747s … it has had Airforce One on several occasions. And presumably the C5 Galaxy(s) that ferry Marine One and the Limos around too.

I forgot to mention earlier…for those who don’t mind a bit of submersed action Patrick Robinson

Though I have to say I think he went the wrong way in setting up an on going nemisis to Admiral Morgan.

Oh and does anyone have an opinion on Mathew Reilly, in particular the comic adventures in Ice Station. A rip-roaring read as long as not taken very seriously.

Given the OP asked what type of flying machine, rather than what type of aircraft…. a very off the wall suggestion a Blue Steel Missile?

:confused:

Can I point out the error in the use of the term UK Education System

There are several education systems in use in the UK, that of the Scottish, some covering England, some England and Wales and others England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Not so much techno thillers, but an excellent series of books emersed in Aviation and Military would be Richard Herman (depending on the Publisher Richard Herman Jnr), His first was Warbirds and just keep going from there…the early ones aren’t easy to get a hold of now though.

Similarly Stephen Coonts with his Jake Grafton series which starts with Flight Of The Intruder (yup the old Danny Glover film). The series got a little tired towards the end and Coonts has now rightly moved on…though to lesser material in my view.

I read Craig Thomas years ago, and found much of it a bit samey…though he did write several that were stand out FireFox included.

Dale Brown, I have to say that his earlier books are better than his more recent stuff…he’s lost some of the originality in my opinion. Start at the start and you should get through 8 or 10 of them before getting bored.

thanks again for giving me more info about the F-35

but how many do you think the uk will buy?
and where
will they be based? i say
yovillton,carriers,cottesmore,wittering but do you think differant?

thanks

Try looking for answers to when you first asked that question BEFORE asking it a second time….

Current plans are for the F-35s to be based at Lossiemouth with a possible secondary base yet to be selected (maybe Cottesmore). The CVFs will be based at Portsmouth. I think one of the main assets for the F-35 will be its versatility, combining such roles as strike, air defence or ISR tasks as well as the obvious capability we’ll get from being able to deploy it at sea. It will be a massive leap of technology compared to the Harrier.

As for numbers…the original order was for 138 B (STOVL) models.

Yep it would appear to be Cone of Silence

You surely aren’t serious? That was one good joke, can England demand the billions it paid Scotland between the 1970s (oil discovery) and 1707 (when Scotland was bankrupt)? If you seriously think one trick pony Alex can say: ‘Give us the oil money from 1970 to 20UW, XYZ billions’ and David Cameron will say ‘yes’ then I cannot help you and I doubt a mental asylum could.

I suggested a formula not a particular number. Mr Salmond would I’m sure make an opening gambit of 1970, but realisticly perhaps a percentage of revenue from 1999 (the formation of the current Scottish Parliament) would be worked out.

You do realize who owns the oil and gas? I’ll tell you it’s not Mr. and Mrs. Scot, it’s mainly BP plc and Shell plc, HQ’s in London.

Of which the vast majority sits withing what would be Scottish territiorial waters and is landed in Scotland.
With Scottish independance you do wonder why they would want to stay in London?

Actually it has every choice, who’s going to stop England from playing hardball? 52 million against 5 million? If it comes to harsh negotiations Scotland is going down.

Playing hardball is one thing, rightful share is quite another.

ROFLMAO, you mean the CVFs that have given Scotland’s economy a huge boost, far more than 8% of the work? LOL. Continue living in cloudcuckooland.

The awarding of the CVF contracts was a blatent vote grab that hasn’t really worked given the number of previous contracts that Scottish shipyards had been snubbed over.
The fact remains though that the shipbuilders taxes along with all the rest of the Scottish population are making a contribution the the cost, and would rightly seek a reparation value.

LOL. You seem to think on seperation Scotland will get a huge cheque, actually that is very funny, but what will you do about the huge funding gap that will appear?

No I didn’t say Scotland would receive a huge cheque, what scotland would receive is market values for it’s share of unwanted hardware. whether that would be by cash, transfer of wanted hardware or other form of trading agreements or rebates.

LOL. You are funny, first you say people have been patronising towards Scots and now you’re claiming the 55 million non Scottish Brits have been living off the 5 million Scots! Huge hole? If Scotland goes the remaining UK will have more money per person to spend in the remaining UK. Scotland is subsidised to the tune of 30 pounds a head (very very friendly estimate) to several hundred pounds.

Can I point this out to you…
Government Expenditure & Revenue Statistics 2006/07

Without oil, Scotland had a deficit of £10.2bn. With oil by geographical area (83%), there was a surplus of £800m.
Fiscal balance (including capital spending), had a £10.2bn deficit without oil, and £2.7bn deficit with a geographical share of oil.

This compares with a UK fiscal deficit of £30.2bn, which incidentally includes 100% of oil revenue.

The Treasury themselves admitted that previous reviews consistently overstated Scotland’s share of spending, whilst consistently understating Scotland’s revenues. Thus, any official figures produced prior to this date are to be treated with suspicion.

And the figures which include oil did so at a rate of around $60 per barrel – Currently the price is around $120 per barrel significantly increasing the surplus.
Source of Figures