R.I.P You Silly Billy

[Number 1 Jasper]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34434378

[Earl Grey]

RIP Denis. Massive intellect and as the thread title alludes to, provided much material for Mike Yarwood.

[uspompeyfan]

He did a lot of good tings for his party and was very loyal to it and the people he served.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Hard to believe dude never manscaped his brows in 98 yrs

[past memories]

I remember him, as the man who scrapped TSR2, and then wasted our money on the F111 useless plane from the US. The order was later cancelled.
If the TSR2 had been kept, it would have still been in production today.
I`ll admit, I was working on TSR2 at the time of cancellation.

Following the 1966 Defence White Paper, the Air Ministry decided on two aircraft: the F-111K, with a longer-term replacement being a joint Anglo-French project for a variable geometry strike aircraft - the Anglo French Variable Geometry Aircraft (AFVG). A censure debate followed on 1 May 1967, in which Healey claimed the cost of the TSR-2 would have been £1,700 million over 15 years including running costs, compared with £1,000 million for the F-111K/AFVG combination. Although 10 F-111Ks were ordered in April 1966 with an additional order for 40 in April 1967, the F-111 programme suffered enormous cost escalation coupled with the devaluation of the pound, far exceeding that of the TSR-2 projection. Many technical problems were still unresolved before successful operational deployment and, faced with poorer-than-projected performance estimates, the order for 50 F-111Ks for the RAF was eventually cancelled in January 1968.

This is what happens when experts get involved.

[Earl Grey]

I remember him, as the man who scrapped TSR2, and then wasted our money on the F111 useless plane from the US. The order was later cancelled.
If the TSR2 had been kept, it would have still been in production today.
I`ll admit, I was working on TSR2 at the time of cancellation.

Following the 1966 Defence White Paper, the Air Ministry decided on two aircraft: the F-111K, with a longer-term replacement being a joint Anglo-French project for a variable geometry strike aircraft - the Anglo French Variable Geometry Aircraft (AFVG). A censure debate followed on 1 May 1967, in which Healey claimed the cost of the TSR-2 would have been £1,700 million over 15 years including running costs, compared with £1,000 million for the F-111K/AFVG combination. Although 10 F-111Ks were ordered in April 1966 with an additional order for 40 in April 1967, the F-111 programme suffered enormous cost escalation coupled with the devaluation of the pound, far exceeding that of the TSR-2 projection. Many technical problems were still unresolved before successful operational deployment and, faced with poorer-than-projected performance estimates, the order for 50 F-111Ks for the RAF was eventually cancelled in January 1968.

This is what happens when experts get involved.

I remember it well, pm. That was a huge mistake by Healey, I agree. A plane that exceeds expectations specs-wise is almost unheard of but my understanding is that the TSR2 did just that.
I also believe that part of the deal for the F-111 was that all the dyes and data on the TSR-2 be destroyed. You might know more about such details, pm.