The Engineer Forum
 

Jefe, I've been mulling this over for a while so I thought I'd ask. Have you considered an Engineer Forum? When you consider all the threads regarding bulldozers, tractors, cranes, bridging, rafting, and planking I think it would be viable. Most of the kit I've mentioned is neither fish nor fowl, meaning it doesn't fit within the Softskin, Armour, or Gun park forums so a separate and distinct forum makes sense. Your thoughts?

Well, you see it's like this. Given that most Engineers can't find their own ass in the dark with both hands, it seems to me that they'd have a hell of a time finding a separate Sappers Room on MLU, unless of course it reeked of vomit and stale beer...

:sheep:

You DO know Engineers, don't you? Reason we can't grab our own asses is because we're too busy playing grab-ass with the ladies! Where do you think our motto "Ubique" came from? It's because our hands are everywhere! :thup:

Just a thought about having The Engineer Forum; not all great ideas are immediately recognized as such. (remember the K-Tel Patty Stacker?) You will relent though once the tidal wave of support from the MLU community crashes your server with un-ending posts decrying your denial of what could be MLU's finest hour!

Remember! Never had so much been built by so few with so little so so many could access so much to do their little bit, which was part of the big effort in their little part of the battle for want of a nail, a plank was lost, for want of a plank, a bridge was lost, for want of a bridge, a beer shipment was late which we band, we band of besotted brothers in what was not the end, nor the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning which in full voice we with the long mustaches and in a monotonous langour cried," WE SHALL RETURN the empties!"


If that doesn't stir you to action Bye, nuthin' will! :salute:

P.S. if you can pick out all the references in that passage, you're an expert of both WW II history and Shakespeare.

hmmm not a bad thought from this former carpenter who loves engineering equipment like bulldozers etc.

Kersplash! Jefe.

If youcan do it go for it jif one suggestion would be to include from early days to the current time or we will darting backwards and forwards all day an night. Plenty of material from here available
cheers
Les

Derek,

Are you sure you are not a Politician/Government Officer, or were in a previous life???

Paul.

Politician?!? Puh-leeeeze!

Y'know why I voted for the Reform Party? Because Preston Manning opened a rally with this joke:

Q: What's the difference between a politician and a Catfish?

A: One of them is a bottom-feeding slime-sucker and the other one is a fish!

Whether you liked his politics or not, you had to admire a man who so completely recognized the innate qualities of a career politician. :p

Wow!, Derek! Well done post. Looks like literary plagarism is your forte. :thup:

How many books of reference did you plow through to string together the above rambling dissertation?

Speaking of Engineers...do you recollect Ed Storey, a fairly frequent lurker in this and other military forums? How about Roy Bowers?

Chimo!

I agree, put Sapper in a room by himself!

Well, he's an Engineer, ain't he? Their original brains are now preserved in brine-filled jars (little ones), so this is what's left.

Tony -- Can be done, my lad! :D

:no4:

Books? What books? You know Engineers only read the comics.
Plagarism? Isn't that a big word like marmalade? :confused

I would never plagarize my posts, in my request for an Engineer Forum I wasn't asking what MLU can do for me, I was asking what I can do for MLU. :rolleyes
As for my dissertation, we all know the importance of remembering history as those who fail to remember the past are doomed to be forgetful!

CHIMO! :cheers:

I remember Ed as his last post was fairly recent, he had the petrol can with the Cyrillic stencilling on it. I have to admit, I don't remember Roy Bowers, has he posted recently?

Re: Sapper
 

Derek, let me get my thoughts in order this weekend (I've been a busy boy of late) and I'll give you an answer on your base proposal.

Jif

:no4:

Whatever you decide, I appreciate your considering the idea. Go Home, take your shoes off, kick back and enjoy a few cold beers, hot women, or Scotch neat.

It shall be Scotch-Broth and fake beer or a Cuppa tea for the Master Jefe,
but as for the hot women, you never know what the Master can get up to in his spare time :D

Just call me... a Renaissance Man... life can be pretty good at times...

:sheep:

Thought i'd wait untill the "Tidal wave of support" subsided somewhat before adding my vote {are we allowed to vote :)} for a gingerbeer forum. I am very interested in, but not overly knowlegable about, all things RE, REME Etc.
Noel

Perhaps a little taste of whats to come.
 

OK all my Engineer loving friends, here's some of what you can expect should the exalted one bestow an Engineer Forum upon us. (Have I told you what a great, great guy you are lately, Jefe?)

Tonight's episode:

Expedient Surfaces:

A subject dear to any Engineer's heart and critically important to the war effort: how to allow heavy vehicles and aircraft to traverse or land on soil, sand, or mud that would otherwise be excluded from operational use. We didn't always have the choice of where we were to engage the enemy and the need for close air support and air superiority necessitated the building of air strips close on the heels of the advance. There was no time for building elaborate concrete runways, taxiways, and ramps. The British system of "Chevron" planking was stout but tended to tear up the tyres of landing aircraft. American PSP (Perforated Steel Planking) and the lighter PAP (Perforated Aluminum Planking) proved an ideal surface, though it was heavy and required sufficient logistics for timely delivery and relatively large crews to install. A simpler, quicker system of expedient surface for runways was needed. This need was amply met by PBS (Prefabricated Bituminous Surfaces). PBS was invented in Canada, improved by the Brits, and perfected by the Americans at the U.S. Army Waterways Experiment Station (WES) in Vicksburg Mississippi. PBS consisted simply of cloth impregnated and coated with bitumen. Army duck, Osnaburg (Muslin), burlap, and Hessian cloth were used as fabrics, and asphalt as the bituminous coating. When used by American construction engineers, the Army distributed PBS in rolls approximately 3 feet wide and 300 feet long, the average roll weighing 350 pounds. A coat of mica powder on its top surface prevented adhesion during transportation and storage. As a flexible surface, PBS had the unusual advantages of being waterproof, dustproof, and inexpensive, and it could be laid rapidly by a machine called a "stamp-licker," which applied a solvent (usually diesel fuel) to the underside of the strip as it was unwound. The strips were half-lapped, which resulted in a more watertight surface. PBS also proved to be exceptionally easy to repair as two men with some of the cloth and a bucket of tar could quickly repair any small holes. Site preparation involved clearing the area of any vegetation after the Engineers removed any mines and unexploded ordnance. After leveling, the ground was compacted and a "Penetrometer" was used to test for sufficient compaction. I've uploaded four pictures, one shows the PBS being pre-staged, another the "Stamp licker" laying the PBS, thirdly; PBS and PSP in a side-by-side test, and lastly; aircraft tires mounted on equipment to test the both the durability of the surface and wear on aircraft tires.

CHIMO! Derek.


(P.S. next episode, self-powered towed sand shite spreaders!)

Construction Engineers..Air Force...
 

Our own little niche on MLU..
How neat...
That covers all the plumbers,carpenters,refrigeration mechanics,WSPOL Techs,electricians and power plant and steam plant guys guys..
All of which came under my chosen field as a Mechanical Systems Tech(Warrant Officers and WO 2 ,WO1's)..back when I was a young 'un..
As fine a bunch of lads that ever picked up a plunger..
Is this the place we come to tell all our exploits from our past glory days..??
Thanks..Sapper and Thanks Jif.

:drunk::remember :support

Oh christ, what rock did you crawl out from underneath?? I thought I fixed it that you couldn't see us from there... :devil:

BTW, the only plunger you lads ever picked up was the one you needed to unclog the loo from your.... oh, never mind. :D

Yes Alex, to all things there is a season and the time is ripe for an Engineer Forum. Just as King John gave way to the inevitability of the Magna Carta and King Whats-his-name to American Independence, the will of the people shall not be denied!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal... that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Engineering"

That'd be King George III then.

R.

Thanks R, my memory had failed me when I wrote that post. I remembered whichever King it was, he was the third in his line. I had Richard III in the back of my mind, but he being the protagonist? in my favorite Shakespeare play couldn't have been around in the 18th century.

I think you are right Jif, engineers are full of sh1t! :rolleyes :D

Please, no personal photos, just stick to the Engineering equipment! :note:

Jefe, I believe you have the sand spreader confused with the BREN laxative :p

Alex/Derek
RCE - Rough Canadian Engineering
RCEME - Rough Canadian Engineering Made Easy
(insert national identifier as applic)

Cheers, Bill

Well said Bill. Much of our training was implementation of expedient installations under austere conditions. Our annual Level II training at Cold Lake was to simulate and practice BRATT techniques (Base Repair after ATTack) and they were at times, rough.

Chimo! Derek.