Boring schmoring, if I didnt have to pick up my wife from the car rental place later on I would probably start hitting the turps early.

Spitfires

An Aussie Spitfire in the Pacific. A 79 Sqn Spitfire escorting a P38 Lightning.

Note the roundal has no red in it. This was because in the early parts of the war when Australia used the British roundal of Blue, white and red, and the US Army and Navy used the blue circle, with white star and red centre - both sides shot at each other as much as the Japanese. Especially the US Navy who got a bad reputation for shooting at everything and anything.

Originally the RAAF took the red of the top wings only, but eventually from the sides and bottom as well. British aircraft in the South Pacific also took the red from the roundals and fin flashes too. In the Burmese campaign British aircraft also removed the red circle, but instead used a roundal of dark blue and sky blue. No idea why.

The RAAF followed the standard British practice of squadron codes. The first two letters denoted the squadron (ie 79 Sqn was UP) and the third letter the aircraft in the flight or squadron. The Spitfire squadrons got some weird codes in there though.

79 Sqn had an aircraft marked UP-?. It had previously been UP-H, but aircraft bearing that marking kept getting shot up, or crashing and other spates of bad luck. So the code was changed from H to ?. There was another Spitfire from 457 Sqn RAAF that had the code ZP-triangle. It is not know why.

The Spitfire wasnt that great in the Pacific. Short range was its biggest handicap. It also wasnt as robust an aircraft as some of its American competitors such as the Corsair, P40 and Mustang. The Australian Spitfire squadrons (and P40 squadrons) were replaced with American and Australian built Mustangs.

Locke

On resistance;

whenever legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves in a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience, and left to the common refuge, which god has provided for all men, against force and violence.

In modern democracy the limits of legislative power are defined in the constitution. Locke continues;

by this breach of trust they [legislators] forfeit the power, the people have put into their hands, for quite contrary ends, and it devolves the peopole, who have a right to ensure their original liberty, and, by the establishment of a new legislative, provide for their own safety and security, which is the end for which they are in society.

Locke advocates over-throwing tyranny, even domestically and replacing it with a just government that is capable of protecting property and liberty. If you go down to Madison's Montpelier house, as you walk in the door, the first display to your left shows a glass encased copy of Locke's "Two Treatises of Government".

c a m