>Incidentally, only the English speaking world called it Concordski,
>the French called it Concordska, which is surely more appropriate -
>most aeroplanes have female personalities
I have a vague recollection that I read somewhere that the norm in Russia is to regard things as masculine rather than, as we do, feminine. So while an English person would typically boast about (say) a boat in the form "She's very easy to sail", someone from further east would say "He".
David C

dscartwright, perhaps you have your wires a little crossed. One of the great things about Russian is that they very often do without personal pronouns. So where we'd say "the aeroplane is easy to fly", or "it's easy to fly" - In Russian it just becomes "aeroplane is easy to fly" :) The rest though, is a nightmare

Sorry, Genghis and all !

The French always called it Concordski (occasionally spelled Konkordski), never Concordska.

I should know, having lived in France long enough, and having worked on Concorde. Those who don't believe me should check André Turcat's book.
Secondly, it's only the English speaking world that refers to an aircraft as "she".
In French "l'avion" is masculine, so in French you would have "F-WTSS was the first prototype ; he flew (il a volé) for the first time on 3 March 1969", while in English it would be "G-BSST was the British prototype. She flew for the first time on 9 April 1969".


So, are the French Concordes boys, and the British Concordes girls?
And what were they up to when our backs were turned? To find out, you will have to wait for the publication of "Concorde, the Intimate Story"....