A monkey in an apes world. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
United Kingdom
Joined August 2010
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It has been suggested that the Bristol Aeroplane Company didn’t make interesting planes, which I find sacrilegious.
So it started with the Boxkite Britain’s first mass produced aircraft, used to train the majority of British WW2 pilots and prove aircraft’s worth in war.
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And both of these have strong Bristol links!
I can’t help but notice some Americans are using Tesla demoing a shell concept car hopping for two seconds as some kind of global claim of technical superiority.
Well…
Thrust-based vertical manoeuvring? Developed in Britain in 1957, culminating in the Harrier Jump Jet, with the P.1127 making its first hover in 1960.
And the upside-down car stuff? That’s fan-generated downforce, already demonstrated by British car company McMurtry with its electric Spéirling, which has been destroying track records around the world for the last few years using that exact technology.
So let’s not confuse demonstrating an existing engineering principle for the first time in a Tesla prototype to inventing the underlying technology. And the difference is, both the Harrier and McMurtry are real world products, not vastly adapted prototypes designed for a single demonstration.
Rule Britannia, spiffing stuff boys and all that. 🇬🇧
BristOli retweeted
1/x Two of the best-known coats on any high street began as working kit for sailors on cold decks. Both carry names from my little corner of the North Sea: Duffel, a small town near Antwerp, and the Dutch word "pij". The story of the duffel coat and the peacoat. #maritimehistory
ALT A Royal Navy sailor on watch in a duffle coat and steel helmet, with binoculars, beside a quadruple .5-inch anti-aircraft machine gun, 1942 (Royal Navy official photographer, IWM TR 100). Public domain. Link:
BristOli retweeted
Across Bristol you will find examples of this distinct logo. Named “Bristol Scroll”, it was first used in a 1910 pamphlet for the Bristol & Colonial Aeroplane Company and later adopted by Bristol Tramways and the city’s buses before being used throughout the city.
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BristOli retweeted
Die Mimik der Tethys ("The Facial Expressions of Tethys") by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
BristOli retweeted
The River Trym (from Anglo-Saxon “strong”) begins near Filton and winds for 4 1/2 miles through Bristol before reaching the Avon at Sea Mills. Much of its course through residential areas is culverted underground but sections can be spotted such as here in Westbury-on-Trym.
BristOli retweeted
Check this out you ✈️🚁 nerds!
This dude put together a website with airplanes and helicopters on display across the world, it’s pretty awesome.
🎥 planeindex
Link 👇
BristOli retweeted
If we’re going to build suburbs, let’s build them like this!
Brabazon on the outskirts of Bristol has a density of 75 homes per hectare, triple the usual. It was originally planned for 2,000 homes but will now see 6,500 built
There’s start up offices, parks, trees, a lake…
BristOli retweeted
So Bristol Docks is the place to be right now. There’s boats, cranes, miniature models and trains all on the go. This is so exciting
BristOli retweeted
I keep reading factually incorrect comments like this (sorry to pick you out Stephen, but you’re one of many) from those who believe our car industry is no longer significant.
Last year the U.K. car industry built 764,715 cars, of which 555,826 were exported and the industry employs 860,000 people.
Yes some are foreign owned, but we should not underestimate how valuable the sector is, including for our national security as the engineers & factories can be repurposed if required.
Then there’s motorsport, with most of the F1 teams based here and a significant motorsport valley built around them.
Let’s not underestimate the value in all of the above.
BristOli retweeted
The military SR.N3 hovercraft, which was trialled throughout the early 1960s, but never entered operational service.
Powered by four Bristol-Siddeley Gnome gas turbine engines it could reach speeds of up to 70 kts... however it ended up being used for live target practice!😭
BristOli retweeted
Mr Lock-Up himself Roger Dudding talking about Tony Crook of Bristol Cars @bristolowners
BristOli retweeted
From its first flight in July 1939 to 20 years later as a target tug, the very versatile Bristol Beaufighter didn't change its form or layout, unlike many of its contemporaries.
A nightfighter and torpedo/missile attack, were just two of its successful wartime roles.
BristOli retweeted
Quick reminder.
During World War II, the @RNLI routinely launched into hazardous waters to rescue downed German 🇩🇪 pilots, strictly upholding their mission to save any life at sea regardless of nation or cause.
Between 1939 and 1945, RNLI volunteer crews saved over 6,300 lives, including hundreds of enemy airmen and sailors.
Humanity always came first 🌊⚓
BristOli retweeted
From 2012 -2020, Bristol had its own currency.
The Bristol Pound was created to help support local business & keep money circulating in the area.
It became the most popular alternative currency in the UK and mayor George Ferguson received his entire salary in Bristol Pounds.
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BristOli retweeted
🕊 The missing Twin Towers returned to New York for a few minutes
A light show was held on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The drones first rose into the night sky in a spiral, then formed the outlines of the destroyed World Trade Center towers.
The installation used 2,977 drones — one for each person killed in the attacks.
BristOli retweeted
This is Rick Rescorla. He died 25 years ago today, when the South Tower of the World Trade Centre collapsed following a terrorist attack. His actions that day saved thousands of lives and today schoolchildren in Cornwall will take part in a parade in his honour.
