Cold War GB 2018 Inspiration

[zenrat]

The tail of that Herc looks like that of a Rutland Reindeer.

[Rheged]

The tail of that Herc looks like that of a Rutland Reindeer.

Indeed it does  https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=0UnD7G0%2b&id=137FCF620BE13D0CD2A6568578DD10367915A882&thid=OIP.0UnD7G0-eC0V0cACsy64zQHaFi&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fairminded.org%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2015%2f07%2frutland-reindeer-2.jpg&exph=437&expw=584&q=rutland+reindeer&simid=608019328019400920&selectedIndex=0&qpvt=rutland+reindeer&ajaxhist=0

Neville Shute Norway would be proud of it!

When you are stuck in traffic on the way to the next Farnborough air show, here's a way to pass the time. Spot the place where veteran British actor Jack Hawkins stopped to offer a lift to American movie star James Stewart in the 1951 film No Highway in the Sky. For nephews and nieces none the wiser, the film was based on No Highway, a 1948 book by Nevil Shute which dealt with the virtually unknown phenomenon of fatigue failure in a large transport aircraft - the fictional Rutland Reindeer. Stewart played an eccentric Farnborough-based boffin who sees the whole thing coming. Sadly for British aviation the film turned out to be an eerie prophecy of the real events to come with the Comet disasters of the 1950s.

[Weaver]

What if it had been done from aircraft?  A team of aerial bestrewn C97s perpetually holding station over the Baltic refuelled in flight by KC97s (until they ran out of engine oil).
They would of course be known as the Stratocasters...

Hehehe, nice one. 

The USAF did that for real at one stage too. There was a bunch of specially equipped C-130s flown by an ANG unit that really were airborne radio stations. They had massive 'tanks' outboard of the Herk's usual tanks, and some very weird blade shaped aerials out toward the wing tips.

EC-130J Commando Solo, formerly known as Volant Solo and using EC-130Es. They can broadcast TV as well as FM radio. Article here: http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104535/ec-130j-commando-solo/

Funnily enough Zenrat, you almost got it right: the program started back in the 1960s with EC-121Ds and was known then as Coronet Solo. Since a vanilla EC-121 was known as a Warning Star, presumably these would have been 'Radio Stars' (cue the Buggles)......

Jimmy Young isn't propaganda, he's psychological warfare, designed to cause the enemy to lose the will to live. If you broadcast him from a Coronet Solo plane you could revert back to it's civilian name and call it an EC-121 Consternation.

My coat's next to yours, ta...

[PR19_Kit]

Neville Shute Norway would be proud of it!

When you are stuck in traffic on the way to the next Farnborough air show, here's a way to pass the time. Spot the place where veteran British actor Jack Hawkins stopped to offer a lift to American movie star James Stewart in the 1951 film No Highway in the Sky. For nephews and nieces none the wiser, the film was based on No Highway, a 1948 book by Nevil Shute which dealt with the virtually unknown phenomenon of fatigue failure in a large transport aircraft - the fictional Rutland Reindeer. Stewart played an eccentric Farnborough-based boffin who sees the whole thing coming. Sadly for British aviation the film turned out to be an eerie prophecy of the real events to come with the Comet disasters of the 1950s.

Wasn't it only called that in the US? In UK it was still just 'No Highway'.

Back in the 80s I rented a copy of it and showed it at a fatigue conference at Warwick Uni, with an audience of very clever fatigue people from all over the world. It was amazing how many had never heard of it! I was appalled. 

Loved the way James Stewart retracts the gear of the Reindeer when it was still on the ground somewhere in Canada when he realises that it'd reach the end of its fatigue life some time during the next flight! 

[Rheged]

The book was  "No Highway" . Never saw the film.

 Neville Shute was an interesting bloke:- R100 airship, Airspeed Ltd,  head of engineering at  the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapon Development  (known as the Wheezers and Dodgers) where he developed the Rocket Spear, an anti-submarine missile with a fluted cast iron head.   And then there are his novels.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevil_Shute

[PR19_Kit]

The book was  "No Highway" . Never saw the film.

Neville Shute was an interesting bloke:- <snip>  And then there are his novels.

I've got most of them, 'Round the Bend' is a real aviation tour de force. I find myself continuously trying to fit real aircraft into the plot where Shute has given them fictional names.

[kitnut617]

The book was  "No Highway" . Never saw the film.

Neville Shute was an interesting bloke:- <snip>  And then there are his novels.

I've got most of them, 'Round the Bend' is a real aviation tour de force. I find myself continuously trying to fit real aircraft into the plot where Shute has given them fictional names.

In the Wet has an Avro Atlantic look-a-like

[zenrat]

The last issue of Modelart Australia magazine has a feature on a scratchbuilt Rutland Reindeer.  I'll endeavour to scan some pages and post them up.

[rickshaw]

Shute moved downunder in his later life, after WWII and lived near Melbourne IIRC.  It was why he set "On the Beach" there.   He was a very remarkable man and a great novelist.   "On the Beach" is one of the most depressing books I've ever read but you stick with it to the end because it's so well written.   Never seen the movie (again filmed in Melbourne.  It's leading lady, Ava Gardner, was supposed to have remarked that it was the perfect place to film an "end of the world movie..."  ).

[PR19_Kit]

The 'On the beach' movie was just as depressing as the book.

To get REALLY depressed, try 'Down to a Sunless Sea' though, only as a book I think. You'll feel like jumping off the world after that. 

[scooter]

The 'On the beach' movie was just as depressing as the book.

To get REALLY depressed, try 'Down to a Sunless Sea' though, only as a book I think. You'll feel like jumping off the world after that. 

According to Wiki, a movie version is in production with Morgan Freeman as president.

[PR19_Kit]

The 'On the beach' movie was just as depressing as the book.

To get REALLY depressed, try 'Down to a Sunless Sea' though, only as a book I think. You'll feel like jumping off the world after that. 

According to Wiki, a movie version is in production with Morgan Freeman as president.

Terrific, I can hardly wait...................NOT!

[McColm]

What if it had been done from aircraft?  A team of aerial bestrewn C97s perpetually holding station over the Baltic refuelled in flight by KC97s (until they ran out of engine oil).
They would of course be known as the Stratocasters...

Hehehe, nice one. 

The USAF did that for real at one stage too. There was a bunch of specially equipped C-130s flown by an ANG unit that really were airborne radio stations. They had massive 'tanks' outboard of the Herk's usual tanks, and some very weird blade shaped aerials out toward the wing tips.

EC-130J Commando Solo, formerly known as Volant Solo and using EC-130Es. They can broadcast TV as well as FM radio. Article here: http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104535/ec-130j-commando-solo/

Funnily enough Zenrat, you almost got it right: the program started back in the 1960s with EC-121Ds and was known then as Coronet Solo. Since a vanilla EC-121 was known as a Warning Star, presumably these would have been 'Radio Stars' (cue the Buggles)......

Jimmy Young isn't propaganda, he's psychological warfare, designed to cause the enemy to lose the will to live. If you broadcast him from a Coronet Solo plane you could revert back to it's civilian name and call it an EC-121 Consternation.

My coat's next to yours, ta...

I always thought that they played Des O'Conner records for psychological warfare

[zenrat]

Isn't casting Morgan Freeman a bit old hat?
Surely the role should go to Alec Baldwin?

[Old Wombat]

Isn't casting Morgan Freeman a bit old hat?
Surely the role should go to Alec Baldwin?

What about Keanu Reeves?