Posted by John Wilson on November 24, 2000 at 03:14:43 from 203.96.26.98:
In Reply to: Re: Ransome and Shute posted by Andy Clayton on November 22, 2000 at 17:48:41:
Nevil Shute Norway:
Yes, he wrote some good novels, with both “No Highway” and “Trustee from the Toolroom” having a somewhat eccentric hero (not quite an anti-hero) !
His autobiography “Slide Rule” mentions the design of the airship R.100 under Barnes Wallis in 1929-30. One calculation with slide rules of stresses in one frame element could take a week to solve a simultaneous equation with up to seven unknowns, and have to be repeated if the wrong assumption about which of the 16 elements were in tension or compression was made! When completed R.100 successfully flew to Canada.
He was right to criticise the poor design and construction of the government airship R101 which crashed in France (1930), and Lord Thomson who rushed its first flight to India. Hence he rubbished any development of engineering projects by governments. But in one novel he has the Queen taking refuge in Australia from a mad Socialist government of Britain. And multiple votes for the more-qualified! Not the way things happened, with the Iron Lady in charge!