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Guestbook - Volume 18
April 2005 to September 2005
please add your comments by sending an email to: arnoldvb@islands.vi
To see what others have had to say, please read on . . . with one note of caution:
Date: Mon Sep 26, 2005 I was interested to read on your excellent website, that HMS Enterprise commissioned by the Royal navy in 1958, was involved in the search for the wreck of the Titanic. How did you verify this information. I write about maritime heritage, and would be very keen to quote you on this matter. Many thanks for an excellent and very interesting website.
Yours, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Charlie, thanks for your comments on my Enterprise web site. The basic information on the 1958 HMS Enterprise came from the National Maritime Museum and the 1990 edition of Janes' Fighting Ships. But the comment about Enterprise participating in the search for the Titanic came from:
The History of the Vessel Enterprise This publication states: ". . . Britain again named a vessel enterprise, but this time it was a research vessel with highly sophisticated radar and undersea mapping equipment. She was launched in 1957 and in 1986, she was one of the first vessels to find the White Star Ocean Liner, RMS Titanic, which sank on 14 April 1912." I didn't try to independently verify this information. --- Charlie responded as follows:]
Date: Mon Sep 26, 2005 Dear Arnold, Thank you very much for this information. HMS Enterprise is currently moored in Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland, and is being used by an organization called Pirates for Peace. (Their website is www.piratesforpeace.co.uk.) I'm writing a story about her for a Belfast newspaper. Again, many many thanks. If you ever need to know anything about Harland and Wolff or Belfast's rather unique maritime heritage, don't hesitate to contact me. I work for a charitable heritage organisation called "Lagan Legacy" (the beginnings of our website are on www.laganlegacy.com - we've only just started work on the site) and we're collecting an immense amount of information and artifacts.
Yours sincerely,
Date: Fri Sep 23, 2005 I would like to start by saying I truely enjoyed your Sandcastle VI piece on the Enterprises. I retired a few years ago and recently looked to modeling as a sort of pastime to keep me out of trouble and due to my underlying love of the original startrek series turned to the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701/1:1000) as my first undertaking. Looking for some sort of theme I next turned to the 1:720 CVN-65 Enterprise then naturally to 1:542 CV-6 with intentions of continuing on to the shuttle and the many starships. In scouring the internet to mildly authenicate these models and not just follow in-box directions found myself on a course similiar to yours, interested in the earlier Enterprises, and building my own fleet. I did not however realize that you had your fleet until recently because I jumped into your article right in the middle and never looked at the beginning and your impressive collection and nicely put together ship comparison charts. Would also like to say your piece seems to be the most researched, and truely a baseline for folks wanting to attempt to procede beyond the terrific work you have put together. Others' articles that I have seen are mostly mere reiterated facts or stats and dont seem to have the flow or heart you put into your article. Now that I have managed to start at the beginning of your piece, I am interested not only in the follow-up JPEGS and GIFS you mentioned but also where you found the models in your fleet. Although very nice and truley for the enthusiast, I want to stay away from the huge 3-foot long replicas and short of creating everything by hand and due to availability, a constant scale is out of the question. So I've sort of settled on most creations being in the 8"-24" range despite actual size. Having said that, it seems that in order to fulfill that goal, it will require constructing similar design, but available models, and modifying where possible. In my interest of trying to be accurate to any remotely acceptible degree, I also would like to know the source of the non-credited one line sketches you used in your article and can only assume they are an artists rendition based on design of the times. After reading over several "Histories of the Enterprise", I also have some thoughts on the third (1799) Enterprise and its "three versions" most notibly the print that that shows it in an engagement with the Tripoli, seemingly a far different vessel than in other prints and drawings that I've encountered to this point. I look forward to hearing from you. Just for the record, I'm no trekkie (don't think), love the original Star Trek and have always been a history buff and this endeavor seems fun, enjoyable, and interesting and sorta puts all those things in one basket - lol. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Michael, thanks for you inquiry about my Enterprise model collection. Only two of the ship models are authentic "Enterprise" models -- the CV-6 and CVN-65 aircraft carriers. For the others, I had to use generic ship models and modify them slightly to approximate other historic Enterprises. For example, the 1799 USS Enterprise is based on a model of a Baltimore Schooner. The 1848 Arctic exploration HMS Enterprise is based on a model of the Cutty Sark. And the 1919 to World War 2 HMS Enterprise is based on a model of a more modern World War 2-era British cruiser. The 1775 American Revolution-era USS Enterprise is a wooden model I purchased at the U.S. Naval Memorial in Washington, DC. I've also seen a wooden model kit of the 1799 USS Enterprise, but my modeling skills aren't good enough to tackle a wooden kit. As for the upgraded version of the history, I'm nearly finished putting it together. What I'm going to do is prepare a printable PDF version of the book with larger inserted graphics, plus the ship comparison charts and a new ship timeline chart. I'll also include on the CD all of the original JPG files for the ship photos, excluding a few that have copyrights on them (such as the pictures of the America's cup yachts). I'll let you know when it's ready. Good luck in building your Enterprise ship model collection.
Date: Mon Sep 19, 2005 Hello, I would like more information about the Enterprise.
Thank you, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Michelle, I assume you want info on the planned upgraded version of my Enterprise book. I'm nearly finished and hope to have it available shortly after the end of this year (2005). I'll hold your email address on records to let you know when it's available.]
Date: Sun Sep 18, 2005 Dear Mr. Arnold: I recently came across your excellent website and have an inquiry. Was the 1856 Enterprise (70 Tons) homeported in Mobile, AL later renamed Arrow?
Best regards, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Ragan, thanks for the comment about the Enterprise History section. Unfortunately, I don't have any information about the 1856 Enterprise other than the one-line entry in the ship directory. That information came from a list of registered ships named Enterprise, which I found in an online library.]
Date: Sat Jul 2, 2005 Hi Arnold, I saw this picture in a different book entitled CanAm Cars by Osprey ISBN# 1-85532-900-X. It shows Sharp at Riverside in a 2C that is listed as a 2A but it's very different than the model I have. This pic has the shark gills on the fenders, the rear quarter panel ducts and the nose snorkel for the driver. I'm hoping to find a picture of that Nassau race with the version that's on my model box and the Phoenix model (3rd pic) to confirm its accuracy. If you have anything like that let me know. If you see it in your book I'll buy the book or ask that you scan and email me that pic for reference.
Thanks! P.S. I included a pic of my 1:1 scale racecar. That's me coming down the infamous corkscrew at Laguna Seca! [EDITOR'S NOTE: George, I took a closer look at my Chaparral book and think I've cleared up the discrepancy. The Chaparral that Hap Sharp drove at Riverside was a 2A chassis but fitted with the 2C upgrades, which included the front side spoilers, larger rear spoiler, and fender shark gills. The 2C chassis' first race was at Kent on October 10, 1965. Also confusing things some is that there were two races at Riverside in 1965 -- a USRRC race in May, where Hall and Sharp placed 1-2 in 2As, and the LA Times GP in October, which is the race that Sharp won in the 2A with 2C body. By the way, my Chaparral book doesn't have any pictures of the 2A or 2C at Nassau. And, thanks for the pictures]
Date: Fri Jul 1, 2005 Hi, I can see that we have common racing interests and wanted to check with you on a bit of Chaparral history. In your racing record you show a 2A in the 1965 Nassau race. I found a model recently that shows a 2C that's marked as running in Nassau in '65... I also found the same model in a smaller scale (1/64). Could it be that this is the 2C that raced at Riverside in '65? Any assistance you could lend would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, [EDITOR'S NOTE: George, the information and pictures on my Chaparral web pages were taken from the book "Chaparral: Complete History of Jim Hall's Chaparral Race Car 1961-1970" by Richard Falconer and Doug Nye (Motorbooks International: 1992). Appendix 6 of the book is a complete race history of the Chaparral cars. According to this appendix, Hap Sharp won the December 1965 Nassau race in Chaparral 2A Chassis 003 (#65) and Jim Hall DNF'd in Chaparral 2C Chassis 001 (#66). So the 2C actually did race at Nassau '65, but it wasn't the race winner. The results at the October 1965 Riverside race were similar. Hap Sharp won in Chaparral 2A Chassis 003 (#65) and Jim Hall was a DNS (did not start) in Chaparral Chassis 001 (#66). I hope this info helps. And thanks for including those nice pictures of the model in your email.]
Date: Mon May 23, 2005 Thanks for maintaining this information [Directory of the World's Aircraft Carriers]. It's very helpful reference material. Back in 2001, I inquired about the spelling of CVE-34 in your document as "USS Phybus" vs "USS Pybus." You referenced a U.S. Naval Institute document as your source. I'd like to draw your attention to an item currently for sale on eBay that the seller purports to be from this vessel. Unless this is a forgery, there should be little doubt the correct spelling of the ship.
Thank you, P.S. My name is constantly mispronounced "Fybus" and probably the source of the misspelling. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Steven, I did some more research and confirmed that you're right. The correct spelling of the name of the World War II-era escort carrier CVE-34 was "USS Pybus" without the "h." I've corrected my ship directory.]
Date: Sat May 21, 2005 Hi, On your excellent web site you have a little mono picture (http://www.sandcastlevi.com/images/sea_enterprise/ent1958.jpg) of one of the HMS Enterprises. Can I please pinch this picture for my site, which is about radio navigation systems... Enterprise was an oceanographic survey vessel and used these extensively for precision positioning. Full credit will of course be given.
Many thanks, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Alan, thanks for the compliment on the history of ships named Enterprise. You may use the picture of HMS Enterprise as indicated on your web site. But please note that this photo was originally obtained from and is copyrighted by the (U.K.'s) National Maritime Museum.]
Date: Mon May 9, 2005 Dear Sir I am researching the history of HMS Enterprise (1919 - 1946) as my father served on her during the war and I discovered your website which I found particularly interesting. On your site you mention that you also have an expanded version for sale. Would you let me know if this is still available please?
Thanks and best regards, [EDITOR'S NOTE: John, I glad that you were able to get useful information about the World War II era HMS Enterprise. My updated version of the history of ships named Enterprise is coming along, but still not complete yet. I'll keep your name on file to let you know with it is ready.]
Date: Tue Apr 19, 2005 I lived in St. Thomas until 20 years ago. I worked at The Draughting Shaft, and helped set up their art supplies department. If you are still living there, I'd be interested in talking to you. I lived nead Mountain Top. Thanks. I have been living in Southern California for the last 20 years.
Have a Wonderful Day, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Owen, I'm still located on St. Thomas. You might be interested to hear that The Draughting Shaft is still in business, although they've moved from the Sub-Base area to Havensight (near the cruise ship docks).]
Date: Wed Apr 6, 2005 Thanks for putting up the Ventures petition. Can't believe those guys aren't in [the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame] yet!
Best, [EDITOR'S NOTE: I agree with you complete, John. For whatever reason, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame continues to simply refuse to acknowledge the very important influence that The Ventures had during the 1960s (and continue to have today) by influencing young men and women to learn to play the guitar. Many of the guitar heroes who are already in the Hall of Fame openly acknowledge that they were influenced by The Ventures.]
Date: Fri Apr 1, 2005 Hi, I am a plank owner of the Enterprise. I was on board until Feb 1963. Can you help me find the alumni and when the next reunion will be?
Thanks, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Joel, the Enterprise Association has a web site at www.cvan-cvn-65.org. The site has an application for membership and mentions that the next reunion is scheduled for September 6-11, 2005.]
Date: Fri Apr 1, 2005 Hi, Just found your web page, love the Sci Fi Movie section. I found your web pages so useful while looking for some classic movie titles. Thank you so very much. Also had a quick question, do you remember a movie from possibly the 1960-1970's about a small town taken over by thousands of tarantula's. They were normal size and not gigantic, like in Food of the Gods or something silly like that. Even though I have seen Food of the Gods about 100 times when I was a preteen and enjoyed it every time. I believe the tarantula movie was black and white, where the very end scene you see the whole town covered in what looks like a spider web. Can't locate the title but thought you might know. I do remember they were trapped and boarded up a hotel or diner in a small town. Thank you for posting such great titles on your web page and also thanks in advance should you come across the movie title I am looking for.
Take care, [EDITOR'S NOTE: Chris, thanks for the comments about my web site. I was only able to find three references to movies with spiders:
Tarantula - 1955
Tarantula: The Deadly Cargo - 1977
Arachniphobia - 1990 (Spielberg film) The 1977 film seems to match the closest to your description. Hope this info helps.]
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