When I came to the States to live in 1987 I was full of the typical British "we invented this, that and the other" kind of attitude and I remain intensely proud of what has been achieved by the British but what truely matters in the end is what you do with it once you have invented it. (I worked on the VC10, BAC1-11, Tornado, Viscount (all as mature programs of course) and there truely is no better looking airliner than the VC10 IMHO! ).
That is where the British entrepreneur (sp?) / scientists / development engineers have been let down, either by the government of the time or a general lack of drive, which would appear to me now, to be linked to the typical attitude bred into most of us working class lads that perhaps we shouldnt strive above our station in life. I still feel that if you strive to succed in the UK you generally get looked down upon wheras in the States you are encourage.
Take a look for a book called - Project Cancelled: Disaster of Britain's Abandoned Aircraft Projects by Derek Wood that should be enough to induce tears.....
Before I ignite a firestorm, I appreciate these are sweeping generalities. I moved to the USA because as an engineer in the UK my future didnt look too good after good old Maggie!
I do allow myself to regress occasionally since you cant beat a pint of Theakstons Old Peculiar nor a decent slab of real Cheddar
Both at extreme cost!
Light blue touchpaper and quickly retire to a safe distance.........