pacman

I've just been talking with a senior pilot who shared his theory of what he thinks may have happened. He thinks there was either a "smoke" event (a fire in the electrics of the plane) or a de-pressurisation of the aircraft. Assuming it happened at cruising altitude he said the pilots had about 20 seconds to do something before they lost consciousness. If the oxygen masks had dropped down there wouldn't be the rush but it's possible they didn't or the oxygen bottles may have been empty or the valve was switched off. He said all of those scenarios are possible. He said on a 777 they have to switch off the transponder in order to punch in one of three codes which cover a hi-jacking or a malfunction or some catastrophic event. I think that's the three options he mentioned, he thinks between switching off the transponder & punching in the code, they have passed out. The plane was set to level out at the new altitude they put into the controls when they discovered the problem & would have continued flying until it ran out of fuel. The problem for me with the theory of the plane being hi-jacked is one presumes the hi-jackers would have wanted to land somewhere. No one on the plane wanted to die, what's the point of hi-jacking the plane only to crash it? And if they wanted to fly some place, they would do it at cruising altitude not 45,000 feet lower where they would burn up too much fuel. This plane only descended because there was a reason such as de-pressurisation or a "smoke" event, it never ascended again because by then no one was flying it. My friend's theory covers all the inexplicable stuff & I will wager he has got it right.

Curiouser & curiouser:

Thanks for the logic tip, I think I have it. This isn't a military question at all, the trick is in the wording. There were no more or less soldiers shot in the head but instead of dying, they sustained head wounds. With the cloth cap there were less head wounds because more of them died. Give them a helmet & less of them died but there were more soldiers needing treatment for head wounds. I'm sure that's it....

It was a long time ago I saw the answer & all I can remember it was something quite silly & obvious. Was it because the helmets were more visible & made a better target?

This came up on a program I was watching, maybe we saw the same show? I vaguely recall it was because a bullet hitting the helmet caused the head to injure itself when it banged into the other side of the helmet. Because the helmet wasn't a tight fit the head was thrown around inside it. Am I close?

You have three questions running, it isn't clear to which of them you are referring. To be clear - you want the original name of the plane; what it was the first to do & where is it now. I'll have another stab - 1) Spirit of Washington 2) First to carry more than 300 passengers 3) It's on display in Everett How'd I go this time......... ?

What was its original name? No idea.... Air Force One? What was it the first to do? Hmmm.... fly non stop across the Pacific? Fly around the world? Make some inaugural flight to somewhere? Where is it now? At the aeroplane graveyard somewhere in the US desert? Somewhere XYZZZYX doesn't like? At the Boeing factory?

Elephant..... pachyderm..... jumbo.... is it a 747?

It's either a travelling circus or it's something very large. Is it the world's longest locomotive?

Maybe a submarine?

Cities are not referred to as "IT", they don't DO anything & they don't move location. What you are referring to is something that has been named "The City of Everett". It must be a space shuttle or a warship or something like that.

Living in the skin cancer capital of the world I avoid the sun these days. As a youngster I spent summer on the beach taking pride in the bronzed colour I turned every year. Today I have friends who have to get skin cancers burnt off their face every 3 months. Everyone I know has had skin cancers cut off, I have had about 12 removed & I am overdue another check up. Many of the old guys I know are getting their heads slowly cut away, each year another part of their ear or nose or skin is being removed in an effort to keep skin cancer at bay. The only people I see here today who have that deep burnt skin colour are tourists who flock to the beach. Most of them are English, they love the sun & we try to help them in any way possible. A free bus service is provided for all Poms going to the beach...

The officer who reported the plane was near the Straits of Malacca is now denying it. He has obviously been told to recant his story, why else would he say it only to say he didn't mean to? Sandilands is right in saying the Malaysians know more than they are letting on. This is supported by the angry reaction of the Chinese at the news being released, what are they upset about? It seems it is something other than the use of illegal passports. If the plane has flown 100's of miles off course it may take years to find it. This is really bizarre, I hope we discover what happened sooner than later.

First one is correct as already established. The "mother of the next most important monarch in British history" was Anne Boleyn. Anne's daughter was Elizabeth, soon to become Elizabeth I. Henry's other daughter was Mary Queen of Scots who finished up being executed by Elizabeth. You are correct that Jane Seymour was the mother of the next king though. Her son Edward inherited the throne at the age of 9 but he died at 15. The last one I can concede on the basis it was an unanswerable question. Jane Seymour is the only one of the six wives to be buried alongside Henry which can be taken as a sign of his affections but how can we ever know? The answer I was after having read it in a biography was Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife. Now I can't find the text & considering it was speculation based on stories from the 16th century any wife would do. Any apart from Anne of Cleves that is. Her marriage was never consummated, quite an indictment considering Henry wanted to stick his dick in anything that took his fancy.

But it wasn't posted there so the *joke* would have been lost. Not much of a joke but I couldn't resist. The correct answer is the Straits of Gibraltar, a fact I have carried around in my head most my life.

Umm..... Nancy & Longmint?

Cuba?

Yes you are correct Jim. I referred to the western supporters of Soviet communism as "Trotskyites" because that's what the media refers to them as. So when I write about those followers whose illusions were shattered following the revelations about the USSR I used the same name. I know Trotsky had an ice pick put through his head in Mexico so I knew his writings put him offside with the Soviets but in choosing an appropriate epithet I still went with "Trotskyites" despite all the differences. I can't recall hearing the term "Stalinist" to describe members of our Communist Party but I'm sure you're right. Here they were simply referred to as Communists. I wonder if there's anyone in the west today who identifies himself as a Stalinist? Even Putin would get a laugh out of that.

What? It has to be somewhere around the Ancient Greek civilisations with a name like that. It can't be the Americas, Asia or Africa, it isn't any of the Polynesian Islands or Australia or New Zealand. I think this is a trick question if Macedonia isn't close. Another clue please RT67.

Ahh sarcasm! From the ancient Greek "to tear the flesh". Sorry I missed it, perhaps it's Canadian style sarcasm, i.e: sarcasm-lite. (A little sarcasm there of my own... ) There's nothing to be pissed off about, no one is going to do anything & the Crimeans appear to want to re-join Russia, I would think it's a fait accompli. The Europeans won't say anything, neither will the UK. Putin has threatened to cut off their gas if they interfere. I doubt the US will do more than speak loudly plus there is feeling among the Russians that Obama lacks balls. I believe the Chinese are lending support because they want to see how far the US will go. It's just another game of bluff played out with big stakes. And Russia wouldn't be in this position if Yeltsin hadn't got drunk during the negotiations following the break up of the USSR & mistakenly handed over Crimea to the Ukraine. Remember that the next time you wake with a hangover. You might have lost a girl's phone number, Boris woke up & found he had given away his country's southern seaport. Bet that made him popular in the Duma...

Correct sir. Henry despatched the famous portrait painter Hans Holbein for her portrait so he didn't get caught with an unattractive wife. Based on the paintings he agreed to go ahead with the marriage. He never counted on Holbein being sympathetic to Anne & making her look far better than she did. Nothing changes, today they do it in Photoshop.

Well done TC. I had three of your picks plus Catherine Parr, I forgot Anne of Cleves & Catherine Howard. I'm cross with myself because many years ago this question came up in a quiz & I resolved to remember their names. I didn't think it would take 30+ years for the question to come up again. And when it did the old grey cells failed me... What a life Henry lived! Six wives at a time when marriage was for life. And what a fantastic bonus he left the world thanks to his voracious appetite for women. i.e. he broke the hold of the Catholic Church over every aspect of life with the establishment of the Anglican Church. Without that the Pope would still be the most powerful man alive today & things like the internet would never be allowed under their watchful eye. Three questions about the above list: 1) Which wife is he reported to have loved the most? 2) Who was the ugly one? 3) Who was the mother of the next most important monarch in British history?

So glad he's good at maths, he's obviously not much of a speller....

Many old Trotskyites are still upset by their discovery that Soviet Communism was not Nirvana & was simply a front for a Totalitarian system of government run by thugs. Those old Commos rarely ever speak about their dreams due to their shame at having been deceived for most of their life. Here in Australia our war effort during the Second World War was actively undermined by Communist Union leaders who thought they were laying the groundwork for the Russian takeover they truly believed was coming after the war was "officially" over. There's a new book been published here that reveals the extent of their actions & many of the servicemen affected are still alive today & are very angry. All those pro-Russian supporters back then had been completely brainwashed. Stalin found it highly amusing that free westerners were stupid enough to rally in support of his regime. While he couldn't fathom their mindset, he did coin a perfect name for them, he called them "useful idiots". Sam, always be careful when posting under the influence...

For those who have visited often it must be common. I don't like the aggressive behaviour at all & I can only imagine how bad it is now that the Thais are killing their tourism industry with the current political impasse that's going on in Bangkok.