I know you got soul: machines with that certain something (23 page)

The
Yamato
had 141 anti-aircraft guns. But these were an
amuse-bouche
compared to her main 18-inch weapons, which were simply humungous. Each one could fire a 1.3-ton shell 25 miles.Yup, that’s right. 1.3 tons and 25 miles. And she had nine of them.

The battleship had to be fast, supremely well armoured and fitted with massive guns. No more pea-shooters for close-range stuff. Just lots and lots of monsters.

The fact is simple.The Spitfire looked good. It was every bit as dashing as the young men who flew it, and in flight it was as graceful as any bird. Its progress through the sky seemed effortless, as though it was simply riding the breeze and its Merlin engine was only there to provide a suitable soundtrack.

It may have been hard to create the Spitfire but the finished product was demonstrably better than anything the Nazis sent our way. In essence, the Spit could climb, turn and fly faster than a Messerschmitt. More importantly, when an Me109 reached its ceiling the Spit had 3,000 feet in hand. And height, in a dogfight, is everything.

Possibly, just possibly, the Spitfire is the greatest machine ever made.

Affleck, Ben,
45

Afghanistan, military radio traffic,
84

Agnelli, Gianni,
33

Agutter, Jenny,
118

Airbus,
97

aircraft carriers,
151
,
220

accommodation on,
154
,
161

flotilla,
156

landing on,
153

size,
155
,
156
,
157
,
158

steam catapult,
154
,
160
–61

taking off from,
160

airfields

requirements,
46

wartime expansion,
52

Air France,
11

airships.
See also
Zeppelin airships

long-haul flight,
113
,
114
–17

silence,
114

used in advertising,
113
,
116

air traffic control, communications,
88
,
89

air travel

in business,
16

cost,
8
,
16
,
53
,
94

discomfort,
115

early,
110
,
111

holidays,
16

safety,
93

AK47 machine gun,
101
–5

design defects,
102

power,
104

simplicity,
103

street cred,
105
–6

Albert, Prince Consort,
69

Alcock, John,
43
–4

Alfa Romeo
166

driving experience,
166

front-wheel drive,
162
,
163

sales,
163
–4

styling,
165
–6

Alfa Romeo company, management,
164
–5

Allen, Andy,
193

Arctic
, SS,
60
–62,
64

Argentina, Falklands War,
185
–6

Ark Royal
, HMS,
212

Arthur, satellite dish,
82
–5

Aston Martin DB7 car,
26
,
123

astronauts,
187

problems,
193
–4

Atlantic
, SS,
62
–4

Atlantic Ocean

crossing time,
59

dangers,
55
–7,
58
–61

atmosphere, supersonic flight and,
7
–8

atmospheric railways,
74

Australia, space debris,
78

BA, Concorde flights,
11
,
12
,
13
,
14

Bacon, Francis,
123

Bahrain, Concorde flights,
11

Barbados, Concorde flight plan,
5

Bardot, Brigitte,
32

Barry, John,
31

Battle of Britain (1940–41),
229
,
230
,
233

battleships

armour,
204
,
205
,
209

British,
206
–10,
220

cost,
219

design,
204
–5

German,
206
,
208
–9,
210
–16

Japanese,
216
–20

prestige,
205

role,
214
,
220

tactics,
206
–10

B-52 bomber,
128
,
130
–37

accuracy,
134

conventional arms,
133
–7

design,
129
,
130

length of service,
130

nuclear bombs,
126
,
131
–3,
133

safety,
132
–4

scrapping,
127

size,
130

Belgrano
, sinking,
185
–6

Benn, Tony,
6

Beretta family,
29

Bismarck
, KMS,
210
–13

Black, Cilla,
105

Blackbird.
See
SR-71 (‘Blackbird’) spy planes

Blake’s Seven
(TV series),
35

BMW cars,
20
–21

5-series,
162
,
163

i-Drive computer,
22

Boeing 314 flying boat,
47
,
48

Boeing 747 plane,
3
,
9

development problems,
96

first passenger flight (1970),
87
,
96

flight decks,
97
–8

flying height,
3

hump,
95
–6,
97

Lockerbie disaster,
92

Los Rodeos air crash (1977),
87
–91

safety,
91
–3,
98

San Francisco accident (1971),
92

speed,
93

statistics,
94
–6

Boeing 777 plane,
93
,
97

bombers.
See also
B-52 bomber

long-range,
129
,
137

Borge, Victor,
32

Boulder Canyon,
144
,
147

Branson, Richard, and Concorde,
14

Bristol

Concorde development,
9

floating harbour,
58

SS
Great Britain
,
69
,
70
,
73

Britain.
See also
Royal Air Force; Royal Navy

Concorde, joint development,
6
–7,
9

engineering, development,
141

flying boats,
47
–8,
49

Industrial Revolution,
57

British Empire Exhibition (1924),
119
,
122

Brunel, Isambard Kingdom

ambition,
58
,
69

engineering skill,
57
–8,
70
,
71
,
73
–4,
74
,
75

persuasiveness,
72

steamships,
27
,
58
–9,
68

BUFF.
See
B-52 bomber

Bugatti, Ettore,
19

Bugatti cars,
19

Burton, Richard,
32

Bush, President George W.,
197

Canada, space debris,
78

cars

European manufacturers’ idealism,
19

front-wheel-drive,
162
,
163

mass production,
17
–18,
24

personality,
17

rear-wheel-drive,
162
–3

torque steer,
163

Caspian Sea Monster, flying boat,
52

Catalina Flying Boat,
48

Cerise
satellite,
78

C-5 Galaxy plane,
129

Challenger
Space Shuttle accident (1986),
190
,
195
–6

Chapman, Colin,
19

Chris-Craft engines,
29
,
32

Churchill, Winston,
222
,
233

and FW190,
231

and loss of HMS
Hood
,
211
–12

and U-Boats,
179
,
181

City of Glasgow
, SS,
64

City of New York
, SS,
66

Clarke, Arthur C.,
78
,
79
,
80
,
82

Clifton Suspension Bridge,
58

Clippers (flying boats),
47

Clipper Victor, air crash (1977),
87
–91,
96

Cod (cargo plane),
152
,
155
,
160

Cold War,
130
,
185

Collins, Joan,
32

Collins Line,
65

Colorado Desert

irrigation,
141
–2

Rockwood’s canals,
141
–3

Colorado River,
138
–9,
148
.
See also
Hoover Dam

power,
138
,
140

silt,
138
–9,
140
,
142

Columbia
Space Shuttle accident (2003),
197

Columbus, Christopher,
56

communication, satellites,
77
,
78
,
84

computers, soulless,
175

Concorde,
1
–16

airworthiness certificates,
14
,
15

Anglo-French development,
6
–7,
9
,
14

confidence in,
13

design costs,
1
,
4
,
5

engines,
5
,
10

final flight (2003),
1
,
4
,
14