I had exposure to guns when I was a kid. We had an army visit when I was in the Scouts where we got to go to a range (SLRs back then, which dates me). You certainly wouldn't have guns in the house unless you lived on a farm, but I don’t think its “unthinkable” to be exposed to guns in the UK.

Not this horseshit again. First of all, China and India lost the “largest economy” tag because of the industrial revolution, second, the conditions for industrial revolution never existed in India or China, irrespective of which imperial masters they had. The Industrial revolution happened in the UK because of…

Probably.

All of it. I’ll never understand the millstone the US has tied around its neck when it comes to Israel.

I feel exactly the opposite about it. The side profile is all wrong but the front and rear interest me.

I’m assuming this is some kind of “front mid-engined” deal going on here, because rotary engines don’t need V12 sized engine bays as a rule. sticking the entire rotary behind the axle line though...could be interesting.

I’m assuming this is some kind of “front mid-engined” deal going on here, because rotary engines don’t need V12 sized engine bays as a rule. sticking the entire rotary behind the axle line though...could be interesting.

Agreed. I’ve been playing around with the configurator, and it looks really good in greys and blues.

Doubt it. He’s just not as good as Hamilton. Unless Hamilton has a terrible run of unreliability, the only way Rosberg is going to beat him is in a different car.

It’s way better than that Nissan monstrosity. I disagree about the looks; everyone moans about every update of the black cab, and if you push it too far (as with the unfortunate Metrocab) people will push back (passive-aggressively), but this seems like a pretty sympathetic update to me.

Yeah, Canada’s NATO commitment isn’t just to protect Canada, it’s to protect the US too. And even when it comes to Canadian cities, you’ve still got 2000KMs of next to nothing just to cross Quebec from north to south, never mind all the land even further north of that.

To soon to say, but bear in mind there are very few places in England that aren’t populated; Lakenheath is relatively remote, but that still means it has big population centers like Cambridge within a minute’s flying time, so dumping the aircraft isn’t a straightforward option (dumping it into the North Sea would…

Because you don’t meet Russian bombers close to your population centers.

With someone called Trudeau in charge? Rafale all the way mon ami.

They are never anywhere near as far away from their bases and SAR as RCAF planes are. Canada is just too damn big.

The F-4 didn’t start out as multi-service, it was a Navy project first. Which is always the right way around (navalising land-based aircraft is hard work).

It’s not that big a deal; the centre of Oslo is heavily pedestrianised already. Access to the train station might be an issue though. Are taxis going to be banned as well?

Cold War wasn’t won then, and air power was the only qualitative advantage NATO had over the Warsaw Pact, so the lead had to be maintained (because Soviet tanks outnumbered NATO 5:1, and WWII had shown without air power, quantity will ultimately beat quality on the ground). Developing the teen fighters wasn’t just…

Actually I don’t think Australia goes too mad on the tinsel. I was there at Christmas a few years back (funnily enough I stayed in Noosa with a friend for part of the trip), and Malaysia and Singapore (where I’d been before Australia) were far more Christmassy. Which of course says more about what Christmas is really…

“Riveting”? Really? Definitely bad pun week on Gawker. Looks just like any other aircraft factory. I’m slightly disappointed, I expected at least some random henchmen on guard duty.