Posted on 06/08/2005 6:18:45 PM PDT by Pikamax
I weel not be makeeng either the Parez Air Show or the french Riveria theez year!
How about the Gallic genius that caused the screw to fall off of their one and only aircraft carrier?
Il faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace, et la France est sauvee.
Serious mental malfunction [delirium, memory loss etc. - it could easily explain how they forgot to fix that propeller properly, among other things] is frequently observed in the terminal stages of the French Disease, if memory serves.
The Charles de Gaulle also had a chunk of one screw seperate during trials (about a third of one of the blades came off). Just a little cavitation problem... :-)
Gallic genius is called "denial" in the rest of the world.
Chortle, snort, chuckle.
Thanks I was trying to research the subject for details...
hahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahIhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahcan'thahahahahahahahahahahahahahahstophahahahahahahahahahahahalaughing!!!
The are no Gallic geniuses. They all died fighting the Nazis.
Hmm. Those companies with fewer than 10 employees had better not hire their 10th.
D
OK here's one interesting bit
The new French nuclear carrier "Charles de Gaulle" has suffered from a seemingly endless string of problems since it was first conceived in 1986. The 40,000 ton ship has cost over four billion dollars so far and is slower than the steam powered carrier it replaced. Flaws in the "de Gaulle" have led it to using the propellers from it predecessor, the "Foch," because the ones built for "de Gaulle" never worked right and the propeller manufacturer went out of business in 1999. Worse, the nuclear reactor installation was done poorly, exposing the engine crew to five times the allowable annual dose of radiation. There were also problems with the design of the deck, making it impossible to operate the E-2 radar aircraft that are essential to defending the ship and controlling offensive operations. Many other key components of the ship did not work correctly, including several key electronic systems. The carrier has been under constant repair and modification. The "de Gaulle" took eleven years to build (1988-99) and was not ready for service until late 2000. It's been downhill ever since. The de Gaulle is undergoing still more repairs and modifications. The government is being sued for exposing crew members to dangerous levels of radiation.
The cause of the problems can be traced to the decision to install nuclear reactors designed for French submarines, instead of spending more money and designing reactors specifically for the carrier. Construction started and stopped several times because to cuts to the defense budget and when construction did resume, there was enormous pressure on the builders to get on with it quickly, and cheaply, before the project was killed. The result was a carrier with a lot of expensive problems.
From http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/2003127.asp
which is titled "How NOT to build an aircraft carrier".
The answer to the problem of socialism is more socialism. Gallic stupidity is more like it. Let the riots begin !
OK here we go
The 38,000t, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle was constructed at the DCN Brest naval shipyard in Brittany. The ship was launched in May 1994 and commissioned in September 2000, following sea trials which began in January 1999. As a result of trials the landing deck has been lengthened by 4.4m to enable the E-2C to land and clear the deck quickly. The carrier was due to enter service in December 2000, but, following the breakage of a propeller blade during long-distance trials, this was delayed to April 2001. In June 2001, the carrier took part in exercises in the Mediterranean and in December 2001 left to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom where it was stationed in the Arabian Gulf. It returned to its home port of Toulon in July 2002. Super Etendard and Hawkeye E-2C aircraft carried out a number of sorties but the ship's F1 standard Rafale M fighters did not take part in operations, although they were included in exercises with the US Navy.
From http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/gaulle/
They must be rebuilding the impregnable Maginot Line!
Genius is one percent inpspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Great, Villepin is relying on sweaty Frenchmen to save France.
Try substituting "Gallic pigheadedness" or "Gallically blind as a bat" to get a handle on the real meaning of this officious twerp's comments.
Congressman Billybob
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.