To leaven recent Arsenal-related gloom and current Interlull-imposed ennui, Goonerholics Forever is delighted to publish a special report through which our very own TTG shares a special occasion with which he marked his coming of age. Many happy returns, mate.
Back in January during the lockdown I reached my three score years and ten. It was a frustrating time and Zoom was the only link with loved ones whom we had already missed seeing at Christmas, but on my birthday morning I was delighted to open a very precious and expensive present from the family which was a flight in a Spitfire from Biggin Hill. This flight actually took place last Sunday and was an extraordinary event.
I need to preface my account of it with a little bit of background. I am not heavily into the technical aspects of planes although I estimate over the years I’ve probably flown on commercial airlines about 1500 times. I’ve done very little ‘proper’ flying in small planes – a helicopter flight around New York in the eighties, a couple of flights in North America in very light aircraft and a trip in a Dakota from Duxford many years ago. However, I’ve always had enormous respect for the Spitfire and the men who flew them, partly because my Dad revered them. He had cause for feeling that because he was at Dunkirk and said some incredible Spitfire pilots held the Luftwaffe off as our forces queued in the water to board any vessel they could to get home (there is controversy about the extent of the role Spitfires played in the evacuation of Dunkirk but he was adamant about the part they played). Every time they flew over when I was a boy he would always nod to them in great respect
“Those planes helped us win the war, son,” he said, referring especially to the job they did in the Battle of Britain. I don’t think many people would challenge that point of view. Sadly, they were piloted mainly by young lads not yet out of their teenage years most of whom perished within weeks of learning to fly them. I read somewhere that the average expectation of life of a Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain was around three weeks – heroes all! Yet what an extraordinary waste of fine and immensely brave young men!
Most of us recognise the iconic status of the plane designed in the late 1930s by Mitchell and which eventually became the stock aircraft of RAF Fighter Command as the war unfolded. Its elliptical wing design is familiar to so many people, many of whom (myself included) built Airfix kits of them as young children.
I booked a flight for late August hopefully to guarantee better weather and above all, better visibility. I was able to bring my immediate family and as the day grew near my enthusiasm increased. Several friends suggested I must be mad and reading the literature which they send you I began to see why they might think that. They emphasised the high risk of flying in an eighty-year old aircraft, of relying on a pilot who might peg out on you and the possibility of mid-air collision in uncontrolled air space. I began to wonder if Mrs TTG had an ulterior motive and whether she had upped the coverage on our life insurance! But frankly I couldn’t wait to do it.
The family joined me to travel to Biggin Hill and as I went through the pre-flight checks, Mrs TTG thought it would be a very nice idea to hire what they call the AirVan to fly alongside for part of the time. My son-in-law leapt at the chance and one grandson decided it was far too cool an opportunity to miss. They are Tottenham fans so this would be the highlight of their year! My daughter only flies in large planes in extremis (or family holidays) so she declined and my youngest grandson kept her company.
I had a chance to chat through the itinerary with my pilot who was ex-Red Arrows, who explained that even if the engine failed we could glide down with no problem – reassuring that! I kitted up in a fetching flying suit, was weighed to ensure I was under 17 stone (smashed it!) and was strapped into my parachute and shown emergency exit drill and the location of my sick bag if needed. Thankfully it was redundant.
As we taxied out to the runway I did start to wonder if this was as good an idea as I had originally thought! You are in an elevated cockpit with a Perspex screen and space is at a premium. Anyone with a waist much beyond 40 inches would struggle to fit into the cockpit. I never worry in the slightest about commercial flying, in fact most flights don’t register with me but I suddenly realised this was the point of no return. But it was also time to man up. Teenagers died for our country in these machines. I was taking a short pleasure flight. It was time to go.
The AirVan left first and then that evocative sound of the Spitfire firing up started. The take-off is quick and thrilling and you are aware of having much greater visibility all around than you do on a normal scheduled flight Our highest altitude was only about 1000 feet so you see an awful lot of detail on the ground, traffic, landmarks, golf courses and ladies sunbathing topless across the Kentish Weald (or did I imagine that?)
We banked around the AirVan and then peeled away. My wife said it was an extraordinarily evocative sight and it certainly was different to anything I’ve experienced on an aircraft before. I was concerned about touching the joystick in front of me. You’ve little room to manoeuvre and when you turn rapidly it’s quite disorientating for a few seconds. Some planes did some serious aerobatics. We did a few but mainly very sharp turns. I had no wish to take the controls and chose not to do a Victory Roll which although the classic Spitfire manoeuvre looked a somersault too far for me.
We crossed the Sevenoaks Weald, flying over where my parents lived for twenty-five years. Visibility improved during the flight and while the plane does not progress at that height as smoothly as a bigger airliner it was a pleasant flight in good conditions. There is vibration but it is not unpleasant or too powerful. Banking in a Spitfire is an incredible experience as you drift away at a 90-degree angle and scythe through the wispy threads of cloud. I found myself wondering how eighty years ago boys could pilot these wonderful planes back from missions at which they had taken down the Luftwaffe and had returned to base not knowing if they would ever reunite with their best mates again. It was a deep and troubling thought and I was brought back to reality by my pilot informing me that we would be landing in two minutes and after a couple of adjustments to line up with the airfield and the runway he put the plane down as gently as a feather. As someone who once carried out a perfect landing in the flight simulator at Gatwick in heavy cobblestone turbulence I felt he would appreciate my professional approval! My flight was over and the eighty-year old aircraft had returned me safely to base. Mrs TTG was ripping up the insurance policy as I arrived back at the terminal.
Time for photos, checks on videos which are taken automatically and the presentation of my flight certificate. We also went to the hangars to see Spitfires and Hurricanes and the odd Messerschmitt being renovated and serviced. I’m not mechanically inclined but there is a real beauty about the intricacy of their engines and bodywork. It’s an impressive operation, slickly put together and with a compelling central proposition. I’m so glad I did it but I have got it out of my system now and won’t be going back.
I’m sorry my Dad wasn’t alive to see me do it. He would definitely have reminded me how brave and brilliant those young Spitfire heroes were. Their memories still resonate strongly around a Kent airfield, from which many flew to their deaths. The ultimate sacrifice – but one that helped us to remain free and which will never be forgotten — and neither should it.
An ordinary Sunday afternoon represented an extraordinary experience for me.
TTG
A truly uplifting piece. Thanks very much for sharing this with us.
Brave boys indeed and never to be forgotten.
Wow TTG. What a brilliant, evocative piece. As I read it, quite by chance, I got a bit of dirt stuck in my eye.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
In Arsenal news…
If anyone has not listened to yesterday’s Arsecast then I’d thoroughly recommend it. Especially the second half with David Ornstein – it’s a discussion of the transfer window/club policy/ the roles of Edu and Arteta. I found I well worth a listen.
Never been in a plane but always said the only plane I’d ever want to fly in was a Spitfire, so I’m dead jealous.
On the Edu front, I see he has given an interview to Sky and has used THAT word. You know, the one Arteta trots out in post match interviews when we play badly. Unacceptable.
This club accepts the unacceptable on a weekly basis. Either fix the unacceptable or get a bloody thesaurus.
Bravo, TTG.
Great story, TTG,
and written with all the elegance of Holic’s history pieces.
Thanks for lifting the early season gloom.
Very happy for you TTG, it’s great they still fly and thanks for sharing with us.
Such a lovingly written, evocative description of what must have been an exhilarating experience! Kudos to your adventurous spirit TTG!
The Spitfire is an iconic aeroplane and a thing of beauty with those sweeping curves on the wings – if Mozart had designed an aeroplane, he would have produced the Spitfire (given whose side he would probably have been on in that existential conflict, it’s as well he stuck to music!).
What a wonderful way to mark a significant birthday, TTG! That’s a once in a lifetime experience that will be remembered across three generations. Well done, sir!
TTG – your wonderful experience has been matched by the words you have written. To your credit you have also remembered the ultimate sacrifices made by those young men which has allowed us to enjoy the lifestyle and freedoms we take for granted today. Bravo sir.
It sounds like you had a thrilling day, TTG, and evocatively written up.
As Churchill said, never was so much owed by so many to so few.
A wonderful piece, TTG, and a tribute to you and your wife Judy to imagine such a tremendous way to mark your three score years and ten. I was also impressed by your 1500 commercial flights. If you worked for 45 years that’s 33 flights per year, or very nearly three a month, every month. I thought I flew a lot for work but I didn’t match that. Flying and airports are one of the several things I don’t miss now I’m retired!
C100
Saddo that I am I went through my diaries . At one stage I was going to Edinburgh every Friday for many months and to Ireland every month for several years and about 400 times in all- that’s 800 flights ! I also did about 200 flights to and from Switzerland in my career On a trip to Scandinavia I once did six flights in four days . I also estimated that I must have flown about 150 times on holiday flights . It mounts up amazingly .
I suspect you would have done many more long-haul flights than me but I’ve been to Australia, South Africa , Asia , USA and Canada so I’ve had my share of jet lag !
Someone grass him up to Greta Thunberg 🙂
Good win for the Arsenal women,
3-2 against Chelsea
I clearly need to offset my carbon footprint with a new rain forest
A good explanation of the minutiae of our transfer window
https://theathletic.com/2804764/2021/09/03/arsenal-transfers-arteta-edu-and-garlick-who-did-what/
Blogs makes a fair point this morning that we are desperately trying to cling onto what we used to be, rather than being brave enough to admit we’re not that anymore and reinventing ourselves in order to make progress. I don’t think that means we have to jettison the club’s DNA but we do need, in that ghastly American management speak, to reimagine ourselves as something other than pomp-era Wegner.
Oops. Messed the italics1
Blogs makes a fair point this morning that we are desperately trying to cling onto what we used to be, rather than being brave enough to admit we’re not that anymore and reinventing ourselves in order to make progress.
I don’t think that means we have to jettison the club’s DNA but we do need, in that ghastly American management speak, to reimagine ourselves as something other than pomp-era Wegner.
lovely piece, ttg. glad you had that opportunity. i’m still hoping to get a ride in a b17 (my great uncle died in one). but i’ll have to look in to a spitfire ride on my next trip to england.
the brits designed two of my favorite warbirds, the spitfire and, my ultimate fave, the de havilland dh.98 mosquito. simply the best overall aircraft in the war. though my favorite american design, the p38 lightning, is a close second. would love to have a ride in any of them…
arsenal, eh? post-wenger era, ned? we’re only three years into that, i guess it *is* about time.
Not if AW joins the board we’re not
scruz😉
I thought Blogs piece was quite optimistic
that we’re doing that Ned… or that the
recruitment is a step in the right direction
if optimistic is too strong
TTG a great travel article.
My experience of fighter planes was on the BAE Kingston production line of Hawks and Harriers. Some very dubious riveting went on. All I can say is I’m glad a plane has millions of rivets to rely on.
Arsenal web-site covering Arsenal presence in internationals has KT’s Scotland playing against a nation called “Lodova” … sigh! Our tech wizards here in Goonerholics do a ten times better job at proofreading.
Both Saka and Ødegaard had good performances, whereas Sambi earned his first cap coming on as a sub for Hazard. Leno played 90 minutes … the taste of clean sheet hopefully will rejuvenate him.
Saw the WSL highlights against Chelsea. Sumptuous football from both sides, and technically so good. The junior and I are thinking of watching some games live if we can find it here in US.
Arsenal’s first two goals were brilliant… Miedema with a great striker’s near-post finish and then Mead’s goal getting on to the end of a Miedema pass outrunning two central defenders and then a brilliant finish. Very enjoyable …
The highlights made for good watching, Dr F. Miedema and Beth Mead’s first goal were top-draw strikes.
Arsenal Women produced some great stuff and it is great to see Arsenal on the front foot against bigtime opposition like Chelsea. Beth Mead done very well indeed.
The junior and I are thinking of watching some games live if we can find it here in US.
Any steaming site or company that carries Sky or the BBC programming should be all you need. Failing that, a VPN and the FA Player.
Although the NLD on 29th Sept is NOT being covered.
https://www.arsenal.com/fixtures?field_arsenal_team_target_id=5
“We have all got used to VAR and goalline technology so I feel by not having it in the women’s game, it is like being second-class citizens,” said Chelsea boss Hayes.
Nope, you’re being treated like every other league in the UK, only the Premier League uses VAR and thank God for that.
need to rest me liver and me brain
interlull FOREVER!
In reference to #27 above – “The junior and I are thinking of watching some games live if we can find it here in US.”
EPL games are shown on NBC Sports & The Peacock App. If these 2 fail & you are open to use “other” options – try https://www.livenettv.bz/.
LiveNetTV will get you access to all sorts of sports and other content.
Tapera @ 30: yes, I have been watching Arsenal here in US since I have moved here in early 2000s. 😉
My questions that Cynic kindly answered was about WSL and watching the Arsenal women’s team.
Cynic@28: And thank you!
We lost 2-1 to Swindon in the Papa John’s Trophy tonight. Layth Yousif was at the match and was hugely impressed by Charlie Patino, he believes he will make tge Carabao Cup team in a fortnight .
ESR was I’ll tonight ( not Covid) and missed the England U21 game making him a doubt for the weekend
He was ill not I’ll !
Dr F – No worries, glad to help.
Dr F, where in the US? I am based in Atlanta.
Tapera@36: Boston. I do occasionally bring that up in my match preview/reviews, especially in the more … exciting… days of winter. 😉
I had the pleasure to meet the Gooner editor, Layth Yousif, at the Oval last week with TTG. What a nice guy! Here’s his thoughts on the U23 game at Swindon. Charlie Patinois ready for the first team.
https://www.onlinegooner.com/articles/view/5783
That should of course read Charlie Patino!
He’s been pushing his name for so long I’m beginning to wonder if they’re related. He’s 17 ffs.
Women’s NLD update
The Women’s FA Cup quarter-final between north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will be broadcast live on BBC Four.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the 2020-21 competition were pushed back to this season because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tie takes place on Wednesday, 29 September at 19:15 BST.
Patino would be another left-footer in the team if he makes the breakthrough.
Re our substitute in that game against Swindon I would observe that one in M’Hand is most certainly worth two in M’Bush.
…
Thank you, I will now gran my coat.
I will now gran my coat.
The image that brings to mind is quite disturbing.
Maybe not gran gran it though.
If they sell Elneny i’ll cut off my left ear and start painting.
“Cut off, chop off, fuck off” will be the name of my first exhibition.
Charlie Patino joined bloody twitter in December 2014
…he was eleven years old
No, thank you.
Don’t be such miserable bastards
Young Patino is by all accounts a delightful boy but then his uncle Layth told me so it doesn’t count
Maybe not gran gran it though.
If you can get two grans on your coat, you’re a big fella. And a lucky one too.
Reiss Nelson rates Patino and, if this is to be believed, he has an eye for spotting the up and coming at Hale End:
In other Young Gunner news: Karl Hein put in a standout performance to hold Wales goalless in their World Cup qualifier against Estonia.
Thanks Dr F. Are you a Pats fan or rather do you watch/follow American football? I lived in Nashua, New Hampshire from Nov 1991 to 1994.
As if more proof were needed:
The Spanish publication AS reports: … former Arsenal player, Mesut Ozil, is attracting interest from clubs in the MLS and Qatar with the German midfielder, 32, having fallen out of favour at Fenerbahce.
Do I get a prize if my position in the Holics Ropey League matches Arsenal’s position in the Premier League?
Ned
I saw a little of Hein’s performance. He looks well ahead of Okonkwo to me . Could he be a no.2 to Ramsdale?
Re Patino , he is the sort of player who looks superb on the ball – a very natural footballer . Players of his age can be blighted by premature praise but he is similar in style and role to Grealish without the continual going to ground
Steve T I’ve emailed you re a meet-up before Norwich game
TTG@55: The Hein-Okonkwo situation must be a dilemma for the club. Both keepers are well-regarded prospects. I assume Okonkwo got promoted to the first-team squad ahead of Hein because he is reckoned to have the higher ceiling.
In one sense, there was no need to make a choice. Both are under-21 (Okonkwo turns 20 today, and Hein is 19), so neither needs to be named in the 25-strong PL squad to be in the match-day league squads. Both now count as home-grown, too.
Hein appears to have had the better pre-season game time of the two, but it is, in truth, a small sample on which to judge them.
Both need to be playing regularly at their age rather than sitting on the bench: I would have thought the smart move would have been to send one out on loan and have the other keeping for the U-23s, but available to the first team in the event of necessity.
If Leno goes at the end of the season and Ramsdale becomes the no 1, that will only put another young keeper in their way. Hein is out of contract at the end of this season, so he may well be off rather than stay to be the No 2 or 3. Okonkwo’s contract runs to 2024, by which time, conceivably, he may have played no more than a handful of games at best
re Patino: the prayer must be that he is not blighted by premature injury.
Tapera@52: Unfortunately no, I do not follow American football.
TTG/Ned — In Patino the little highlights I saw now and then he plays more of a deep-lying playmaker, often collecting passes from the GK or the defense, then quickly turning forward and driving through or releasing accurate long ball. The style — not at all comparing the players’ talent or future etc. — reminded me a bit of Cesc, especially with the long passes…
Quelle horreur ! I read that ‘ Arsenal face triple absence blow ‘
Then I read that the three missing for Norwich are……Xhaka, Elneny and Kolasinac!
Shouldn’t it read ‘ absence bonus?’ ESR is doubtful with non- Covid illness
Dr F@58: Patino does seem to share with Cesc the ability to create space around himself, always the hallmark of a top player.
Apropos of nothing much, based on the Swindon Town highlights, Pstino is just as one-footed as Ødegaard, but without appearing to be so.
TTG@59: Don’t set your hopes too high. Kola is rated 50/50 to be available for Saturday.
I’ll take that particular triple absence every week it’s available, TTG. 🤣
Re: Potsticker @54. Prizes, such as they are, are awarded at the end of the season. Expecting that neither you nor Arsenal will be where you are now at that time, but you never know. Forza.
Sky Sports betting analyst previews Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United: “take the bulky 6/1 on Ronaldo being shown a yellow card as he surely will not be able to resist whipping off his shirt to reveal those washboard abs if scoring on his return with the world watching.”
Is this all that matters any more? Will Kim Kardashian join him at midfield for the surprise in-game wedding announcement?
💯 goals in 110 games for Miedema! Extraordinary…
Intruiging comment on AMN from Arteta:
he knows that he has a unique quality in sport. His versatility to play in many positions, and he needs to become the best at doing that as it’s something very rare to find in football.
Does that make him the ultimate squad utility player? Perennially starting on the bench but able to be brought on in almost any position as a game demands? And will that be a fulfilling role for him?
Good question Ned re AMN . I’m still uncertain if he is prepared to be a right back or RWB or needs to play in midfield. Had Elneny left he would be closer to breaking through in this area especially with Partey away at the AFCON but I understand we have the ability to recall Azeez from Portsmouth .
Re Patino he reminds me of two other left-footed players – Brady and Wilshere. Both could use their right foot but didn’t need to very often . The problem is we have so many strongly left-footed players in our team although 50/50 or not I don’t think Kolasinac will be one of them
Good Lord, Layth reckons Patino should start against Norwich. Errrm I don’t know what’s funnier. That or Wenger’s World Cup plan.
Cynic@67: The Carabao Cup game against AFC Wimbledon seems more likely for a Patino competitive senior debut.
The concern about playing World Cups and the continental regional tournaments like the Euros in alternate years, as Wenger proposes, is that two month-long interlulls every year will lead to a truncated season for elite club football to avoid overworking the top players. That will be fertile ground for establishing continental superleagues of around a dozen clubs.
Somebody probably thought it hilarious when 16 year old Cesc Fabregas made the team made up of Invincibles . Or Liam Brady got into a team alongside Alan Ball. Possibly it was stupid to play ESR against Chelsea last season .
Prodigies have to start somewhere
There is an old saying, if you are good enough, you’re old enough. I’ve never seen Patino play so I can’t comment.
I can’t comment on Patino either but I don’t think the must win match vs Norwich for Arteta is the time/place for his debut when there are alternatives with somewhat more match experience.
However I do think Wenger’s biennial world cup proposal shows a severe failure of judgement in a man who used to get most big calls right.
bath@71: if the issue is not every two years v every four years, but which rules supreme, FIFA or UEFA, and you are in the FIFA camp, then biennial World Cups is not such a bad judgement call.
Good point, Ned. I was going to add the question “Perhaps we should consider who will benefit from this?” and you have almost certainly answered that conclusively. “Follow the money!” is a timeless mantra.
I agree with Bath that the Carabao Cup tie is the place for Charlie’s debut my comments were reacting to the scepticism about blooding a youngster . Echoing C100’s comments about age , an 18 year -old who had never played in a grand slam three months ago will step on court to play another teenager in New York tomorrow .
I’m afraid Arsene’s judgment started to fail him long before he left us .Where once he had an assured touch his prevarication about transfers in and out cost us hugely . I think a biennial World Cup is a very poor idea indeed . This level of intensive competition will lead to burnout at the top levels of the game
I think reducing the number of games top players participate in each season is a priority for the governing bodies as they want only meaningful games with the top stars to maximise media rights money. Limiting elite players’ schedules to a dozen international games, two dozen club league games and perhaps five other club cup games per season, a total of around 40 games, should keep them mostly fit and spared from burnout. It would also create space for a return to a decent summer break for them, and to fit in a short winter break.
You make a convincing argument Ned!
I think in general a lot of fans would like to see less meaningless qualifying tournament games at an international level and less meaningless group games in the CL/EL and ECL.
Personally I would like to get rid of FIFA / UEFA and the PL as they are leeches taking far more than the value of what they put in. No chance of that happening😂😂
Re: 63. This betting analyst fellow called Jones on the Sky Sports website appears to have displaced the weekly premier league predictions feature done by Paul Merson. Not sure it’s a change for the better, either.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/10/pep-guardiola-backs-arsene-wenger-idea-of-world-cup-every-two-years
A balanced view from Pep.
Agree with you bt8, at least
Merse was our idiot😉
>>>>>>>