Early Risers.

[PupCam]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

Don't worry, the hand rail is still there - so unless I'm crawling to the wazzer or indulging in a bit of night-time Limbo Dancing I should** be fine........

 

Being very short I wouldn't have to limbo so that's why I worry .... 🤣

[jjb1970]

On my way back to Singapore, in Istanbul between flights.

 

[PhilJ W]

My paternal grandfather was born in a 'telephone exchange', that was Rainham in Essex c. 1895. His aunt was the local telephonist and the switchboard was in the front parlour of a two up/two down terraced house. Not a particularly onerous task as there was only about four telephones in the town. His aunt was also the local midwife which made it useful if the doctor was required.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. When I went shopping this afternoon the ice had turned slushy and even when I looked out just now there was only a light frost, and its feeling a lot warmer than of late as well.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[southern42]

' evening all from red dragon land.

Non-stop sort of day, Now, finishing off the day listening to Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Almost halfway through a two-hour programme. I shall listen to the other hour tomorrow.

https://youtu.be/lOnPJtGejyE

 

It is getting late, so,

' night all and nos da.

Polly

 

Routemasters: Dad supervised machinists at the AEC, Grandad drove them, and I got to sit in the cab of a brand new one in the machine room! A long time ago... I still love 'em! And I have the T-shirt model. I am tempted to go on tour...one day...

https://city-sightseeing.com/en/94/llandudno/257/hop-on-hop-off-llandudno

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

My paternal grandfather was born in a 'telephone exchange', that was Rainham in Essex c. 1895. His aunt was the local telephonist and the switchboard was in the front parlour of a two up/two down terraced house. Not a particularly onerous task as there was only about four telephones in the town. His aunt was also the local midwife which made it useful if the doctor was required.

 

The house I grew up in had a "party line" - remember those? The other party was the next door neighbor. Our phone would "tinkle" when the neighbor was using the phone (dialing possibly?) and of course being children would pick up our phone and listen in 😃

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Flavio, how is variable-incidence tailplane data transfer for  the X1 (first flew in 1946) related to metal fatigue data on the Comet (first fatal crash in 1952)? I presume you are extrapolating here - suggesting a culture of mistrust because the Bell Aircraft did not reciprocate with Miles Aircraft during the war?

 

 

I seem to recall the X1 didn't have rectangular windows. That was to problem with the MK1 Comet.

 

The story about the water tank test is quite interesting. They were about to abandon the test because it had not revealed anything but decided to give it just one more go, and there was a catastrophic failure.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 minutes ago, AndyID said:

I seem to recall the X1 didn't have rectangular windows.

It didn't.

11 minutes ago, AndyID said:

That was to problem with the MK1 Comet.

Not exactly.

 

Bit of a myth there.

Quote

... the passenger windows shape has been commonly misunderstood and cited as a cause of the fuselage failure. In fact the mention of 'windows' in the Cohen report's conclusion, refers specifically to the origin point of failure in the ADF Antenna cut-out 'windows', located above the cockpit, not passenger windows ...

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

Without looking at the dates, it's hard to objectively comprehend just how advanced the de Havilland Comet was - first flying in 1949 and in passenger service in 1952.

• The Boeing 707 would not fly until 1957 with passenger services in 1958.
• The Sud-Aviation Caravelle would first fly in 1955 but not enter passenger service until 1959.
• The Douglas DC-8 would not fly until 1958 with passenger services in 1959.
• The Vickers VC10 would not fly until 1962 with passenger services in 1964.
• This was followed by the BAC-111 which first flew in 1963 and with passengers in 1965. (Boeing would introduce the 727 in passenger service in 1964.)
• Douglas would introduce the DC-9 in passenger service in 1965.
• Lockheed, which had dominated early postwar commercial flight with the Constellation (introduced in passenger service in 1946) would not produce a jetliner in passenger service until 1972 (the L-1011).

The Comet was the pioneer jetliner and as such encountered a fatal design flaw - one that was anticipated in the development phase and tested for (unsuccessfully). In retrospect, the aircraft was unsafe and should never have been certified to carry passengers, but that was unknowable at the time - the natural state of novel technology.

 

The grounding gave Boeing and Douglas the opportunity to introduce, larger, faster, longer-range aircraft that were more cost-effective to operate. This is a common phenomenon with the introduction of revolutionary technology. It is often the competitors who arrive later with a more successful product who take the market.

 

Anyone still using a Blackberry smart 'phone?

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Ozexpatriate
Added the Caravelle

[pH]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Without looking at the dates, it's hard to objectively comprehend just how advanced the de Havilland Comet was - first flying in 1949 …

The Comet was the pioneer jetliner ..,

Question - what was the second jet airliner to fly (13 days after the Comet)?

Edited December 18, 2022 by pH

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, pH said:

Question - what was the second jet airliner to fly?

The Avro Canada C102 Jetliner in 1949.

 

Never flew in passenger service.

 

(I did look it up - I figured there was a non-obvious answer.)

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Anyone still using a Blackberry smart 'phone?

 

 

Well, as a matter of fact..........

 

😀😀😀

[Ozexpatriate]

Just now, AndyID said:

Well, as a matter of fact........

I loved my Blackberry. The bit-mapped graphic touch-screen killed it from a form-factor standpoint. I still miss the tactile keyboard.

[AndyID]

6 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I loved my Blackberry. The bit-mapped graphic touch-screen killed it from a form-factor standpoint. I still miss the tactile keyboard.

 

I had a boss who dropped his in the toilet on at least two occasions. 😀

[AndyID]

I resisted moving from flip-phones for as long as possible. Much more practical for rugged outdoor activities like skiing.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

I had a boss who dropped his in the toilet on at least two occasions.

A colleague of mine dropped his in a toilet too.

[iL Dottore]

9 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I'd  reckon that any  country that  has a special  word to describe people dying on the job from overwork and stress is not exactly a Workers Paradise.

 

Indeed. The various recessions, an ageing population and low birth rate undoubtedly contribute to this. But I wonder how widespread it is outside of the big metropolitan areas and large companies (especially those large companies that compete internationally). 
 

There’s an interesting sentence in the Wikipedia article on overwork “Although Japan is notorious for hard work, it's equally known for inefficiency and bureaucracy” As for bureaucracy, clearly the author of that line hasn’t had to deal with the EU, SwissMedic, the FDA or any number of Italian or French ministries (or Whitehall for that matter). As much as we may dislike bureaucracy, the complex modern world couldn’t function without. At worst, it slows things down and complicates matters, but at best it ensures safety, protects the public and ensures a level playing field.

 

But I’m curious about what the author means by “inefficiency” Certainly, there are many jobs that could as easily done by one person than by two - but should they? Take, for example, preflight checks - theoretically a single pilot could go through the checklist single-handedly (and for very small aircraft/private flying they do so) but for a commercial jetliner with > 200 souls on board, is it wise to do so.

 

Would it be better to be “inefficient” and have enough people on the job to complete that job perfectly and correctly each and every time or be “efficient” and use the minimum staff you can get away with - knowing that it can bring in error and/or imperfection?

[jamie92208]

16 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The car was coated in heavy frost first thing this morning but now it has almost disappeared so I'll be going out shortly to do some shopping.

Very much like the London Transport bus overhaul facility at Aldenham. Thats why a greater number of London's  buses lasted so long, as much as three times the lifespan of their provincial cousins. It is only obsolete features such as open rear platforms and high steps/floors that led to the withdrawal of the Routemaster for example. The Routemaster was the last  London bus designed with Aldenham in mind.

I was once told that the Routemaster design started off as as Trolleybus and shared much of it's design with theclast LT trolleybuses. However thecpotential abandonment  of the trolleybus system became reality so it was built as a diesel engined bus.  IIRC the main design feature was a monocoque body with front and rear subframes for the running gear.

11 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

It was also a superb tanker. I loved filling up from a VC10, the Victor and C130 being second choice, whereas the Tristar was definitely second grade. The worst was the USAF B707 with a Heath Robinson modification to enable the rest of us (i.e., not USAF) including the USN and USMC, to take fuel.

 

Dave

Our mutual friend, Uncle T did many of the certification trials for refuelling the Tornado from the VC10 and has quite a good collection of photos.  I think he said that the central position was difficult to use because of the airflow from the high tailplane.  

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good moani g from a dark Charente.  It is alleged that it will get above freezing today.  We had our ususl hour with Emily yesterday.  Then did nothing for the rest of the day other than mucking out the hens.  In the evening  we went to a very nice restaurant  in The Danglies and had a very nice meal.  Pricier than ourvusual plat du jour but well worth it.

 

Today we will venture to the market to meet friends and drink coffee.  

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

…Anyone still using a Blackberry smart 'phone?….

Never had one of those, but I do have an iPod touch which still works perfectly, although performance is hampered by the fact that Apple no longer “supports” the iOS for this model and fewer and fewer apps can now run on it - as any update to an app requires the latest iOS to be installed - which is not possible to install as Apple no longer “supports” this model….

 

This really infuriates me, all these high-tech companies bleating on about “going green”* or “saving the planet”*, yet their business models are based around rendering perfectly good technology “obsolete” as fast as possible in order to flog the new models.

 

If I were in a position to do so, I’d make it a legal requirement for tech companies to provide software support for the lifetime of the associated hardware (although they’d probably get around this by designing hardware to fail/stop working [or self-destruct if you will] after a year or so). 

 

* admirable goals, but - alas - too often used by business in a cynical way as a sales tool

[BoD]

Morning all

 

It is relatively mild here this morning compared to the last few days and is forecast to be above zero all day.  Tomorrow is forecast for double figures. Positively balmy. That’s the winter over then. The long term forecast is for a wet and windy one.

 

I’m off to the NT today to run the model trains. It will be for the last time until the house reopens for the new season in February.  
 

A bacon and black pudding bap (with brown sauce) should fortify me for the day.

 

Have a good day one and all.

[TheQ]

I know SWMBO reported Americans trying to use the British system for inflight refuelling regularly flew off with the baskets..

 

Mooring Awl,

3 hours sleep, another strepcil, 2 hours sleep, some dozing, take another strepcil before heading out with Ben.

Ben the I want to play Collie took a ball with him, and was not interested in patrolling.

 

During the night there was definitely a break point, and this cold is less than it was. However my morning routine pills were joined by more ibuprofen..

 

Yesterday we had a general thaw although it didn't clear the areas not receiving sunshine, it is very frosty out there again but with a thin high cloud.

 

Shortly I'll go make breakfast and a muggacoffee.

But first

time to do nothing..

 

 

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

    It (allegedly) sadly succumbed to a re-hosting of the FlightGlobal site a couple of years ago with which the pdf archive was incompatible.    I wonder if Capitan Cynical would have any thoughts on the fact that there's now a paywall on the main FlightGlobal site

Captain Cynical would doff his hat in admiration. Making the punters pay again for things they have already paid for is a master stroke. But making the punters pay for things that not only have already been paid for but whose development/production/commissioning costs have long been made back (and then some) is nothing short of genius.

 

Captain Cynical views in awe and admiration the music industry: who could’ve thought there would be so much revenue to be generated by just one single album (such as the essential Pink Floyd album Dark Side of The Moon) available (more or less in chronological order) on 

• Vinyl album
• ”Virgin Vinyl” album
• 8-Track
• Cassette
• CD
• Super Audio CD (SACD)
• MiniDisk
• DAT
• mp3
• cloud/streaming/iTunes

As for the latter (highlighted) Captain Cynical would love to hire the genius who came up with the idea of selling people the album, but not actually letting them own the album (https://www.zdnet.com/article/who-owns-your-digital-downloads-hint-its-not-you/)