Do you mean a diluted United Kingdom or do you appreciate the strength that Scotland, Wales and NI bring to the ‘England brand’ ?

I didn’t explain what I meant very well.

I certainly appreciate the strength that (England,) Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland bring to the United Kingdom.

But I think that the EU would view ‘the sum of its parts’ less that the United Kingdom as a whole.

Even if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland voted the same way as England would that be as effective as a single (larger) United Kingdom vote?

With many new countries entering the EU there is pressure by countries to exert as much voting influence as possible. If the United Kingdom was to break up I would worry that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would all lose out.

I think it’s all too easy to think that Scotland or Wales would be better off if they were independent but would they.

In ‘Britain’ we often complain bitterly about how our lives seem to be governed by ‘Europe’, that is, by the European Union. The EU is a democracy based (roughly) on population but with the larger members claiming an ‘unfair’ advantage.

I wonder how all our interests would be served if the EU started dealing with the population of England (only Germany, France and Italy are bigger), Scotland (only Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta are smaller), Wales (only Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta are smaller) and Northern Ireland (only Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta are smaller)?

I would imagine that the French, Germans and Italians would welcome dealing with a diluted English instead of UK voting block.

My main memory of my one and only excursion in a Hastings (Lindholme to Scampton and back), was the copious amount of engine oil streaking back from all four engines and disappearing off the trailing edge! 🙂

Did the Hercules engines in the Hastings suffer from high oil usage in service?

I’ve also heard that the Bristol Centaurus engine in the Beverly suffered from high oil usage but seem to remember that low oil consumption was a feature of the Bristol sleeve-valve engine designs.

…the amount the gap around the door, varied from interesting to frightning!

Handley Page Hastings featuring…stressed-skin construction! 😀

Why is this bothering anybody?

The UK balance of payments is currently running at a loss of £55 billion per year!

At the rate it is going by the time of the Olympics in 2012 it will have amounted to nearly £400 billion. That money is lost abroad; at least (as has been pointed out) a good proportion of the £9.4 billion spent on the games will remain in the UK.

The UK has been ‘in the red’ for a decade but that never makes the headlines.

Excuse my ignorance, but where is this “hangar 5”?

Duxford. There is a Hastings T5 at RAF Cosford and another at Newark Air Museum (and one in Berlin).

My apologies to those who posted the more measured, the more interesting and the less confrontational comments but I didn’t want to start selectively deleting posts (I’m not even sure I could have done that) so deletion of the whole thread seemed the least worst option.

As Grey Area has indicated the end result was virtually inevitable anyway.

The point I was making about a travelling exhibition would allow more of the general public to attend such events, not every body can get to Yeovilton or Duxford. Also why limit attendance to avitaion events? My local County Show attracts 10’s thousands people and these shows take place thorough the summer months, if a venue can provide the space why not use it.

No reason, apart from those you have already mentioned. To transport a Sea Harrier by road you would need to remove the (one-piece) wing so I cannot imagine that it would be very cost-effective and as you’ve said that’s what really matters.

Sadly the appearance of Chinook Bravo November is highly unlikely due to the high utilization of British equipment and the time and cost of transport back to UK.

Apparently Chinook ZA718 ‘Bravo November’ was at the Southend Airshow in May 2006 so she could still be in the UK.