This communication is an explanation of an uncomfortable discovery. There have been a few times where something happens and you have a realisation that rocks your own world. Sometimes these are slow burns. I remember slowly learning that Placido Domingo wasn’t a former NFL player. A friend had told me this as a teenager and I had no reason to think it was not true. Slowly over time I gathered information and eventually, in the times of the internet, I found out it wasn’t true. I do remember that I was slightly suspicious and so I don’t think I ever mentioned this belief out loud.
A faster wake-up was when I was told that the value of a constant in a particular part of mathematics could be greater than one. My head of department heard me and another teacher talking [we were both mechanics specialists] and the hod interrupted and explained that yes, it could be greater than one. This flabbered the ghast of both me and the other teacher. One short moment to change a deeply held belief. It was uncomfortable but the realisation was enlightening.
For most of my life I have been fascinated with aircraft. In secondary school every art piece I drew had an aircraft in it. I sent some aircraft designs off to British Aerospace Systems when I was around 16. I studied for a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and I was an air cadet for many years. Maybe that I grew up in the flight path of a major airport helped? I don’t know I just like them.
Now it is painfully clear that military aircraft are gorgeous. I am not a fan of the reasons we have them but I do like the look of them. My formative years were during the cold war and so many lovely looking planes were developed. Unfortunately these days, because of convergent evolution, all modern fighters look the same. Every government wants them to do the same job and so they bore me. I’m not even sure I think they look that nice. The F22, F35, TF-X Kaan, KF-21EX etc. It’s a bit like all cars look the same really when you think about it.
For most of my life, civilian planes for taking people on holiday were boring. They existed but there wasn’t any glamour there in the vast majority of cases. Concorde, the 747 and the A380 are exceptions to that, being gorgeous examples of engineering. Otherwise, most human transport planes have 2 or four engines and big wings and look like tubes of aluminium which is what they are. The internal design is pretty much like a McDonald’s, welcoming at first but grating soon and glad to leave after any particular length of time.
Over the last year or so I have found myself drawn to some civilian aircraft and have been thinking about them in a positive light. It turns out my tastes have matured and I now look at some human transport planes with a fondness! Goodness, what has come of me? Teenage me would find this new me rather puzzling. It turns out I am a fan of the smaller human transport planes. My utter favourite is the A318. It’s nickname is the BabyBus. Here’s a stolen picture of it:
There’s something about the tiny length of the plane with it’s massive engines and huge tail that makes me happy and smile. The above version is one that British Airways flew entirely set up in business class and it crossed the pond to the USA. Sadly that plane is no more but I do own a part of her and I use it as a coaster, because that’s what it is. My coaster is number 180/318.
