SIA Crew vs Boeing Test Pilots (was SQ222 Diversion)

"Vector" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 02:57:23 -0700, matt weber
wrote:

You are a tad behind the times.
Ohh C-R-R-R-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It HAS BEEN RESTORED,

OF COURSE IT BLOODY WELL HAS YOU ILL-MANNERED JERK!

AS THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS - IT HAD HUGE PUBLICITY IN BOTH AVIATION AND
GENERAL MEDIA AND WAS AT OSHKOSH.

BUT THE THREAD WAS NOT ABOUT THAT ANYWAY IF YOU"D PAID ATTENTION FOOL.

AIR YOUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE IF YOU MUST WEBER - BUT DON"T COME SWANNING
IN HERE SHOUTING GLEEFULLY AS IF YOU ALONE ARE PRIVY TO THE AIRCRAFTS
ULTIMATE WHEREABOUTS.

SO PULL YOUR F&CKIN HEAD IN and stop shouting Weber.

Bleeding HECK!!!!! stunned mullet impersonation this end reading
that outburst from you.?

To be honest I have found Matt to be Knowledgable almost
to the point of pedanticism. But the Wealth
of detail has assisted me at all times and have yet to find
him wrong for long when like any one else
he does get a bit off beam. Very Soon a detailed
correction is posted for the edification
and interest of the group.

Long may he reign but I reckon he would
be a bugger of a teacher :-) Demanding 101% accuracy.

Appologies Matt if I call you a pedant but for once meant
as a compliment when I use that word.

Honestly Vector reckon half a slab of your finest
should wing its way to Matt . Or have a Bex a brew and a bit
of a lay down. Sheeesh and I thought I was emotive.

Ok will turn collar around right way again.
Pastor Phil :-)
But stuff me drunk vector
that was a bit of a pirroet (sp?) with the dress
in the air for sure :-)

But what a delightful bit of Aviation history eh !
For anyone else with an interest in vintage aviation -
http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/pa/nasmnews/pr/080603.htm

And an account of it's final flight...........
"Making the most of a triumphant final flight, the Boeing 307
Stratoliner floated softly to earth at Dulles International Airport
yesterday like a piece of silver confetti to take its place in the
Smithsonian Institution as one of the world's pioneering aircraft.

The Stratoliner's flight to the acclaimed Air and Space Museum was the
climax of a painstaking and occasionally bumpy ride for the carefully
restored 1940s-era plane, which secured its place in history by
becoming the first pressurized commercial aircraft. In between, it
endured a time in an Arizona boneyard, a difficult restoration and, in
June 2002, an embarrassing dip into Elliott Bay. And fittingly, its
arrival at the Smithsonian was delayed a day because of bad weather.

All the hardship was forgotten yesterday as the plane taxied to a stop
and was greeted with applause and broad smiles.

"It's a fantastic, beautiful airplane. It led the way for what we take
for granted now," said senior pilot Buzz Nelson, who flew the plane on
its final leg from Pittsburgh, skimming the runway at 400 feet on a
final flyover before bringing the glistening silver plane to rest.

"We had to preserve this airplane," said Smithsonian aviation curator
Robert van der Linden. "It's the only one of its kind left. Every
airliner you've been on owes its existence to this airplane. It's an
artifact."

The Smithsonian took ownership of the plane in 1972, but museum
officials credited The Boeing Co. with restoring the plane, stepping
in just in time to keep it from becoming a fire bomber or crop duster.

It took nine years to finish but the plane now appears the same "as it
looked the day it rolled off the assembly line more than 60 years
ago," the Smithsonian said.

"It looked like a haunted house. Fabric was torn. Tubing was
everywhere. I looked at it and said, 'Do we really want to fly this?'
" Pat DeRoberts of Olympia, one of three pilots certified to fly the
plane, said, looking back to 1994, when Boeing volunteers went to
Arizona to bring the plane back to Seattle. If not for Boeing, van der
Linden said, it would have been "decades" before the Smithsonian could
have finished the restoration.

Smithsonian officials were thrilled with the arrival and promptly
parked the stubby four-engine plane nose-to-tail behind an Air France
Concorde. Both planes are destined to be featured attractions at the
museum's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which will open in December.
The two planes virtually encompass the history of commercial air
travel.



Eventually, the sprawling new facility adjacent to Dulles will house
200 airplanes that provide a sweep of aviation history. Museum
officials say more than 3 million people will visit the facility each
year.

The Stratoliner, dubbed the Clipper Flying Cloud and carrying the
insignia of Pan Am, will be displayed at ground level along with such
notable aircraft as a space shuttle and the SR-71 spy plane.

By those standards, the Stratoliner might seem out of place. But
curators and aviation buffs said the plane deserves recognition.

The plane delivered yesterday entered service in 1940 for Pan Am,
serving the Caribbean. It carried 33 passengers and a crew of five in
a level of luxury that is long past. It includes wide seats that can
be converted into beds as well as wood paneling and a vanity. Such
amenities were necessary for its passengers, who were among the
nation's richest and most elite. A ticket from Miami to South America
cost $12,000 in today's dollars.

Because it was pressurized, it could cruise at 25,000 feet, avoiding
the heavy weather that prompted airsickness and the public's
hesitation about flying. It also allowed the plane to fly faster and
on a more predictable schedule.

During World War II, it flew to South America under the direction of
the U.S. Army Air Force. After the war, it passed through the hands of
several owners, and once served as a presidential plane for Haitian
dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

"There is an incredible amount of nostalgia," Nelson said of the
flight, which began in Seattle on July 27 and included stops in
Oshkosh, Wis., and Pittsburgh.

"It's like a time machine." "
From the Seattle P-I

And anybody who has read this far would undoubtedly enjoy another
evocative account - long - here
http://www.davidborys.com/archives/000092.html

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 11:17:38 +0800, "Pits"
wrote:

Honestly Vector reckon half a slab of your finest
should wing its way to Matt .

No way mate - he who first shouts should not be surprised to be
answered in kind.

Or have a Bex a brew and a bit
of a lay down.
Bit early to open the bar yet
Sheeesh and I thought I was emotive.
No - not packing a sad, in fact quite the opposite today - as I trust
the hopefully informative remainder of the post (and my TIC on
Dambusters) indicates your worship. :-)

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 08:49:36 GMT, GB
wrote:

Vector wrote in
:
OF COURSE IT BLOODY WELL HAS YOU ILL-MANNERED JERK!

Well, that's the pot calling the shiny-as-the-day-
it-left-the-factory, brand-spanking-new, never-been-
used, you-could-eat-your-dinner-off-that kettle black
if I ever saw it.

Tosser.

G
Ahhh - another graduate I see, from Prof Qansett's School of Literacy
and Logic.

Vector wrote:

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 08:49:36 GMT, GB
wrote:

Vector wrote in
:
OF COURSE IT BLOODY WELL HAS YOU ILL-MANNERED JERK!

Well, that's the pot calling the shiny-as-the-day-
it-left-the-factory, brand-spanking-new, never-been-
used, you-could-eat-your-dinner-off-that kettle black
if I ever saw it.

Tosser.

G
Ahhh - another graduate I see, from Prof Qansett's School of Literacy
and Logic.

Wow, what a promotion, its good to be held in such high esteem