RAF Harrier jump jet for sale on ebay for £69,999...

But will it fit in my hangar? The Harrier jump jet for sale on eBay at £69,999

By IAN DRURY
Last updated at 8:45 AM on 3rd February 2011

It was the iconic fighter plane that helped Britain triumph in the Falklands War.

Now aircraft enthusiasts are being offered the chance to snap up a Harrier jump jet to keep in their back garden.

The last of the first generation of the revolutionary aircraft is being sold on the auction website eBay.

Bargain: The world's last first generation two-seater Harrier jet is on sale on eBay at an asking price of £69,999 complete with both cannon and missile storage pods

Buy it now? This is the cockpit of the 1971 Harrier jet which has missile storage pods. The aircraft, decomissioned in 1997, has undergone 12 months of refurbishment

For internet shoppers keen to buy this piece of military history, it’s as easy as ordering a book or CD – all they need do is click on ‘Add to cart’.

However, first they will have to meet the asking price of £69,999.

The sale is particularly poignant as the Government announced to widespread outrage in October last year that it was scrapping the country’s fleet of Harrier jump jets to save money.

Considered one of the country’s greatest technological achievements, the British-built military jets were the first in the world to take off and land vertically.

Introduced by the RAF in 1969, their ability to hover above the ground enabled the aircraft to fly in and out of battlefields that conventional jets could not reach. 

The 700mph plane stamped itself on the national consciousness when it played a crucial role in the UK winning back the Falklands after they were invaded by Argentina in 1982.

It shot down 25 enemy aircraft without a single loss in air-to-air combat.

In action: Harrier T2 XW269 on active service in Gutersloh, Germany

£69,999: The world's last first generation two-seater which originally saw service in West Germany during the Cold War

The plane also served for five years in Afghanistan. Following this jet’s decommissioning in 1997, it was rescued from the scrapyard by an aircraft restoration company.

Current owner Chris Wilson, 33, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who served as a mechanic in the RAF, said it would be possible to make the Harrier air-worthy.

It has been stripped of its Rolls Royce engine but Mr Wilson said one can be sourced.

He added: ‘Without the Harrier we would never have been able to retake the Falkland Islands. It’s an awesome piece of equipment – a truly classic British engineering feat.’

Will it fit my hangar?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352943/For-sale-eBay-real-flight-fancy-Decommissioned-Harrier-asking-price-just-69-999.html#ixzz1CtAGGlBr

Map shows most of Northern Hemisphere covered in snow and ice.

World of two halves! Map shows most of Northern Hemisphere is covered in snow and ice

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 9:37 AM on 3rd February 2011

It looks like a graphic from a Discovery Channel programme about a distant ice age. But this astonishing picture shows the world as it is today - with half the Northern Hemisphere covered with snow and ice.

The image was released by the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Association (NOAA) on the day half of North America suffered in the grip of a severe winter storm. 

The map was created using multiple satellites from government agencies and the US Air Force.

A new satellite map by the government agency NOAA shows the extent of the snow blanketing a vast area from the west coast of Canada to eastern China

Stretching from the west coast of Canada to the eastern shores of China, the white stuff has rarely been shown covering this much ground.

 

More...

• 'It's too early to say we dodged any bullets': Queensland premier reveals no fatalities so far as Cyclone Yasi weakens
• Groundhog Phil predicts an early spring... but try telling that to Chicago, Texas and all the states hit by terrifying snow storms
• 'Like a bomb scene': Buildings crushed by ice and snow as half of America is blanketed by killer storm... and now comes the cold

The startling image was released on the same day Al Gore stepped up to defend his claim that global warming causes more snow. Thirty states in America were affected by a two-day blizzard.

'As it turns out, the scientific community has been addressing this particular question for some time now and they say that increased heavy snowfalls are completely consistent with what they have been predicting as a consequence of man-made global warming,' Gore wrote on his blog Al's Journal.

Hundreds of drivers on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, which was blasted by 20 inches of snow, abandoned their cars in an almost apocalyptic scene as authorities closed the road

His response came after Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly challenged the former Vice President to give his thoughts on 'why southern New York has turned into the tundra.'

Mother Nature's wrath is not confined to the top half of the world, of course.

Cyclone Yasi, with a destructive core of more than 20 miles wide, is walloping Queensland in north east Australian with 186mph winds. Authorities are calling it the worst storm to hit the country for generations. Tens of thousands of people are tucked away in evacuation shelters or their homes and the country is braced for many casualties.

A scene from sci-fi film The Day After Tomorrow? No, these are cars stuck in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, after accidents and drifting snow stranded the drivers during last night's blizzard. As of late morning more than 20in of snow had fallen, making this snowstorm the third largest recorded in the city

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Eileen Black takes pictures inside of a Chicago Transit bus that was stranded overnight. The blizzard caused havoc in a city well used to dealing with big snowfalls

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You waiting? I'm walking! While one man waits for a bus in Chicago, another decides to make his way on foot through a snowstorm. A woman, right, wades through a snow drift in the city that comes up to her waist

By foot is the sure way to get to where you want to as this woman (left) and these men found

Coming through: A snowplough clears a street in a suburban area of Chicago

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353073/Winter-storm-Map-shows-Northern-Hemisphere-covered-snow-ice.html#ixzz1Ct8zjc8z

UFO hovers over Jerusalem and then shoots up into the sky....

Are aliens here? Shining white 'UFO' spotted over Jerusalem shrine

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 9:30 PM on 2nd February 2011

A shining ball of light has been filmed hovering above a Jerusalem shrine, in footage which UFO enthusiasts say could finally prove aliens exist.

The clips show the pulsating orb descend and hover above the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Islamic shrine, before shooting up into the night sky. It then descends again and disappears.

Unusually, the sighting has been filmed from different viewpoints, meaning it has been more difficult to dismiss than most.

Object: The 'UFO' (ringed) has been filmed from several perspectives, making the sighting more difficult to dismiss than most

UFO?: The white light hovers over the Dome of the Rock

G-Force: The 'UFO' shoots up into the sky at a rate 'no living thing could survive' according to UFO expert Nick Pope

Highlighted: The mystery blob can be clearly seen in the night sky above the city

The footage was taken in Jerusalem at 1am on Saturday morning and has spread like wildfire on the internet.

It has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and prompted fierce debate among UFO enthusiasts and sceptics.

 

Former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope told The Sun: 'If these are real, they are some of the most incredible videos ever shot.

'If they are not, then this is a very well-planned and co-ordinated hoax designed to eliminate elements of doubt.'

He said the way the object shoots up suggests it is unmanned: 'We know the Israeli army has some very high-tech drones at its disposal.

'If this is one, it is one of the most advanced pieces of technology created by man.' 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1353047/UFO-spotted-Jerusalem-shrine.html#ixzz1Cs0RBEdd

JR and Bobby to return in TV remake of Dallas...

Larry Hagman to return for Dallas remake

The 79-year-old American actor Larry Hagman, who previously starred as amoral oil baron JR Ewing, will reprise his most famous role for a TV remake of the 1980s soap, it has been announced.

The American actor Larry Hagman Photo: GETTY

11:41AM GMT 02 Feb 2011

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The pilot of the new Dallas, which has been commissioned by the American television network TNT, will also star two other original cast members, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray who return to play Bobby and Sue Ellen Ewing.

The updated drama, written by Cynthia Cidre (who has previously written The Mambo Kings, starring Antonia Banderas, and Tara Road, starring Andie Macdowell), will focus on the next generation of Ewings – John Ross and Christopher Ewing – as they battle for control of the dynasty.

Other actors signed up to appear include Josh Henderson (Desperate Housewives) who will play John Ross, and Jordana Brewster (The Faculty, The Fast and the Furious).

The original series of Dallas ran for 357 episodes between 1978 and 1991.

TNT has yet to announce a start date for filming.

100,000 sharks swim 100 yards off Florida beaches...

Some fins up! 100,000 sharks mass off Florida's beaches

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:00 PM on 2nd February 2011

This is quite a shark tale.

Pilot Steve Irwin was astonished after spotting a mass of more than 100,000 sharks swimming just 100 yards off Florida's sandy beaches.

The long-time fisherman and marine technology expert was cruising 300ft above the clear waters in his helicopter on Sunday when he came across the astonishing scene.

The 50-year-old - who shares his name with the late Australian 'Crocodile Hunter' - whipped out his smartphone to capture the masses of deadly predators, which spanned a 20-mile stretch of water.

The sharks - believed to be Spinners, between 3ft and 7ft long - were heading north and swimming parallel to the east coast's idyllic white beaches between Fort Lauderdale and exclusive Jupiter Island.

Pack of predators: Camera phone pictures reveal the sharp-toothed mass congregating near the Sunshine State

Spinner sharks: The hunters are so named for the rotating leaps they make while on the trail of prey

Small groups of strays were even spotted milling around swimmers who appeared to be blissfully unaware of the danger, although no injuries were reported.

Stunned: Helicopter pilot Steve Irwin told of his amazement after spotting a mass of 100,000-plus sharks swimming off Florida's east coast

Experts say this is the time of year when sharks migrate and head for warmer waters, typically swimming close to the shore while chasing after bait-fish.

But Mr Irwin, who runs Island Marine Services in Fort Pierce, was baffled as to the staggering number of sharks gathered in the shallow waters.

'It was an truly amazing sight,' he said.

'I've been a fisherman for 20 years and I also kayak out there and it's common to see them twist and turn and shoot through the air.

'They're prevalent at this time of year but what amazed me was the sheer numbers of them.

'There were tens of thousands of them - I'd say maybe 100,000.

'I kept on flying for about 20 miles and they just kept on coming.

'It's common to see large predatory sharks come in and feed on schools of bait-fish - the odd thing was I didn't see any bait-fish at all!'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352758/100-000-sharks-mass-Floridas-beaches.html#ixzz1CojIIBrf

Adults only- No children on flights.

Adult only flights: Airlines urged to spare passengers from noisy children

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:58 PM on 2nd February 2011

Not seen and not heard: 75% of business class travellers said they were annoyed by the presence of children on planes

Major airlines are being urged to consider child-free flights or 'zones' to give travellers a more peaceful journey.

Families could be segregated from other passengers on planes or banned from certain flights if campaigners hoping to persuade airlines to introduce adult-only flights get their way.

Carriers such as BA, Virgin Atlantic and Emirates have been told to think about 'adult-only' flights after a survey revealed that three quarters of business-class travellers found youngsters on planes irritating. 

If the airlines, keen to keep lucrative business and first-class travellers happy, went ahead, planes could introduce 'quiet cabins' similar to those currently operated on railway services in the UK.

Among those spearheading the campaign for adult-only areas is travel journalist Dave Richardson.

Mr Richardson told the Daily Express: 'It would work well on high-frequency routes so that families could be accommodated on other services. On long-haul routes I might look to more innovative airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, Emirates or Etihad to consider taking this on board.'

He added that many airlines use the Boeing 747 plane, which has two decks and would make the separation of adults and children easier.

The survey saw 1,000 business class travellers questioned about pet hates on flights ahead of the Business Travel and Meetings trade show, which takes place in London next week.

The event's director David Chapple said passengers paying more for tickets were well within their rights to complain: 'It’s understandably frustrating for business travellers, who have paid a premium in expectation they can work and sleep in comfort, to have that peace disturbed by children. 

Zoning in on an adult market: Campaigners are calling for segregated areas on planes

Frank Barrett, The Mail on Sunday's travel editor said the controversial idea would be unethical: 'I'm always amused to see children in business class on flights. What sort of business can these children be travelling on? What work does a six-month old baby have to do in New York?'

'However, much as I hate being kept awake all night by a grizzling child, I think that starting to introduce passenger apartheid might be a dangerous step. Where would it end? Banning fat people, roping off anyone who has smelly breath? We'll just have to grin and bear the presence of kiddies, I'm afraid.' 

There has been a muted response from UK airlines to the survey. A spokesperson for British Airways said:'We do our best to help families travelling have as smooth a journey as possible.

'We do a lot of research into what our customers want and are always looking into new ways of making their journey as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.' 

Virgin Atlantic however said it had 'no plans' to introduce areas that specifically cater for adults. 

Former Virgin Atlantic director Paul Charles said: 'It would be a bad decision by an airline to ban children. Once you did, would you start banning other types of traveller? It would be a mistake.'

18 per cent of business class passengers surveyed said they resented paying more for their ticket when economy class passengers could sometimes be upgraded for free. And 15 per cent of those questioned said they would prefer to be further away from the economy class cabin. 

A spokesperson for BA said: 'As an airline that flies 32 million customers a year, British Airways does its best to help out families travelling with children to make sure their journey is as smooth as possible.' 

'We're a full service airline that caters for both business travellers - through our First, Club World cabins and innovative London City - JFK business class-only service - as well as family and leisure customers.' 

'We do a lot of research into what our customers want and are always looking into new ways of making their journey as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.' 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352779/BA-Virgin-Atlantic-Emirates-urged-ban-children-adult-flights.html#ixzz1CohyNMsy