So why your username? (with a prize)

[fixer]

trying to send you a pm don't know if it's going through as not confirmed my end as sent

PMs sit in the outbox until they have been read by the recipent. Only then do they become sent.

You are correct Hugh but it wouldn't even do that, kept getting a message saying that recipient details not available, managed to send on the 3rd try

[tractorboy]

Rodger
trying to send you a pm don't know if it's going through as not confirmed my end as sent

Hi Reg, yes message picked up today and package all ready to go down to Post shop tomorrow.

[fixer]

Rodger
trying to send you a pm don't know if it's going through as not confirmed my end as sent

Hi Reg, yes message picked up today and package all ready to go down to Post shop tomorrow.

Thank you

[fixer]

look what arrived from the other side of the world , a big thank you to Rodger
a lovely model beautifully packed and arrived quicker than some ebay wins from local sellers
one thing I have noticed is the front axle is off set to the right hand side when viewed from the front

[Tinman]

Some think my user name has to do with die cast. The "tinman" moniker has nothing to do with die cast or aluminum siding. It has a much darker meaning and it comes from the tinman in the Wizard of Oz ... the man without a heart!

It's a moniker not of my own choosing but one that was given by others and it stuck. It's meaning was born out of dark days during a time of deep loss, tragedy and death. It came from a time and place when a person had to wall off their feelings and emotions, when decisions and assignments could and did have tragic endings. I wish my nick name, this moniker, had a happy background or a pleasant story like many others names. Regardless, it has stuck with me over the course of many years. The walled off isolation of so many feelings/memories and even my ability to express certain feelings today were shaped by events in those early years.

In such times/situations, one tries not to make close relationships or friendships because come tomorrow, that person can be gone in the blink of an eye. The man who gave me my moniker was a childhood friend. He was drafted into the Army on the same day as me. We went through basic training in the same platoon, his bunk was right above mine. Two years after we were both discharged, we had planned a trip to the Caribbean. I was to copilot the airplane. A last minute situation came up and I couldn't go on the trip and my dear friend went ahead without me. That was the last time I ever spoke with him or would see him.

The plane was lost somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, no identifiable wreckage was ever found. I honor my lost friend by continuing to use the moniker he gave me. I still miss him to this very day, he was brilliant, funny and profound. He was a hero in every sense of the word. He left behind a beautiful wife, a wonderful child and so many friends. To this day, I wonder if my being present in the cockpit would have made any difference. Yet another set of thoughts to be walled off and never expressed.

I apologize for the dark post. This post is in honor of my above mentioned friend Lonnie. It is in honor of the brave men I personally knew who gave their all in service of their country. It is in honor of all who served and bear the physical and mental scars of their service. As long as I am alive, I will honor the memories of these men to the utmost of my ability.

A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers. John F. Kennedy

[motorman]

Thought provoking Joe. A fine fellow as you say.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Joe, may you honor that name for many years to come and I am sure he would appreciate what you are doing now and cementing that name for posterity through forums such as this, and it is a name I shall remember for as long as I can and after that story above, will one day in my future, like to use it in one form or another to carry it on for you.

Long live the "Tinman".

Kevin.

[tractorboy]

Joe, a hard story to tell but one we can all feel comes straight from the heart.

Those we have lost are never gone while our memories of them burn so strongly.

Rodger

[matchbox_n_molars]

And you'll remember JP, the irony within each of Dorothy's companions. The Scarecrow had the sharpest brain all along. The Cowardly Lion really had a reserve of courage, and like you... the Tinman had a sensitive heart fully capable of housing the memories and stories of long lost friends.