Thread: Re: Sailor

Richard--

Thanks for replying. I'd known at the time that the BBC made a documentary
programme aboard Ark Royal on her 1976 cruise, and of course at the time
it was impossible to Tivo or DVR things, especially from a foreign market.
But I just recently discovered that the Beeb had re-released "Sailor" on
DVD, so I naturally had to get me one. I tried to buy it off the BBC site,
but they won't ship to the US, instead re-directing you to BBC America or
BBC Canada, who of course don't sell it. I finally got one off eBay, and
I'm watching it now, and loving it. What a great programme!

So I just wanted to thank a representative of Great Britain for:

1. Inventing/perfecting professional, modern navies
2. Inventing aircraft carriers,
3. Inventing the angled deck,
4. Inventing the steam catapult,
5. Inventing the mirror landing system,
6. Building Ark Royal (R09), and
7. Making a TV show of her last days.

A real shame about Ark, Eagle, and Vic back in the late 60s. Back in late
high school/early college Jane's still kept track of ships retained in
decommissioned status (now they just say, "discarded" as a catch-all for
decommissioned, struck, scrapped, which is annoying), and I'd always check
the latest edition to see if Ark and Eagle were still being retained in
"ordinary," or for parts, and it always made me feel a little better to
see their names were still there.

So now, all these years later, I finally get a chance to see the Ark in
action, finicky engines and equipment and all. Very nice indeed.

So please accept my thanks on behalf of your great nation, and pass it
along to the Queen, if you see her. And I am really pulling for the new QE
and PoW to get completed in some form or fashion, CATOBAR, STOBAR,
whatever. There is some good content and a great video at
www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk if you're interested.

By the way, if you or anyone else on this list ever learn that Sailor has
been released on DVD Region 1 (what we play in the US), perhaps you could
pass that on to me. Fortunately MS Windows will allow me to change my DVD
player to read Region 2, but I can only change it 4 times total, and then
it's locked that way, even if I re-install Windows. Guess I'll have to buy
a Region 2 DVD player, and maybe a power converter to plug it into my US
wall sockets.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia Rule the Waves!
Britons never, ever, ever will be slaves!

Dave

> One here
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2012 1:53 AM
> Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Sailor
>
>
>
> How many on this list are Brits? Subjects of Her Majesty? Folks that
> when
> you think, "our Navy," you mean The Royal Navy?
>
>
>
>

Hi, another Brit here, and one who is actually working on equipment for the QE class carriers at the moment.

Martin.

--- In , dcndcn13@... wrote:
>
> Richard--
>
> Thanks for replying. I'd known at the time that the BBC made a documentary
> programme aboard Ark Royal on her 1976 cruise, and of course at the time
> it was impossible to Tivo or DVR things, especially from a foreign market.
> But I just recently discovered that the Beeb had re-released "Sailor" on
> DVD, so I naturally had to get me one. I tried to buy it off the BBC site,
> but they won't ship to the US, instead re-directing you to BBC America or
> BBC Canada, who of course don't sell it. I finally got one off eBay, and
> I'm watching it now, and loving it. What a great programme!
>
> So I just wanted to thank a representative of Great Britain for:
>
> 1. Inventing/perfecting professional, modern navies
> 2. Inventing aircraft carriers,
> 3. Inventing the angled deck,
> 4. Inventing the steam catapult,
> 5. Inventing the mirror landing system,
> 6. Building Ark Royal (R09), and
> 7. Making a TV show of her last days.
>
> A real shame about Ark, Eagle, and Vic back in the late 60s. Back in late
> high school/early college Jane's still kept track of ships retained in
> decommissioned status (now they just say, "discarded" as a catch-all for
> decommissioned, struck, scrapped, which is annoying), and I'd always check
> the latest edition to see if Ark and Eagle were still being retained in
> "ordinary," or for parts, and it always made me feel a little better to
> see their names were still there.
>
> So now, all these years later, I finally get a chance to see the Ark in
> action, finicky engines and equipment and all. Very nice indeed.
>
> So please accept my thanks on behalf of your great nation, and pass it
> along to the Queen, if you see her. And I am really pulling for the new QE
> and PoW to get completed in some form or fashion, CATOBAR, STOBAR,
> whatever. There is some good content and a great video at
> www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk if you're interested.
>
> By the way, if you or anyone else on this list ever learn that Sailor has
> been released on DVD Region 1 (what we play in the US), perhaps you could
> pass that on to me. Fortunately MS Windows will allow me to change my DVD
> player to read Region 2, but I can only change it 4 times total, and then
> it's locked that way, even if I re-install Windows. Guess I'll have to buy
> a Region 2 DVD player, and maybe a power converter to plug it into my US
> wall sockets.
>
> Rule, Britannia! Britannia Rule the Waves!
> Britons never, ever, ever will be slaves!
>
> Dave
>
> > One here
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: dcndcn13@...
> > To:
> > Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2012 1:53 AM
> > Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Sailor
> >
> >
> >
> > How many on this list are Brits? Subjects of Her Majesty? Folks that
> > when
> > you think, "our Navy," you mean The Royal Navy?
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

Hey, Martin!

Good for you! What are you working on? Or would you have to kill me?

Is it just me or do other people note how dramatically ship-building has
turned into a bizarre work-sharing arrangement? Everything we build
nowadays, except maybe CVNs in Norfolk or DDGs in Bath, involves barging
big chunks of hull all over the place to preserve local jobs. This is also
true in aviation, where chunks of Airbuses or 787s or F/A-18s get hauled
all over the place in outsize "Super Guppy-fied" 747s or Belugas (actually
flat-bed trucks for the Super Hornets). Sure, it keeps manufacturing jobs,
but I can't be the only one imagining how much this is contributing to
spiralling unit cost.

Oh well, at least we're still building something.

Dave

> Hi, another Brit here, and one who is actually working on equipment for
> the QE class carriers at the moment.
>
> Martin.
>
> --- In , dcndcn13@... wrote:
>>
>> Richard--
>>
>> Thanks for replying. I'd known at the time that the BBC made a
>> documentary
>> programme aboard Ark Royal on her 1976 cruise, and of course at the time
>> it was impossible to Tivo or DVR things, especially from a foreign
>> market.
>> But I just recently discovered that the Beeb had re-released "Sailor" on
>> DVD, so I naturally had to get me one. I tried to buy it off the BBC
>> site,
>> but they won't ship to the US, instead re-directing you to BBC America
>> or
>> BBC Canada, who of course don't sell it. I finally got one off eBay, and
>> I'm watching it now, and loving it. What a great programme!
>>
>> So I just wanted to thank a representative of Great Britain for:
>>
>> 1. Inventing/perfecting professional, modern navies
>> 2. Inventing aircraft carriers,
>> 3. Inventing the angled deck,
>> 4. Inventing the steam catapult,
>> 5. Inventing the mirror landing system,
>> 6. Building Ark Royal (R09), and
>> 7. Making a TV show of her last days.
>>
>> A real shame about Ark, Eagle, and Vic back in the late 60s. Back in
>> late
>> high school/early college Jane's still kept track of ships retained in
>> decommissioned status (now they just say, "discarded" as a catch-all for
>> decommissioned, struck, scrapped, which is annoying), and I'd always
>> check
>> the latest edition to see if Ark and Eagle were still being retained in
>> "ordinary," or for parts, and it always made me feel a little better to
>> see their names were still there.
>>
>> So now, all these years later, I finally get a chance to see the Ark in
>> action, finicky engines and equipment and all. Very nice indeed.
>>
>> So please accept my thanks on behalf of your great nation, and pass it
>> along to the Queen, if you see her. And I am really pulling for the new
>> QE
>> and PoW to get completed in some form or fashion, CATOBAR, STOBAR,
>> whatever. There is some good content and a great video at
>> www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk if you're interested.
>>
>> By the way, if you or anyone else on this list ever learn that Sailor
>> has
>> been released on DVD Region 1 (what we play in the US), perhaps you
>> could
>> pass that on to me. Fortunately MS Windows will allow me to change my
>> DVD
>> player to read Region 2, but I can only change it 4 times total, and
>> then
>> it's locked that way, even if I re-install Windows. Guess I'll have to
>> buy
>> a Region 2 DVD player, and maybe a power converter to plug it into my US
>> wall sockets.
>>
>> Rule, Britannia! Britannia Rule the Waves!
>> Britons never, ever, ever will be slaves!
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> > One here
>> >
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: dcndcn13@...
>> > To:
>> > Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2012 1:53 AM
>> > Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Sailor
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > How many on this list are Brits? Subjects of Her Majesty? Folks that
>> > when
>> > you think, "our Navy," you mean The Royal Navy?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
>

Hi Dave,

I work for a company in Gosport (near Portsmouth, UK) who do a lot of defence contract work for the likes of Thales, Honeywell & BAE. We've just finished the Combat Management System (electronics rack units) and Ops Room consoles for the first ship. The latter which I've been working on for the last ten months - project managing for six of them!

The whole way defence contracts get fulfilled is bizarre, but Hey! at least it keeps us in work...:)

--- In , dcndcn13@... wrote:
>
> Hey, Martin!
>
> Good for you! What are you working on? Or would you have to kill me?
>
> Is it just me or do other people note how dramatically ship-building has
> turned into a bizarre work-sharing arrangement? Everything we build
> nowadays, except maybe CVNs in Norfolk or DDGs in Bath, involves barging
> big chunks of hull all over the place to preserve local jobs. This is also
> true in aviation, where chunks of Airbuses or 787s or F/A-18s get hauled
> all over the place in outsize "Super Guppy-fied" 747s or Belugas (actually
> flat-bed trucks for the Super Hornets). Sure, it keeps manufacturing jobs,
> but I can't be the only one imagining how much this is contributing to
> spiralling unit cost.
>
> Oh well, at least we're still building something.
>
> Dave
>

It seems like CVF is far enough along that at least one of them will
actually touch salt water, unlike the last CVA-01 QE and PoW, which is a
good thing. I really want to see those CVFs splitting water.

BAE has taken over a lot of US Navy efforts in the past few years. Several
former co-workers of mine are now working for BAE writing training for US
Navy gun mounts, manufactured by BAE subsidiaries here in the US.

This is related to TNE because spaceships are just alternate reality real
ships, and in the game we get to make sure they actually get "built"
instead of cancelled.

Dave

> Hi Dave,
>
> I work for a company in Gosport (near Portsmouth, UK) who do a lot of
> defence contract work for the likes of Thales, Honeywell & BAE. We've just
> finished the Combat Management System (electronics rack units) and Ops
> Room consoles for the first ship. The latter which I've been working on
> for the last ten months - project managing for six of them!
>
> The whole way defence contracts get fulfilled is bizarre, but Hey! at
> least it keeps us in work...:)
>
> --- In , dcndcn13@... wrote:
>>
>> Hey, Martin!
>>
>> Good for you! What are you working on? Or would you have to kill me?
>>
>> Is it just me or do other people note how dramatically ship-building has
>> turned into a bizarre work-sharing arrangement? Everything we build
>> nowadays, except maybe CVNs in Norfolk or DDGs in Bath, involves barging
>> big chunks of hull all over the place to preserve local jobs. This is
>> also
>> true in aviation, where chunks of Airbuses or 787s or F/A-18s get hauled
>> all over the place in outsize "Super Guppy-fied" 747s or Belugas
>> (actually
>> flat-bed trucks for the Super Hornets). Sure, it keeps manufacturing
>> jobs,
>> but I can't be the only one imagining how much this is contributing to
>> spiralling unit cost.
>>
>> Oh well, at least we're still building something.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>
>

Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing QE afloat, and visiting her at Portsmouth Navy Days 2017/18 (ish). All we need is Lockheed-Martin to keep the F-35 on schedule.

I feel submarines are closer to Traveller ships, much more constricted, unlike the expansive new generation of ships' interiors.

Martin.

--- In , dcndcn13@... wrote:
>
> It seems like CVF is far enough along that at least one of them will
> actually touch salt water, unlike the last CVA-01 QE and PoW, which is a
> good thing. I really want to see those CVFs splitting water.
>
> BAE has taken over a lot of US Navy efforts in the past few years. Several
> former co-workers of mine are now working for BAE writing training for US
> Navy gun mounts, manufactured by BAE subsidiaries here in the US.
>
> This is related to TNE because spaceships are just alternate reality real
> ships, and in the game we get to make sure they actually get "built"
> instead of cancelled.
>
> Dave
>

Well, if you're counting on JSF to be running to-spec, on-time, and
on-cost (which I know you have to be), you're Screwed! :-)

While the argument, "the Marines always get what they want," has a great
deal of validity, the simple physics that empty weight and Max take-off
weight of the F-35B are almost identical has to give pause. I liked the
idea of the RN returning to "real" carriers with cats, but also understand
that QE and PoW are too far along to make that economical in era when NO
ONE has any money.

But if you're depending on US DoD to do something right, well, best to
consider some fall-back positions. I'm just sayin'.

Seriously, while no one likes Bill Sweetman's regular commentaries in
AWAST, he is right on the money. We have painted ourselves into the corner
on this one, and all of NATO along with us. American procurement is
dead-flat broken.

Yes, this is still related to Traveller, but perhaps not as closely as
current naval affairs were related to Star Fleet Battles.

Dave

>
> Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing QE afloat, and visiting her at
> Portsmouth Navy Days 2017/18 (ish). All we need is Lockheed-Martin to keep
> the F-35 on schedule.
>
> I feel submarines are closer to Traveller ships, much more constricted,
> unlike the expansive new generation of ships' interiors.
>
> Martin.
>
> --- In , dcndcn13@... wrote:
>>
>> It seems like CVF is far enough along that at least one of them will
>> actually touch salt water, unlike the last CVA-01 QE and PoW, which is a
>> good thing. I really want to see those CVFs splitting water.
>>
>> BAE has taken over a lot of US Navy efforts in the past few years.
>> Several
>> former co-workers of mine are now working for BAE writing training for
>> US
>> Navy gun mounts, manufactured by BAE subsidiaries here in the US.
>>
>> This is related to TNE because spaceships are just alternate reality
>> real
>> ships, and in the game we get to make sure they actually get "built"
>> instead of cancelled.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>
>