The 14 billion is only one side of the balance sheet (The epitome of UK journalism that – give half the story and present it as fact to support editorial bias). The EU is a complex give and take mechanism, whereby the UK state contributes a sum and a sum comes back in terms of a special rebate, grants and investment. Ignoring the benefit of free trade, at present we are still a net contributor to the tune of 6 billion.

Another reason the Catalina is a flying boat is that it was originally designed and produced as such, without wheels.

Re. the comparative difficulties of an Atlantic crossing, I’d say an open water landing becoming necessary might be more of a problem for a landplane.

JG – ” Trekkie,

Very obviously the product of State school ‘education’ !”

As was I. What exactly was your point? By the way, one doesn’t leave a space before punctuation. Additionally, ‘state’ in the context of ‘state school’ does not require a capital.

Thank you Vega ECM for some ‘proper’ engineering thought, based upon experience. In my perfect forum, this stuff would just keep on coming.

I am moved to add that in a field where many can say ‘I am enthusiastic and committed’ you will get ahead by demonstrating it with a qualification, a completed apprenticeship and/or a record of volunteering. In my experience, there are two sorts of careers – one of which is getting paid for something that might be a hobby anyway (film making, the wine trade, archaeology, old aeroplanes – I have been around all four) and the other is something you wouldn’t be involved with for free – Estate Agent, Sanitary Engineer, production line worker. The latter you can get by turning up clutching your GCSE’s and looking keen. The former requires a bit more beyond keenness (and incidentally often pay less for the same skill set).

I can hear Bob Mortimer now.. ‘You wouldn’t let it lie’…

Seriously, let’s move on. I only briefly interacted with Peter on here, mainly by PM. He was courteous and helpful, especially when it cane to steering me, as a relative newbie and know-nothing, gently away from dangerous waters. In that spirit, let those who remain talk about old aeroplanes, please!

Have you tried looking through the images here? http://ncap.org.uk/browse/finding-aids

Can you clarify the question please? It’s easy to confirm that any images that now exist in Edinburgh were not destroyed post war, but was that the question?