Defence of the Realm...( for Rob. ) ( Z ) by neiwil

Photography • Aviation • posted on Jul 14, 2012

Open full image in new tab Zoom on image

Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.

Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.

Description

In the lead up to the Olympic Games in London, Britain is on HIGH alert....fearful of a 9/11 type attack.Plans were formulated, the sighting of Rapier missile batteries on the roofs of tower blocks for one.This met with a couple of snags, 1) The residents in the tower blocks said "naff off" and 2)the Government pointed out to Mr Camberfoon that, although we have a couple of Rapiers left,(some of them actually operational), there are no troops to use them.Undaunted, a cost effective alternative has been sourced from our friends in Germany....... Ok, I'm just kidding, we haven't got anything this good really !!..... V1 'Doodlebug' on it's launch ramp, hidden away at RAF Duxford. Rob pointed out that in all his visits (a good few more than me) he's never gotten a photo of this.I know he got a few pics this year but probably not quite like this :-) This should be a safe post as he's off to Waddo tomorrow... Duxford Flying Legends 2012, 5 frame pano and it's still a long way away :-) For you Rob, thanks mate.....

Comments (13)

)

blinkings

8:02PM | Sat, 14 July 2012

Awesome...and don't worry about the Olympics! You still have your wonderful Harriers to defend the realm......right....surely.........huh?

)

barryjeffer

10:18PM | Sat, 14 July 2012

my how far we've come, and yet have not changed at all, eh? I've read that there are standing orders to shoot down any plane flying into the "no fly zone" over the Olympics... Seems that G. Orwell wasn't so far off the mark at all.

)

Briney

2:14AM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Great setting and panorama... Mmmm. so, if the intruder isn't actually "flying" then its ok- its a "no fly-zone" - a dirigible would be a bit slow though? ;-)

)

android65mar

4:44AM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Light the blue touch paper and stand WELL back!

)

flavia49

7:01AM | Sun, 15 July 2012

amazing capture!

)

T.Rex

7:09AM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Oh, WOW! And all you need to do is push the little red button on which it says "Do not touch" and then watch all the excitement! When you wrote of Rapiers on roof tops, it reminded me of the huge FLAK towers in Berlin the last weeks of WWII. Yet, they still lost the battle. I bet the neighbors at Duxford have divided feelings about these Flying Legends. However, I have a feeling there have been less accidents at such events than at the modern air shows. As for the Doodle Bug, it's most likely not fueled nor armed. Thanks for the panorama. It looks very good and gives a nice idea of what this could very well have looked like in 1944. Now to see what Rob comes up with! Keep up the good work! :-)

)

UVDan

7:39AM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Thanks for the great shot of history.

)

debbielove

9:04AM | Sun, 15 July 2012

I'll keep this brief mate, it's a quite stunning pana to say the very least and NO, I most certainly haven't gotten one (5) like this lol Well done.. I got the other German 'rig' ready for posting by the way! lol Have to mention the Olympic 'Cock -up arama!' The Rapiers, so widely advertised in the media and by the Government for these blocks, turned out to be 'Stingers'.. lol Rapiers are over on Blackheath to defend horses during the show jumping.. Try not to laugh! They now have 16,000 Security personnel for these Olympics and yes most are going to be Police, and Soldiers! If you plan on coming, be aware... PLEASE! The prices everywhere are massively ramped up.. (Joke of the Olympics? : Due to sponsors ....The Best Of British Beer tent only sells Heineken!!!!!! LOL I told you not to laugh.... Rob

)

kjer_99

12:59PM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Heh! T.Rex's comment makes me think of the movie, "Support Your Local Sheriff." At the end of it, James Garner, who played hero, straps the villain's son to the old Civil War cannon and threatens to fire it, thus defeating a whole hoard of bad guys. Afterwards, he tells his girl friend that it was just a bluff because the cannon wasn't loaded. To demonstrate, he lights the fuse with his cigar and of course the cannon goes off. I could just see something similar with this baby. Heh.

)

weesel

2:13PM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Well. Now THIS is a find! Is it just the rail launcher and missile or is more of the launch complex there? Regardless, it's an amazing display and shot.

)

Maxidyne

4:22PM | Sun, 15 July 2012

Ok I know I shouldn't but this post really made me laugh, even more so as it may be nearer to the truth than we dare imagine. You've done a stunning job putting this together neil :)

)