|
|
|
#16
01-08-2010, 07:41 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Well, they had to "learn" at some point...And they-the worldwide aircraft engineering community- learned a lot w/the Comet, & B-47...Sure, when a jet crashes nowadays, its a terrible loss of life, but just consider how many thousands/millions of people fly every day...Its STILL safer than crossing a busy street on foot...And until they really do come up w/transporters a la Star Trek, there is no more quicker, efficient was of getting from point "A" to point "B", if "B" is several thousand miles away.
__________________
Benevolent Despot 
|
|
#17
01-08-2010, 09:05 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
I did cringe in fact when I read your remarks about the English. If there is one parallel I can draw between English and American culture, it is a tendency for both cultures to be rather self-depreciating until the point that all pride has been lost, it becomes a national malaise and then becomes true. I suppose this is the opposite of German arrogance that often goeth before the fall. (Brits, feel free to tell me if I'm off-base) History lesson on the aforementioned British jet aircraft... There were two schools of thought with regard to increasing the thrust of jet aircraft in the waning days of WWII. The British (Whittle) design used a better-understood centrifugal-flow compressor. The main drawback was the need for ever-increasing frontal area for increased thrust. The Germans (von Ohain) used an axial-flow compressor. While it didn't require the increased frontal area, it did require metallurgy skills beyond what was available in the WWII era, and was thus quite fragile. It could also not offer the same resistance to "flame-outs" as the British unit, and many crashed under severe maneuvers (or were shot down by slower, yet more maneuverable piston-engined aircraft). The upshot of this is that in 2010, English WWII-era jets continue to fly using their original jet engines, while all of the early German jets that are still air-worthy have been retrofitted with modern, American jet engines. Yet in the minds of most without this technical perspective, it is the WWII-era Germans who are most associated with successful jet engine designs. There is that self-depreciation at work. And as a more recent example... As a proving grounds mechanic in 2003, I had the pleasure of off-road testing a fleet of four Mercedes ML 320 SUVs against the then-current Jeep Grand Cherokee. Within two weeks of 24/7 testing, all the Mercedes had burned through their budget of replacement parts (including entire engines) while the Jeeps happily bounced along without a single failure. In the end, the Benz's were restricted to the same torture-testing as the most flexible vehicle in the entire Chrysler line-up, the Sebring Convertible because this was the only route the MBs would cover without suspension and driveline failures. Yet in the ignorant mind of the mass-media, I continually see the 2011 Jeep GC referred to a "based off the new Mercedes", when in fact the opposite is true. Since this falsehood is considered advantageous to Jeep sales, no one publicly refutes the fact and I have to listen to "experts" (who are simply good at reading newspapers) tell me how the new Jeep owes everything to the Mercedes engineers...  I guess the point is, unless you're skilled in a particular field, it's best to realize that opinions are just that.. Opinions. Please don't take this personally, I intend no harm, only clarification.
__________________
From Captain Video, 1/4/2007 "It seems that Italian people are very prone to preserve antique stuff." Last edited by Carmine; 01-08-2010 at 09:08 AM.
|
|
#19
01-08-2010, 11:10 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
It is a shame that Great Britain lost its place in the world following WWII (for much the same reasons prior to WWII as we are losing it now). They began to doubt the "morality" of victory in WWI. They began to think any measure of pride was a sin. It took a man like Churchill to remind them of their greatness... Alas it was short-lived. Well at least God-bless the Brits for avoiding the Euro! They gifted the world with things like the Magna Carta and brought civility to much of the world... at least they only gave up the title to their heirs who had already been practicing democracy for almost 200 years. We (the USA) screwed-up by not backing war-ravaged Great Britain at the Suez canal in 1956. Now look at the middle-east... Nothing but dictators and religious zealots using the poor as human bombs. A return to the stone-age. In my opinion, every middle-east disaster following has its roots here. Who are we surrendering ours to? Communist nations with a 10-year history of bastardized capitalism that enriches only the wealthy and political ruling class because the individual has no right to free association or speech? "one-world" socialists? This thread will undoubtedly be locked, but I think deleting it before all of the involved parties can read would be a shame. I'd like the two British gentlemen who posted a reply to my simple comment on a C-grade movie to know that some of us in the USA do appreciate the role of Great Britain in world history. Perhaps moving it to the off-topic section would be a noble experiment, rather the the usual shut-down. 
__________________
From Captain Video, 1/4/2007 "It seems that Italian people are very prone to preserve antique stuff."
|
|
#20
01-10-2010, 03:17 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
 Quote:
|
| Audiokarma |
|
#21
01-10-2010, 07:47 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Believe it or nutz, I got a LOT of my somewhat irreverent sense of humor-and quite a few Brit references therein-from watching WAY too much Monty Python...
__________________
Benevolent Despot
|
|
#22
01-10-2010, 08:01 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
#23
01-11-2010, 10:22 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Notable exception: "or" words for nouns formed from verbs for a person or thing that performs the root verb, such as "dictator" and "rotator", same on both sides of the Atlantic. It's sometimes nice to savour the flavour of the orignal English I favour!
|
|
#24
01-12-2010, 04:51 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
You Americans and brits are lucky not to live here in Italy! we really live in a diyng country riddled by corruption, ignorance and widespread criminalty, it's always been like this but it's getting a lot worse lately, we have no future here!
|
|
#25
01-12-2010, 06:24 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
Benevolent Despot
|
| Audiokarma |
|
#26
01-12-2010, 08:30 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
yes, but this time the situation is very serious, we're in the middle of a mass closure of what's left of our manufacturing industry, more and more people are out of work and living on state subsidies (luckily we still have them) but what's worse, the government is trying to deny the evidence and convince everybody that everything's fine and we're already out of the recession
I expect something really serious to happen to our economy and society in the near future if something isn't done RIGHT NOW to prevent it. By the way, our last domestic TV manufacturer, Mivar, is in the middle of a mass layoff and is probably going bankrupt in the next few months. Last edited by Kiwick; 01-12-2010 at 08:33 AM.
|
 |
|
|
Linear Mode
