat by Terry Burnett and the details of the build.

 Details. 

Length 4.5ft Beam 1.4ft

Hull: Specially cast fibreglass with a gel coat of motor vehicle quality (no paint).

Structure: Pear individually planked

Stainless steel chequer plates.

Engine: Stuart Turner Double 10 with Stephenson link reverse gear (machined by Terry)

Hidden reversing gearbox operated by high power digital servo (Not possible to use the link reverse due to required servo size)

Boiler: Superheated with gas reheat & stainless steel chimney.

Watertank: 1pt capacity located f'wd fill from deck.

Pump: Commercial

Propeller: Prop Shop.

Thrust bearing prop shaft.

Radio: Spektrum 2.4ghz

Regards Terry

Thanks for sharing the details with us Terry

And to show that its not a one off here are two earlier examples of his fine workmanship

Steam turbine engine

And his "Fitz"

Thanks again Terry for sharing this information, a great inspiration to everyone.

Repairs round the park

Yesterday went to the lake with fencing gear and plants to repair the garden that the geese had trampled down, whilst it was sad to see the vermin had got all the eggs , I don't think we will miss a few more geese do you.

                                    

This was the abandoned nest on the top area of garden when we got there.

So after I repaired the fence and strengthened it at the bottom, I took Pepe round the lakes and left Velda to to do the artistic bit in the garden.

On the way round took these pix's 

Coot family rebuilding their nest,can you see the red headed baby! something must have got the other two they had,(Pike ?)

Heron on watch.

When we got back Velda had worked wonders and transformed the top garden to its usual neat appearance

There you go , all Veldaised, hopefully the "Blue Star " conifers will grow and be too prickly for the geese to bother next mating season and the fence at the back will stop the Rat Run being a proper Rat Run.

One of the Mayor's of New York once said " If it looks derelict it will be treated as such" and I'm a firm believer in that.

Did you hear about the Irish fencing team that turned up at the Olympics with a load of concrete, posts,barbed wire and wooden panels!!

Another blogger I follow is Phil's workbench, publisher of many railway book articles and thought this blog of his was very good so included it for you

click here

Club night 13th April

Last night was a good night at the club, with additional events in the coming year announced and then it was the soldering demonstration, Electrical soldering by Geoff and Silver soldering by Mike, I certainly learnt a few things to help me in the future and hopefully so did others.

To-day we've been to the lake and though there wasn't many there it was still good to meet and chat to those that were. The goose eggs have finally all been taken by the rodents which is a shame,  though it does mean we can repair the fence and replant the garden with something animal proof if there are such things.

The poster for the Harrogate trip was brought to the notice of a  couple of the guys on the landing stage and they stated that they would contact Mike for seats!.
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In my condition this is very apt

An elderly gentleman....

Had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%

The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect.. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.'

The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family yet.

I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!'

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Tamar launch at Colwyn Bay

Hi Pete.  Have a look at this launch by our new secretary.
Regards Ray Benson.

My model Tamar had it's first public launch down it's slipway from it's boat house yesterday.

We also spent some time working out how to recover the boat back up the slipway into the boathouse, but somehow we never videoed that

Lot's more work to do before it is finished with motorised doors, tilt-table ram and the recovery winch to design yet
Regards
Alan Woodward ,Sec Colwyn bay Model Boat Club.

Ray used to be a member of EMBC before moving to Wales, perhaps a few of the older members will remember him, he was the secretary at Colwyn Bay for quite a number of years. The new secretary is the person with the lifeboat!  Gives you an idea of the area round their lake from the on-board camera if you haven't been before.  This is a good day out that Velda and I and quite a number of our members have had there the past couple of years, check the "Events and Shows" section for this years date, will remind you with a poster nearer the time

Ship modelling 1813 style

Hi Guys.

During a short trip to Cambridgeshire I visited Anglesey Abbey.

Saw this and thought other members might be interested.

We all like to think we have some skill in making our boats but this beauty was made in the confines of a dungeon in 1813 by a French prisoner.

The most amazing thing is the scale. The hull is made from a penny piece of the era, the rigging is made from the prisoners own hair. The whole thing is only about two inches in length.  I have tried to include my fingers in the photo for size comparison. God knows how this man managed the level of detail without access to proper tools?

John Muncey

Thanks for this John, just what we need more of instead of just my ideas which might not be to every ones taste.

Humour

My son's humour is the same as mine and I'm sure he won't mind me sharing some of these one liners with you that he had on one of his previous blog's. 

'If the enemy is in range, so are you.'

-Infantry Journal-

 'It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.'

- US.Air Force Manual -

'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword, obviously never encountered automatic weapons.'

- General MacArthur -

'You, you, and you ... Panic.     The rest of you, come with me.'

- Infantry Sgt.-

 'Tracers work both ways.'

- Army Ordnance Manual-

'Five second fuses last about three seconds.'

- Infantry Journal -

  

'Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.'

- Naval Ops Manual -

  

'Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.'

- Unknown Infantry Recruit-

  

'If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him.'

- Infantry Journal-

'Yea, Though I Fly Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 50,000 Feet and Climbing.'

- Sign over SR71 Wing Ops-

'You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.'

-Paul F. Crickmore (SR71 test pilot)-

  

'The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.'

-Unknown Author-

'If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage it has to be a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe.'

- Fixed Wing Pilot-

  

'When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.'

-Multi-Engine Training Manual-

 'Without ammunition, the Air Force is just an expensive flying club.'

-Unknown Author-

  

'If you hear me yell;"Eject, Eject, Eject!", the last two will be echos.'

If you stop to ask "Why?", you'll be talking to yourself, because by then you'll be the pilot.'

-Pre-flight Briefing from a Canadian F104 Pilot-

  

'What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?

If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; but If ATC screws up, .... the pilot dies.'

-Sign over Control Tower Door-

  

'Never trade luck for skill.'

-Author Unknown-

'Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.'

- Emergency Checklist-

  

'The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.'

- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot) -

As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives.

The rescuer sees the bloodied pilot and asks,'What happened?'

The pilot's reply: 'I don't know, I just got here myself!'

Boom Boom.

I'm sure if you have been in the forces these will seem funnier.

Chinese Swan Geese

This was an entry from my own blog "Petes Boats" on Wednesday 30th March.

A pair of Chinese Swan geese had laid 8 massive eggs on the top level of the club garden, whether they will hatch out is debatable as they didn't sit on them while we were there so might have gone too cold. We aren't short of wildfowl at Etherow Country Park though are we.

This is the male

This is a Chinese Swan Goose if you've seen them round the park and didn't know what they were.

Further developments sent to me by Bob the Abel , ace reporter for the Compstall Trumpet, shows that the geese feel at home with us that much they have laid more eggs. 

Perhaps Mike's next Hot Pot supper should have an alternative menu of omelettes !

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The sugar daddy presented his floosy with a beautiful Skunk coat. "Amazing " she said ,"that such a beautiful coat could come from such a smelly little beast"

"Look" he said  "I don't expect gratitude, but there's no need to get personal." 

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We went to to the lake after writing to-days Blog and were lucky enough to get these pictures

Gerr off

Expectant mother



And now back to the boats and the age old battle between the English  and French.

Bits and Bob's

Last night at the committee meeting I agreed to take on the non Committee position of Meetings Rep. as well as the position I hold as Members Rep. This is after being a member of 3 of the emergency services ie Fire, Ambulance and the AA?, (they counted themselves as the fourth emergency service in one of their old adverts didn't they) and on top of that in the regular Army , so I should know better. 

Never Volunteer ! 

Having said that, I hope to be able to live up to the excellent job Eddie Outen did for a great number of years.

This year has got off to a bit of a bad start on club meetings,  through no fault of anyone's other than illness and misunderstanding with not having a Meetings Rep. hopefully the rest of the year will be better, starting this next club night with a demo of various types of soldering !,so if you haven't got a soldering station look at my earlier blog for the offer on at Maplin's and no I'm not on commission.

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The Club 500 results for March were as follows

1st Howard Meadowcroft 

2nd John Davis

3nd Bernard Chidley

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The Steering Comp results for March were as follows 

1st Alan higham

2nd Geoff Fitzsimmons

3th Eddie Higham

4th Trevor Redford

Conditions were said to be very wet,

that's dedication for you !. 

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I found John Davies and his better half wandering round Ashton to-day and he informed me Tom Pannell and Howard Meadowcroft are both poorly, so I'm sure you will join me in wishing them both a speedy recovery, perhaps a phone call or an e-mail from any of you would be appreciated.

 Get well cards sent on behalf of the club members are on the way.

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Take a look at the club diary on the left to see the updates  I've added to-day, more events to look forward to and please contact me if you have any ideas or queries 

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And last but not least 

Could a half wit work part time for intelligence!
Should single crabs have nippers?
Is it cruel to sew buttons on flies?
and  can a cross eyed teacher control her pupils.

Club directory

A paper copy of the members directory can be obtained via the Secretary on request, quoting your club membership number!

Fiesta Report 3/4/11

Fiesta Report 3/4/11

By David Lee

Hi we had a very good turn out this month, nine in all and only one dropped out.

The wind was good for fiesta’s for a change, just a bit of rain, but we can live with that!

 Thanks to all that turned up.

 Trevor Redford 1^st, David Lee 2^nd, Richard Hemingway 3^rd, Bob Dunkerley 4^th, Keth Scamell  5^th, Terry Miles 6^th, Frank Laxton 7^th, Andy Glen 8^th, John Muncey 9^th.

See you David Lee.

2nd Fiesta meeting and Harrogate Show

Don't forget its the 2nd Fiesta meeting this Sunday ( 3th April) at 10-00am

I f you want to join in just turn up on the day and introduce yourself to Dave Lee the Fiesta racing rep.

If you haven't got a Fiesta look in the "For sale" section there's one in there for sale at a very reasonable price and you could still catch up with the others in the competition.

If you aren't into Fiesta competitions there will be free sailing from 12 noon, so turn up and watch the racing before having a sail yourself

Good luck and fair wind to all our entrants!
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Have you got your booking in for the Harrogate Model Show
14th May , not long now 
£12 for members and £15 for guests 
Travel, entrance fee, no parking problems and  a good old natter on the way, what more can you ask for !

And no worry with these yellow devils.

What's all folks