At dawn we slept...in the cab on the way back from Olongapo

[Cap Mandrake]

At some point they MUST have had planes.

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

At some point they MUST have had planes.

Or they came from somewhere else. One of the early FAA fighter units uses Canadian pilots. [8|]

[Cap Mandrake]

RCAF has only 11 operable fighters in the Pacific (not counting the 4 in the restricted squadrons in British Colombia.

[Cap Mandrake]

Ace of Aces is a Kiwi.

[Cap Mandrake]

Allied units still alive in Sumatra

[Cap Mandrake]

April and May are kind to the USN carrier fighters. First the F6F in April and then the FM1 production kicks off in May..a total of 160 a month or about 5 per day.

Plus, as you upconvert the the best USN squadrons you have surplus F4F's

[Cap Mandrake]

Ditto USN dive bombers, 112 per month of SBD-5 and Helldivers.

[Cap Mandrake]

Looks like Mr Chang's place sold. The new owner sent an obsequious letter to the HOA asking for permission to replace dead plants with the same variety. Technically, this is maintenance and so is not required but probably they already gave him a ration of crap about tearing out the old garage door without permission.[:D] Welcome to the neighborhood...PAL! As technically is required he sent an approval request to the immediate neighbors.

I wrote back to the HOA approving his plan but noting that as a proponent of the writings of John Locke, I shouldn't have the right to veto where he wants to put some GD plants anyway. [:)] What the Hell, they hate me already.

Mr. Chang wanted $6 Million. Lot of money but the place was 10 acres with TWO tennis courts (hard surface AND clay) and a guest house.

[Cap Mandrake]

How many homes have a professional grade clay tennis court? Not very many, I suspect.

Anyway, you should have seen the Mayan tree trimming guy they hired. The guy was maybe 5 3 but pretty thick considering the job. He had a harness but he did not use it until he arrived at his work spot. He was free climbing 40-50 feet up. Then he would harness in with a top rope to a higher branch and drop a line to the assistant and haul up his chain saw. The guy would inch out sideways 4-5 ft on a branch with one hand closer to the trunk...then start the chain saw with his feet and the free hand...then the guy would use the chain saw with ONE HAND extended like an iron cross. Absolutely nuts.

When he got down I pretended to good to the mailbox just to see if he had a tail.

He was also using rope anvil cutter pole about 25 feet long. He's up there in the tree standing with BOTH HANDS on the pole and cutter line with the pole 20+ feet over his head. Essentially, he was using the cutting portion to hook onto a branch and steady himself? Have you ever used one of those things? When you have it that far over your head it's feels like a telephone pole if you get even a little bit off vertical. He did that for at least 6 hrs. Insane.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

RCAF has had no replacement fighters in the Pacific for several months

I got to meet Len Birchall when I was in Staff School and he came to give his story on leadership. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership of Allied troops in a Japanese POW camp. Before he arrived, many prisoners gave up hope and let themselves die. Like the Col. in "Bridge on the River Kwai", Birchall took charge of the situation and demanded the Japanese provide things like the Red Cross packages they received for the prisoners. It cost him many beatings, but he kept discipline among the prisoners, insisting that the men get to eat ahead of the officers. When I met him it was 1980 and he still suffered from Beri-beri from the malnutrition in the camp.

He is also known as the "Savior of Ceylon" because it was his PBY that spotted KB approaching Ceylon and radioed the warning before being shot down. A Japanese DD picked him up and delivered him to Kaga where the beatings started. Altogether an impressive man, soft-spoken but with a will of steel that you could see in his eyes.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

RCAF has had no replacement fighters in the Pacific for several months

I got to meet Len Birchall when I was in Staff School and he came to give his story on leadership. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership of Allied troops in a Japanese POW camp. Before he arrived, many prisoners gave up hope and let themselves die. Like the Col. in "Bridge on the River Kwai", Birchall took charge of the situation and demanded the Japanese provide things like the Red Cross packages they received for the prisoners. It cost him many beatings, but he kept discipline among the prisoners, insisting that the men get to eat ahead of the officers. When I met him it was 1980 and he still suffered from Beri-beri from the malnutrition in the camp.

He is also known as the "Savior of Ceylon" because it was his PBY that spotted KB approaching Ceylon and radioed the warning before being shot down. A Japanese DD picked him up and delivered him to Kaga where the beatings started. Altogether an impressive man, soft-spoken but with a will of steel that you could see in his eyes.

Wow. That is one Hell of a story!

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

RCAF has only 11 operable fighters in the Pacific (not counting the 4 in the restricted squadrons in British Colombia.

In 1943, priority would have been supporting the Canadian Army in the Sicily Campaign and later the Italian Campaign. When Malta was under siege, the top fighter Ace was a Canadian, so there must have been more there gaining experience. Canada's practice was to cycle experienced pilots back to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan squadrons in Canada for a while before redeploying them - that is why their mission and experience stats are often high.

There were also Canadian fighter squadrons in the UK, but I believe the UK provided the fighters - Spits and Hurris mostly.

[Cap Mandrake]

It's almost as if HE is the model for the Alec Guinness character.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Looks like Mr Chang's place sold. The new owner sent an obsequious letter to the HOA asking for permission to replace dead plants with the same variety. Technically, this is maintenance and so is not required but probably they already gave him a ration of crap about tearing out the old garage door without permission.[:D] Welcome to the neighborhood...PAL! As technically is required he sent an approval request to the immediate neighbors.

I wrote back to the HOA approving his plan but noting that as a proponent of the writings of John Locke, I shouldn't have the right to veto where he wants to put some GD plants anyway. [:)] What the Hell, they hate me already.

Mr. Chang wanted $6 Million. Lot of money but the place was 10 acres with TWO tennis courts (hard surface AND clay) and a guest house.

So a clay tennis court replaces the giant brick BBQ as the early indicator of divorce? Gives a new meaning to "Tennis, anyone?" [;)]

[Cap Mandrake]

There is a Czeck count in the RAF officer database. Count von Czernin as I recall.

He has the highest inspiration level of any officer in the game. Might have been before WITP/AE[:)] I had a lot of un with Czerny.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Looks like Mr Chang's place sold. The new owner sent an obsequious letter to the HOA asking for permission to replace dead plants with the same variety. Technically, this is maintenance and so is not required but probably they already gave him a ration of crap about tearing out the old garage door without permission.[:D] Welcome to the neighborhood...PAL! As technically is required he sent an approval request to the immediate neighbors.

I wrote back to the HOA approving his plan but noting that as a proponent of the writings of John Locke, I shouldn't have the right to veto where he wants to put some GD plants anyway. [:)] What the Hell, they hate me already.

Mr. Chang wanted $6 Million. Lot of money but the place was 10 acres with TWO tennis courts (hard surface AND clay) and a guest house.

So a clay tennis court replaces the giant brick BBQ as the early indicator of divorce? Gives a new meaning to "Tennis, anyone?" [;)]

Last time I heard they were still married. Perhaps tennis courts were not a jinx. His wife was very religious but they must have had sex at least twice because they had two kids. Michael and Karl. Michael won the French Open (on a clay court) at like 16 and Karl was his coach.

One time Michael was playing on CBS (I think) and the color announcers were McEnroe and some woman professional who sounded like a man (forget her name). You could tell they hated each other and McEnroe was always giving her shit. [:D]

So she tells this story that both kids were great tennis prospects but the family only had enough money for lessons for one son and they picked Michael.

McEnroe laughs out loud on air and asks "Phht...who told you that, Karl?" [:D]
[:D][:D] What made it so funny was McEnroe's ego was the size of New York. He wasn't going to put up with some woman player who he could beat with his off hand imply that tennis greatness wasn't about talent.

[Disco Duck]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Looks like Mr Chang's place sold. The new owner sent an obsequious letter to the HOA asking for permission to replace dead plants with the same variety. Technically, this is maintenance and so is not required but probably they already gave him a ration of crap about tearing out the old garage door without permission.[:D] Welcome to the neighborhood...PAL! As technically is required he sent an approval request to the immediate neighbors.

I wrote back to the HOA approving his plan but noting that as a proponent of the writings of John Locke, I shouldn't have the right to veto where he wants to put some GD plants anyway. [:)] What the Hell, they hate me already.

Mr. Chang wanted $6 Million. Lot of money but the place was 10 acres with TWO tennis courts (hard surface AND clay) and a guest house.

HOA's are evil. At least yours isn't as bad as this one.They blew $300,000 and still lost in court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkRHWQocDLA

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Disco Duck

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Looks like Mr Chang's place sold. The new owner sent an obsequious letter to the HOA asking for permission to replace dead plants with the same variety. Technically, this is maintenance and so is not required but probably they already gave him a ration of crap about tearing out the old garage door without permission.[:D] Welcome to the neighborhood...PAL! As technically is required he sent an approval request to the immediate neighbors.

I wrote back to the HOA approving his plan but noting that as a proponent of the writings of John Locke, I shouldn't have the right to veto where he wants to put some GD plants anyway. [:)] What the Hell, they hate me already.

Mr. Chang wanted $6 Million. Lot of money but the place was 10 acres with TWO tennis courts (hard surface AND clay) and a guest house.

HOA's are evil. At least yours isn't as bad as this one.They blew $300,000 and still lost in court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkRHWQocDLA

That case shows why the losing side should pay the winning sides reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.

I wonder what would happen if someone rewrote the bill of sale and deed to eliminate any membership in the HOA. That would be interesting.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

San Francisco, Cape Town, Sydney, the East Coast, the UK.

Thx..Sydney OK for USN too?

Everything you wanted to know about ship withdrawal but were afraid to ask[:)] is covered in post #14 of this Dec 2017 thread:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... l&#4404541

Enemy presence is commonly overlooked as the reason why a ship can't be withdrawn.

Alfred

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

San Francisco, Cape Town, Sydney, the East Coast, the UK.

Thx..Sydney OK for USN too?

Everything you wanted to know about ship withdrawal but were afraid to ask[:)] is covered in post #14 of this Dec 2017 thread:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... wal�

Enemy presence is commonly overlooked as the reason why a ship can't be withdrawn.

Alfred

Alfred

Thank you.

Joe