Last edited by F35b; 14th October 2009 at 13:29. Reason: I can’t spell nozzles

You can’t spell variable, either! :diablo:

The advantage is that you could get passenger jets for £2m per aircraft, and freighters, with door, for £5m, and you could have them in weeks, while you wait for your A400M or C-17 production line slot.

Met him a couple of times. Sound bloke with a good line in banter. RIP

The Orkneys have always been part of the British Isles, and are about ten miles off the Scottish Coast. The Faroe Islands are closer to the UK than the Falklands are to Argentina.

There are two sides to Argentina’s claim to the Falklands. One is based on geographic proximity. It’s a poor claim, as the Falklands are a blo.ody long way from Argentina, and are almost as close to Chile. 300 miles or so, IIRC.

The other side is based on history. An equally poor claim.

The UK has exercised sovereignty over the Islands since 1833. Argentina had a settlement on the islands and claimed sovereignty from 1816 (when it gained independence from Spain). So we have 17 years of occupation and claims to sovereignty versus the UK’s 176 years of de facto control and almost 300 years of British settlement.

That would be the argument if these were barren lumps of rock without a real population of their own.

But that is not the case, and there is a community of Falkland Islanders who have lived on the islands for generations, and their will is to be a self-governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, and they do not accept Argentina’s claims, which are colonialist and illegitimate.

Even the use of Spanish place names (eg Malvinas) is considered offensive in the Falkland Islands. Argentina needs to grow up and recognise the reality of the situation. It has no legitimate claim to the Falklands based on geography, history, nor the right to self determination of the island’s population.

(Reuters) – Two French Rafale fighter aicraft from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Mediterranean on Thursday during a test flight, the military said.

One pilot has been rescued, another is still missing.

The Rafale, made by Dassault Aviation, is France’s most advanced fighter. Brazil has been negotiating to buy the aircraft, which would be its first export order.

The accident took place about 30 km from the southwestern city of Perpignan. A spokesman for Dassault had no comment.

“It was a training mission, not an operational mission. The search is continuing for the second pilot,” an armed forces spokeswoman said. A rescue vessel, a civilian helicopter and two military planes were taking part in the search.

Happened about 1800 hours, local, and takes the Aeronavale down to 15 Rafales in service.

Doesn’t look good for the pilot of the second jet, I’m afraid (relatively close to shore, in the Med, not the cold, cold Atlantic, and with lots of on scene SAR assets – if he’d survived, you’d guess they’d have found him fairly quickly), but fingers crossed anyway.