Buoy/Garl, I think we both sing from pretty much the same hymn sheet in wondering just what the bloody hell went wrong.
This was a country which produced both heroes and engineers beyond measure. We proved the former in the extreme in the last major conflict, and the latter with the production of legends like the E.E. Lightning (Teddy Petter - what an unsung hero in the Mitchell mould) through to the awesome Harrier; an aircraft unrivalled and unsurpassed for 30 years by countries which had far more resources than ours. But then, they never had men like Fozard and Farley and others of such an ilk on the job.
TSR2? As an engineer, I made a hobby of researching that aircrafts design and projected capabilities a few years back while doing my degree, and was amazed at what those guys had managed to come up with back in the day. Visionary is not the word.
So what the hell happened? What went wrong? How did we end up knocking on the door of being a nuclear armed third world country with a Potempkin Economy (one that looks prosperous, but is built on debt) who can't even design an Olympic bloody logo correctly?
I have my opinions, but this isn't the place. Back to that bottle of wine
