Interesting little facts...

[Taipan]

James Bond has his martini shaken not stirred, because when you stir a martini the drink contents mix. When you shake them the water from the ice sits on top of the alcohol, so he sits there sipping water and not getting drunk. Super Spy!

[gremlin]

James Bond has his martini shaken not stirred, because when you stir a martini the drink contents mix. When you shake them the water from the ice sits on top of the alcohol, so he sits there sipping water and not getting drunk. Super Spy!

Bond's top tipple is actually Scotch. Somebody, presumably with nothing better to do, went through all the novels and counted what he drank. Scotch came top, followed by champagne. The Martini came a poor third.

[Taipan]

Beatrice Shilling OBE (8 March 1909 – 18 November 1990)[1] was a British aeronautical engineer, motorcycle racer and sports car racer. In 1949, Shilling was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

As a motorcycle racer Shilling was one of only three women to receive the British Motorcycle Racing Club Gold Star for lapping the Brooklands circuit at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) on a motorcycle. In sports car racing, she scored several podium finishes at the Goodwood Circuit Members' Meetings

The RAE Restrictor

During the Battle of France and Battle of Britain in 1940, RAF pilots discovered a serious problem in fighter planes with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, such as the Hurricane and Spitfire. When the plane went nose-down to begin a dive the resulting negative g-force would flood the engine's SU carburettor, causing the engine to stall. German fighters used fuel injection engines which avoided this problem. So in action a German fighter could evade a pursuing RAF fighter by flying a negative g manoeuvre which the RAF plane could not follow.[8]

Shilling devised a restrictor plate to solve this problem. It was a brass thimble with a hole in the middle (later further simplified to a flat washer), which could be fitted into the engine's carburettor without taking the aircraft out of service. The restrictor limited maximum fuel flow and prevented flooding. By March 1941 she had led a small team on a tour of RAF fighter stations, installing the devices in their Merlin engines. The restrictor was immensely popular with pilots and the device was nicknamed Miss Shilling's orifice (an inaccurate nickname, since Shilling was married three years prior and therefore her legal name was "Mrs Naylor") by Sir Stanley Hooker, the engineer who led supercharger development at Rolls-Royce at the time.[9] It continued in use as a stop-gap until the introduction of the pressure carburettor in 1943.[10]

Shilling went on to design the RAE-Hobson injection carburettor which overcame the problem of the Rolls-Royce Merlin aeroplane engines losing power during negative-g manoeuvres. Shilling also worked on the Blue Streak missile, researched the effect of a wet runway upon braking, and helped design and build a bobsled for the Royal Air Force's Olympic team.

[ZRX61]

Beatrice Shilling OBE (8 March 1909 – 18 November 1990)[1] was a British aeronautical engineer, motorcycle racer and sports car racer. In 1949, Shilling was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

As a motorcycle racer Shilling was one of only three women to receive the British Motorcycle Racing Club Gold Star for lapping the Brooklands circuit at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) on a motorcycle. In sports car racing, she scored several podium finishes at the Goodwood Circuit Members' Meetings

The RAE Restrictor

During the Battle of France and Battle of Britain in 1940, RAF pilots discovered a serious problem in fighter planes with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, such as the Hurricane and Spitfire. When the plane went nose-down to begin a dive the resulting negative g-force would flood the engine's SU carburettor, causing the engine to stall. German fighters used fuel injection engines which avoided this problem. So in action a German fighter could evade a pursuing RAF fighter by flying a negative g manoeuvre which the RAF plane could not follow.[8]

Shilling devised a restrictor plate to solve this problem. It was a brass thimble with a hole in the middle (later further simplified to a flat washer), which could be fitted into the engine's carburettor without taking the aircraft out of service. The restrictor limited maximum fuel flow and prevented flooding. By March 1941 she had led a small team on a tour of RAF fighter stations, installing the devices in their Merlin engines. The restrictor was immensely popular with pilots and the device was nicknamed Miss Shilling's orifice (an inaccurate nickname, since Shilling was married three years prior and therefore her legal name was "Mrs Naylor") by Sir Stanley Hooker, the engineer who led supercharger development at Rolls-Royce at the time.[9] It continued in use as a stop-gap until the introduction of the pressure carburettor in 1943.[10]

Shilling went on to design the RAE-Hobson injection carburettor which overcame the problem of the Rolls-Royce Merlin aeroplane engines losing power during negative-g manoeuvres. Shilling also worked on the Blue Streak missile, researched the effect of a wet runway upon braking, and helped design and build a bobsled for the Royal Air Force's Olympic team.

His biog should be on everyone's reading list.

[Felix]

Cozy Powell's Dance with the Devil had Suzi Quatro on base.

[McSatan]

If you punch a monkey hard enough it will whistle.

[Taipan]

The village that is further from the sea than any other human settlement in the UK is Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire. One kilometre south-east is Church Flatts Farm, which is 113km (70 miles) from the nearest point on the coast, or 72km (45 miles) from the nearest tidal water.

[ChrisW]

Edinburgh is further West than Cardiff.

[Cousin Jack]

Lands End is NOT the most western point on the mainland of Great Britain, that is Ardmurchan Point up in Scotchland.

[JackyJoll]

Lands End is NOT the most western point on the mainland of Great Britain

I’ve never heard anyone say it is.

that is Ardmurchan Point up in Scotchland

The general consensus is it’s a place called Ardnamurchan.

[cheb]

Lands End is NOT the most western point on the mainland of Great Britain

I’ve never heard anyone say it is.

that is Ardmurchan Point up in Scotchland

The general consensus is it’s a place called Ardnamurchan.

My secondary school geography did. Well, you might not have heard him but I did.

[JackyJoll]

Lands End is NOT the most western point on the mainland of Great Britain

I’ve never heard anyone say it is.

that is Ardmurchan Point up in Scotchland

The general consensus is it’s a place called Ardnamurchan.

My secondary school geography did. Well, you might not have heard him but I did.

I wonder if I knew your geography teacher. Did he have a beard and a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches?

[Cousin Jack]

that is Ardmurchan Point up in Scotchland

The general consensus is it’s a place called Ardnamurchan.

My bad, my spelling is not good at the best of times, and Scottish place names are way beyond my competence.

[Taipan]

Lands End is NOT the most western point on the mainland of Great Britain

I’ve never heard anyone say it is.

that is Ardmurchan Point up in Scotchland

The general consensus is it’s a place called Ardnamurchan.

My secondary school geography did. Well, you might not have heard him but I did.

Mine too!

[Mr. Dazzle]

Pretty sure I heard it from a sign at Lands End

[Rockburner]

I’ve never heard anyone say it is.





The general consensus is it’s a place called Ardnamurchan.

My secondary school geography did. Well, you might not have heard him but I did.

I wonder if I knew your geography teacher. Did he have a beard and a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches?

Didn't they all?

[JackyJoll]

Pretty sure I heard it from a sign at Lands End

It could be furthest west in E&W.

Or not, who knows!

[Buckaroo]

Interesting fact.

As I get older not only do I realise that I'm invisible to anyone under 25, I also have come to the conclusion that I know fuck all!

Fact...... I know nothing that anyone under 25 is interested in

[JackyJoll]

I realise that I'm invisible to anyone under 25

Who said that?

[ZRX61]

Edinburgh is further West than Cardiff.

Reno Nevada is further West than Los Angeles.