Morgan 3 wheeler project

I'm told this is the frame for a Morgan Threewheeler. Lets see.... the motor goes on that end and uhmmm.... Never mind, someone else bought it.

Royal Australian Air Force Log: The RAAF At War

The Duke picked this book up at Value Village. "RAAF Log: The RAAF At War", published 1943 for the Royal Australian Air Force by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, A.C.T.

A fantastic book, with beautiful colour plates (several examples below), line drawings, photographs, and stories. Clearly intended to boost morale on the home front. In the foreword, the Chief of the Air Staff writes, "we all have vitally essential parts to play whether it is flying a Spitfire or cleaning a kitchen, and it is up to us to serve our King and country with a whole-hearted honesty of purpose and cheerfulness at all times."

Sidecar Sunday

Royal Australian Air Force Repair and Salvage Units, WW2

We used to make things in this country. #50: G. Blatchford Organ Co., Galt Ontario

The G. Blatchford Organ Company operated in Galt, Ontario at the turn of the 20th century.  Obviously, in those days, mouse-proof pedals were a feature worth stressing.  

R. Aileen Belfry, B. Gertrude Bergey, Erna A. Martin. 
 Across the Country.  Toronto:  The John C. Winston Co. Ltd, 1959.  
Illustrated by Aileen Tyrrell Richardson.

Neil Armstrong's early flight training

Sport Aviation.  April 1993.

Flattrack Nodwell

Canada Handbook.  The 47th Annual Handbook of Present Conditions and Recent Progress.  Ottawa:  Publishing Section, Information Division, Statistics Canada, 1978.

Doreen Margaret Tomkins, Vernon Rout, Colin Vincent, David Walker & Victor Last.  Canada:  The Land and Its People.  Gage Educational Publishing Ltd., 1975.

The photos above show a Flattrack Nodwell.

Bruce Nodwell was a Saskatchewan-born inventor, contractor and entrepreneur who, in the 1950's, agreed to design a tracked vehicle for Imperial Oil to use to carry loads through muskeg.  Nodwell's solution involved a four-foot-wide track (basically a conveyor belt) running around rubber-tired wheels.  The company's big break came after they rented six transporters to the U.S. Army in Alaska, which was so impressed that orders were placed for 45 more.  These vehicles were huge:  40 feet long, 10 feet wide, weighing 25 tons plus a carrying capacity of 10 tons, yet able to cross musket at 12 mph while only exerting 2 psi of ground pressure!  The company eventually produced the Nodwell  110, which sold more than 1,500 units and is still in heavy use today.  As his firm became successful, others bought in and conflicts arose, so he left his company in 1965 to partner with his son Jack in forming Foremost Developments Ltd., a competitor  to his original company.  Another opportunity soon presented itself.  According to NorthernTracks:

"In 1966, a nine-person trade delegation from the Soviet Union led by an federal energy minister named Sashin came to Alberta, and realized that the novel "snow-swamp" vehicles was tailor-made for Siberia. When the Russians visited Foremost, Bruce Nodwell calmly asked the minister if he'd like to drive a 6T. His son was horrified, aware of the troubles experienced by other novice drivers. But Sashin maneuvered the tracked truck like a pro, thoroughly enjoying himself - he'd been a driver in the Red Army." 

Over the next 35 years, the company sold the Russians 700 vehicles.  They were able to weather court challenges from Bruce Nodwell's previous firm, and to recover the trade name "Nodwell" when their rival folded in 1976. Over the next three decades, the company developed a range of specialized vehicles. Today, Foremost continues to offer the Nodwell 110.

 
Bruce Nodwell retired from his company in 1977, turning his attention to restoring old cars.  Although he never completed high school, he was made an honorary lifetime member of the Alberta professional engineering society.  He was also awarded the Order of Canada for his contributions to the development of the Canadian North.  His son Jack retired from the company in 2003.

In 1988, Canada Post released a stamp commemorating one of the Nodwell vehicles:

For more information visit the Historical Construction Equipment Association and the Unusual Off-Road Locomotion websites.

1926 Amilcar CGS

Gee whiz, we're building motors!

Chris H. Groneman, John L. Feirer & John C. Spry.  General Shop.  
Mc-Graw-Hill Co. of Canada Ltd., 1956.

Riding with Hitler

Bill Maher.  When you ride ALONE you ride with bin Laden.  
Beverly Hills:  New Millenium Press, 2002.