…which has lots of terrific footage of a busy training school in Canada.

Steve

Trenton and Uplands (Ottawa)

Other great original footage… ’30 Seconds over Tokyo’ (oops, hadn’t fully read Scorpion’s post)

curiously, this same image was discussed here almost one full year ago – and it was nailed down as an America West bird.

JJ

I prefer to call it ‘false-literacy’…. no ‘illiterate’ would be able to read or post here (or send an e-mail) by definition.

I have a personal distaste for abuse and misuse of the English language. Yes, it is the ‘international’ language, but seeing it ba$tardised makes me cringe. (sadly, I have to use a symbol in one of my preceding words, regardless of the fact that I’m using said word in its proper context)

Far too many individuals today simply don’t know or use proper grammar – let alone spelling. I, for one, have to watch what I’m spelling and where I’m spelling it – it certainly irks me to have to use 3 ‘standards’ of English (‘Merican, the Queen’s and “Canuckish” – a wonderful conglomeration of the preceding 2 with enough ‘French’ thrown in to add a little flavour).

I may use the letter ‘z’ more than ‘s’, but I do know the proper usage of ‘there’, ‘their’, and ‘they’re’.

(oh, I should add… colour, favour, neighbour, harbour – proper spellings)

JJ

Not too far away from me, just far enough to rule out regular visits…

http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=236&lang=en-CA

JJ

Definitely a sad day for North American hot rod fans – Boyd was a true icon and inspiration to many and will be sorely missed. Unfortunately there are more than a few ‘fans’ who only knew of him as a result the TV program (American Hot Rod) which, to me, degraded the man and his talents.

RIP Boyd… smoke ’em to the end!

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_airshow.jsp?channel=busav&id=news/SIKOR02258.xml&show=hai

X2 – cruise at 250 kts
Osprey – cruise at 214 kts, 275 kts max speed

the Osprey’s whole raison d’être is speed, there is simply no other justifcation it’s huge expense, colossal delays, immense complexity, weak self protection, dubious safety record and lack of autorotation

if you can ‘cheaply’ make a helicopter that can cruise faster than an osprey you basically kill this whole boondogle

and the sooner the better

we waited so long to get the Osprey, this almost seems like no time at all.

I propose they halt Osprey production immediately and ‘make do’ with the fleet they have. There are only a certain number of missions where the Osprey actually provides an important advantage so we can use them as ‘magic bullets’ like the B-2 fleet until such time a more reasonable solution arrives.

But the X2 is NOT a V-22… in fact the X2 is currently only someone’s CAD rendering… more frickin’ apples and oranges… what is, vs. what may never be…

wake me up when the Sikorsky something-sorta-like-an-X2 flies – who knows, that may happen before Canada ever receives the S-92s for the Navy… (oh, and will the X2 ever fit inside an A400?? – another non-flying white elephant)

Not bad if you want a mess tin on wheels.

The actual vehicle looks like it might be fairly decent (perhaps even roomy – I tend to need a larger vehicle – Hyundai Accent and Toyota Corrola are bare minimums for me)… but what’s with this silly fixation of some people/auto designers on such tiny wheels/tires (tyres for some)… it may be OK in relatively frost-free regions, but around here, I wouldn’t even dare to attempt to drive that on any road during any part of the year, save for 2 months (July/August).

I’m finally able to look into an affordable (payments, insurance, operation) replacement for my dearly departed F-150 and oddly enough I’m looking into the Hyundai Accent (Payments around C$45/week, and I can actually fit comfortably inside – and drive it – with room to spare and arm rests where they need to be).