Which aircraft are the BBC talking about?
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Which aircraft are the BBC talking about?
Wonder which fleet have the "malfunctioning" aircraft?
BBC News - James Blunt and Katherine Jenkins' Afghan gig cancelled
James Blunt and Katherine Jenkins have been forced to cancel performing for British troops in Afghanistan because of problems flying there.
The singers had been due to perform this week, but a malfunctioning RAF aircraft left them stranded in Cyprus.
Blunt tweeted they were just 30 minutes from the British base in Helmand province when their flight had to turn back because of a technical fault.
Discussions to re-schedule the stars' visit are under way.
"We have an air leak. It's become very cold on the aircraft. Only 30 mins short of Camp Bastion, but we're heading back to Cyprus," former army officer Blunt wrote.
Jenkins tweeted: "Sadly we tried again (to get to Afghanistan) ,but it's not going to happen. So sorry not to make it out to you but we really, really tried."
Personally I think 216 Sqn have saved us from a load of old rubbish!
BBC News - James Blunt and Katherine Jenkins' Afghan gig cancelled
James Blunt and Katherine Jenkins have been forced to cancel performing for British troops in Afghanistan because of problems flying there.
The singers had been due to perform this week, but a malfunctioning RAF aircraft left them stranded in Cyprus.
Blunt tweeted they were just 30 minutes from the British base in Helmand province when their flight had to turn back because of a technical fault.
Discussions to re-schedule the stars' visit are under way.
"We have an air leak. It's become very cold on the aircraft. Only 30 mins short of Camp Bastion, but we're heading back to Cyprus," former army officer Blunt wrote.
Jenkins tweeted: "Sadly we tried again (to get to Afghanistan) ,but it's not going to happen. So sorry not to make it out to you but we really, really tried."
Personally I think 216 Sqn have saved us from a load of old rubbish!
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I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
We have an air leak. It's become very cold on the aircraft. Only 30 mins short of Camp Bastion, but we're heading back to Cyprus," former army officer Blunt
Who can use personal mobiles in theatre?
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Mobile phones; everybody who isn't British Military uses them and anecdotal evidence suggests that quite a few members of the military ignore that rule anyway.
I think it's a shame, Katherine Jenkins is a honey and at least Blunt is making an effort.
I think it's a shame, Katherine Jenkins is a honey and at least Blunt is making an effort.
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... Katherine Jenkins is a honey and at least Blunt is making an effort.
ThimbleTastic Mate!
And fair play to JB too!
STH
The lovely Miss Jenkins certainly gets my vote. I saw her in concert last year, we had seats in row three and Mrs 1.3V said I didn't close my month for 2 hours!
What a sad indictment of the state of our equipment that we can't get KJ and JB into theatre to entertain the lads.
What a sad indictment of the state of our equipment that we can't get KJ and JB into theatre to entertain the lads.
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"We have an air leak. It's become very cold on the aircraft. Only 30 mins short of Camp Bastion, but we're heading back to Cyprus," former army officer Blunt wrote.
Top of descent into destination and its is 'very cold' in the aircraft so you turn back and fly ('very cold') for several more hours?? Don't think the story is quite right?
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Top of descent into destination and its is 'very cold' in the aircraft so you turn back and fly ('very cold') for several more hours?? Don't think the story is quite right?
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I'm sure the story isn't quite right.
Having flown with 216 into theatre several times I can hazard a guess why they turned back half an hour before landing and FWIW they I'm sure they made the right decision.
Edit: Not a dig BOAC please don't take it as such. Re-read post and it may seem to be but not intended.
Having flown with 216 into theatre several times I can hazard a guess why they turned back half an hour before landing and FWIW they I'm sure they made the right decision.
Edit: Not a dig BOAC please don't take it as such. Re-read post and it may seem to be but not intended.
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RedhillPhi
No disrespect intended to Susan Boyle, however, she is hardly a Barbie Doll. You only have to listen to her voice and see the success she has had to realise that you are talking cr@ap. 
Beagle thanks for posting that Video, it reminded me of the last time KJ got mentioned on the website
If she had the same voice but looked like a hippo in a dress would she have got anywhere?
Amazing how looking like a Barbie doll can make you famous.
Amazing how looking like a Barbie doll can make you famous.
Beagle thanks for posting that Video, it reminded me of the last time KJ got mentioned on the website
If JB got his mobile a roaming connection at x thousand feet feet above god knows where, then I'd like to move there. I cant hold a signal in the UK.
Personally I always appreciated any of the acts that came to remote places to entertain us. Makes life so much better.
And JB is actually quite a wag.
Personally I always appreciated any of the acts that came to remote places to entertain us. Makes life so much better.
And JB is actually quite a wag.
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Of course James and Katherine could tour South America and tell local TV stations that the Falklands shouldn't be British.
Purveyor of Egg Liqueur to Lucifer
Not only is he a 'celeb', but lets not forget that JB has actually done a bit more than the rest of the normal war dodging sofa huggers found here!!
James Blunt (Musician)
(James Hillier Blount)
b. 22 Feb 1974 d. -
British Army 1996- October 2002
Because the British Army sponsored his university education, Blunt was obliged to serve a minimum of four years in the armed forces. Blunt trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Life Guards, a unit of the Household Cavalry, where he rose to the rank of captain. One of his first assignments was to British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada, where his battalion was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army in combat training exercises.
In 1999, he served as an armoured reconnaissance officer in the NATO deployment in Kosovo. Initially assigned to reconnaissance of the Macedonia-Yugoslaviaborder, Blunt and his unit worked ahead of the front lines directing forces and targeting Serb positions for the NATO bombing campaign. His unit was given the assignment of securing the Pristina International Airport in advance of the 30,000-strong peacekeeping force; the Russian army had moved in and taken control of the airport before his unit's arrival. The confusion surrounding the taking of Pristina airfield in 1999 has been written about in political memoirs, and was widely reported at the time.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live broadcast Blunt recounted the following:
I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there. I was the lead officer with my troop of men behind us from the Parachute Regiment, so they're obviously game for the fight.
"The direct command [that] came in from Gen Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio." Asked if following the order would have risked starting World War III, Blunt, who was a 25-year-old cavalry officer at the time, replied: "Absolutely. And that's why we were querying our instruction from an American general.
"Fortunately, up on the radio came Gen Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III', and told us why don't we sugar off down the road, you know, encircle the airfield instead.
If Gen Jackson had not blocked the order from Gen Clark, who as Nato Supreme Commander Europe was his superior officer, Blunt said he would still have declined to follow it, even at the risk of a court martial.
He said: "There are things that you do along the way that you know are right, and those that you absolutely feel are wrong, that I think it's morally important to stand up against, and that sense of moral judgement is drilled into us as soldiers in the British army."
It was while on duty in Kosovo that he wrote his song "No Bravery". He also stood guard at the coffin of the Queen Mother during the days of her lying in State and was part of the funeral procession on April 9, 2002.
Celebrity Veterans - James Blunt, Captain, British Army 1997-2002
Even he admits his songs are a bit cheesy, but they're popular!
James Blunt (Musician)
(James Hillier Blount)
b. 22 Feb 1974 d. -
British Army 1996- October 2002
Because the British Army sponsored his university education, Blunt was obliged to serve a minimum of four years in the armed forces. Blunt trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Life Guards, a unit of the Household Cavalry, where he rose to the rank of captain. One of his first assignments was to British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada, where his battalion was posted for six months in 1998 to act as the opposing army in combat training exercises.
In 1999, he served as an armoured reconnaissance officer in the NATO deployment in Kosovo. Initially assigned to reconnaissance of the Macedonia-Yugoslaviaborder, Blunt and his unit worked ahead of the front lines directing forces and targeting Serb positions for the NATO bombing campaign. His unit was given the assignment of securing the Pristina International Airport in advance of the 30,000-strong peacekeeping force; the Russian army had moved in and taken control of the airport before his unit's arrival. The confusion surrounding the taking of Pristina airfield in 1999 has been written about in political memoirs, and was widely reported at the time.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live broadcast Blunt recounted the following:
I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there. I was the lead officer with my troop of men behind us from the Parachute Regiment, so they're obviously game for the fight.
"The direct command [that] came in from Gen Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio." Asked if following the order would have risked starting World War III, Blunt, who was a 25-year-old cavalry officer at the time, replied: "Absolutely. And that's why we were querying our instruction from an American general.
"Fortunately, up on the radio came Gen Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III', and told us why don't we sugar off down the road, you know, encircle the airfield instead.
If Gen Jackson had not blocked the order from Gen Clark, who as Nato Supreme Commander Europe was his superior officer, Blunt said he would still have declined to follow it, even at the risk of a court martial.
He said: "There are things that you do along the way that you know are right, and those that you absolutely feel are wrong, that I think it's morally important to stand up against, and that sense of moral judgement is drilled into us as soldiers in the British army."
It was while on duty in Kosovo that he wrote his song "No Bravery". He also stood guard at the coffin of the Queen Mother during the days of her lying in State and was part of the funeral procession on April 9, 2002.
Celebrity Veterans - James Blunt, Captain, British Army 1997-2002
Even he admits his songs are a bit cheesy, but they're popular!