Concorde RIP

Presumably you also got an email from Virgin pointing at:

http://www.iflyvirginatlantic.com/main411.htm

 

Heh, it was quite moving, really.

Suze, bless her, left work early, Friday and pootled out to Heathrow,
parked the bike round the back of the maintenance hangars and then called
me on her mobile at 15:57 to let me at least hear the landings.


She'd said she wasn't too bothered, initially, but afterwards, having
(likely) had the last ever Concorde flights pass within a few yards of
her, I think she too was a little choked.

She then went home and taped all the various snippets of footage off the
news, too.


There was some poor little tacker (he can only have been five or six at
most) in floods of tears at the spectacle.

Bless.

RIP Concorde.
--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2000 ZX12R-A1 -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

I might have killfiled them for sending html email, or I might just have
their mail filtered into a folder of mail shots that I don't much read.

<disappointed>

 

I'm surprised the French haven't kept one for Presidential/Prime
Ministerial use as it is. It would surely cut a stylish dash at all
those summit meetings.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6? DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#16? FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19

 

Heh. I can imagine DeGaulle's reaction to being told he couldn't keep an
example of and fly around in the most prestigious aircraft the French
aircraft industry ever built.

Arrogant old cunts aside, I think there's a good case to be made for
keeping a couple on each side of the Channel for State use.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6? DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#16? FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19

 

I wasn't complaining about the waste of money in regards to the cold war.

Your argument depends on what you count as advances, bigger better toys
and the cold war's your kiddie. The space program was a product of the
cold war, as was a great deal of todays day to day items.

The arms and related information race was the catalyst for huge advances.
Now there is no need to beat the 'opposition' the unlimited budgets of
the arms race are no longer there.

To advance, in that way, now we'll have to rely on Capital. They have
neither the money (!) or the will to spend it in the manner of
twenty/thirty/forty years ago. They only spend to see predictable
returns.

For huge technological advances to be made we have to be at war. The
'war' at the moment is on tracking people and information. Expect huge
and insidious advances.

Unfortunately not as sexy looking as planes, guns and space ships.

 

Agreed, except that the Frogs would probably **** it up *again*.

 

Naturally, I'm a man. I need my toys

Not really noticable though - to accountants "progress" means
"spending less". Can't spend much less before things stop. Or planes
start dropping out the sky. Ooh. :-(

Hmm. I actually doubt it to be honest. To appear knowledgable about
building aircraft, one generally has to be able to build an aircraft.
It soon becomes apparent if you were lying, when you stick the wings
on upside down.

To appear knowledgeable about information technology, it appears one
simply has to shout loudly and use lots of acronyms. I predict lots
of money being spent with zero advances being made.

Which I'm actually quite happy about ...

No, definitely not. I want a spaceship to play with :-(

 

Well, we just make a couple of mods so our Concorder is no longer the
same type as theirs and hence has it's own CoA type certificate

Say, bolt on some bomb bays and go fly round the world. Nothing's
gonna be able to intercept it ...

 

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 12:32:16 +0000 (UTC),

Just rename it. Drop that 'e' off the end.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6? DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#16? FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19

 

That's not the point I was making. There is now no need for the levels
of military hardware as there was during the cold war. The race to
outbid the Soviets at every turn has finished.

Now there is a different 'enemy'; the race is to control, manipulate
information and people. That's where the giant leaps will be made.

Aircraft are so passé.

 

The Honda Civic/plywood references fired a neuron: the South Dakota Air
and Space Musuem at Ellsworth AFB in Box Elder, SD has just such a B2
replica (5/8 scale?) on display. IIRC the sign next to it mentioned
something about Honda. There's a picture of it on the Box Elder city
webpage here: http://www.boxelder.us/ and you can look at the Ellsworth
AFB webpage here: http://www.ellsworth.af.mil/.

I was filling up at a gas station right next to the base when a B1B took
off. I could have sworn it was no more than 100 feet above my head.
It was an impressive sight to see it climbing out of view with the rear
end lit up like two huge blowtorches.

 

But!
The USAF wanted to buy hundreds of them after their first inspection and
test flight.
And Allegedly
The Russians pushed their communist card carrying brothers Wilson And
Brown to have the plane put beyond the financial practicality of being
produced and being deployed by the RAF or heaven forbid the USAF as they
considered it to be a destabilising factor in the arms race.

According to a discovery program on advanced aircraft the performance
envelope of the TSR2 has only just been pushed by modern aircraft in the
last decade.

Oh so true!

But is was up and running, the first production models were cut up and
buried with the jigs.

I remember as an erk apprentice, very carefully trollying in a special
mounting, head up display units to the back of an army truck to see them
picked up by two squadies and thrown into the back.

I'm all for bringing back hanging for politicians who for their devious
reasons wantonly distorted the wonderful aircraft that inspirational
design put Britain ahead of the world for a fleeting moment.

 

Not distorted, DESTROYED. God knows what my PC does on its own!

 

Yeah, I take your point. I just don't feel that the people in the
information manipulation business are as technically competent as the
people in the military hardware business used to be. Although I think
they've got control and manipulation of the masses down pretty well
already ... ooh, must go, it's Celebrity Doorstep Challenge.

(

 

**** me you're slipping, Murray.

That wasn't even cross-posted!

 

But if the forces of Government were all-powerful like that there
would be no credible political opposition and the government could do
as it wished.

Oh.

I see.

Oh dear.

 

The Northrop Black Widow was featured in a cartoon in the 40's - while
the aircraft was still on the "secret" list ...

 

I for one will miss the roar of Speedbird One at 7pm each evening...
*sniff*.....
--
O -----
1 Black, 1 Red. | o |
Numbers ... | o |
Egocentric statement | ooo |
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They are watching you... you do realise this, dontcha...?
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O -----
1 Black, 1 Red. | o |
Numbers ... | o |
Egocentric statement | ooo |
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