Sunday, August 30, 2009
Not your burnt out stolen car!
Here in the UK quite often in the countryside you come across a burnt out car. This car is generally found off the road and on grass. These cars are either destroyed because of insurance fraud or by criminal joyriders getting rid of their DNA from a stolen car. These grassy areas like Plymouth Great Woods in the Ely Valley of Cardiff, are often near council housing estates. When I walk my dog through Plymouth Great Woods and down to the Ely River I am surprised how many burnt out cars I find. Our council recovers these wrecks but before long other burnt out cars appear in their place. It is a continuing problem that has gone on for years. We have a regular Police helicopter that fly's overhead in an effort to catch the joyriders. So frequent are the helicopter flights that residents in my parents sheltered housing complex call it the Ely-Copter. Most stolen cars have a value of less than £2,000 - so the cost is big to the owner but small fry to the retail car business. To see £2,000 go up in flames is like a garden fire. Now, let's jump a few thousand miles and put the "vehicle" up to £40 million and rather than set it on fire, simply blow it up with explosives!...
...British Chinook helicopter destroyed in Afghanistan following crash. Nato forces in Afghanistan have been forced to destroy a crashed British Chinook helicopter to keep it out of the hands of the Taliban for the second time in 10 days. None of the 15 soldiers and four crew on board was injured in the crash, described as a “hard landing,” which is not thought to have been caused by enemy action.
But the £40 million Chinook sustained damage to its undercarriage, nose and front rotor, making it unflyable, and a decision was taken that it could not be recovered safely. Rather than leaving it for Taliban forces to obtain, the helicopter was destroyed using explosives. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said that the decision to destroy rather than retrieve the aircraft was taken due to the difficult terrain and poor security situation around Sangin, where a number of British troops have lost their lives in recent weeks...
...Well, that is £40 million of UK taxpayers money simply blown up in a war in a country we invaded that was no threat to us. What a waste of our money, blown to bits rather than risk a Taliban fitter rob it for spare parts! Now, this breakdown should not have happened, I wonder what actually went wrong. I suppose the crew did their first use checks and found that the workshop had not resolved the defects that were previously reported. Next thing, the helicopter makes a hard landing! Oh well, it is the same the world over. What happens if a Bova Futura crashes because the gearbox brake retarder was not working? Oh, I suppose we could set fire to it at Parc Nantgarw !
Here in the UK quite often in the countryside you come across a burnt out car. This car is generally found off the road and on grass. These cars are either destroyed because of insurance fraud or by criminal joyriders getting rid of their DNA from a stolen car. These grassy areas like Plymouth Great Woods in the Ely Valley of Cardiff, are often near council housing estates. When I walk my dog through Plymouth Great Woods and down to the Ely River I am surprised how many burnt out cars I find. Our council recovers these wrecks but before long other burnt out cars appear in their place. It is a continuing problem that has gone on for years. We have a regular Police helicopter that fly's overhead in an effort to catch the joyriders. So frequent are the helicopter flights that residents in my parents sheltered housing complex call it the Ely-Copter. Most stolen cars have a value of less than £2,000 - so the cost is big to the owner but small fry to the retail car business. To see £2,000 go up in flames is like a garden fire. Now, let's jump a few thousand miles and put the "vehicle" up to £40 million and rather than set it on fire, simply blow it up with explosives!...
...British Chinook helicopter destroyed in Afghanistan following crash. Nato forces in Afghanistan have been forced to destroy a crashed British Chinook helicopter to keep it out of the hands of the Taliban for the second time in 10 days. None of the 15 soldiers and four crew on board was injured in the crash, described as a “hard landing,” which is not thought to have been caused by enemy action.
But the £40 million Chinook sustained damage to its undercarriage, nose and front rotor, making it unflyable, and a decision was taken that it could not be recovered safely. Rather than leaving it for Taliban forces to obtain, the helicopter was destroyed using explosives. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said that the decision to destroy rather than retrieve the aircraft was taken due to the difficult terrain and poor security situation around Sangin, where a number of British troops have lost their lives in recent weeks...
...Well, that is £40 million of UK taxpayers money simply blown up in a war in a country we invaded that was no threat to us. What a waste of our money, blown to bits rather than risk a Taliban fitter rob it for spare parts! Now, this breakdown should not have happened, I wonder what actually went wrong. I suppose the crew did their first use checks and found that the workshop had not resolved the defects that were previously reported. Next thing, the helicopter makes a hard landing! Oh well, it is the same the world over. What happens if a Bova Futura crashes because the gearbox brake retarder was not working? Oh, I suppose we could set fire to it at Parc Nantgarw !
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