Fast And Slow

On This Day In History
1941: First Allied jet-propelled aircraft flies

Quote Of The Day
"Get airborne, up with the wheels, hold it low until you were about 380 knots, pull it up and she would go up, well we thought then, like a rocket."
(Norman Tebbit)

Norman Tebbit is reffering here to the later Gloster-Meteor, which was built two years after the first Allied jet fighter, the Gloster Whittle E28/39. Found some new respect for Norman Tebbit, not only by reading of his experiences as an R.A.F. fighter pilot in W.W.II, but also for how he gave up his career in politics to take care of his wife after she was made an invalid as a result of the I.R.A. bombing of the Grand Brighton Hotel. He may have been portrayed as a leather clad bruiser in the satirical comedy show Spitting Image because he liked to, in his own words, "Rough up the Labour Party." But that was work, and he made sure the Labour Party didn't go soft on him after returning to work by making sure he stuck the boot in first. But still, a man of courage, duty and honour, it would seem, political differences aside.

Anyway, while some people feel the need for speed, others prefer to take things slower.

The World Spins

And once more with almost unbearably intense feeling. Tissues at the ready.

The World Spins