A check on the Air Cadets website reveals it to be an invalid squadron number, however we have an old Corps directory at our unit will check there to see if that brings up anything.

Martin

Ahhh G’Kar!

“No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand.”

or my favourite

“I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part
of us remains. Go anywhere in the station when it is quiet, and just listen.
After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations, every thought
and word we’ve exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in
these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit that the part
of me that is going will very much miss the part of you that is staying.”

Martin

The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between. But there is still time to seize that one last, fragile moment. To choose something better, to make a difference

Martin

It is next to the now disused Montaudran Airfield which was used by Breguet as a test runway until the ’70s so there may be clue there?

Martin

Only problem is, the ammount of idiots on our roads who do not know how to drive properly would make such rules dangerous.

Driving at 90+ and having some fool pull out in front of you with no warning will only end with body bags being filled.

I see close calls like that daily on the motorways I use to commute.

Limit all vans and lorries to the inside lane by law, and that will sort out a lot of the traffic jams. It’s vans blocking the outside lanes and refusing to pull in or lorries overtaking a convoy while only going 2 mph faster that cause the jams.

Limit them to the inside lane to clear up the jams and no speed limit needs to be raised.

IMHO.

I agree, and I can certainly vouch for the ‘fool puling out in front of you with no warning’ as happened to me the other week. I was travelling in lane 2 of a dual carriageway and had a woman who was concentrating more on her kid than on the road and pulled in front of me when the traffic suddenly slowed. As she had now effectively taken my braking zone we collided. Thankfully no injuries occurred and minimal damage to the vehicles.

Its not vans that are the main culprits of blocking the outside lanes, it is HGVs, which are restricted to 56mph and mainly on 4lane dual carriageways, where other road users have nowhere else to go to overtake. If vans are to be banned from the outside lane it should be those that are fitted with speed limiters which are usually marked as such.

What I think we need is regular re-testing. In the UK with the older ‘paper’ licences a person could take their test and have the same license for the next 53years before renewal. Now most people have the new Photo card licences which are renewed every 10years. It could be quite easy to introduce a retest as a criteria for renewal. It doesn’t have to be the full theory/practical test new drivers get but certainly the sections on Hazard Perception and a shortened practical test to address the bad habits we all pick up over the years.

As for the speed limit, I am on the fence on this one. Raising it to 80mph is all well and good but it is open to abuse as many do now with the current 70 limit. The Variable Speed Limit, highlighted by MoggyC is a better solution 70-80 when clear and dry and low volumes of traffic then reduced according to weather/traffic conditions as appropriate. It also needs to be enforced, especially in bad/inappropriate conditions. I used to travel regularly on the southern stretch of the M25 where variable speed limits are operational and they do work especially as there are cameras at very regular intervals.

Just my tuppence worth

Martin

Many years ago our house got broken into while we were asleep upstairs. Took the TV, VCR and a few other bits then took our car to take their loot away from not only ours but three other houses down the street. The only thing we got back was the car as it was dumped round the corner a couple of days later.

They caught the culprits who got sent down for 7 years for it.

Martin

“This is the voice of the Mysterons, we know you can here us Earthmen…….”:diablo:

Its worth noting that a friend of mine is currently going through selection for the RN in the Comms trade and is have a hell of a time getting a start date just to get into basic training. he was due to go, after passing all the selection criteria and pre-service fitness tests, early 2010. Then, due to the SDR, was put back to October/November 2010, then pushed back to May 2011 and had to do a requal for his fitness tests as the original had expired (they are only valid for 12months) Now he has been told it could be December 2012 before he gets in.

In these times of uncertainty especially with HM Armed Forces, I would say go for it if thats what you want to do. but be prepared for a long wait and have a backup plan if you are unsuccessful. You never know the trade you want may suddenly open up.

Thats what happened to me back in about 1990. I applied for the Royal Air Force as a ‘sooty’, passed the selection phase, just and waited for a callup date as the trade was closed. I went to college to finish a course I started as a YTS apprentice to gain a HNC, then halfway through my final year I got the call to go with about 2 months notice.

Keep your options open

Martin