I thought this thread was about an aeroplane in France!:rolleyes:

Just commenting on the actions that have brought about the demise of the Pink ladys flying career, I didnt mean to steer the thread in another direction. [ i am pretty sure there is an Eu directive about thread steering somewhere!]

Im more intrigued that an airframe managed to escape from Manston, I thought once they got grubby asbestos gloves on an airframe it was toasted for sure. Or is it just their F4’s that applies to?

Oh speaking of which, if anyone knows how to “legally” get into the place without the RAF throwing their toys then can u drop me a PM to prevent thread jacking.

Bex

how times change i can remeber as a fourteen year old merrily climbing in over and amongst the fire dump at Manston. I looked up once and saw a official lookibg landrover but they didn’t seem that bothered with us and drove off! Now if only i could remeber what i was climbing on, i’m sure there was a javelin there , some whirlwinds and maybe a Vulcan . Time can play tricks on your mind!

Surely ‘to the victor go the spoils’

Found some more interesting figures on the ‘BRAKE’ charity site:

Interesting to see how much of ‘our’ money is spent ‘picking-up-the-pieces’ and prosecuting those who end up in court through accidents.

very impressive, but one statistic is missing. How much of the money collected from motorists through fuel tax, road tax and traffic violation fines goes back into motoring, be it road maintanence,saftey or improvment?

extremley iconic but i prefer the Gibson Les Paul

Some sobering figures:

Revenue from speed cameras (2006): £115 million

Revenue from fuel duty (2004-2005): £23300 million

And no, I haven’t added a few too many zeros!

Anybody still think it’s all about the money? 🙂

Yes How much of the £115 Million goes back into road safety?

The problem with Speed Cameras is that they are static, i like many others i suspect drive faster than the law permits. When i know a speed camera is sited i slow down then speed up. If i was being followed by a Police car i would keep within the speed limit until they left, then probably go back to being 5-10 miles over the limit as traffuc and road conditions permit. The road i live in goes past a junior school , i always slow down to crawling pace there are no speed cameras or humps . Elsewhere it’s all humps and camerasI personnaly don’t think i am a dangerous driver [but who would admit it anyway]. In 27 years of driving cars,motorbikes and vans i have never had an accident [ other than being hit by car drivers whilst on my motorbike but that is a topic in itself!].
Wether you are driving within the limits or breaking the law by 1mph i dont think speed cameras help they just make money for the Goverment.Yes the laws are there for a reason and we shouldn’t break them, but i think it is human nature to bend them. I bet no one can say they haven’t broken some law at some time, and speeding is no different.
By the way speed cameras dont work on motorbikes driving towards them so when the flash goes off just smile and wave!

NASA has announced the STS will be grounded in 2010.

We still have the Russians and their capsules. The Chinese are planning repeat trips into space and have announced a moon mission..as has the U.S.

That may be so but i feel that our hold on manned spaceflight is a very tenuous one, it would be nice if a host of countries could pool resources both financial and scientific to ensure a strong presence in space. but wait a minute i think a pig just flew past my window!!