O L L A – P O D R I D A
~ News & Views for fans of Julian Stockwin’s historical fiction ~
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August 2012
[Olla-podrida: an affectionate 18th century term for a colourful medley of items]
1 DISPATCHES
2 THE FRIGATE
3 JAPAN – & THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER
4 QUIZ
5 SHIPMATES, AHOY!
6 EDITOR’S CHOICE
7 CONTESTS
8 QUIZ ANSWERS
By mid-April, Moksha was ready for a proper sea-trial. First, however, we needed to make sure she would automatically self-right in the event she capsized. Before taking her down to Salcombe, we took advantage of the hand-operated crane at the museum to flip her over in the River Exe. After an initial unmanned test roll, Kenny and I clambered inside the cabin and buckled up using seat belts reclaimed from the Ballistic Cleaning van. Kenny had borrowed a camera to film. Steve and Chris operated the crane.
As she tilted to ninety degrees, water began spewing in around the sliding hatch. My head was resting on the plywood roof, hair swimming in a rising pool of water. Read more of this post
OSHKOSH, Wis. (July 23, 2012) – Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support (GCS) today announced its Technical Publications and Customer Support Directory are now available in the Apple App Store. Both applications will further enhance the GCS network by providing world-class customer service and support at the customer’s fingertips.
Of 51 RAF bombers that set out, 17 were lost in transit. The author has not only covered the RAF failure and cover up, but also shown how the initial work of developing a network of airfields was to be exploited by civil crews racing each other from Britain to Australia in similar large British WWI strategic bombers.
The Catalina was the most versatile flying boat of WWII and was to continue on long after 1945 in a number of roles including SAR and fire fighting. Several Catalinas have been returned to flying standard as vintage warbirds.
Rarely is even a passing mention made to all the people who contributed to the Spitfire design and its continuing update through the years of WWII. Some mention is made of Rolls Royce for their outstanding Merlin engine. This leaves a lot of people out of the story who should be mentioned and that includes those like Beverley Shenstone who made significant contributions that can be argued to be the critical contributions without which there would never have been an immortal Spitfire.
The coverage of the subject is comprehensive and uses the recently catalogued Smithsonian US National Air and Space Museum’s Herbert S Desind Photo Collection of more than 110,000 images. The entries collectively demonstrate the evolution of American missile design
This book provides a collection of text sketches of gangsters and incidents, starting off with The Mafia from its origins as a society of Freedom Fighters defending the native population from invaders and occupiers. The gangsters are grouped into sections as individuals, followed by a section containing a selection of gangs or crime families and incidents are then grouped in sections.
This book provides a collection of text sketches of serial killers, starting off with Prince Vlad III of Wallachia, AKA, Vlad the Impaler, Son of the Dragon, Dracula. The serial killers are grouped into sections relating to their method of killing, such as Shooters or Poisoners. This approach allows a relatively large number of serial killers to be reviewed by the book.
This book provides a collection of unsolved mysteries. The author has divided the book into two groups of topic, with Murders being followed by Multiple Deaths. The thirty cases feature well-known incidents and some less well known mysteries.