London

Monday, 7 July

I woke up knowing today is my big day!

My dad and I took the train from Swindon to Paddington, London. When we arrived, we walked to Hyde Park and had lunch. While we did that I wanted to take a picture, only to find that I had left my memory card at home! (Big Mistake) So we walked to the science museum and then to a camera shop and got another memory card, and back to science museum. This is what we saw there:

This the a replica of the Hubble space telescope

Sputnic (replica), first satellite into space

Apollo 10 command module 1969

At the science museum we also saw a hologram of a watch and did many of the interesting activities!

 You should know this!

BIG BEN

The London Eye

 St Pauls Cathedral

This is the lovely sunset from the train!

To all my friends at school: this is what it looks like from a train at 20:00pm!

TOUR DE FRANCE!

We went to see the Tour de France! The last stage in the UK, ending at Buckingham Palace.

That was our main reason to be there! All the cyclists came past in a flash, but it was worth while. I may never get that chance again! The Tour de France was very special for my dad and I, especially because we love cycling (but not that far!) if I could see it once more in slow motion it would be great! 

I really loved London and would love to go and see it again some day!

(I took all the pictures except the last one of the Tour de France.)

I hope you like this and enjoyed it!

Markham Grange Steam Museum

Our kind friend, Harry Moore from Ilkley, took us to visit the Markham Grange Steam Museum.

There we went into this large building, probably the size of a small aircraft hanger, and one of the first things I saw was a steam engine! It was a cold, wet and rainy day, but once inside it was nice and warm (probably from all the steam). We found the chief engineer of the museum, George Dickinson. He showed us how to start a three cylinder boat engine. Once started, he let me go in behind the safety barrier to work the throttle (faster, slower, forwards and backwards), simply by pushing/pulling a lever up or down.

For me that was an experience of a life time!
But there was another surprise in store for me and Alfrie (Harry's grandson). George said to us to follow him into a staff only area. There he lifted off a piece of fabric and showed us an early boat version of power steering!

He explained the mechanism and showed me how to operate it. It uses a chain connected to the rudder and the output of the steering mechanism.

Besides having a lot of steam engines they also have a lot of old tools, which are very interesting to look at.

A big thanks to Harry Moore for taking us on this visit!

Thank you for reading!

Bear Grylls.

This blog will be about one of my most favoured people.... Bear Grylls (Edward Michael Grylls)..... author and adventurer.

I have read three of his books, "Mud Sweat and Tears","True Grit" and currently "Living Wild".

I have enjoyed every word in them and I find him an inspiration in the way he thinks and acts in different situations.

Facts about Bear:

Born 7 June 1974 England.
He lives on a barge moored by Battersea Bridge on the River Thames, England.
He is famous for his expeditions, and his TV shows such as: "Born Survivor" and "Man vs. Wild".
He was appointed youngest Chief Scout ever, aged 35.
He served in the 21 SAS regiment for three years.
He climbed Mount Everest, 18 months after breaking three vertebrae in a parachuting accident.(I cant do that!)
He is married and has two sons.


He is what you could call a real life hero. He has overcome different hardships and he has faced and survived what no average man has done. Which in my opinion can only be done with the grace of God, of which he has plenty to be thankful about. I have learned many things from his books and TV programs, for instance: When I am complaining about food or very hungry.... catch and eat an insect, or if possible, a rabbit! "Theres always something to eat!" What I have also learnt is to only take the most necessary thing when camping, I once took a book while camping and never even touched it. Pity it was a heavy book. I have always wanted camouflage jackets, but I now know that it may be even better to have a brightly coloured one for visibility in an emergency. 

If I was given the choice to meet any person on earth, It would be Bear Grylls. Simply because he does some of the things I would love to do myself and I would like to ask him many questions about life and other things. I admire all the different techniques of how he does things and how he responds in bad situations. 

One of the bad situations was when he started getting hypothermia and then improvised by using sawdust and industrial cling wrap to keep warm. (See: "Worst Case Scenario S01E06".) He also acts fast while his fingers are still fully moveable and makes himself warm. I have learnt that most of your body heat escapes from your head.

Bear has brought out his own knife sets. They are very handy and made to last. I don't yet have one, but I would really like to get one. Maybe I should save up! (this is my personal favorite)

To Bear Grylls: If you do ever read this I would like to say: "Thank you very much for all your wonderful books and intriguing TV programs. Please, do carry on! I really hope you enjoyed reading this."

This is not a school project like my other posts. I did this one because I think you, readers, will enjoy an article about someone I admire.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you like Bear Grylls even more now!!

National Railway Museum, York.

The day after we went to the Yorkshire Air Museum we went to the National Railway Museum. We arrived before opening time. It was raining, windy and very cold. While my dad was in a meeting, my mom and I went in. I really enjoyed this museum.

Only when you are right next to a train you actually realize how massive they are. When we went to the big warehouse one of the first things we saw was the Flying Duchess:

We then went to find the fastest steam train in the world: The Mallard, it still holds the record for the fastest steam train in the world. It reached 124.5 mph or 200.4 km/h. I can think why nobody has tried to beat it, try shoveling enough coal and keep the train from overheating at that speed. A tough challenge!

We had a look around and came across the Flying Scotsman. This train is famous because it had to pull many heavy carriages.

This is the real Flying Scotsman, a working train.

We had a look at the workshop/restoration room. I enjoyed looking at all the tools and especially the half taken apart trains. There is a paint shop where a man was busy painting (by hand, with a small paint brush) the lines and decoration on an old freight carriage, probably used for carrying felled trees.

We found the:

The Rocket was not the first train ever, but it brought together many different techniques. The Rocket was built in 1829 for a steam competition, the Rainhill trials, held by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which it won. It was better known as Stephenson's Rocket. It was powered by steam and had a top speed of 28 mph or 45 km/h, quite fast for something of this size.


I found these two funny trucks and had a good laugh. This one's back wheels are closer together than the front wheels.

This three wheeler looks like it will over turn around a sharp bend if there is no passenger. I like the tiny wheels. They look fit for my pushcart back in South Africa.

Though they both look fun to drive, just don't drive too fast around a sharp bend!

Thank  you for reading.

I hope you enjoyed it.

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Yorkshire Air Museum

This week Wednesday we went to York.

The drive from Gargrave to York was to my surprise not boring at all and was filled with beautiful scenery such as rolling hills, mist filled valleys and many other things. When we arrived we dropped off my mom and then my dad and I went to the Yorkshire Air Museum. The museum was a WW2 RAF Bomber air base, named: Elvington.

One of the first things we saw in the parking area was some kind of tank.....

Then we went to look at the aircraft. There were a few very large hangers full of aircraft and there were also many other bigger aircraft outside. Some of the planes I've always wanted to see are the Harrier, Buccaneer and the Tornado:                    I also put some facts at some of my favorite aircraft.

Tornado

Harrier

Hawker Siddeley Harrier.

Role:                      V/STOL ground-attack aircraft

National origin:    United Kingdom 

Manufacturer:       Hawker Siddeley

First flight:            28 December 1969 

Introduction:         1 April 1969

Status:                   Retired

Primary users:      RAF; United States Marine Corps; Spanish Navy; Royal Thai Navy

Produced:             1967-1970's

Number built:        278

Developed from:    Hawker Siddeley P.1127/kestrel 

Developed into:     British Aerospace Sea Harrier; McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II; British

                               Aerospace Harrier II

Buccaneer

We also saw one of the planes I never thought I would ever see in my life: The Handley Page Victor.

And its in full working condition (a live aircraft)

Handley Page Victor

Role:                     Strategic bomber, tanker

National origin:   United kingdom

Manufacturer:      Handley Page Limited

First flight:           24 December 1952

Introduction:         April 1958

Status:                   Retired

Primary users:      RAF

Produced:             1952-1963

Number built:        86

There was also an even bigger Nimrod.

Also in full working condition.

They also have a model of the Wright Flyer. I never realized how large it actually was.

Worlds first plane.(to fly)

There are also other planes like these:

 The Halifax bomber

Note: how many missions it flew.... 128 (little bombs painted on the fuselage)

Dakota

A large personnel and cargo carrier.

 Mirage MK III

They are busy restoring it.

Super sonic.

Do go there if you ever go to York, but if you don't

 like aircraft there is a city full of little shops to enjoy.

   Thank you for reading!

 I hope you enjoyed it!

The Bancroft Mill Engine

Yesterday my parents and I went to Barnoldswick, Lancashire to visit one of the very last steam driven cotton mills.

When we drove into the town one of the very first things we saw was a road sign leading to the mill, so we drove on in the direction it showed. When I first saw the building it was larger than I was expecting. There was a kind man who greeted us at the entrance and because we arrived before most of the other people, he gave us a tour of the mill. I should mention that all the people who work there are friendly, enthusiastic volunteers.

Firstly he told us about the history and the founders of the mill and that in 1920 it was opened and later refurbished. Then he showed us the flywheel and the belts running on the tracks. From where we stood only half of the flywheel was visible but still it was very large.

We had come on one of the steaming days so that we can see how it all works. For me that was one of the best and most interesting things I have ever seen. So you're probably wondering how does it get started up? Well, I'll tell you..... First the boilers have to be fired up to build up steam. Then they start up this small steam engine which moves the big flywheel into starting position, then one of the people who help there opened a valve. The flywheel started to turn and within about two minutes the wheel reaches top speed of 68 RPM. 

These are some of the big engine's mechanisms: 

This is one of the original cotton weaving machines and it still works. 

Those small cards you see below control the words woven into the material.

The mill now uses sawed up wood pallets instead of coal. They can get the pallets free but coal is very expensive. The boilers they use are very big and has to keep the steam pressure up. It keeps about 3-4 men busy for the duration of running time.

If you ever get the chance to go there, Take it!!!!

THANK YOU FOR READING

I hope you enjoyed it !!!

Battle of the X-Planes

The battle for the JSF or Joint Strike Fighter began when the USAAF needed a new fighter plane capable of out standing the other planes by being able to land and take off vertically (like the harrier), go to Mach 1 or more and land like a normal aircraft. Boeing and Lockheed Martin were selected for the the competition.

First they had to design the aircraft, then build them and make them fly. The vertical take off was to be one of the hardest problems for the teams to overcome.

Lockheed was going to try some thing that has never been tested but Boeing was going to stick to what they knew worked and that had been used in other aircraft.
This was Lockheed's untested Idea.

But Boeing was going to go the more conventional way.

They were building day and night to get there aircraft done which was a too much for some of the workers. They had some problems on the way but when they were finally done there was a big celebration but when the winner was going to pronounced there was a short but tense wait but then it was said........."The winner of the Joint Strike Fighter Program was.... Lockheed Martin with the X-35 design.

Boeings manager and leader of the project was upset but said that they will carry on with their other projects, later on in the coming years they to won a competition to make a fighter plane.

This was Boeing's Aircraft..

This was Lockheed's aircraft..

This is the two of them side by side..

The History.. of the X-planes.
The X-planes started with it being the experimental planes like the Lockheed SR-71. and from there it went on to many other aircraft, there are many other planes with I will not mention because Most of them were unsuccessful and many of them crashed.

Here are some successful X-planes .

In my own opinion I prefer Lockheed's plane, Boeing's one looks a bit to bulky more me.

Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it!!