Eagle Day!

No, It's Not What You're Thinking

I can tell because you are predictable, NOT because of that D.A.R.P.A. Telepathy Helmet, which was returned after the - ah - 'long-term borrow'.

     You see, I know that many if not all of you will immediately associate today's title "Eagle Day" with the Teuton phrase "Adlertag", which means "Eagle Day".  Art!

     This was August 13th 1940, and it marked the beginning of the Teutons' attempt to destroy the Royal Air Force, which was seen as a vital preliminary to a cross-Channel invasion.  There still exists a mythical view of the Battle of Britain, which the Nazis pretended never actually happened as then they could pretend they'd never been defeated, with the plucky Brits, outnumbered and outgunned, managing to stave off defeat by a whisker.  Art!

Brylcreem Boys take to the air

     In reality it was never a close-run thing.  The Luftwaffe - the Teuton air force, do keep up! - was designed, equipped and trained as an adjunct to their ground forces, not as a strategic bomber force, and conse

     ANYWAY that's not what the Intro is about.  Obviously.  Then, anyone who is very old, as old as Conrad or even older - I have no idea about audience demographics so this is as big a mystery to Your Humble Scribe as it is to you - might well be nodding in appreciation, thinking that - Art!

     Ah me, this takes me back.  That there is Dan Dare, the famously teetotal pilot and astronaut, with incredibly sculpted eyebrows.  Note, too, the white-haired wonder that is Digby, whom hails from Wigan, and Commander Lex.  Let's break this cover down a little.  Art!

     This, gentle reader, was at a time (1969) when Grand Prix racing was as much about the driver as the car, unlike today's technology-driven <thinks> terrain-tracing troubadourism.  The character 'Lightning Storm' isn't one I remember, but it is an example of how editors made up names with all of 1% artistic creativity.  Art!

Proof I am not raving.  Yet.

     Ah yes, back in the day there were comics aimed squarely at girls OR boys, and "Eagle" was one of the boyishest of the boy papers.  I can't think of a single female character that graced it's pages, bar Professor Peabody, who was a foil for Dan Dare.  There is a fantastic quote from her, about the time she and Sir Hubert Guest were stranded on Venus, about to be immolated by a molten malevolent mass - "Things were so bad Sit Hubert had almost forgiven me for being a woman."  How we laughed!  Art!

     O, and in case you were wondering, and even if you weren't, "7d" is the old pre-decimal coinage, meaning "Coins to the value of Seven Groats Of Siller Pence", becau

     ANYWAY once again that's a complete shoal of red herrings.  No, what I want to gibber on about in this Intro - eventually - is the Eagle Transporter from "Space 1999".  Art!

     Okay, this is definitely one of the show's stars.  The number of Eagles that Moonbase Alpha possessed was always rather vague, but it had to have dozens and dozens at least, since one of them got destroyed in nearly every episode.  Bear in mind that the series ended in 1977.  Art!

     This is Gordon with his collection of Eagles, at the Louisiana 'Wonderfest' last year.  Let me see if we can get a wider shot of all his gear.

That large model to port is the 44" model as used in the television series, alongside various smaller-scaled kits and diecast metal models.  Ol' Gord pointed out one made by a Japanese company from 2019 - which is FORTY TWO years after the series ended.  Truly, people are exceedingly fond of this beast.  The one at back was a bespoke model built by a British modelmaker, and is 88" long.  From what Ol' Gordo said, it breaks down into units for ease of packing and transportation, which he appreciated as the central 'module' weighs in excess of 100 pounds.  Only the good lord aloft knows how much packing and postage was from This Sceptred Isle to South Canada.

     Note also the Lunar Roving Buggy that Moonbase Alpha used as a runaround for short trips on the regolith. 

     Ol' Gord surmised that the Eagle was so beloved at the time and afterwards because it was feasible technology, only a generation beyond the broadcast date and certainly a lot more credible than other craft from "Starry Warts" or "Stir Trak" (sp?).

     We're not done yet.  Art!

     This is Brian, who designed the Eagle in the first place <round of applause for Brian>.  He had the idea of an open girder-work backbone for the craft, and worked from that.  The landing-leg modules were originally going to be streamlined, but he decided on the chamfered look as being more visually interesting.  Art!

     

With puny humans for scale

     Brian explained that, back in the day, on a television screen of only 625 lines, the resolution wasn't good enough for viewers to pick out the wires 'flying' the Eagles, and indeed Conrad hasn't been able to see any on the episodes I've watched so far.  These wires were also used to run a current through in order to activate any mechanical effects needed, such as the landing jets.  Art!

     However - there's that word again! - in today's televisual environment, with 4K or even 8K resolution on Blueray, the wires are now plainly visible.  Don't worry, Bri old mate, Conrad's got no intention of going over to this newfangled nonsense.  To be honest, I still miss the old VCR.
     So, there you go - Eagle Day.  Don't panic, we will DOUBTLESS revisit this topic.

     Ooops.  I accidentally wrote a lot.

The Heavenly Twins*

Conrad only realised this visual pun after returning from the weekly shop, otherwise things would be subtly different.  Art!

     I now have to get through 10 breaded fish fillets, O the hardship.  4 down, 6 to go.

"City In The Sky"

The bad guys - sinister alien 'squatters' in the Australian outback - have jammed radio comms with Arcology One.  Things are clearly afoot.

His huge leather-bound reference books in the TARDIS, ancient dusty tomes with vellum pages, showed the evolution of the Lithoi from lizards that crawled out of primeval seas, via scampering omnivores slithering in the barren desert, into erect creatures with atrophied limbs using computer technology to keep ahead of predators and other life-forms possessed of greater speed.  Without that technology they were slow, clumsy and very little threat, except to slugs, sloths and limpets.

     Unfortunately the Lithoi were practically built into their computer support.  They didn’t travel anywhere without it.

     ‘I think boats will do it.’

     ‘Sorry?’ asked Mike, wondering if he was being slow or foolish or both, and whether Doctor Smith ever stopped to explain himself fully.

     ‘Boats, Mike, boats.  For evacuation.’

     The two farmers guarding Don looked worried, and Mike sat back on his chair, puzzled.  Evacuate a couple of thousand people by sea?  Tricky, and extremely unpleasant for anyone who got seasick.

     ‘Folks can walk, you know.’

     The Doctor looked craftily at Don.

     ‘Yes, but as Don here probably knows and won’t tell, the Lithoi hate and detest free-standing water.  They’ve evolved to do without it and in fact it will render them extremely ill if they encounter liquid water in any amount.’

     And there New Eucla is, next to the sea.  Hmmmm I wonder ...

Over The Horizon

Conrad notes that there has been a recent television drama about the absolutely shocking scandal of the Post Office's 'Horizon' software, and how it was 1) Not fit for purpose and 2) Ruined the lives of hundreds of sub-postoffice staff.  There haven't been any arrests or prosecutions of PO management responsible for this massive pear-shaped incident.  Yet.  Perhaps having it publicised nationally will get a closer perusal of the responsible parties.  When I take over they'll be seeing the inside of an uranium mine for a couple of decades, count on it.  Art!

Finally -

What a perfectly spiffing day!  Nice and bright, which is what Conrad enjoys, no matter how cold it is <checks Fitbit> 4ºC.  So not that cold.  Even the weather hates Peter The Average.

*  O go on then.  Caster and Pollocks.  You know, Gemini, the Heavenly Twins.