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Gladys International 21C
The Almost Quarterly Journal of The Sheffield
Society of Aeromodellers Issue 110 2015
In this issue…tales of Tiggers and nightingales, fantastic things we did
with foam, shameless plugs for the Shuttleworth Trust and a
retrospective look at the hats and times of Colin Troise.
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One Man and his Hats : Ed. .............................................4
Summertime (and the flying was easy): Ed Lock.............5
Biggles Flies Again– T. ‘Biggles’ Gregory.........................6
Info-Ad-Featurisement: Penton Products........................8
Building The Versa Wing: Andy Timmons .....................10
A Shuttleworth Summer: Phil Barrett and Ed................14
Club Bits– Ron Mallett...................................................25
Spot The Plane : Ed Endum............................................27
Endpiece ........................................................................28
One for Phil Barrett: The Comet’s debut flight this summer
Contents
Acknowledgements All photos by Neil Carver except p4 Mike Stott, pp6-7 (top) Marge
Gregory, p7 (bottom) Tim Scowcoft p9 (bottom) Unknown, pp10-13
Andy Timmons, pp14-15 Phil Barrett, pp26 Ron Mallett, p28 Brian
Clamp
Mass Building and Proof Reading : Andy Timmons
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We’ll kick off this issue by welcoming Andy Timmons as our new
Membership Secretary. Welcome. Given his experiences with foam and
figures, Andy is well equipped for the role. Fortunately for him the full
initiation ceremony has not taken place yet as the goat is still missing.
Anyway, when I took on the role of editor I quickly recognised it was my
duty to take the Mickey out of club members, particularly Martin
Aspinall and of course anyone on the Committee. Of course Mickey
taking is a risky business and there is always the chance you might
inadvertently cause offence. In fact there is always the chance that
writing anything will offend someone. Well, an innocent comment I
made last issue, about nightingales in Berkley Square has in fact done
just that. A bird lover with the unlikely moniker of ‘Geo T. Ryder’ has
expressed outrage at my alleged ornithological inaccuracy.
Sir, I read in your almost quarterly rag, Gladys, a rather blasé comment
about that wonderful Vera Lynn song “A nightingale sang in Berkeley
Square”. For you to suggest that an occurrence of the Nightingale singing
in Berkeley Square is impossible really beggars belief!
I myself have been privileged to listen to a nightingale singing its little
heart out only some six miles from Berkeley Square in April 2007. It
managed to attract a mate and the pair nested yards from the park’s
main footpath. To protect the birds from unwarranted disturbance, the
local birding group made a decision not to broadcast the news. The birds
reappeared in 2008 but no nightingale has been heard there since.
Incidentally, the song is not based on a genuine occurrence of the species
in central London. Indeed, it was written in a fishing village on France’s
Mediterranean coast.
Yours faithfully but in a state of outrage!
Geo T. Ryder
...and there you have it. You might say I’ve been given the bird. Either
way I will not be cowed . Ed.
Editorial
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As you may know Colin has (finally) stepped down as Membership
Secretary. He took up this role in 1756 and has been trying to leave since
1757. Anyone who has
spent even a minute in a
Committee meeting will
appreciate his ‘way with
numbers’ , especially big
ones with decimal points.
His remarkable ability to
generate counterarguments
faster than Tim can sign his
name on a cheque will also
be missed.
Colin is also the only Committee member who can remember the
passwords for the Zurich accounts, so rather than risk offending him by
saying anything about his flying, I thought this page should celebrate
Colin’s legendary choice in hats. Copies of Gladys from the early 2000’s
show Colin sporting a white sunhat (above). It didn’t take long though
before the inevitable caption appeared : “Where did Colin get that hat?”
Always sensitive to the views of his public Colin took a new direction in
headwear and the Mickey-
taking stopped. The most
recent photo (right) shows him
in a more robust wool affair,
aerial extended and with
counterargument at the ready,
to 3 decimal places.
Colin, for all your contributions
to the club, we take your hat
off to you. ( Think about it ! )
One Man and His Hats: Ed.
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Cold outside? These shots were taken on one of those warm, calm, to die
for summers evenings last year. Remember them? Whatever was on the
box must have been good as Tim and I were the only folks flying. Tim
celebrated his second hand purchases of Mustang and Stearman and I
pottered around with my Parkzone Stinson Reliant. It really does potter
in a very
relaxed and
scale like
manner.
Now if only
they if they
made a Vega…
Summertime, (and the flying was easy): Ed.Lock
I don’t quite know
how, but some trick
of the light makes
the Mustang look as
if it is parked outside
the USAAF hanger at
Duxford.
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Many readers of a certain age will know what I mean when I say I
devoured all of the Biggles books I could get my hands on in the Upper
Third. Well, after 60 years Biggles was to fly again. For my last birthday
my son and daughter bought me a sampler flight in a Tiger Moth with
Blue Eye Aviation. Although this was to be a taster flight (10 mins) from
Nether Thorpe airfield when the time came I upgraded this to the much
longer ‘Dams’ flight. The first attempt was aborted due to low cloud over
the hills and we received the call to cancel when only about 2 miles from
the airfield. Very disappointing. My second attempt was made about 6
weeks later.
The weather was
perfect, brilliant
sunshine with just a
light breeze and a
perfectly clear sky.
We arrived at the
airfield in good
time due to Marge
thinking the flight
was an hour earlier
than it was (not
unusual!) and
registered with the
organisation. A short briefing with a couple of other chaps waiting to fly
filled in 10 minutes whilst waiting for our slots.
It was all very atmospheric, sitting in old striped deck chairs outside an
old khaki tent with strains of Vera Lynn singing old war time songs in the
background, I could almost imagine myself as one of the few awaiting for
the order to “scramble chaps” . Soon enough the order to don the flying
jacket came and I mounted the wing of the Tiger Moth to climb into the
Biggles Flies Again : T. ‘Biggles’ Gregory
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front cockpit and commence my flight. We flew down to Owlerton and
up the valleys and out over the dams: Howden, Derwent and Ladybower,
then up the Hope Valley. We
passed over Stannage Edge
and Callow Bank, followed
Ringinglow Road and flew
over Birkdale playing field.
Finally the flight took us
down High Storrs Road and
over our house before
cruising back to the airfield.
The landing was a classic,
gently skimming the grass to
a perfect touch down.
This ended a most memorable flight for one 75 year old in a 75 year old
aeroplane. It had been much more than I could have hoped for. I might
add that as soon as I was up and away on my flight Marge headed for the
club house for, as she said, a well needed gin and tonic .So you could say
a good time was had all round!
In a strange coincidence no less than 3 pretty much scratch built Tiggers
turned up at the indoor hall built by (left to right) David Tayler,
Tim Scowcroft and John Broadhead. All we need now is a scale Terry.
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I have even offered my PPPPP a biscuit by mistake! You might say my
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Penguin !”
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Building The Versa Wing : Andy Timmons When I joined the club, I think I must have confused a lot of people by
the way I took great delight in crashing my planes. Not that I did it
intentionally you understand (OK, I did once, when I was fed up with that
particular plane) but people couldn't understand why I wasn't more
upset. The fact is, that's how I learn. I try things to see if they work and
if they do, I remember. If they don't, I try to work out what went wrong,
and then have another go.
And it was because this is how I learn that I chose to fly really, really
cheap planes. Discounting the electronics that can always be re-used,
each plane might cost a fiver because I build them out of Depron or
foamboard. When I explained, many people still believed that the planes
crashed because they were built out of foamboard, so I thought I'd offer
to show them how easy it is to build truly fun and relatively robust
planes in an evening.
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I chose the Versa Wing (opposite) because it can be easily built in an
evening, can be made into a pusher, tractor or slope soarer (and
swapped between), used many of the standard Flite Test build
techniques, could be powered by any motor from 80W to 800W, and
w a s a l m o s t
guaranteed to fly.
Once again Gordon did
his organizing bit, and
of course decided it is
impossible to build on
an empty stomach. So
freshly stuffed with
pie, peas, chips and
beer, scalpels flashing
in the moonlight, we
began work at just
before 20:00 on 23
October 2014.
I stood at the front
and tr ied to
demonstrate clearly
what the next part of
the build process
involved and then
everyone tried to copy
me.
Thankfully, no-one
else tried to copy the two times I stuck the scalpel into my hand and the
subsequent decoration of the wing. Nor, I hope, did anyone emulate my
gluing of the servo wires to the wing spar, which meant I had to cut a big
hole in the wing to dig them out.
The SSA version of The Last Supper
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I tried to progress at the rate of the slowest builder, but it became clear
that we'd run out of time before the pub closed, so I picked up the pace
a bit and encouraged the onlookers and faster workers to help. This
seemed to work well and soon everyone was either cutting, gluing,
taping or looking confused.
Some of the eager types tried to get ahead, which made for a couple of
fun moments when I announced loudly things like 'Now at this point you
might think you stick this bit here, but don't otherwise the next bit won't
fit.'
By 22:00 we had a couple of finished planes and several well on their
way. By 22:30 most people had something they could take home and
finish easily at their leisure. I'd taken three extra kits, and they were
bought by doubters who had become believers during the evening, and I
Hard at work… David looks very comfortable with a scalpel.. Can’t think
why.
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had requests for another five wings, one Spitfire, a Mustang and a
Storch.
I'd contacted Flite Test to tell them what I was proposing to do and they
had generously donated stickers and decal sheets. I say generously
because we'd effectively done them out of $600 of sales (they make and
sell the kits as well as providing the plans).
I sold the decal sheets at the end of the evening and raised a few quid for
MacMillan Cancer Support, which made it all the more worthwhile. Like
a proud midwife, I've subsequently attended the christening of two of
the wings and hope to be there for many more, so If you made one, let
me know when the maiden is, and I'll be there.
A few people have asked 'What are we building next? Anyone fancy
making a Scout for indoors?
Once again club members foil the authorities by carefully protecting the identity
of Mr Big ( far left)
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It might be an odd thing to say, but articles on airshows at Old Warden
are like number 52 buses. You don’t see one for ages then two turn up at
once. For reasons best kept to myself as editor, Phil Barrett is up first.
I am sure many of our members have visited the Shuttleworth Collection
at the Old Warden airfield near Biggleswade. It has an unrivalled
collection of flyable aircraft from the Edwardian era through to the
1950s.The final airshow of the season was held on 5 October, and was
titled ‘Race Day’ to honour the 80th
anniversary of the London to
Melbourne air race, which was of course won by the DH 88 Comet in the
colours of Grosvenor House. The Comet is part of the Collection, but only
flew again on 1 August this year after a 12 year programme to repair and
strengthen the undercarriage.
I firmly believe this aircraft lays a claim on being the most beautiful ever
built, so I had to take the opportunity to see the original which was being
A Shuttleworth Summer : Phil Barrett and Ed.
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given pride of place in both the static and flying sections of the air show.
I was not disappointed! The Comet was flown by the Collection’s Chief
Test Pilot, and he displayed it to great effect. He obviously has
confidence in the new undercarriage, as he completed a touch and go to
great applause from the crowd.
Continuing the theme of air races, the Shuttleworth Collection had
assembled the most amazing collection of aircraft that would have taken
part in the National Air Races in the 1930s. These included:
● Miles Hawk Speed Six
● Miles Falcon Major
● DH Puss Moth
● Percival Mew Gulls
● Spartan Executive
The Spartan Executive amazed me, an American design of the 1930s of
which only 34 were built for luxurious personal air travel. The aircraft
had a range of 870 nautical miles, and its 9 cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-
985 radial engine gave it a top speed of 223 knots. Featuring a
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retractable undercarriage and all metal construction, it clearly was the
Lear Jet of the 1930s!
The highlight of the meeting was a five lap handicap race around a
triangular course centred on the Old Warden airfield. The DH 60 Moth
chugged away first, with the Miles Hawk Speed Six and the Spartan
Executive giving away a whole lap. The handicappers almost got it right,
with the DH 60 only overtaken halfway round the last lap but with the
favourites pipped by a Chilton DW-1 monoplane.
There was a really good R/C display in the lunch break, with the Dawn
Patrol lads fielding their Fokker D7 and Sopwith Pup supported by the
English Electric Wren from the LMA. Interestingly, the original Wren
should have flown, but with only around 7hp it struggled to take off. The
half scale R/C version substituted really well, aided by around twice the
power of the original and no pilot! The crowd was very appreciative of
the R/C display, which has to be good for all of us.
The final aircraft on display was an Edge 540 flown by the current
National Aerobatics Champion. Whilst we have all seen the R/C versions
at the Nationals, seeing the same manoeuvres with a full size plane and
pilot was just amazing. With copious use of smoke he put on a superb
display. There was an excellent crowd for this final event, and the
weather was remarkably kind for early October. Overall, this was a fine
swansong for the 2014 season.
Thank you Phil ! Over to me…
Unknown to Phil was that several weeks earlier to his visit, and blessed
by equally good weather Tim and I had also found our way to Old
Warden. We had set off to go to Durham but with Tim navigating it was
of course likely we ended up somewhere else. It was of course very good
luck that ‘somewhere else’ turned out to be The Shuttleworth Trust and
even better luck there as an airshow taking place on that very day.
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Tim and I celebrated this good luck with a bacon sarney before sampling
the delights of the trade stands that occupied a hanger along with a
dapper Aeronca (below). If you like old aviation books the stands at
Shuttleworth are some kind of browsing heaven.
I have to confess though I was mildly distracted from my task by a the
cover of a new glossy graphic novel by one Romain Hugault. When I say
graphic novel I mean of course ‘well-illustrated comic’. Now, all I shall say
for the moment about this graphic novel is that the tale of fighter
combat in WW2 is both a little bit rare and a little bit racy. And graphic in
more ways than one. In fact the stallholder enthusiastically shouted;
‘Woah – we should have put that on the top shelf !’
This comment led to the kind of public attention my lawyer has always
suggested I avoid. I fled and led a bemused Tim to the not so fleshy, but
nevertheless wonderful distraction that is the ‘Shuttleworth Fightline
Walk.’ There are of course various approaches to doing the ‘Flight Line
Walk.’ For most it is but a pleasant stroll to view 20 or so old air frames
and learn a series of interesting facts about them, recounted by a
wonderful hugely knowledgeable chap who has been a ‘Volunteer’ at
Shuttleworth for years.
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You may however be of the view that the ‘Flightline Walk’ offers a rare
chance to get the close up shot of that Comet – with no distracting
crowd and no pylons or modern vehicles in the background. If so you are
someone the Volunteer knows as the ‘Photographer’. Both Photographer
and Volunteer know they are engaged in a never to be acknowledged
game of cat and mouse. To win, the Photographer must stray from the
group just far enough to get that shot. The Volunteer however is all too
aware of the damage that can be caused when the telephoto lens of a
straying Tour Member meets the revolving propeller of a Visiting Pilot. To
win the game he must limit the wanderings of the Photographer and
return him safely and intact to the crowd enclosure. I’m pretty much
sure it was a draw this time round.
The first plane encountered on the Walk was the 1955 Fauvel AV 36
(above) Later on we were treated to a surprisingly aerobatic display by
this wonderful French glider, flown by one Graham Saw. He also flew the
somewhat frail looking reconstruction of the 1938 Schnieder SG 38 ( EoN
Primary). This most basic of airframes (opposite) was used to train
German pilots allegedly for commercial pilot roles. In reality many of
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these pilots were preparing to fly for the then banned German air force
Fantastic as it was it didn’t quite whistle like the Fauvel whistled. And
boy did it whistle. You may by the way have noticed Tim’s hat (opposite).
He had forgotten his proper hat (see page 8) and had to purchase this
from the Tombola stand in the interest of sunburn prevention. It cost £1
and he reckoned he could sell it on to Colin Troise for, “at least a tenner
and 2 servos”.
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After the Flight Line Walk came
lunch and the flying display
proper. This year Shuttleworth
pulled out all the stops with an
inverted flypast of every known
airworthy Spitfire in the world.
Tim sadly missed this as he was
‘resting his eyes ‘in a post lunch
torpor. Don’t tell him though. He
will be furious at missing such a
rare event.
Tim finally woke up to be treated
to a what could only be termed
a classic Shuttleworth display of
no less than 5hrs of flying… yes
5hrs. No RC this show, but no-
one was complaining. As well as the gliders there were numerous
highlights, including an impossibly low and slow display by the Fieseler
FI156 Storch. It seemed to spend most of its time going sideways and
even spent a little time in reverse (or was it just me)? Oddly enough I
came across this quote from UK Airshow reviewer Dan O’Hagan who was
otherwise wowed by the event.
‘The only gripe, and it's a very minor one, would be that Chris Huckstep's
Sea Hurricane routine was rather wasted by displaying at the same time
as Pete Holloway in the Fieseler Storch. Both aeroplanes are impressive
enough to be worthy of their own slot - as Holloway found when he
removed his helmet to be greeted by spontaneous applause, which he
acknowledged with a theatrical bow and broad smile!‘
He has a point. So struck I was with the Storch I had forgotten the
Hurricane displayed with it. Even weirder was that I (and apparently Dan)
had also forgotten the Lysander was in the air at the same time as well.
Either way I think the genuine affection between Hurricane and Lysander
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is evident in the shot above. I’ll leave you to guess the direction of travel
of the Storch ( as it were).
It isn’t hard to see the dilemma of the Shuttleworth show organisers
however. A fair few of their planes are limited in terms of display
potential. Even the most diehard of enthusiasts would likely suffer
Flightline Fatigue if everything displayed on its own. I don’t think I am the
only one (in my pre-digital days) to have experienced Zoom Lens Droop
half way through a show – when you realise that you have just taken
exactly the same photo of every plane that has flown. It is to
Shuttleworth’s credit that they theme their shows and manage to create
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variation and spectacle out of even the most unlikely of combinations of
planes. Here a 1940 Polikarpov PO2 pursues a 1930 Hawker Tomtit while
the 1930 Blackburn
B2 and a Tiger Moth
turn in for their pass.
One mid afternoon
highlight for me was
seeing two 1938
Gloucester
Gladiators in the air
at the same time.
One is a
Shuttleworth,
resident. The other
was from the
Duxford based
Fighter Collection.
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Another pair that made a great impression were 2 BE2s. These were new
builds , from New Zealand. By now they are hopefully housed in the UK
at Stow Maries, the preserved First War airfield and home of the WW1
Aviation Heritage Trust (http://ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk)
As the afternoon wore on it was evident there was doubt about whether
the Comet would fly due to a slight crosswind. But around 7pm, with the
sun almost setting, Collection Chief Pilot ‘Dodge’ Bailey took off. It was
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the first public flight of the Comet in 20 years. Its not hard to see why
Phil rates this plane so much. It looks fantastic in the air. Given the
fading light it is a small miracle I got any shots but I am rather chuffed of
the pic above, with a huge pale moon in the evening haze. After a
dazzling display the Comet landed fast. In fact it landed very fast. The tail
kept lifting and it ran on and on and on, to the very end of the strip.
It is hardly surprising that
there is talk of basing this
miracle at a larger airfield.
I hope not though. It
really is a Shuttleworth
animal and seeing it fly
was worth the price of
admission alone. Times
ten.
It even kept Tim awake.
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The annual SSA ‘Bring and Buy’ took place in the Abbey in early
November and was a great success. Many thanks to Gordon for
organising the event and to the staff of the pub for the chips,
sandwiches, pork pies and sausage rolls and for putting up with us rowdy
people again. There were many items for sale, from tubes of glue to
Andy’s foam board kits and a range of completed models. Something for
everyone. There was even a bit of an auction part way through where
donated models were sold off for the best price. I myself got a nice
rubber powered kit, full of nice balsa cut ribs and string fuselage. This
will make a nice change from just sticking some foam pieces together.
As usual there was plenty of chatting about models, lots of information
about what to buy, how to build etc. and many technical people around
to answer just about any question. There was a concern that the Abbey
Pub wouldn’t be big enough to accommodate the Bring and Buy, but on
the night there was enough room. Maybe if the event is publicised
outside the club or we get a definite list of who is bringing what, then the
church hall would be a better option. Any thoughts?
Thank you to all that attended and bought or sold. I hope you have all
the bits you need to finish off your models and don’t forget to start
saving those pennies or surplus planes and equipment for this year’s
event.
Only weeks later 13 hardy souls braved the icy conditions and turned up
for the après Xmas indoor flying at Dronfield. The hall staff were enjoying
a festive lie in and we couldn’t get in till 9am so we assembled in the
deserted snowy car park. As it was calm and quiet Ron flew a Slowfly1
and Barry a Shockie. A few bemused passers by stood and watched the
flying.
(Is it true one of them gave Barry 10p for a cup of tea? Ed)
Club Bits : Ron Mallett
26
At 9am we all trooped into the hall to discover the floor has been
repolished and was very, very shiny. As there were so few of us we put
the tables up by the end wall. No shortage of tables that day! Terry
honoured Colin’s tenure as Membership Secretary by wearing a dodgy
orange hat throughout the session (see below). Even with so few of us
we followed the usual pattern of flying slots, but as there weren't many
people, we tried to fly clockwise. Tried is the word. It proved so difficult
to keep going folk quickly reverted back to the normal direction. Even
with so few planes in the air there was still contact between models and
the wall still claimed its share of
victims… mostly flown by Terry.
It was nice to fly with so much
space though, and to see so many
people turn up, despite the
conditions.
Andy (centre-right) is pictured in the
Slow Fly 2 slot using his
revolutionary new ‘no transmitter’
control method. The plane is
controlled using a mix of telepathy
and small nose movements.
27
Well, it is with great regret that I report no one has won this run of Spot
the Plane. I have cropped and blown up last edition’s photo. Adrian's
Trex can be seen just below the far horizon. Most entries went for the
sky to the right. Phil Clayton and Ron Mallett came closest. Thanks to all
of you for entering. It has been fun...but from Spot the Plane, bye for
now.
Ps. None of the hats worn in these photos belonged to Colin Troise.
Spot The Plane : Ed Endum
28
Endpiece
Santa couldn’t believe his experiment had worked. He had finally found
a labour supply that would work for free. No more unionised elves, no
more strikes, no more working to rule. Alright he didn’t get to wear the
outfit and the Santa hat, but it was a start. Sheffield didn’t seem much
warmer than the Pole but Rudolf liked it on the moors and the beer
wasn’t bad either. ‘Yes,’ he thought ‘I might just pull this off. I just have
to persuade this lot to give me back the planes after they built them.’
Editors Note 1: Look Colin… Martin Aspinall made me write that stuff
about you. I couldn't refuse… he had that look in his eye... you know the
look when he crashes and says ; “lend me some Por”. Scary. Anyway, you
know those Zurich based accounts….
Editors Note 2: I am beginning to suspect Geo T. Ryder might be a
pseudonym. Anyone any ideas?