Bit disappointed to see that the French and Japanese are to work together on the descendent of Concorde

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4094810.stm

Hope it'll be as fab looking as the original - going at Mach 5 rather than Mach 2 it'll surely be a beauty :thumbsup:

No doubt the French can only afford such a venture due to the massive subsidies we pay them each year through Europe.

(angry political rant, yadda, yadda)

More likely the chronic short-sightedness of the country in general. As a researcher myself (different area) I can see how research is more and more being farmed out to PhD students who can be had for a pittance with no-one spending money on any long term research

(end of more realistic rant!)

Originally posted by evildrneil
More likely the chronic short-sightedness of the country in general. As a researcher myself (different area) I can see how research is more and more being farmed out to PhD students who can be had for a pittance with no-one spending money on any long term research

(end of more realistic rant!)

Let's face it. £1,100,000 a year for 3 years isn't a lot of money to spend on research into a Mach 5 aircraft. I think it's just a bit of publicity seeking on both governemnts part.

why the french? :? from what I understand french engineers suck! sure the Japanese, they make some great advancements in technology... but I cant see why were not involved... we have some of the best engineers in the world... although granted a lot of our expertise seems to be more in civil engineering these days

The Japanese have already tested their engines which they claim will reach speeds of 5 times the speed of sound, they are great engineers.

the government should have subsidised B.A to continue using concorde

Its probably because although Concorde was a great engineering success, it was a financial disaster (like Eurotunnel). With the advent of the European Airbus and also the new Boeings, we have probably judged that there is no viable market for it.

Originally posted by Deavon
No doubt the French can only afford such a venture due to the massive subsidies we pay them each year through Europe.

(angry political rant, yadda, yadda) or probably with the money they get by selling weaponry, like exocet missiles ...

Originally posted by xafier
why the french? :? from what I understand french engineers suck! sure the Japanese, they make some great advancements in technology... but I cant see why were not involved... we have some of the best engineers in the world... although granted a lot of our expertise seems to be more in civil engineering these days I'm sure the french who have their own rocket launch site in French Guyana and their satellite launches wouldn't agree.
Patriotically called Fusée Arianne.

and also the fact thatOriginally posted by Hal9001
Let's face it. £1,100,000 a year for 3 years isn't a lot of money to spend on research into a Mach 5 aircraft. I think it's just a bit of publicity seeking on both governemnts part. indeed ...

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
or probably with the money they get by selling weaponry, like exocet missiles ...

From the GPF:

Excluding small arms, the United Kingdom was the second largest exporter of weapons at $4.7 billion in 2002; Russia followed at $3.1 billion; France at $1.8 billion; and China at $800 million rounded out the top five.

Currently the UK sells as much in arms to Africa alone as France sold in total in the 2002 survey - make you proud doesn't it!