A real interesting ‘clutch’ there. That SAS A330 looks filthy, not up to their usual standards at all.

Nice shots. I wonder if those Portuguese biz jets were NetJets aircraft.

A nice selection. Thanks for sharing:)

This sad situation is so much more complex than the other ‘Arab Springs’ Personally, I don’t think that China or Russia will back any kind of armed intervention by the western countries, or anyone else for that matter. Russia has a lot of vested interest in the continuation of the Assad regime. It has it’s only ‘toehold’ in the Med, in the shape of the newly upgraded Naval base in the Syrian port of Tartous. In addition to that, factor in the extensive trade and other investments in the country, and it’s obvious they stand to lose a great deal should the regime collapse. IMO, China has less to lose in this situation, but then again they are quite heavily involved with Iran, but I think that their influence and economic clout in the region is still embryonic, by comparison to Russia and other regional powers. The Russians and the Chinese seem to me, to be ‘covering their own a***s, by paying lipservce to the need for a diplomatic solution, to the stalemate which now confronts all sides. I really don’t think that the latest strategy of the western, and some of the Arab states, of sending home Syrian diplomats will achieve very much, and I can’t believe that Assad is losing much sleep over it either. My personal opinion, is that as long as Assad has the support of Russia and China, then the Baathist regime will remain in power, although not necessarily with Assad at the helm. There are many dark hard liners waiting in the wings, composed of many, who were trained and indoctrinated in the era of his repressive father, Hafez Al-Assad. The great unknown factor, is what the Syrian military will do, should the fortunes of the regime deteriorate. I have no doubt, that the elite armed forces of the state security and intelligence ministry, will fight to the bitter end, the loyalty of the regular armed forces is a different matter, and I’m sure that the regime is very aware of that. It’s a real geopolitical nightmare. Just my take on this topic, but I feel that the threat of a major regional conflict, possibly involving the Israelis too, is very real indeed, and that should concern all of us.

We weren’t alone……..’they’ were doing it too;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervision_Song_Contest

What the hell were the powers that be thinking of, putting that geriatric in the competition? Were they going for the sympathy vote? Fat lot of good that was:rolleyes:

[QUOTE=nigelrob;1894304]

Court Line Pink One Eleven jet is pretty on the outside…

Ah, Halcyon Bay, the first jet powered airliner I ever flew on, happy (if noisy) days 🙂

I think that the Court line livery would still stand on its own today, but wether or not it would look just as good on an A320 or 737…..I’m not so sure.

BTW, if you don’t already know, here is a very good book all about the history of Court, the people, and the planes. Its called ‘Colours in the Sky’ It used to crop up occasionally on ebay, and fetch silly money. Its a fascinating story, and even has a good history of Autair, before they ‘morphed’ into Court Line. If you’ve an interest in the airline, grab a copy, its cracking read, and the pics aren’t bad either:)

Some lovely shots. Back in the mid 80s, there used to be a a Turkish airline named Anadolu, which came into STN weekly. They used a BAC1-11-500. I think it was Romanian registered, but I can’t be sure…….too many years ago;)