Tighten Your Seat Belts

[Bazile]

You would have thought that something as basic as the serious wind effects would have been a factor taking into consideration , before this airport was given the go ahead , wouldn't you ?

Someone should be sacked for this , at least


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36490496

[mikey4444]

Colossal waste of money !

I would like to think that heads will roll because of this, but I won't be surprised if they don't.

[Old_Geezer]

Had heard about that. Beggars belief doesn't it. Except you see examples on a regular basis. Not usually that costly though.

[237SJ]

I heard that the locals didn`t particularly want an airport anyway

[New Judge]

The government was given more than adequate warning of the problems involved in operating large aircraft on St Helena. Experienced pilots advised them that large scale commercial aviation was a practical impossibility. They need not have waited for such advice. In 1836 Charles Darwin visited the place and wrote in his diary about the severity and unpredictability of the wind.

Never mind all that. As usual, government ministers know best and their quest to spend as much of other people’s money as possible could not be halted. We’re told the opening of the airport has been “postponed”. Quite why they should use that term is a little unclear. There are no alterations that can be made to mitigate the problem and many observers doubt that the airport will ever be used for anything other than an emergency airstrip used only in the direst of circumstances.

[Peter Pedant]

They were gonna build one anyway

didnt Napoleon frequently complain " ah merde ! le vent ! le vent !"
he was no great flier either

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe they can turn it into a warehouse or a factory or flats or something.
Great sea views. Ideal for kite flying.

[237SJ]

It was only a test flight though...

[Peter Pedant]

you mean they gonna say

Hey lets go on, until one crashes !

[Peter Pedant]

yeah and when Napoleon complained that he thought the English ( ah perfide albion etc ) were poisoning him

his cruel hard hearted british captor commented " no I think it is the wind ... "

[Gromit]

Why would anyone in their right minds build an airstrip that could accommodate Hecules Transport aircraft, halfway between here and the Falkland Islands?

[mikey4444]

PP...arsenic in the wallpaper was the cause, if I recall correctly.

[Khandro]

mikey, that's one theory, but I think he may have overdosed on bicarb against the wind.
"From three o’clock until half-past four there were hiccups and stifled groans. Then afterwards he moaned and yawned. He appeared to be in great pain. He uttered several words which could not be distinguished and then said ...."

Would you care to finish it please?

[mikey4444]

"merde" perhaps ?

Is there anybody on here that has avionics as a hobby ? This is almost unbelievable that an airport could be planned and built, without taking into account probable landing problems.

[Khandro]

Such a pity that Royal Mail Ship (RMS) St Helena is to be broken (up unless there is now a reprieve) this is a fine article about her, would have loved to have made that journey - with perhaps a selected group of AB-ers? ;

http://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/the-last-boat-to-st-helena

[Peter Pedant]

// PP...arsenic in the wallpaper was the cause, if I recall correctly.//
killer wallpaper - I thought it was Stibine, but yes arsenic in the green wall paper is reduced to AsH3 - arsine - and is poisonous

recognised ( in London ) at the time
http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/death-on-walls-poison-in-victorian.html

which shows a woodcut of Napoleons death room
Incredibly Richard Gordon describes how a marine's scrap book surfaces a hundred years later with a sample of the peeling wall paper from Napoleons bedroom at Lowood and yes it has scheeles green in it

[mikey4444]

This theory would seem to make sense PP....why would Britain want to poison Napoleon in the first place ?