Whitey Grandad

And for a good reason, as I'm sure you know, it's originally based on a Saints shirt: http://www.atleticofans.com/club-history/

Does it come in red and white stripes? (No smutty jokes please)

I have used this chap: http://www.irepairuk.net He lives in Redbridge

That's a poor swap.

I'm sure there must be some extras for the military but if all you're doing is listening to the transmissions there's no way of knowing who's doing it. It used to be that the military had access to a more accurate signal that was not subject to selective dithering but Clinton freed up a lot of the codes.

GPS is one-way.

The problem is that for some annuities you need to live for 30 years to get your money back. The drop in annuity rates is complicated but Brown'ms attack on dividends didn't help.

If it can't be proved then presumably the life insurance will be paid out, if there is any.

DG is 12,003 ft apparently. I think the reference is to runways of at least 1000ft. This flight simulator story is already on this Wikipedia reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia

This is getting like 'The Comic Strip Presents' with Al Pacino as Arthur Scargill.

Hmm... If true, that's an intriguing pattern of landing strips. It was just your comment about short landings and take offs that got me thinking that they might only have been a stopover. Difficult to keep a cabinful of angry passengers quiet though, once you're on the ground. "Some of the software platform thus far is Male International Airport in Maldives, an airport owned by the United States (Diego Garcia) and three more tracks of India and Sri Lanka, all of which have a distance of 1,000 meters of runway."

That's what my adoring public call me. At least that's what I think they were shouting.

Refuelling stops?

I could be Brad Pitt

I'll take that as a yes, then. The quotes I saw said that the altitude was fluctuating but the figures given were not regarded as definitive.

I think the altitude figures are accepted to be inaccurate. Wasn't it a military radar at long range?

It's 691 miles from there to Diego Garcia and Gan International Airport is in the way at around 200 miles north of DG.

I read that they're not much good above 10,000 ft but I'm sure some would have partially worked. It's discussed here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/world/asia/questions-over-absence-of-cellphone-calls-from-missing-passengers.html?_r=0

I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right.

But they're only bottom because we keep beating them

What does it matter if there are a few thousand empty seats? As far as the club is concerned all that matters is revenue, not appearance.

That's a wonderful read, thanks.

Not bad, apart from the American spellings. And shouldn't it be 'don't care' rather than 'don't know' for the drinks? It's 50 years since my Latin O-level but wouldn't the Roman ask for a martinum?

Hmm... seems rather far-fetched but at face value I can't find a reason to discount it. The collision avoidance issue is handled in this reference, the system relies on active cooperation from the other aircraft. Why anyone would want to do this is beyond my sphere of speculation but dealing with all the passengers and keeping them quiet would not be easy. There was some reference to the plane climbing to 45,000 feet which might be to knock them out but you could just as easily do this by venting the cabin pressure. If everything had gone 'according to plan' then you would think that we would have heard by now, but if something went wrong then you wouldn't expect the perpetrators to own up to anything. There's no way that I can see anything but am unhappy ending to this, if indeed there ever is any definite conclusion. It's very sad for all the relatives and loved ones.

No need to apologise, KRG, it's a perfectly valid comment. I don't mind the passing it about amongst ourselves so much as the pass it across the back and wait for half-time that we had against Norwich. If the opposition aren't prepared to play ball and take the bait then it all becomes a rather pointless exercise. It is supposed to be an entertainment after all.