Tribus 303 Squadron Review

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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Richard D »

JAFO wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 2:24 pm Well I never. I just searched youtube and realised there were already several movies about, or featuring the 303 squadron.
Unfortunately, it’s only now that the extraordinary impact of the 303 squadron and that of all the Polish Squadrons is emerging. The few films only tell part of the story.

Only half a year before the Battle of Britain, the Poles had fought the German invasion before moving via neutral Romania, from where most made their way to France to continue the fight. Once there, their superior training and that most precious commodity - combat experience - stood them in good stead. The Polish Army in France numbered 82,000 men from Poland or émigré families.

The Polish Air Force in France had 86 aircraft fully operational, although most were second-rate aircraft disdained by the French. During the Battle of France, Polish pilots destroyed 56 German aircraft. By August 1940, there were some 8,400 Polish airmen stationed in Britain. By this time they had undergone a process of ‘natural selection’. In other words, those that had experienced 'Blitzkrieg' twice - and survived - clearly had a lot going for them. For the Poles, who had been driven from their homeland in 1939, only to be forced to flee again, Britain was now the ‘Island of the Last Hope.’

However, the RAF authorities had doubts about the value of the Polish crew. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of Fighter Command, refused to allow them to serve in RAF squadrons for fear they’d instil a defeatist mentality in the British airmen. Instead, national squadrons would be formed. The first fighter squadrons were No. 302 and No. 303.

The Polish veterans knew they were good. Often older than their RAF comrades, nearly all were fully-trained and each had an average of 500 hours flying.
They brought to this country valuable ‘corporate knowledge’ of the business of air fighting, and with it, the British thought, a touch of arrogance. On 30 August 1940, No. 303 Squadron was on a training flight near Northolt, led by Squadron Leader Ronald Kellett, when Pilot Officer Ludwick ‘Paszko’ Paszkiewicz spotted an enemy formation being attacked by Hurricanes. Paszko called out to Kellet but, receiving no reply, he broke formation and promptly shot down a Messerschmitt 110. On landing, the Pole was reprimanded by Kellett for his indiscipline and then congratulated for his success. That evening Paszko, deeply religious and a teetotaller, got drunk for the first time in his life. The following day, 303 Squadron was declared operational. At the end of the 16-week campaign, the top-scoring Fighter Command unit was No. 303 Squadron, which in only 42 days claimed 126 enemy aircraft destroyed. One of the most successful individual pilots - with 17 victories - was Sergeant Josef Frantisek, a Czech who also flew with ‘303’.

Trained to get in close, Polish airmen made the most of their eight .303in machine guns; and all of the Hurricanes on 303 Squadron had their guns harmonised to converge at 200 yards rather than the standard RAF spread of 400 yards. However, they were not reckless. This is borne out by the fact that during the Battle No. 302 and No. 303 Squadrons each lost only eight pilots, a figure much lower than that of most RAF units. Pilot Officer Miroslaw Feric, a pilot of No. 303 Squadron, described the experience of shooting down a Messerschmitt 109: ‘I caught up with him easily, he grew in my sights… it was time for firing. I did it quite calmly and I was not even excited, rather puzzled and surprised to see that it was so easy, quite different from Poland when you had to scrape and try until you were in a sweat, and then, instead of you getting the **** he got you.’

The RAF was quick to recognise the calibre of the men serving with them and it should be congratulated for allowing the Polish and Czechoslovakian pilots their head. The Slavs in turn appreciated the RAF, which, according to veterans, was efficient, fair and understanding of their needs. The RAF was also truly meritocratic and it is enough to say that it encouraged the best and the brightest of two principled, courageous and resourceful nations to participate fully in the successful defence of Britain’s airspace.

The statistics make interesting reading. The 146 Polish pilots, some 5% of Fighter Command’s strength, claimed 203 enemy aircraft for the loss of 29 of their number killed. This represents 7.5% of Fighter Command’s total score or 1.4 enemy aircraft for every Pole engaged. On the 15th of September, now celebrated as ‘Battle of Britain Day’, one in five of the pilots in action was Polish.

Dowding admitted he was wrong about the Poles, and would write:
‘Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same’.

It was not only in the air that the Poles excelled, for the ground personnel of ‘302’ and ‘303’ were the pick of the Polish Air Force. Their skill, dedication and capacity for hard work made for high rates of serviceability on the two Squadrons. The ground crews’ finest hour came after the fighting of 15 September, when No. 303 Squadron’s Flying Officer Wiorkiewicz’s team managed overnight to restore nine apparently ‘un-repairable’ Hurricanes for the next day’s operations.

As said, there’s a lot more to the story and of the watch itself.
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Stif »

I'm fairly new to this watch lark, but I stumbled across images of the Tribus TRI-01 a couple of months back (via Reddit I think) and instantly added it to my 'watches I'd like to own one day' list after the briefest of visits to the website - I then heard about the sale via a YouTube channel and jumped right in.

It wasn't until later that I started to see some of their advertising and in all honesty, whilst it didn't put me off, it's clear it's not their strength...

It's easy to see how this could actively have pushed some customers away as @Molan points out.

So far I'm super happy with my TRI-03, and have even decided to order a TRI-02 as a follow up (the website did nothing to sell that one to me, it's entirely down to the pictures I've seen here and on the Facebook group since, I think it looks great on a Nato!) so here's hoping they can turn things around in the new year - binning their current marketing team would be a great start (for a young company with a solid industry name attached I find it bizarre that it was impossible to find reviews of anything but the TRI-01 - surely there are plenty of websites and YouTube channels that would have bitten their hands off to get a review piece in hand!)

Edit: didn't realise there was another page of posts and continuing this marketing grumble after @Richard's brilliant post about the actual history of 303 Squadron now seems out of place! My apologies!
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Molan »

Kip wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:22 pm
Molan wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:20 pm Both of those images above have image copyright with Disney.

Posting either one was a bit dodgy but 2 in consecutive days probably wasn’t the smartest of moves.

Especially with a new Spidey movie premiering on 17/12 (in UK).
Having verified the images on Unsplaash, I think this removes the thoughts of conjecture.
Unfortunately it isn’t quite as simple as this Kip.

Unsplash is a Canadian media company that allows people to upload their personal ‘user content’ and then allow that content to be used by others.

What they don’t do is fully verify that all of the content uploaded has the permission of any originating party. IE If I take a picture from someone else and upload it without asking their permission, Unsplash could say it’s OK to use that content.

Their site is full of disclaimers all WRITTEN IN BIG BLOCK CAPITALS exempting them from any copywrite claims or legal actions that may arise from them.

In normal practice, a professional business would seek permission from any potential owner of IP - in this case Disney.

There are additional issues in copyright law when something has additions placed on it. EG if you use a licensed image you may need to seek approval for any copy used for commercial purposes that directly links to that image.

There’s a short article about this here
https://photoclaim.com/en/why-you-shoul ... -unsplash/

It’s a minefield to be honest - I have direct experience on Spider-Man in particular and it can take months to get any kind of clearance. Every single word and/or phrasing is potentially subject to clearance.

Certainly the team at Sony (responsible for the Spider-Man movies) were horrified when they saw the Tribus promotion :(
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Molan »

Richard D wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 3:39 pm
JAFO wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 2:24 pm Well I never. I just searched youtube and realised there were already several movies about, or featuring the 303 squadron.
Unfortunately, it’s only now that the extraordinary impact of the 303 squadron and that of all the Polish Squadrons is emerging. The few films only tell part of the story.

Only half a year before the Battle of Britain, the Poles had fought the German invasion before moving via neutral Romania, from where most made their way to France to continue the fight. Once there, their superior training and that most precious commodity - combat experience - stood them in good stead. The Polish Army in France numbered 82,000 men from Poland or émigré families.

The Polish Air Force in France had 86 aircraft fully operational, although most were second-rate aircraft disdained by the French. During the Battle of France, Polish pilots destroyed 56 German aircraft. By August 1940, there were some 8,400 Polish airmen stationed in Britain. By this time they had undergone a process of ‘natural selection’. In other words, those that had experienced 'Blitzkrieg' twice - and survived - clearly had a lot going for them. For the Poles, who had been driven from their homeland in 1939, only to be forced to flee again, Britain was now the ‘Island of the Last Hope.’

However, the RAF authorities had doubts about the value of the Polish crew. Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of Fighter Command, refused to allow them to serve in RAF squadrons for fear they’d instil a defeatist mentality in the British airmen. Instead, national squadrons would be formed. The first fighter squadrons were No. 302 and No. 303.

The Polish veterans knew they were good. Often older than their RAF comrades, nearly all were fully-trained and each had an average of 500 hours flying.
They brought to this country valuable ‘corporate knowledge’ of the business of air fighting, and with it, the British thought, a touch of arrogance. On 30 August 1940, No. 303 Squadron was on a training flight near Northolt, led by Squadron Leader Ronald Kellett, when Pilot Officer Ludwick ‘Paszko’ Paszkiewicz spotted an enemy formation being attacked by Hurricanes. Paszko called out to Kellet but, receiving no reply, he broke formation and promptly shot down a Messerschmitt 110. On landing, the Pole was reprimanded by Kellett for his indiscipline and then congratulated for his success. That evening Paszko, deeply religious and a teetotaller, got drunk for the first time in his life. The following day, 303 Squadron was declared operational. At the end of the 16-week campaign, the top-scoring Fighter Command unit was No. 303 Squadron, which in only 42 days claimed 126 enemy aircraft destroyed. One of the most successful individual pilots - with 17 victories - was Sergeant Josef Frantisek, a Czech who also flew with ‘303’.

Trained to get in close, Polish airmen made the most of their eight .303in machine guns; and all of the Hurricanes on 303 Squadron had their guns harmonised to converge at 200 yards rather than the standard RAF spread of 400 yards. However, they were not reckless. This is borne out by the fact that during the Battle No. 302 and No. 303 Squadrons each lost only eight pilots, a figure much lower than that of most RAF units. Pilot Officer Miroslaw Feric, a pilot of No. 303 Squadron, described the experience of shooting down a Messerschmitt 109: ‘I caught up with him easily, he grew in my sights… it was time for firing. I did it quite calmly and I was not even excited, rather puzzled and surprised to see that it was so easy, quite different from Poland when you had to scrape and try until you were in a sweat, and then, instead of you getting the **** he got you.’

The RAF was quick to recognise the calibre of the men serving with them and it should be congratulated for allowing the Polish and Czechoslovakian pilots their head. The Slavs in turn appreciated the RAF, which, according to veterans, was efficient, fair and understanding of their needs. The RAF was also truly meritocratic and it is enough to say that it encouraged the best and the brightest of two principled, courageous and resourceful nations to participate fully in the successful defence of Britain’s airspace.

The statistics make interesting reading. The 146 Polish pilots, some 5% of Fighter Command’s strength, claimed 203 enemy aircraft for the loss of 29 of their number killed. This represents 7.5% of Fighter Command’s total score or 1.4 enemy aircraft for every Pole engaged. On the 15th of September, now celebrated as ‘Battle of Britain Day’, one in five of the pilots in action was Polish.

Dowding admitted he was wrong about the Poles, and would write:
‘Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same’.

It was not only in the air that the Poles excelled, for the ground personnel of ‘302’ and ‘303’ were the pick of the Polish Air Force. Their skill, dedication and capacity for hard work made for high rates of serviceability on the two Squadrons. The ground crews’ finest hour came after the fighting of 15 September, when No. 303 Squadron’s Flying Officer Wiorkiewicz’s team managed overnight to restore nine apparently ‘un-repairable’ Hurricanes for the next day’s operations.

As said, there’s a lot more to the story and of the watch itself.
It was all this history that made me excited about picking up the watch when it was whacked down in price from £3K to £900.

Then it turned up and I was so disappointed. I don’t think I will ever ‘unsee’ that nasty case/bezel mismatch 😢
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by angusbon »

SiDando2552 wrote:
scooter wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:46 pm I've totally lost the plot here.

scooter
Yep. Hopefully some apologies can follow.

Now I’m off to enjoy my 303 that arrived yesterday Image
Apologies to who?

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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Kip »

Kip wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:22 pm
Molan wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:20 pm Both of those images above have image copyright with Disney.

Posting either one was a bit dodgy but 2 in consecutive days probably wasn’t the smartest of moves.

Especially with a new Spidey movie premiering on 17/12 (in UK).
Having verified the images on Unsplaash, I think this removes the thoughts of conjecture.


The point of my response is you have made the following statements....
Molan wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 12:45 pm Tribus have ‘stolen’ other people’s work without permission or even bothering to give credit.
Molan wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 8:14 pm Both of those images above have image copyright with Disney.
While it is true that Unsplash suggests giving credit, it does not require that you do so. It also gets more involved when you have altered an image sufficiently. However I do not believe that Tribus have "stolen" other peoples work under the circumstances.

Do the images, and how they are uploaded to Unsplash, have copyrights with Disney? I don't know that answer as the photo is by someone else. If I read through the Unsplash legalese of the License and Terms and Conditions I would have to say no, but I will leave that to lawyers.

The article you cited is over 2 years old. Have the T & C's on the Unsplash site been updated? No way that we can tell. Either way it is certain that one should proceed with caution if using Unsplash.


I think you are correct in saying that copyright law is a minefield. I just think we need be diligent of the accusations and conjecture that is put forth.
Certainly the team at Sony (responsible for the Spider-Man movies) were horrified when they saw the Tribus promotion :(
Certainly? How do we know this?
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by JAFO »

303 Squadron film

I established the film is called Hurricane in the UK, and Mission of Honor in the US. Hurricane is on Netflix, and I watched part of it yesterday. I have about 30 minutes left to go. Very enjoyable so far.
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

^^^^ Thanks for that info J.

I'll add 'Hurricane' to my list of Netflix films to watch, along with '14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible'.

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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Molan »

Kip wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:28 am
Kip wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:22 pm
Molan wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:20 pm Both of those images above have image copyright with Disney.

Posting either one was a bit dodgy but 2 in consecutive days probably wasn’t the smartest of moves.

Especially with a new Spidey movie premiering on 17/12 (in UK).
Having verified the images on Unsplaash, I think this removes the thoughts of conjecture.


The point of my response is you have made the following statements....
Molan wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 12:45 pm Tribus have ‘stolen’ other people’s work without permission or even bothering to give credit.
Molan wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 8:14 pm Both of those images above have image copyright with Disney.
While it is true that Unsplash suggests giving credit, it does not require that you do so. It also gets more involved when you have altered an image sufficiently. However I do not believe that Tribus have "stolen" other peoples work under the circumstances.

Do the images, and how they are uploaded to Unsplash, have copyrights with Disney? I don't know that answer as the photo is by someone else. If I read through the Unsplash legalese of the License and Terms and Conditions I would have to say no, but I will leave that to lawyers.

The article you cited is over 2 years old. Have the T & C's on the Unsplash site been updated? No way that we can tell. Either way it is certain that one should proceed with caution if using Unsplash.


I think you are correct in saying that copyright law is a minefield. I just think we need be diligent of the accusations and conjecture that is put forth.
Certainly the team at Sony (responsible for the Spider-Man movies) were horrified when they saw the Tribus promotion :(
Certainly? How do we know this?
I’ve been working on the new Spider-Man movie Kip. Specifically in the area of using audio visual and pure visual images.

Hence how I have first-hand knowledge of intellectual property law and its direct relationship with MARVEL STUDIOS (written in caps as that’s a typical pre-requisite when using any of their IP), Sony Pictures and Disney.

The artwork using these companies’ IP was raised in a meeting with their teams in charge of third-party rights approval.

I think I’ve been pretty diligent in my observations and not simply relying on a Google search.
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Re: Tribus 303 Squadron Review

Post by Molan »

Interesting, I see that Tribus have now said that some of the watches sold at 70% off were ex-demo and show display examples.

This would explain why my one was in a box that didn’t match the serial number, was missing some protective coverings and had a strap that appeared to have been either worn or attached to a different kind of display mount.

Of course, all of those things could just be poor quality control rather than something being sold as ‘new’ which was actually ex-display.

Imagine if CW tried selling ex-demo models without telling their customers what they were getting. . .
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