So, my last couple of blogs have been fairly heavy stuff, so I think tonight I will move in a different direction, lest my readers (all two of you that I'm aware of!) think that I am always a doom and gloom merchant. I mean, I am, but it's nice to pretend otherwise sometimes!
So, how can I bring some laughter to my readers. You all think this is heading in a 'Pope Shug' direction, don't you. Sorry to disappoint, but I have made a stark decision. I'm not going to be blogging 'Pope Shug'. Not because it's themed around religion, but because when I went to add some more to the tale, I re-read what I had already written, I came to realise that... it was bad. Way bad. It just wasn't funny. The whole source of it's humour (yes, spelled with a u) was in having a foul mouthed ex shipyard worker as Pope. There was no subtly to it. I still like the idea, but I need to take a different tack. If anyone wants to read the original, such as it is, drop me a line and I will email it to you.
So, my friends, what shall I ramble incoherently about tonight. Would you like to find out a bit more about me? Probably not. But, I'll tell you anyway! You see, I'm a geek. I'm ok with that, my main area of geekery is aviation Now, I'm not a planespotter, you won't see me hanging around the end of runways wearing a pack-a-mac, with a notepad writing down tail numbers. My fascination with planes is a bit more subtle than that!
I've always been interested in flight, when I was a kid I remember getting a book about aeroplanes (or airplanes if you are of an American persuasion) and being fascinated at how something so big and heavy could stay up in the air. If I'm being honest, I still am! You can imagine, then, that working for British Aerospace on a helicopter gunship programme was pretty much a dream come true for me. I only have two regrets from the time I spent at BAE. The first is that I left (although, know what, if I hadn't left then I wouldn't have met some of the great and interesting people that I have, so that very much tempers the regret there), the second is that I didn't take advantage of a deal they had with a local flying club just outside Stanmore (where I spent a fair chunk of my time) and learn to fly. If I ever win the lottery (or get a well paying job!!) I'd love to learn to fly, sadly, at the moment, I don't have a spare £7,000 lying around! As I'm sure you can guess, I've looked into it!
Actually, thinking about it, I guess I actually am a bit of a planespotter, although I tended only to take notice of the planes I actually flew on. I am about to really turn into an ubergeek and see how many I can remember...
Ok, let's start with Boeing planes...
747-400
757-200
757-300
767-200
Airbus now...
A320 (I think it was a 200 variant, but can't remember)
A340-300
I've not been on a A380 yet, but really want to!
McDonnell-Douglas
DC-10
AH-64 Apache
Bombardier
Dash-8 (I've actually been on a Dash 8 which served a route which had a fatal crash - Colgan Air flight 3407 from Newark to Buffalo, although my flight was in the summer, the one which crashed was in winter, and due to pilot error after a buildup of ice on the leading edge of the wings. It is a very very strange feeling watching a documentary about a crash on a route you have taken. Colgan Air have around 30 Dash-8s so it's pretty unlikely that the plane which crashed was the one I was previously on though)
Embraer
RJ-145 (which took over from British Airways' Dash-8s on the Edinburgh - Bristol/Cardiff/Southampton routes)
BAe
Avro-RJ (BAE had a couple of these as corporate planes, I was able to grab a seat on one a couple of times when I was going to the Rochester, Kent office)
Fokker
Fokker 70 (used between Brussels and Naples)
I think that's about it. I have a nagging doubt that I've missed a couple, I'm fairly sure I flew on a Lockheed TriStar, but I can't say with enough certainty to want to put it down on the list!
So, there we have it. I really need to get out more, don't I!!
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