Didn’t Ipswich get waterlogged? They were a great couple, although I only met Merlyn a couple of times, and as a fairly regular flyer you felt like one of the family. The chilled salads were very appetising and the whole experienced was a delight. 20 minutes check-in time I seem to recall and time from engine stop to driving away in the car less than 10 minutes!!

I think you’re right, they were with us at STN for around a month I think, but it was some time ago now, so it could have been longer. Funny, since we got on to the Suckling thing, I can remember that Merlyn used to have little baskets of flowers sent down with the catering each day, these flowers were put on the check in desks for each flight…..real flowers mind you! When the stay with us was over, they gave us several bottles of bubbly, some beers, and a huge cake. More than BA ever did;)

Leaving aside the potential viability of the airline I fondly remember using Suckling at Cambridge simply to avoid the hassle of Stansted. That was a few years ago so I can imagine what Stansted is like now….

Yes, like you I remember it well. They based themselves with us at STN for a few weeks back in the 80s. I think it was something to do with problems at Ipswich airport. They were a nice couple. On the customer service front, both on the ground and in the cabin, it was Merlyn Suckling that ruled the roost. On the flight deck and on the operational side however, Roy Suckling was King! The inflight catering used to be made and ‘packaged up’ in the kitchen of a house in Ipswich, it used to be roaded down from there to STN, and it looked well up to ‘flag carrier standard’. I have a documentary on them both on disc called “Darling, shall we set up an airline?” Their customer base was very loyal, probably still is, although the airline has changed somewhat since the good ol’ single Do228 days!

I don’t doubt Israeli military power, however all of this “10:0 to Israel” type attitude worries me.

Personally I believe that, if anything like the Yom Kippur war ever happened again in our lifetimes then Israel would lose. Blasphemy! I hear you all scream. Well my reason for saying this is that if a combination of Arab nations did decide to unite to destroy Israel, it would probably consist of several nations that did not take part in the previous conflicts that are well equipped, Saudi Arabia for example.
Add to this hi-tech enemy the involvement of fanatical groups fighting a guerilla style conflict and Israel may find itself over whelmed.

I cannot see the Saudis backing its Arab ‘brothers’ in any confrontation with an entity, that is such a pivotal part of the US design for the Middle East and the Gulf…….Israel. The participation of Saudi forces in brutally surpressing the people in Bahrain is, to my mind, a stark illustration of how the House of Saud regards its fellow Arabs. I think that the only thing which might drive the Saudis to back other Arab states, would be for there to be the the genuine threat of a national uprising, along the lines and size of what we have seen in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya etc. IMO, the Iran that we see today, is a direct result of policies that are perceived by Tehran to be overtly pro Israel, and therefore anti Iranian, being pursued by the US and other western countries.

Enough.Waiting for US-Pakistan lovefest to restart any-day now….

I think you’re right.;)

Sad news, condolences to all concerned. Don’t think I’ve heard of any MA60 accidents until now. Anyone know otherwise?

Hmmm…well only living a ‘gnats whisker’ away from Cambridge, it would be good to see this happen, but I have my doubts, especially with the close proximity of STN. For me its 20 mins to either. Then again it might work, and I and some others will be proved wrong, but like GA, I also have a strong sense of Deja Vu about this one.

I am totally with threespool on this.

I found all the prancing around and gung ho type attitude to the killing just a little bit distasteful. We are better off without him but they’ve killed someone and everyone is acting like it is ok. They may as well put his head on a pole and parade it around Time Square :rolleyes:

I have to admit that I’m finding it difficult to get my head round some of the posts bleating about the legal niceties of how OBL should have been dealt with. I find the killing of thousands of innocent people a bit distasteful Deano, don’t you?? Sorry mate, I don’t think that you or I have ever disagreed about anything much, but we’re poles apart on this. If my views appear to be those of someone who is prepared to see suspended, the democratic standards and beliefs that I and most of us hold dear, and therefore to make myself no better than OBL and his disciples, then I’m guilty as charged and I can live with that. IMO, sometimes what we perceive as unlawful and unpalatable things have to be done by governments, to ensure the safety of our democratic society and those of us who live in it, and to ensure that those dedicated to its destruction are defeated. There’s nothing ok about this event at all. In an ideal world, this operation would not have been necessary. But as we don’t live in one, sadly it was.