Stefan

UK rule - bag ( one only per passenger)  should be resealable, fluid proof, transparent and no more than 20 cm by 20 cm ( so a roughly A5 size ziplock bag will be ok).  Any liquids therein should be in sealeable containers of not more than 100 ml capacity....yawn.. The French security screeners should now be working to the same rules but are somewhat more pragmatic than the UK people.  Remember if in doubt the screeners are right [:(]  - Arguing with the screeners that your Harrods Carrier bag meets the requirements not only annoys the screening people it severely tries the patience of everyone in line behind you[:'(].....  As for sourcing the bag...Poitiers I don't know, at TLS bags are for sale....at the UK end the Yellow T-shirt brigade ( I believe they are supposedly pre-screeners) are still handing them out for free, at LGW anyway.  Have a Good Flight....

TreizeVents You're obviously clued up on all this - do you know if it's possible for the general public to receive/ eavesdrop on race radio at all? [:)]   Regards Stefan (09) 

A belated thanks for all your replies, were seeing the plumber again next week so we should, hopefully, be able to come up with a solution.  

Patf Sorry if I'm too late but has it got to be via Paris? BA do Bangalore direct from LHR so you could go TLS-LGW on either of their early flights and then pick up the LHR/Bangalore mid-afternoon flight which gets into Bangalore in the early AM Indian local time, surely time to get a Bangalore to Madurai flight, a total of three aircraft and no nights on benches.     

1. Get there very very very very ...early 2. Try and get yourself a spot on a hill ( uphill !), means the guys don't wizz past in a blur. 3. Don't take photos, you can rarely beat the stuff the pros take. Savour the moment. 4. If you take a dog - put it on a short lead ( did you see what happened to the T-Mobile rider today?). 5. Finally...The Caravane - don't miss it but but if you have children be very carefull. They do have a tendency to dive into the road for the goodies that drop short of the verge and there has been at least one fatality as a result.... However, above all enjoy it, it is IMHO the hardest sporting event in the World and everyone should see it at least once -  you won't regret it, the buzz is incredible.....the Stefan  family annual pilgrimage will this year be Plateau de Beille this Sunday, and Foix on Monday. We've got probably a decade's supply of  Euskatel sunhats and enough T- Mobile keyrings for every door in Buckingham Palace..and a Bidon as disgarded by Lance Armstrong ( under lock and key) - we wouldn't miss it for the world.  Rgds Stefan (09)  

Thanks both for your very prompt replies. I guess it's a bit late to ask if "basic" boilers ( by which I mean something that just has a internal thermostat) are sold here... Given this is all water under the bridge we are probably stuck with the new boiler and to get any contol over the thing it looks like we will have to ask for the exterior sonde to be fitted.  However we have heard they are very unreliable or is it just, as Ford Anglia said, are they just darned difficult to set up properly - any thoughts? Another fly in the ointment is that in our original specification  for time clock controlled boiler we also specified TRVs on all the radiators - is there now going to be a conflict between the boiler ( now controlled by the fancy programmer) and the TRVs trying to control flow to the individual Rads [8-)] ?   regards and thanks. Stefan (09)     

We are in the final stages of having our brand new central heating installed, and we're not happy. We specified a central heating system using TRVs, and with the boiler controlled by a timer/programmer.  The installer was very keen to use an exterior "sonde", we declined this option because we understand they can be unreliable, and because we'd always been very happy with the timer/programmer system we'd had in the UK. The installer has now explained the operation of the newly installed boiler to us, and it seems that this boiler (Ideal Standard Geodis Ci-Bi) is supplied with and designed to operate with an exterior "sonde", and indeed it's integral programmer relies on this.  Since the "sonde" hasn't been installed  the only control we have over the boiler is the on/off switch.[:(] It seems that the only way we can get the system to operate in the way we want is to add a timer/programmer - does anyone know if that is possible with this kind of boiler??   Thanks in advance Stefan  

chrisb   What you say is true in an ideal world but when some plonker turns his/her mobile on at 30000 feet and the mobile goes into overdrive trying to find a station are you putting bets on what it will or won't do? ( as an aside  I understand it Ryanair are putting a local station in on the aircraft to avoid the very problem of phones going to high power).   I"ve seen a mobile phone signal "try" to drive open the outflow valves ( not sexy avionics I agree, just trivial bits of kit, just the things that keep the cabin air in in the cabin  ) on an aircraft whilst at high altitude and it sure as heck caught my attention....shouldn't happen, I agree, but it did - perhaps a combination of harmonics and badly screened wiring, who knows.  Leave the darn things turned off on the aircraft please and as ErnieY has pointed out anyone idiotic to try out a jammer on an aircraft should be marched off in handcuffs.    

Thanks for apparently confirming our suspicions everyone, we will be taking further advice next week.....

We are trying to find out if our proposed new, above ground, plastic fuel oil tank legally needs to be surrounded by a "retaining" wall (to contain oil spills/leaks) - does anyone know of where we can find the definitive, current French Norms?   We have good reason to suspect our bill for the work may be being artificially inflated and need to find chapter and verse.   Thanks Stefan (09)  

Wow, If he got the stuff through Manchester security in his handbaggage I'm amazed, since Manchester security has a bit of a reputation in the industry for being, err "thorough".  I wouldn't bet on the jam getting back OK in handbaggage, he might not be so lucky next time.   I don't think the problem is always the people manning the screening ( though some need a lesson in Customer Service), they are only obeying orders [;-)]    

AFAIK there is no rule preventing the carriage of (screened) walking sticks..... As for the the background to all this, it's best not to even try and believe there is any logic behind how you are screened, what you are allowed to carry, and especially why you can have stuff confiscated off you at screening and then buy the self same item once airside. Whilst there is some credibility to some of the screening it is mostly done so that the politicians can cover their six o'clock, so to speak, and it will not get better any time soon..[:(] Best policy is don't think, don't ask, just adopt the position[:'(] .  

Well the reason the CAA  can afford that shiney building at LGW is their fees - Class One renewal with them is around STG250...Given that I suspect going the French route might be better, I can't believe French PPlers are paying that sort of sum every year. Anyhow I've been given details for a couple of AMEs at/near LGW, either: Dr Peter Chapman ( Horley) Tel: 0845 070 0733 or    http://www.amsgatwick.com/ I haven't used either so I cannot vouch for them personally.  Good luck, keep the shiney side up! "Stefan" (09)

Thirded, John is spot on with his timings.....if you want a reliable journey to TLS, especially during the rush hours, avoid the periphique like the plague. 

Hi BobDee I knew one of the medics who was involved in introducing JAR medicals into the UK and in his opinion it was full of holes. Most of the JAR member nations had filed national differences of some sort e.g. timing of hearing tests etc - sounds a bit like the way the EU in general works. I think doing Class One medicals would involve the AME having to have more 'kit', so perhaps for cost reasons they don't bother.  There used to be very highly recommended  AME based at LGW  (in the tower itself) - I think he retired a couple of years back but if you want any recommendations for a friendly Doc I'll ask our LGW  boys and girls.   Good Luck Stefan         

...And I looked at pprune and see that you had already been there....and the answer you got there pretty much summed it up the crazy situation regarding JARs....Seeing as my colleagues and I are on Class Ones ( done in the UK)  I doubt we can help you either but I will ask just in case someone has found a resident AME.  Otherwise all I can suggest is taking BA or Easy up to LGW and getting your Class 2 done in the UK, perhaps at the Belgrano itself ( aka the CAA HQ ) - not really the answer you want - sorry.  PS: Could you get a Class One through a local AME?

BobDee Well the introduction of the JARs was meant to sort all these national differences but guess what? Anyhow what's causing the problem?- I can't help you directly since I don't do Private flying but I have some colleagues that do fly light aircraft in France and I could ask around.  Failing that you might want to try the appropriate section of the pprune website.     Stefan(09)

Its nowt to do with hydraulics. Just to reiterate what "pilot" has said Boeing doesn't recommend smooth as silk landings for any of his products. The aim is to get the aircraft onto the runway with the minimum of delay, get the lift off the wings so that the aircraft weight is onto the wheels and the brakes are working to maximum effect ASAP - and that is especially important on short runways and/or in wet conditions. Whilst filling jarring landings aren't ideal  I'd rather a firm landing any day than a low flypast......           It always strikes me as strange  that pilots can fly people thousands of miles, avoid thunderstorms, turbulence, other aircraft, land in decidely poor weather etc, etc, get to destination on time, yet as far as most of the paying public are concerned the only thing that he/she does that matters is the "firmness" of the landing.....ho hum

Ladies and Gentlemen..Since you were all kind enough to reply to me last year I thought it would be polite to provide an update. Through late summer the artisan continued to try to "bodge" repairs to the tank and the archtitect continued to prevaricate.  In the spirit of being suitably British and nonconfrontational we tried lots of 'pleases' and "thankyou's" but eventually patience ran out and we finally spent some time drafting a suitably polite but pointed letter to our Architect - and it seemed to have the desired effect.  Late last Year the work was examined by a representative of the Septic Tank Company and in his opinion the tank had been installed incorrectly.  The Architect agreed to cordinate remedial work with the artisan -  at which point he (the artisan) refused to do any further work for us and walked off the site in January claiming we were messing him around.....causing him delay ...project taking too long, etc, etc - strangely enough we were forever waiting for him to turn up.... Thankfully the Architect had seen this coming and another builder up his sleeve, so overall the project is not delayed  - though our next problem will be getting the original artisan to cough up for the remedial work....ho hum.  

It's not available anywhere yet. As is the tradition, you won't get the official, detailed, town by town, junction by junction route until about 2 months before the "off", when it will be on the Official site.

FWIW this not down to the individual airlines now, these are the  E U rules, roughly paraphrased: Each individual can carry no more than a litre of  Liquids, Creams and Gels (LCGs) in their carry on baggage. LCGs are be packed in individual containers no greater than 100ml capacity (so, for example, a half full 200 ml container is not acceptable), which in turn are to be held within a re-sealable clear plastic bag / wallet no larger than 20cm X 20 cm ( I use an A5 document wallet).  The wallet should be screened separately from any other items of handbaggage. However there is no restriction on LCGs bought once you are airside (i.e. after passing through security) ...............go figure....  This was certainly being enforced at Toulouse on Wednesday evening, as you know it is also rigidly enforced ex-UK, and FWIW it's much the same ex-USA......  And for those frequent flyers who think this is a pain and inconvenient, try being airline crew at the moment........

Anyone else running AOL 8 been inconvenienced by the loss of some servers 36 hours ago, preventing use of  "all in"  accounts?   Also in view of the above has anyone got recommendations for an ISP other than AOL?   Stefan 

Yes I think I'm suffering from exactly the "legacy equipment" problem you describe; sky box , JVC TV brought with me from the UK and of course the current French TVs. At the moment I've got as far as the roof aerial connected to the skybox - if I plug a French TV into RF2 I get picture and sound from the terrestrial signal ( I assume I now need to tune French TV to the output of the skybox - I'm guessing it should just pick it up as another channel????) On the other hand there seems to be no way of seeing the terrestrial signal on the JVC TV, that's still sat picture, via scart lead. ...... In conclusion I think I've got all the wires in the right place but  French TV showing French terrestrial TV only, JVC main set showing satellite only........  

Martin Many thanks for that...isn't European harmonisation, cross border standardisation etc a wonderful thing. 

Another stupid question for the experts from me but I need to check my understanding before spending the euros. I currently have a TV in the lounge fed  (via scart lead) from the sat box.  I would like to share the signal with other TVs (French born and bred)  in the house and perhaps also feed terrestrial French TV to all the sets. As I understand it all I do is feed an amp ( in the loft?) from the RF2 output of the satbox using suitable co-ax, input from the terrestrial roof aerial as well  and then feed the whole lot back down to each set from the amp outputs'.  I've looked at amps on the web but am a bit reluctant to buy from a UK source because of the compatability with the French TV's. I'm also now wonder if there are any problems with feeding the signal from a "UK" satellite box into a French spec Amp.?   Any hints, tips would be appreciated.   Stefan