Savvy traveller? Following a record rush to book tickets on its website for a newly announced route from London to Santiago for only c15.99 ($21), Ryanair has asked passengers to note that: "Contrary to some incorrect media reports about this route, Santiago de Compostela is in the Galicia region of Spain and not in Chile!" It has to be said that, unlike Americans, Europeans do not often face the question of "which" city is the correct destination. But just how many passengers have gone into shock as they disembarked in Paris, Texas instead of Paris, France? Or how about the equally disturbing realisation you have landed in Birmingham, Alabama instead of in the heart of England.
Show a leg Regarding the mystery aircraft pictured landing in our 14-20 December issue, Nephew Jacob Zilber from Israel kindly tells me it is a Fokker S-11 that apparently had a nasty habit of getting legless. Anybody know where or when?
Outsourcing As Megaplanes plunges deeper and deeper into second, third and fourth tier suppliers for the Happy Dreamliner, it has reached new opportunities for outsourcing. According to Nephew Fred Insole, one of the latest contracts has been issued to Mary MacDonald's Outer Hebrides Knitting Circle to produce headrest covers for the crew seats. The knitting circle will join the company's latest "working together" teleconference design review meetings, as soon as power is restored to the telephone exchange following the effects of the latest winter storm.
Off the rails? Megaplanes is studying development of an E2TPWS (enhanced, enhanced, train proximity warning system) after a close encounter between a 737 and a freight train. The really unfortunate thing is the 737 had never even flown before it sustained damage to the aft fuselage, having been en-route from Wichita by rail to the assembly line in Seattle when the incident happened in Helena, Montana. The "prang" occurred when the fuselage was struck by a logging car from another train. According to Megaplanes' chief scientist Douglas McBoffin: "The real problem is keeping the database up to date. You just can't rely on train timetables anymore."
Grave humour Overheard in Budgie News office: Rex Stocks: "Here's an interesting headline: 'Virginia cemeteries score highest in satisfaction survey'."
Monty Orangeball: "How do they know,? Did they ask for a show of hands from all those not satisfied with being buried there?"
Apt registration Eagle-eyed Nephew Capt S S Rao sent in this picture of a Boeing 707 that had been grounded for months with a nose gear collapse. The registration - 9G-OLD - says it all really.
Source: Flight International
