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2 Aug 2019, 17:06 (Ref:3920847) | #4251 | ||
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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein) |
2 Aug 2019, 18:11 (Ref:3920850) | #4252 | ||
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2 Aug 2019, 18:55 (Ref:3920853) | #4253 | ||
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It seems there may be a few around in the States. https://barnfinds.com/clean-english-...d-anglia-100e/ |
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2 Aug 2019, 20:05 (Ref:3920867) | #4254 | |||
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Update when I can.It won't all be negative I hope. |
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2 Aug 2019, 20:13 (Ref:3920870) | #4255 | ||
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Some of you may know that about 500 metres from the old main entrance of Donington Park, next to the roundabout that facilitates to the village of Castle Donington there is an “aero park”, ie a small outdoor aviation museum celebrating some of the UKs air engineering heritage, as well as the history of the airport. A few times a year they hold open days and these have become very popular; so popular that additional car parking has been required for some time. The requirement is now so urgent that the aero park has had to cancel all open days for the foreseeable future as the traffic issue is now causing a disturbance!
What has this got to do with motorsport? Well, the aeropark asked Donington Park if a small number of times a year they could co-operate with DP providing car parking for a “park and walk” service to the aeropark. Unfortunately DP has said that it cannot do this. I don’t know all the in’s and out’s but I do think this is a shame , and short sighted. Race circuits are an easy target for complaints from local people as a source of nuisance so I think that the circuits should do all they can to be “good neighbours”. It would be good if the circuits could actually be seen as providing benefits to other local organisations and groups rather than just servicing their own needs. I would have thought that helping the aeropark out on open days that don’t clash with major events like BTCC or world superbikes would be a good thing for everyone, and now the the Grand Prix Collection is closed, Imwoild have thought that the car park near the old museum could be used. As I say, a great shame. |
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2 Aug 2019, 22:36 (Ref:3920885) | #4256 | ||
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I seem to recall that on some occasions in the past there has been parking at the circuit and buses running when the (very few) larger open days or other special events have occurred. That said back then the circuit had the Wheatcroft replica Spitfire in need of some care and the Aero park had some people that knew about Spitfires. There was probably some synergy available for those willing to discuss things over a mug of workshop tea. I fear both are long gone, not just the replica. And also since then I would anticipate that local government planning and enforcement regimes have become more of a problem for everyone. Right now the seemingly never likely to end Donington "relief road" development is probably a more challenging obstacle. And I see the Airport, apparently a sponsor of the Aeropark although that arrangement may have been pre-MAG involvement, is responding to the public's response to the new usurious drop off and collection airport parking charges by defining "Red Routes" on the nearby roads with £70 fines for any pausing for a few seconds to let passengers out while trying to avoid getting ripped off. I suppose they have to find some way to cover the costs of their extended power outages (at Donington), IT chaos, (At Manchester) and whatever it was they had a problem with recently at Stansted. Since the airport is unlikely to help in any way (I doubt even they think they could get £10 and hour for parking for an Aeropark Open Day) I suppose it is not unreasonable for the circuit to feel unable to help either. The Aston Barclay car auctions place seems to operate almost constantly so I suppose that they may also have some say over other temporary uses at the end of the facility. Local fields will soon become housing plots so they are hardly an option. I think preparation work has already started. I rather suspect that the Aeropark has a limited life expectancy. The only reason it is where it is is that the place used to be a pond that made it pretty much unusable for anything else as far as the airport was concerned. (It's part of the airport land.) The original Aeropark location on the other side of the airport was needed for commercial office development, hotels and that sort of the thing. |
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3 Aug 2019, 17:46 (Ref:3921010) | #4257 | ||
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Not seen Gerard online for a few days.... hope all is good. Maybe he is away.
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3 Aug 2019, 18:47 (Ref:3921019) | #4258 | ||
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It's August. France is (traditionally) on Holiday. Or rather "En vacances". A assume that may have some influence over the matter. Or maybe France is simply on strike and the internet has stopped working? |
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3 Aug 2019, 19:30 (Ref:3921026) | #4259 | ||
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I find it quite disconcerting that another two pilots have been arrested while they were making preparations to fly their commercial plane to America. It happened at Glasgow, where two other pilots from the same airline were also found to be over the drink/fly limit a couple of years ago.
It's about time that the world's aviation regulators introduced a strict no alcohol for a minimum of 24 hours before taking control of an aircraft. And airlines should also introduce random testing for both alcohol and drugs on a regular basis especially at airports that are not their home base, where it appears the most problems arise. |
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3 Aug 2019, 23:54 (Ref:3921047) | #4260 | |||
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Maybe Bob knows more, as I know they keep in touch away from the forum. I sent Gerard an email the other day with some French stuff in it, but, unusually, he has not responded. |
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4 Aug 2019, 05:11 (Ref:3921071) | #4261 | ||
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Re: Mike’s post above about commercial pilots failing breathalyser tests before flying. I find it quite extraordinary that this, which seems to be a cultural or lifestyle thing, can happen. Whatever, needs sorting!
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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein) |
4 Aug 2019, 13:01 (Ref:3921131) | #4262 | ||
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Chris, merci de t'inquiéter pour moi, c'est très délicat et pas surprenant. In fact, as a birthday present I had to several times to the hospital, a great opportunity to treat myself. I know you'll see what this means…*
Next good thrill to prepare, a race at Nogaro with a Mazda, really not my favorite car, with a lot of youngsters, some pros and old chaps like me! Je crois que je suis trop vieux pour ce genre de chose… |
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Celui qui est parti de rien pour arriver nulle part,n'a de merci a dire a personne.Pour ceux qui vont chercher midi a quatorze heures, la minute de Vérité risque de se faire attendre longtemps. |
4 Aug 2019, 15:08 (Ref:3921201) | #4263 | ||
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The levels set are very low it would seem. Now if the people concerned were roaring drunk or severely hung over it could indeed be a worry. If the limit was exceeded by a tiny amount and represents something akin to the lifestyle things you mentioned above then is it maybe not quite as worrying as, say, Boeing software design and testing or any of the similar things that happen to Airbus. After all, a relaxing glass of wine with dinner after, perhaps, a long flight inbound then a very early start to the for a 9am flight might be enough to fail the test marginally at 7 am but not by 9am. I guess we will have to wait for future reports of events to hear what the media has to report on the case. |
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4 Aug 2019, 15:13 (Ref:3921202) | #4264 | |||
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When asking; "Is he joking?" Best assume yes! |
4 Aug 2019, 15:55 (Ref:3921214) | #4265 | ||
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Grant, pilots have to be totally clear headed when they sign in for their flight. The reason that the crew have to turn up some time before the flight is due to take off is because they have to take part in the preparations for the upcoming flight. That means that they have to be involved in various tasks that seriously affect the journey, such as planning the route in advance to try to avoid any bad weather that might be before them.
Then there is the the matter of having to calculate the amount of fuel that will be required taking into account the assumed weight of the passengers plus luggage and any freight that they may be carrying. And for many pilots that requires the tricky conversions from their home measures; in the case of some flights they have to convert from their normal weight of fuel to volume, depending on which country they are departing from. Another duty they have to perform prior to take off is to undertake an external inspection of the aircraft to ensure that, visually, it is in a safe condition to fly. You don't want to have someone who might be impaired, no matter how slightly, carrying out these safety checks. And as far as I am aware, the law concerning alcohol limits states that the pilots must not be above the limit at the moment that they report/sign in for the flight, not at the time that they are due to take off. |
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4 Aug 2019, 16:45 (Ref:3921231) | #4266 | ||
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I seem to remember Air France had the limit settled at zero and used to check the use of any drug too. Which makes sense imo! When driving a car if you slightly bend a wing it has few consequences…
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Celui qui est parti de rien pour arriver nulle part,n'a de merci a dire a personne.Pour ceux qui vont chercher midi a quatorze heures, la minute de Vérité risque de se faire attendre longtemps. |
4 Aug 2019, 16:51 (Ref:3921234) | #4267 | |||
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Re your last comment , you are never too old.... A good friend of mine, Ted Brewster is well into his eighties and still shows the young uns a thing or too, often winning his class with his Cooper S. In fact he just featured on a Martin Clunes (British Actor) programme about Australian Islands and Ted took Martin for a lap of Phillip Island. So plenty of time yet for young uns like you! A bit about Ted https://www.justcars.com.au/news-and...-profile/13828 |
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4 Aug 2019, 17:34 (Ref:3921268) | #4268 | ||
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Mike, Yes I understand all of that . The points were that it would be very easy to make a minor miscalculation and so fail to achieve a pass by a tiny amount. (Bad news of the Airline's publicity machine, the pilot's career and, likely, his or her freedom for a while but, with the low levels involved for a slightly missed pass, the 'risk' to the flying public should be considered as 'low'. Probably lower than many other risks they don't know about or even just the 'risk' of radiation during the flight. If the pilots were blind drunk then it's a different matter but, hopefully, someone would spot that .... Whether anyone could spot a pilot with a death wish or some other sort of deep seated mental health problem is another matter. As a risk comparison it would be interesting to compare the number of pilots reporting for duty and failing a drink or drugs test to the number who, seemingly, have a clear head and a personal problem to resolve that ends up resolving the personal problems (if any) and a few hundred passengers. Note that the most clear cut incident of that type, outside some Asian mishaps which might count, is the young German chap who 'landed' his plane in the Alps a few years ago. And as for USA based risk, shopping seems to be at least as fraught as flying - which is remarkable for anyone who may have experienced internal flights in the US. |
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4 Aug 2019, 17:38 (Ref:3921278) | #4269 | ||
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What is it with you young'uns? I hope all is well now and that the excitement here in Tenths will not invoke some sort of relapse - well, at least not for a few decades. |
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4 Aug 2019, 18:06 (Ref:3921295) | #4270 | ||
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Great to meet Richard (Justracing) at Brands today.Didn't have a lot to say myself but great to put a name to face.Some good racing aswell.
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4 Aug 2019, 18:31 (Ref:3921307) | #4271 | ||
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Makes total sense. I don’t even contemplate a beer the night before driving a truck, and a zero limit for commercial pilots should be the norm.
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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein) |
4 Aug 2019, 18:54 (Ref:3921324) | #4272 | ||
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That would probably limit the number of pilots available. And still not guarantee safety. May as well head down the self flying remote/pilot route route. It would probably be safer although I doubt the mass of travellers would accept that it was. If people were that logical Horoscopes and the National Lottery would not exist. Likewise the entire betting industry. Still, anything that works to stop people flying (and thereby save the planet) must surely be a good thing. Right? Sadly the threatened Heathrow strike tomorrow has been cancelled, apparently. Such a shame. A little anarchy would be a welcome sideshow for August. |
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4 Aug 2019, 19:06 (Ref:3921335) | #4273 | ||
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Why should it limit the amount of pilots? If they want the gig, and the considerable salary that goes with it, comply.
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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein) |
4 Aug 2019, 19:18 (Ref:3921341) | #4274 | ||
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Thirty years ago or more I went to stay with my father for a week when he lived in Cairo. We went drinking in some hotel with his international group of friends, one of whom turned out to be an American pilot for Egypt Air. After one particular heavy night on the gin, said pilot went home to get his head down for a few hours as he was flying to Khartoum at 0600 next day. This was around midnight.....
Different times. But happy days? They were for me as I wasn't flying to Khartoum. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk |
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Midgetman - known as Max Tyler to the world. MaxAttaq! |
4 Aug 2019, 19:58 (Ref:3921371) | #4275 | ||
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I wonder if it would trend towards 'risk avoiders'? I don't recall meeting any pilots who I would describe as automatons. The considerable salary is, afaik, not a given and not necessarily consistent over a working life. The considerable cost of training to become a commercial pilot probably is a given. The question of who pays may not be so open. |
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