Home (contents) → What’s new

What’s new

• June 19^th, 2019: Added two more images and some text to One small step—my review of First Man, 2018, starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11
• June 17^th, 2019: Added an image and text to Aviation computer-based training
• June 15^th, 2019: Added an image to Hang gliding 1976 and re-organised the page
• May 31^st, 2019, added images to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1973 and before, in which I also added a link to Bill Liscomb’s documentary Big Blue Sky on YouTube
  • Hang gliding 1976
  • Hang gliding late 1980s
  • Hang gliding 1989
• May 28^th, 2019, added images to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1975
  • Hang gliding late 1980s including some of Fly America
• May 26^th, 2019:
  • Added images to Hang gliding 1973 and before
  • Added an image to Hang gliding 1974
  • Split Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 into Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 1 and Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 part 2, adding images to both
  • Added images to Hang gliding early 1980s
  • Created new page Hang gliding mid 1980s
  • Added an image to Hang gliding 1996 to 2003
  • Added images under More scenery to the Miscellaneous photos page
• May 22^nd, 2019: Added new page Hang gliding late 1980s
• May 21^st, 2019:
  • Added two photos to Hang gliding 1978 and 1979 (one moved from another page)
  • Added more content to Hang gliding mid 1980s
• May 20^th, 2019:
  • Created new page Hang gliding mid 1980s
  • Added two images to Hang gliding 1975
• May 19^th, 2019, added one more image to each of the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1973
  • Hang gliding 1978 and 1979
• May 18^th, 2019, I added more images to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1973
  • Hang gliding 1974
  • Hang gliding 1978 and 1979
  • Hang gliding early 1980s
• May 17^th, 2019:
  • Split Airplane art as a new page from Powered flight, to which I also added a picture
  • Added more images to Hang gliding 1973
  • Added a couple of more images to Hang gliding early 1980s
• May 16^th, 2019:
  • Added a lesson I learned about flying in strong winds to Tour of Bell Hill part 1: Front, back, and sides
  • Added an image to the top of Hang gliding 1973
  • Added an image to Hang gliding 1978 and 1979
  • Added more images to Hang gliding early 1980s
  • Added a Spacelab section, including two photos, to Space flight and hang gliding
• May 15^th, 2019: Added new page Defying Newton 2, more powered ultralight operations at Newton Peveril in Dorset, England
• May 14^th, 2019, I added more images to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1978 and 1979
  • Hang gliding early 1980s
• May 12^th & 13^th, 2019, I added more images to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1974
  • Hang gliding 1975
  • Hang gliding 1976
  • Hang gliding 1977
  • Hang gliding 1978 and 1979
• May 11^th, 2019, I did the following:
  • Added images to Hang gliding 1973
  • Added images to Hang gliding 1974
  • Added images to Hang gliding 1975
  • Spun off Swallowtail versus Gulp, plus my own first experimental hang glider, from Hang gliding 1975
• May 10^th, 2019, I added the following:
  • New page Hang gliding 1973
  • New page Hang gliding 1978 and 1979
  • New images–most are artwork based on old photographs–in the following pages:
    • Hang gliding 1974
    • Hang gliding 1975
    • Hang gliding 1976
    • Hang gliding 1977 (retitled from Hang gliding 1977 to 1979)
    • Hang gliding early 1980s
    • Hang gliding 1996 to 2003
    • Space flight and hang gliding
• May 4^th, 2019: Added One small step—my review of First Man, 2018, starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11
• May 3^rd, 2019: Added some quotes from a 1977 Hang Gliding magazine article by Ric Lee to Unexplained lift at Ringstead, August 8th, 2013
• April 28^th, 2019: Replaced one of the new photos in Rebecca and friends (page 5) with one I like better
• April 27^th, 2019: Added two new photos to Rebecca and friends (page 5)
• April 26^th, 2019: Added new page Luff in the time of cholera (sorry!) about the ‘luffing dive’ thought by some to be a danger inherent in the design of the standard Rogallo hang glider
• April 25^th, 2019: Added Selected hang gliding photographs — my best shots
• April 24^th, 2019, I added the following:
  • Text about luffing dives in Hang gliding 1975
  • Text about accident and incident analysis under new sub-heading Appliance of statistics, also in Hang gliding 1975. Subsequently moved to its own sub-page Appliance of statistics.
  • Text about a flat spin in one of my experimental hang gliders under Three-sixty degree appraisal in Hang gliding 1976
• April 23^rd, 2019: Added Replacing Wills Wing U-2 (Litestream) side flying wires
• April 18^th, 2019, I added the following:
  • Fame by (virtual) association, a sub-page of About the author
  • Two new photos in Rebecca and friends (page 5)
• April 16^th, 2019: Added Little parrots, an anecdote about flying at my local hill in 1975 in the company of others. It is also about usage of language, both there and, ten years later, in the USA.
• April 14^th, 2019: Added my experience of dehydration in Spain under Pancho villa in Hang gliding 2004 and 2005
• April 7^th, 2019: Added Eagles among men–my review of Higher than Eagles, the Tragedy and Triumph of an American Family by Maralys Wills and Chris Wills, 1992
• April 6^th, 2019: Added more description of my flying at the British hang gliding championships in 1975 under the sub-heading Riders in the sky and I added a comparison of the Miles Wings Gulp and the Wills Wing Swallowtail under the sub-heading Swallowtail versus Gulp, both in Hang gliding 1975
• April 2^nd, 2019: Added more new photos, including Tamiya 1/35^th scale World War 2 British soldiers, to Plastic DUKW (replacing earlier photos)
• April 1^st, 2019: Added four new photos, including three depicting Master Box 1/35^th scale World War 2 era women, to Plastic DUKW
• March 29^th, 2019: Added new page Plastic DUKW, my Italeri 1/35^th scale General Motors DUKW
• March 28^th, 2019: Added observations about flying in adverse conditions, backed by a quotation from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, under the Mainland Spain sub-heading in Hang gliding 1989
• March 26^th, 2019: Added a quote from pioneer aviatrix Beryl Markham under the sub-heading Irrevocably alone to Water in the wheelhouse; how dreams are formed
• March 17^th, 2019: Added two old and two new photos of Faina to Rebecca and friends (page 5)
• March 16^th, 2019, I added some low-quality images to the following pages:
  • Hang gliding 1975
  • Hang gliding early 1980s
  • Under Airplane art on the Powered flight page
  • Under Scenery on the Miscellaneous photos page
• March 12^th, 2019:
  • Added more newly digitized photos under the new Lanzarote subtitle in Hang gliding 1989
  • I also added two more Spitfire Vb photos under the sub-heading English Channel in World War 2 plastic models part 1
• March 10^th, 2019:
  • Added page Hang gliding 1989 with some newly digitized photos and some moved from Hang gliding early 1980s
  • I also added my Airfix 1/48^th scale Spitfire Vb under the sub-heading English Channel in World War 2 plastic models part 1
• March 2^nd, 2019: Added a new photo of Tessa on her Montesa to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike (replaces an earlier photo)
• February 26^th, 2019: Added a photo of a flower to Miscellaneous photos
• February 24^th, 2019: Added more to Computer commuter, a sub-page of About the Author
• February 23^rd, 2019: Added photos of my Trumpeter 1/48^th scale Armstrong Whitworth Seahawk to Other plastic model aircraft
• February 19^th, 2019: Added two photos of my 1/72^nd scale Spitfire PR.XI to World War 2 plastic models part 2
• February 17^th, 2019: Added five photos of my Tamiya 1/48^th scale Spitfire Mk.1 to World War 2 plastic models part 1. Three replace earlier photos.
• February 7^th, 2019: Added two photos and some text to RAF Ringstead, a sub-section of Overview of Ringstead
• February 2^nd, 2019: Combined the contents of the Other and Articles sections into one; the Miscellaneous section
• February 1^st, 2019:
  • Added new page Computer commuter, including a fatal road crash that was later found to be a murder. It is a sub-page of About the Author.
  • I also managed to reduce the black block of links near the top of every page (at last). I would like to delete it entirely, but it is generated automatically by the WordPress template I use, unfortunately.
• January 31^st, 2019: Added new section titled Check list on the Hang gliding equipment page, although much of its text was there already under the preceding sub-heading Hang glider (the wing)
• January 27^th, 2019: Added new section titled Reality check to Lars and the real Everard
• January 19^th, 2019: Rearranged Hang gliding section of the contents page into two sub-sections and switched from reverse chronological order to put the earliest years first
• January 15^th, 2019: Added two photos of Faina at a beach in Devon to Rebecca and friends (page 5)
• January 11^th, 2019: Added more text about my weekly commute in the late 1980s under On yer bike in About the author
• January 10^th, 2019:
  • Added two photos and accompanying text to Hang gliding early 1980s
  • Added four photos and accompanying text about my first two cross-country flights to Hang gliding 1990 to 1993
• January 9^th, 2019: Added more text under BMX and mountain bikes to Off-road bikes including a technique for safely learning to jump large humps on BMX tracks. In addition, I divided that section into sub-sections BMX and Mountain biking.
• January 8^th, 2019:
  • Split Hang gliding before 1976 into two pages: Hang gliding 1974 and Hang gliding 1975, both including newly uploaded images
  • Added four BMX-related photos to Off-road bikes
• January 7^th, 2019: Added some more material to Hang glider names and tidied the page. Feel free to send in any corrections to the years stated in the new bullet list near the top.
• January 5^th, 2019: Added an account of my first attempts at flight to Hang gliding 1974
• January 3^rd, 2019: Added new section Last of the beautiful people in About the author and inserted new section heading On yer bike for the existing material that follows it
• December 31^st, 2018:
  • Added 13 images mostly under the new Hang gliding drawings and Planform evolution subtitles in A painted history of hang glider design
  • Added two advertising literature drawings to Aviation computer-based training
  • Added two design drawings of my first experimental hang glider to Hang gliding 1975
  • Added a parachuting drawing to Miscellaneous photos
  • Added seven drawings and paintings under the new subtitle Airplane art in Powered flight
  • Added new page My 1970s bike designs
• December 30^th, 2018: Added new photo of Cynthia and June to Rebecca and friends (page 5)
• December 29^th, 2018: Added a screenshot from a 1981 music video, which reveals a fragment of June’s personal life, to Rebecca and friends (page 5)
• December 28^th, 2018: Started new page Rebecca and friends (page 5) with a photo of June
• December 27^th, 2018: Added to The importance of proofreading in Technical writing and programming with the potentially disastrous effect of an inadequate release note about a software update for a gyro aboard Virgin Galactic SpeceShipTwo
• December 23^rd, 2018: Updated Forger (previously Eclipse) in Space flight and hang gliding in recognition of hang glider pilot Mark Stucky gaining his space wings
• December 20^th, 2018: Added six screenshots and more text to Comet Adaline–my review of the 2015 romantic fantasy The Age of Adaline. (Two of the new screenshots replace earlier ones.)
• December 19^th, 2018: Added new page Comet Adaline–my review of the 2015 romantic fantasy The Age of Adaline
• December 6^th, 2018: Added new page Generation BMX, a sub-page of About the author, moving some content of the latter
• November 30^th, 2018: Added photos of June and Kylie to Rebecca and friends (page 4) as well as a photo of Tessa on her Montesa trials bike (from its plastic modelling page)
• November 27^th, 2018: Added a new section titled Interlude to About the author and I swapped the order of the two subsequent sections New life and Rocket man
• November 19^th, 2018: Added two new photos to MTB, Trials riding on the Nukeproof Scout Race mountain bike
• November 15^th, 2018: Added section titled The mysterious lady and a photo to About the author
• November 8^th, 2018: Added a quotation from Adam Parer at the top of Dangers of hang gliding (and added a link to the applicable page of his blog)
• November 4^th, 2018: Added two illustrations by Léon Benett (woodcut engravings, I think) of the original Lina to Rebecca and friends (page 4)
• November 3^rd, 2018: Added new page Web sites, social media, and language, a sub-page of Technical writing and programming
• October 29^th, 2018:
  • Added a photo of June to Rebecca and friends
  • Prompted by a question from Emily the English teacher in North Carolina, I added a couple of paragraphs about a report in a psychology journal (some years ago) that studied biking on the Oregon Trail to MTB, Trials riding on the Nukeproof Scout Race mountain bike.
• October 28^th, 2018: Prompted by feedback from a former technical author and current English teacher in North Carolina, I added more text to Technical writing and programming.
• October 22^nd, 2018: Added section Monk’s Down in October to Hang gliding 2018
• October 16^th & 31^st, 2018: Added an update to the saga of the series of broken rear hubs in MTB, Trials riding on the Nukeproof Scout Race mountain bike
• October 1^st, 2018: Added two photos of Brian Wood to Hang gliding 1975 and the same two photos to Off-road bikes
• September 22^nd, 2018:
  • Added 12 photos to Rebecca and friends (page 4)
  • Added two photos and more text to MTB, Trials riding on the Nukeproof Scout Race mountain bike
• September 20^th, 2018: Added 12 old photos of Rebecca to Rebecca and friends (page 3)
• September 18^th, 2018:
  • Added six photos, including four of Faina, to Rebecca and friends (page 2)
  • Added six photos of Faina to Rebecca and friends (page 3)
  • Added two more photos (one of June and one of Faina) to Rebecca and friends (page 4)
• September 9^th, 2018: Added two more photos to Rebecca and friends (page 4)
• September 7^th, 2018: Added two photos to Rebecca and friends (page 4)
• September 6^th, 2018: Added some observations from Gun Button to Fire by Hurricane pilot Tom Neil to Adolf versus Adolph—my review of the movie The Battle of Britain, 1968
• September 5^th, 2018: Added separate Life-size dolls section to the contents list, moving the links from the Other section
• September 1^st, 2018: Added new page Rebecca and friends (page 4)
• August 29^th, 2018: Added three photos of Faina to Rebecca and friends (page 3)
• August 25^th & 26^th, 2018: Added three photos of Faina to Rebecca and friends (page 3). (One replaces an earlier photo.)
• August 19^th, 2018: Added two new photos to Rebecca and friends (page 3)
• August 17^th, 2018: Added more to About the author
• August 15^th, 2018: Added new page Rebecca and friends (page 3)
• August 6^th, 2018: Added new page Defying Newton, powered ultralight operations at Newton Peveril in Dorset, England, moving some photos from Powered flight to the new page
• August 4^th, 2018: Added 10 new photos to Powered flight
• July 31^st, 2018: Added section Ringstead in July to Hang gliding 2018
• July 22^nd, 2018: Added two more new photos and one from 2014 to Rebecca and friends (page 2) (one replaces an earlier photo)
• July 15^th, 2018: Added two more new photos to Rebecca and friends (page 2)
• July 1^st, 2018: Added two new photos to Rebecca and friends (page 2)
• June 30^th, 2018: Added new page Rebecca and friends (page 2) with 11 newly uploaded photos and two moved from its parent page Rebecca and friends
• June 29^th, 2018: Added some more text to Lars and the real Everard
• June 26^th, 2018: Added two photos of Ron Smith to Hang gliding 1996 to 2003
• June 22^nd, 2018: Added two photos from my paragliding days to Hang gliding 2004 and 2005
• June 9^th & 10^th, 2018:
  Changed the order of the content and added two more photos and some more text to Lars and the real Everard
  • Also added two photos to Rebecca and friends
• May 30^th, 2018:
  • Added Lars and the real Everard, a review of the 2007 Realdoll movie Lars and the Real Girl, starring Ryan Gosling
  • Also added two photos of doll documentary filming to Rebecca and friends
• May 21^st, 2018: Added a photo of me and Laura to Rebecca and friends, replacing the photo of Anoushka and Laura
• May 18^th & 19^th, 2018: Added 16 photos to Rebecca and friends
• May 13^th, 2018: Added Rebecca and friends (some of my life size dolls) and added Hang gliding 2018
• May 12^th, 2018: Added new section titled Under fire with photos in About the author
• April 22^nd, 2018: Added a new photo (replacing an earlier one) and more text to MTB, Trials riding on the Nukeproof Scout Race mountain bike
• April 1^st, 2018: Added three photos of my Kinetic 1/48^th scale Falklands War Sea Harrier in La muerte negra. (One replaces an earlier photo.)
• March 28^th, 2018: Added two photos by Roly to Powered flight
• March 26^th & 27^th, 2018: Added four photos to Hang gliding 1977 to 1979. Two of the new photos are contributed by hang glider sailmaker and powered ultralight pilot Roly.
• March 23^rd, 2018: Added two photos of my Kinetic 1/48^th scale Falklands War Sea Harrier next to the same scale USMC AV-8B in La muerte negra
• March 20^th, 2018: Added La muerte negra, my Kinetic 1/48^th scale Falklands War Sea Harrier
• March 17^th, 2018: Modified my haul-up chord
• March 15^th, 2018: Added sub-section Haul-up chord under Emergency parachute on the Hang gliding equipment page
• March 10^th, 2018: Added another three photos to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike (one replaces an earlier photo)
• March 5^th, 2018: Added four air-to-air photos by Gary D to Hang gliding 2004 and 2005 under the sub-heading Coast patrol
• March 1^st, 2018: Added another photo to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike (replacing an earlier photo)
• February 25^th, 2018: Added Phantom of the operator, my review of Phantom over Vietnam by John Trotti, 1984
• February 24^th, 2018: Added two more photos to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike
• February 22^nd, 2018: Added first photos of my Xtrakit Supermarine Scimitar in 1/72_nd scale to Plastic models–contemporary with Vietnam
• February 2^nd, 2018: Added another image (kit box art) to Saving pilot Durant—my review of the Ridley Scott movie Black Hawk Down, 2001
• January 26^th, 2018: Added two photos of me apparently flying a Soviet-built transport airplane in Vietnam on my Powered flight page. It is in the sub-section titled Nam.
• December 31^st, 2017: Added South Atlantic Star, my review of Hostile Skies by David Morgan, 2006
• December 15^th, 2017: Added comment by trials rider Anton Jolkovski to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike
• November 12^th, 2017:
  • Added Witches, gang bangers, and crocodiles, my overview of the Zack Snyder movie Suicide Squad, 2016.
  • Also added two more photos to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike
• October 8^th, 2017: Added two photos to Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike
• October 7^th, 2017: Added new page Dangers of hang gliding
• October 6^th & 7^th, 2017: Added more photos and text to Flying squad — a short history of the east coast U.S. hang glider manufacturer Sky Sports
• October 1^st, 2017: Added two new pages:
  • Viva Protar, about my 1/9^th scale Montesa Cota 247 trials bike
  • Engineering development then and now by guest contributor Jonathan H.
• September 2^nd, 2017: Added two photos to Hang gliding 2017
• August 31^st, 2017: Moved some photos from Off-road bikes to MTB, Trials riding on the Nukeproof Scout Race mountain bike and added new sub-sections Comparing bikes and Different tyres (to the latter)
• August 15^th, 2017: Added two photos to Hang gliding 2017
• August 12^th & 13^th, 2017: Replaced two photos with better ones in Mentioned in dispatches — my Italeri 1/9^th scale Triumph 3HW of World War 2
• August 9^th, 2017: Added two photos and an update on my new mountain bike to Off-road bikes
• August 5^th, 2017: Added some new photos to Mentioned in dispatches — my Italeri 1/9^th scale Triumph 3HW of World War 2. Also added another photo of its rider, the 1/9^th scale Tank girl.
• July 30^th, 2017: Added Mentioned in dispatches — my Italeri 1/9^th scale Triumph H3W of World War 2 (in a section of the page Plastic models — land vehicles)
• July 25^th, 2017: Added supporting snippet from the legendary Belgian cartoonist Hergé (Georges Remi) to Water in the wheelhouse; how dreams are formed
• July 22^nd, 2017: Added a couple more photos to Duck à l’orange — my Airfix 1/76^th (OO) scale DUKW with scratch built hang gliders
• July 19^th, 2017: Added Duck à l’orange — my Airfix 1/76^th (OO) scale DUKW with scratch built hang gliders
• July 15^th, 2017: Added You’re never alone with a drone — the Revell 1/48^th scale General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper/Predator B — in Other plastic model aircraft
• July 8^th, 2017: Moved some content from Other plastic model aircraft (previously titled Other plastic models) to new page Plastic models — land vehicles and added photos of a 1/9^th scale female figure under the subtitle Tank girl
• July 1^st, 2017: Added two more photos to Hang gliding 2017
• June 23^rd, 2017: Added photos of my Revell 1/24^th scale Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet to Plastic models — land vehicles under the subtitle Mercedes bends
• June 16^th, 2017: Added more photos to Wooden wûnder — my Airfix 1/24^th scale De Havilland Mosquito
• June 11^th, 2017: Split World War 2 plastic models into World War 2 plastic models part 1 and World War 2 plastic models part 2
• June 10^th, 2017: Added Wooden wûnder — my Airfix 1/24^th scale De Havilland Mosquito
• May 21^st & 22^nd, 2017: Added action photos to Mr Moto Cross — my Revell 1/12^th scale Husqvarna motocross bike
• May 21^st, 2017: Rewrote Paint it black, Review of the 20th Century Fox movie Sky Riders (1976), with new stills from the recently released DVD
• May 20^th, 2017: Added Overview of Ringstead (a sight-seeing guide, not a flying site guide)
• May 17^th, 2017: Added Mr Moto Cross — my Revell 1/12^th scale Husqvarna motocross bike
• May 15^th, 2017: Added Hang gliding 2017
• April 15^th, 2017: Added MTB, a sub-page of Off-road bikes
• March 12^th, 2017: Added Motocross in miniature: Building Joël Robert’s Suzuki motocross bike of 1970 in 1/12^th scale. (More photos added the following day.)
• February 25^th, 2017: Added photos and description of my new mountain bike to Off-road bikes
• January 7^th, 2017: Added two screenshots and accompanying text to Blue, blue, electric blue
• January 1^st, 2017: Added Blue, blue, electric blue, my review of the 1973 motorcycle film Electra Glide in Blue

Share this:

• Twitter
• Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...