Guinness or a good draught beer. Usually go for Tetleys.

Sometimes lager is unavoidable 🙁 – so I’d go for Tiger or Windhoek by preference.

Can’t do wine after a wine tasting evening 5 years ago. I was ever so slightly drunk – after sipping a glass of wine, everyone on our table was tipping the rest of the glass into a big caraffe. No saliva you understand, just lots of mixed wines. It was nearly 2 pints big by the end. Anyway, a mate and I downed half each. It was really nice, but let’s just say I won’t be repeating it.

The trouble with BAe is that they never actually designed any aircraft. Every last one of their product line was either an updated or a stretched version of somebody’s else’s:

ATP – big HS-748
J31/32 – improved over the Hawker Siddeley original
J41 – improved stretch of J31
146 – originally a HS design?

Maybe if they had given two hoots about investing in designing new aircraft, they’d still be around today. They only have to take a peek at Bombardier, ATR and Embraer to see that.

The particular aircraft I was on was a Cyprus Airways B720, from somewhere in the middle east to Larnaca in the mid 1980s. I don’t know if it was a “B” model, so it may have been powered by either turbojets or early turbofans, I’m not sure.

The interior was yellowed with age/cigarette smoke and the seats were torn. But the main thing, was the noise. It was too much for me to take – when you’re tired, your pain threshold is reduced.

I’m sure these things were fine when they were new, but there is definitely a point when an aircraft simply needs to be replaced. Airlines which continue to fly these things after that point simply point out the deficiencies of old aeroplanes. Which in some respects is a crime.

My ideal car! Do you know if it would be legal to take a Shorts, knock of the wings and tail, and install a internal combusion engine? I mean, you do see some pretty wierd things on the roads from time to time.

Quite agree with all that. Richard Branson seems to as well, if you read his speech on the news section of airlinerworld.com

Kev – pass on that one, I only moved here in 1998 (I was born here in 1977 but moved away when I was still in nappies).

Preston – the Roush Manx Rally has been held already. There may be another one, I’m not sure (there’s always something on).

Tell you what – one of the girls at work is a motorsport fanatic and she’s in charge of recruiting and coordinating the race marshalls. I’ll see what she knows about the next rallies/races. It’s a local bank holiday tomorrow, so I won’t see her till probably Tuesday now.