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At about 10 am a Dakota / DC3 flew North over the village and I thought you don't get to see that very often. And then at about 11am there was a lovely noise, on looking up there was two spitfires and (I think) a Hurricane flying in a V west bound. With a final Spit bringing up the rear. Now that is something very rarely seen or heard (and they sounded beautiful)..! I just stood there like a moron in the middle of the road watching them go over. I know R.J. Mitchell died on the 11th June - I wonder if there is a commemoration this weekend? And why is it that whilst I only have the most tenuous link to WW2 imaginable - in that my dad is a vet - I still got a lump in my stupid throat. Why do I feel such a ridiculous sense of pride and affection for these old planes and the brave chaps who flew them?

Currently sat here tuned into Le Mans, and it has occured to me that I've had quite a busy day...! Started this morning with a 62km cycle ride with a friend of mine around Oxfordshire. In the rain. I'm pretty pleased with that, given that it's the furthest I've ridden since the Palace to Palace last year. Since getting back around lunchtime I have: Caught up with Game of Thrones Usual house stuff (cook lunch, do washing etc etc) Set about the Westy - new mirrors all round, bonnet trim fitted, sump guard refitted, earthing problem solved, play in steering rack eliminated, exhaust blow traced to manifold gasket, new gaskets purchased, ready to be refitted tomorrow when I get some gasket paste to stick it all together! Bit of light gardening - we have a row of espaliered apple/pear trees which need completely rewiring, so I've cleared out the old rusty sections to be replaced tomorrow. Finally I nipped down to the supermarket for dinner and a few bits, currently settled in with the 24 Hours on enjoying a nice Bourbon. Cheers everyone! Spot the blow!

I think what makes us tingle is that we know how many people died in them defending the world against evil. My uncle was a pilot in Lancasters and never spoke about what he saw and did during the war, but many of his squadron died as young men. It was a time when the best of Britain was on show for the world to see and heros were heros not a shadow of what some are now. The only other plane that raised a tingle was Concorde, again when we were the best in the world at aviation, building something (okay with a bit of financial help from france) that was unique.

I was at Duxford last year and they were flying the Spitfire then. It's the best engine noise I know of. I don't know what it is about the Merlin engine it just sounds fantastic. Maybe it's all of the old war movies I watched as a kid.

According to my uncle, my aunt was 'emotionally incontinent'!

I don't think you will notice a difference to be honest, go for whatever is cheapest, they will all handle that sort of power with no problems.

That's not Simba, its a kitten! And CraigHew, its his medication that lets Buttercup see these things. He's our Shaman...

Buttercup, you need to keep taking your medication regularly....

Actually doing my best Crime Scene NCIS, looking at the relative position of the deceased and the vehicle involved, I can only deduce you reversed over him. Which is totally another level of sick and twisted... Well done that man..!

There's just something about a pair of Weber carbs that makes every true petrol heads heart skip a beat. I know I'd get better performance and economy from bike carbs or FI, I'd be able to sell the 40s and effectively do a bike carb conversion at a net profit, but I just can't bring myself to get rid of them.

I know precisely what you mean. When the Lancasters were doing the circuit recently, I was out cleaning the pick up on the drive, stood up high in the back, cleaning the cab roof, I heard Merlins, but not sounding quite right, not like the "usual" Spitfires anyway. I span round, scanning the sky's and there do a slow and low fly past was a Lancaster on its way up Southport way. I looked round, practically hopping up and down and waving, but there was no one else around nearby to see it. I even got a slow graceful wing wobble as it passed! I just stood there grinning like a fool. Waving and wondering why I'm in tears!

White coats where are they when you need 'em. Bob

£250 awaits you on "You've been framed." Bob now hop to it

200lbs of bamboo...

After a good conversation at our area meeting last night, here's my suggestion for classes going forward: Make the Novice Championship separate from the overall Championship. Introduce an Intermediate Championship - A1, B1 (also separate). More prizes, trophies, awards etc available in each Championship to keep motivation high and increase long term participation. So a Novice doesn't place in the overall Championship - they can still be shown on Tiggers website but there are separate Championships at play. You move through championships once you start posting times within 'x' % of the next level (would need to sit down and work this out exactly, but for the sake of the example lets call it 2%). So once a Novice starts posting times within 2% of the Intermediate times, next year they move up. Once an Intermediate starts posting times within 2% of the Experts, next season they move up. Championship winners move up too. Times for each championship are more generous (again need to invest done time to this, but for now let's say Novice would be D plus 8%, Intermediate would be D plus 4%) to enable people to get closer to the times, feel the reward & motivation to keep going. Again, more reward for each level - perhaps small trophies or plaques could be sent to the relevant class winner after each event? Or as MAC do, a discount off an entry fee, store merchandise or club membership that can be stored up? Or a choice of the above. Rules for classes remain the same, the current stipulation by engine size and gearbox makes sense and means any car can come and be competitive in Novice or Intermediate. Then the current C,D and beyond regs apply to the expert or overall Championship. Formalise a 'buddy' system or make a forum posting where Novices and Intermediates can ask to be supported by someone with the space to bring along their spare wheels and gear, if they've got them, so more people can drive to events. More repeat events like MIRA where we can go to a venue twice a year, my votes for these are Rockingham, Blyton, Gurston, Three Sisters. I agree with Marto that the best events are the well attended ones so reducing events would support that, however I also agree that more events is a good thing and makes it more accessible. A good compromise would be to repeat events within a season so everyone can get to them. That's it for now, day off today! Cheers, Barny.

6 cars booked in for the show, will arrange pick up places during the week. Let's hope the weather is good.

Cheers for the comments lads. Will try fitment first to c how snug it fits