On TV this tuesday C4 (UK, maybe online?) at 10 pm. Flying car through Mori to Timbuktu.

(if someone can tape it for me that would be nice)

Ch

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Chris, there's absolutely no way I would ever record it, transfer it to my PC, convert the file and transfer it to you because that would be illegal. And I wouldn't even look at the PM you sent me about how we could do this transferring, perhaps via Skype, or MSN, no, no way.

Thanks for reminding me though ;-)

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Met the guys who flew the car. Absolutely bonkers project, but hats off to them, they made it! Can't wait to see the programme.

Jojo

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Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

channel 4 on demand, found at channel four website. simples.

You didn't miss anything. Rank amaturism masquerading as "good old British eccentricity". Ever wondered why there are no longer any more British aircraft made here made any more? Ever wondered why there are no longer any British car makers any more? Watch this.

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Don't forget the British motorcycle industry, I have just about finished Bert Hopwood's book 'What ever happened to the British Motorcycle Industry'? Talk about mismanagement....they should have all been put up against a wall and shot.
If it was not for the fact I am British I would have found the book funny. The book is still available on 'Amazon', well worth a read. Has anyone else read it(perhaps Dodger)? And what did you think of it?

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Never confuse the map with the journey.

Channel4 On Demand does not work outside of the UK.

Any alternatives?

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I recorded it last night Chris (VHS tape). You can have it if you want.

John

It had some nice shots of Mauritania.

On the other hand "flying a car from London to Timbuktu" was a severe breach of the Trade Descriptions Act.
While they are no doubt true adventurers, the inventor has previous in claim exaggeration. Remember this Everest - Mount Everest by climbers, news

The funniest part was the Western Sahara/RIM border crossing. They made a bit of a big deal about it, and I was really hoping a convoy of Hymer vans would appear in shot in the background.

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Well I've got it on my hard disc if anyone wants it PM me and we'll work out how to transfer it.

And not just Everest claims, turns out it's not such an original idea after all. I posted about this on a French buggy forum and they all went "yeah, seen ti all before" Site officiel du Bugxt'air : le buggy volant

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An amusing hour of television but I can't say I was terribly impressed. The car looked underpowered and under developed. Flying it into a tree might make interesting television but investors are going to be looking for the off switch.

Alex's French buggy link looks more like it - more gloss and shine than seat of the pants and hope for the best.

Any suggestions as to what you would actually use something like these vehicles for, assuming the bugs got ironed out. Can't see too many people commuting to work in them.

I thought the same thing, it all looked a bit slap-dash, although maybe that was the director trying to build in tension, we all know how they love to do that (don't we E&C?). As for uses, well it'd make the Darian Gap crossing a bit easier wouldn't it?

A couple more websites for the over-interested, and under-worked. Skycar Expedition 2009 and ParaJet Automotive :: SkyCar

And this looks more like it..

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Sometimes I rebuke myself for being so cynical but the more I watch TV the more I realise just how phony that medium is. We saw it with Ewan & Charlie and the more I learn about "Bear" Grylls the less I like what I see but it seems that the medium IS the message and if you have a PR apparatus behind you , you can pretty much get away with anything, even 60 minutes prime TV promoting the "new revolutionary flying car" and Grylls is now the head of the Scout movement...

The web truly is democratising communication and the dissemination of information and experiences and sites like this one are leading the way. I have so much more time and respect for i.e. Colebatch's Sibirsky Extreme blog than Ewan & Co, "Discovery Channel" phoniness and so much else I see on TV these days. Chewing gum for the mind it may be but somtimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and laugh then get on your bike and RIDE!

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I seem to remember reading it a couple of winters ago , it pretty much spelled out what we suspected was happening to the bike industry in those days .
I'll have to borrow it from my brother and read it again to refresh my memory !
I don't think Bert was right about his modular approach ,he was already outdated .The Brits should have been building lightning fast two strokes like the Japs [Yam and Kawa ] and behind the scenes building a DOHC superbike .
Fast exciting bikes will sell ,the Japs had that sussed .But the Brits were still churning out the same old shit trying to tell us "what was good for us " like some self important Grammar School teacher .
Crikey Edward Turner thought a 350 twin was going to be the saviour of the Brit bike industry -and this was during the period of the Honda 750 and the Kawasaki Z1 - give me strength !

But Britain was a funny place in the late sixties and seventies .Hell bent on self destruction and nobody gave a rat's arse ,they built some crap cars as well .

I guess once a sucessful niche industry [ like motorcycles] is sold to a conglomerate ,the money men begin to run the show and the expert enthusiasts who founded and guided the company during it's formative years are pushed aside .
Then the downward spiral begins .
Look at what happened to Buell ,sacrificed by Harley .[Who are so entranced by their own Harley lifestyle bullshit that they cannot comprehend what motorcycling is all about .]
It would have been far better for Eric Buell to buy back the company and produce real motorcycles in small numbers for enthusiasts .
Buells were never really my cup of tea ,but I'm sad to see them go .

But we still have a British Triumph ,John Bloor had a vision [and actually started off with a modular approach to bike engines ] [however that seems to have gone by the wayside ].
Triumph keep a keen eye on the market and produce bikes that sell .
As long as they remain independent they will thrive .

My apols for hijacking the thread .

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Thanks for those who recorded it for me - I actually just managed to catch it on C4 online which is available longer than I expected.

I thought it was pretty good once you filter out the customary TV hyperbole (I see the 'Empty Quarter' has moved again to a patch of land north of Kiffa).
He did look pretty scared as he was about to ditch the contraption over the sea and I know they had bigger plans for the desert stage but the car was clearly not always so controllable.

Ch

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