Letters to the Editor (Text only version)
From Laura Schneider Lschneider@gm.slc.edu
IT IS OFFICIAL!
There is going to be a Nevil Shute Weekend in Hanover, New
Hampshire April 13-15, 2018.
The weekend will be similar to the Centennial Celebration in 1999.
In addition to the Presentations, there will be round table
discussions, and camaraderie. Information will be available this
weekend on the
www.nevilshute.org website, as well as on the
Shutists Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Shutists/
WHAT TO KNOW NOW-
WHEN - April 13-15, 2018
WHO - Nevil Shute Norway Foundation enthusiasts
WHAT - Weekend of all things Nevil Shute.
Presentations, Discussions, Readings, camaraderie.
WHERE - Hanover, NH USA
WHY - Popular Demand!
ACCESSIBLE by Plane, Bus, Automobile, Train.
The weekend will feature presentations featuring the life and work
of Nevil Shute. The Nevil Shute Norway Foundation website will be
continually updated. Weekend information will be available on the
www.Nevilshute.org website, as well as the
Shutists Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Shutists/
APRIL 13-15 is 10 weeks away so make your plans
NOW!
Six South Street in Hanover, NH is our hotel choice. They have set
aside a block of rooms for us. To receive our special rate, tell
them you are part of the Nevil Shute weekend. YOU MUST MAKE YOUR
ROOM RESERVATION BY CALLING. 603-643-0600. They do not take online
reservations. If I can assist you, please contact me.
There are rates for Friday and Saturday nights plus slightly reduced
rates for Thursday and Sunday nights. There is a lot to see and do
in the Upper Valley and we will be delighted to help extend your
stay.
If you are interested in Speaking or Presenting, please contact me
at
Lschneider@gm.slc.edu. There are a couple speaking spaces still
available. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me.
There will be further information as soon as details are confirmed.
I look forward to a terrific weekend full of Shute, meeting new
friends and seeing old friends. Hanover and the entire Upper Valley
is one of the most beautiful parts of the United States.
From Tom Wenham tjwenham@gotadsl.co.uk
Whilst recently researching the history of Scottish Aviation, a
small aircraft manufacturing company based at Prestwick, I came
across an account of two crashes with similarities to the plot line
of No Highway. I know Shute's foretelling of the problems of metal
fatigue in aircraft structures is well trodden ground but I thought
the crashes of the Scottish Aviation aircraft resembled more closely
the plot of No Highway than did the crashes of the three de
Havilland Comet airliners that occurred in 1954. In August 1957 a
Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer belonging to de Kroonduif Airlines, a
subsidiary of KLM, crashed off the Biak coast of Dutch New Guinea.
A far cry from the Reindeer or the sleek jet-powered Comet, the Twin
Pioneer was a cumbersome, slow, ugly workhorse powered by two radial
engines that could be described as the Land Rover of the skies. It
could carry 16 passengers or 3,000lbs of freight. The aircraft
that crashed in Dutch New Guinea had only flown 250 hours. Like
the Reindeer that crashed in Labrador the inaccessible location
meant that there was no opportunity to examine the wreckage and,
again as in 'No Highway, the cause was initially deemed to be pilot
error. However, a witness, a native fisherman, described a wing
falling off before the aircraft crashed and subsequent investigation
of the wing structure on other Twin Pioneers brought into question
the strength of the wing struts and specifically the grade of steel
from which they were made. All future Twin Pioneers incorporated a
higher grade steel in the wing struts and aircraft altready in
service were modified. Four months after the crash in Dutch New
Guinea, whilst undertaking a demonstration tour of North Africa, a
Twin Pioneer crashed in the Libyan desert, near Tripoli. This time
the wreckage was accessibe and it was quickly established that the
cause of the accident was a fatigue failure of the fitting that
connected one of the wing struts to the wing and the consequent
collapse of a front brace that comprised part of the strut assembly.
It transpired that this aircraft was the only one that had not had
the wing strut modification as the Managing Director, who died in
the accident, had insisted on not delaying the tour for the
modification to be carried out. This aircraft had flown only 564
hours whereas the tests had indicated that even with the weaker
grade of steel there should be a safe life of over 2000 hours. But
two aircraft had now been lost, one with just 250 hours and the
other with 564. The original laboratory tests were based on a
pattern of utilisation that comprised a take-off, climb to 3000
feet, cruise, descent and landing. A demonstrator aircraft would
fly an entirely different pattern with more frequent take-offs and
landings and a cruise level of only 1000 feet at which it would be
subject to greater turbulence.
The Twin Pioneer accidents bear a close resemblance to Shute's plot
line insofaras the location of the first Twin Pioneer crash was
inaccessible as was that of the Reindeer and the blame for both was
initially laid on the pilot. The type of metal fatigue failure on
the two Twin Pioneers was more akin to that on the Reindeer than
those on the three Comets. The crashes of the Comets were
attributed to structural failure stemming originating at the
rivetted rectangular escape hatches rather than the grade of
materials used. As a former metallurgist Shute would no doubt have
followed with interest the events surrounding the two Twin Pioneer
crashes.
It is also interesting that Shute gave the Reindeer jet engines.
In 1947/8, when No Highway was written, the Comet, the first jet
airliner, was only on the drawing board and the prototype did not
fly until July 1949 so the Reindeer pre-empted this by a year.
From Curt Gomer fourlittledogs@embarqmail.com
I sent you two photos, both of the Royal Hotel in Invergordon
Scotland. After a days research my reliable sources (the
librarian and the barkeep at the pub) suggest that the Royal is
the likely hotel that is depicted in An Old Captivity. It is of
the right age and location across from the water.
Editor: I have been looking into this. As you
can see from the mural, the hotel was burned down. This happened
in February 1973. Here is a photo, which was taken shortly after
the fire. At the site of the hotel, later a filling station and
garage were build.
From Richard Thorn thornduo@meic.com
Dear fellow Shute enthusiasts
I have decided to offer a few copies of my book Shute: The
Engineer Who Became A Prince of Storytellers as prizes in a
Shute quiz.
The five quiz questions are:
1. What is the first name of Theodore Honey's daughter?
2. What is the first name of Alan Duncan's sister?
3. What is the first name of Peter Holmes' wife?
4. What is the first name of Keith Stewart's sister?
5. What is the first name of John Turner's wife?
The answers can be found in the following Nevil Shute novels,
but not necessarily in the same order (although I guess many of
you will know the answers without looking in the novels):-
The Chequer Board
No Highway
Requiem for a Wren
On the Beach
Trustee from the Toolroom
Send your answers to
thornduo@meic.com. Please state where you live: UK, USA,
Australia, or elsewhere in the world.
Closing dates for entries, 12.00 Central European Time Wednesday
28th February 2018.
All correct entries received by that time will go into the draw.
Prizes will be as follows:
i) A paperback copy of 'Shute: The engineer who became a prince
of storytellers' to the first correct entry drawn from someone
living in the UK
ii) An electronic Kindle copy of 'Shute: The engineer who became
a prince of storytellers' to the first correct entry drawn from
someone living in the USA
iii) An electronic Kindle copy of 'Shute: The engineer who
became a prince of storytellers' to the first correct entry
drawn from someone living in Australia
iv) An electronic Kindle copy of 'Shute: The engineer who became
a prince of storytellers' to the first correct entry drawn from
someone living anywhere else in the world
From Sally Rossetti
sally.rossetti32@gmail.com
via Art Cornell gac29@aol.com
Minutes of the Cape Cod Nevil Shute Chapter Meeting on
December 5, 2017
This meeting was held on Dec. 5 at Yarmouth House in Yarmouth, a
good halfway spot for us all. Those attending were Art and Joan
Cornell, Judi Novak and Sally Rossetti. We enjoyed talking with
our waiter who had been born in Russia, now lives in Yarmouth
and seemed to enjoy visiting with us also. This was our smallest
meeting ever. Two staunch members Marianne Smith and Howard
Seiffert have moved off Cape. We will miss them. We reread A
Town Like Alice, also called The Legacy, same book!! Most of
us had read it several times, but not too recently. I, Sally,
had not expected to reread it all but found my attention was
aroused, read it all one again. It is told by an older
gentleman, a very well respected attorney, Noel Strachan. As one
reads becoming engrossed with the various surroundings, the
story frequently springs back to the attorney, Noel Stachen. He
then continues us on our journey. It is quite a trip, beginning
in England and London, moving to the Malaysia peninsula and
ending finally in Australia. Not all stories move so well
around various locations but this one surely does. The weeks on
the march up the Malay peninsula under the watch of Japanese
soldiers as guard during wartime are grim but very well
described. Lots and lots of information about Australia in the
late 1940s after the war is over, is colorfully explored also
terrifically interesting. There are 4 reviews on the Nevil
Shute website, each writer looking at this book in slightly
different ways, all also very worth reading.
Our next meeting is February 3, Saturday, 2018!! Art suggests
we nominate a book to read or reread, he will then choose the
one most often requested!
Sally Rossetti, recorder, December 5, 2017
