Hail The Hercules
The title of this post was used on the front page to indicate an article in the Meccano Magazine about the arrival of the Lockheed Hercules in the mid-1950s.
The Wikipedia entry for the Hercules, starts with this sentence.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac, and cargo transport aircraft.
The aircraft first flew in 1954 and nearly seventy years later they are still doing the same operations, they were designed for, with various reports of Hercules flying to the remote Wadi Seidna airstrip in Sudan.
This Google Map shows the airstrip.
Note.
- There appears to be two runways and some form of operational building or terminal.
- The River Nile is at the East of the map.
It looks like an airfield, where Hercules are intended to be used, even in circumstances, where severe damage has been inflicted to the runway.
When Metier Management Systems and Artemis were sold to Lockheed, I had several conversations with senior people and the company was and probably still is rightly proud of its long-lived design.
Beware of Bulls
I’ve not heard of this quote before.
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person, is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.
It is from the American writer, Dennis Wholey, and is used in a leader in today’s Times, about Khalil Rasjed Dale. The leader says that the Red Cross were right to not pay a ransome.
The paper has two other stories of ransoms in Islamic-controlled territory.
One concerns a holidaymaker, Steven McGowan, held with others in Mali and reported being ransomed in exchange for allowing Abu Qatata to go anywhere he wants.
The other concerns a British mine clearing expert, Chris Fielding, on a UN mission, held with others in Khartoum.
Islam is losing all respect among many people for not imposing Islamic values on thugs, who see Westerners as easy money.
There is also another story about Lloyds of London backing a private force that will act against Somali pirates.
And politicians in the UK and Europe, wonder why people vote for the far-right like the BNP in the UK and the Front Nationale in France.
The Anonymous Widower 