(By the way, the correct abbreviation for the Institute of Mechanical Engineers is IMechE. :))

The pedant is hoist by his own petard.

They said at the RAES lecture last night it would be out for about 3-4 weeks, so hopefully open in time for the Conservation Centre week.

Could a cynical answer be that if you’re going to have a crash, have it in whichever is the strongest built?

No doubt others will remember seeing a “bitza” racing car in the late ’50s early’60s, called the Swandean Spitfire. It was an old RR chassis with a Merlin shoehorned in. Sounded very rough and appeared a real handful to drive.

PMT (Potteries Motor Traction) bus chassis I think. I believe it ran at Brighton Speed Trials only though it was before my time.

er, does that mean a graffiti blackboard, missile target and climbing frame for drunks? (Not an anti Spanish comment, I have the same low opinion of all humanity.)

I think they look great as art, and the Jaguar in particular is stunning in polished metal.

Does anybody know what will happen to them after the exhibition? Just scrapped, sold as art, sold as hacked about old planes, or what?

Is a Tristar historic enough?

On the grounds that I would sooner fly in one of Air Atlantique’s DC3’s than in a commercial Tristar (no offence meant to any specific airline), can we count it as historic? If so, anybody any idea why one was low over Walsall, looking to be heading for BHX at 1.35 today?

Apologies to mods if this isn’t historic enough, I won’t be offended if it’s deleted straight away.

I know this is thread drift and I may have mentioned this before, but David Shepherd, the well known painter of elephants and railway locomotives (both evocatively) did a number of civil airliner paintings in the 1950’s and an L749 Constellation was amongst them. He hadn’t sold the pic a couple of years ago when he brought it to my local village hall for a talk, and seemed surprised anybody was interested.