Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

POETRY FROM INNES

INNES IRELAND was an extremely talented racecar driver—giving Team Lotus its first F1 victory in 1961—a wonderful raconteur and writer, and a dear friend. Stories galore come to mind. I … Continue reading

May 7, 2013 · 3 Comments

LAGO DI COMO

THERE IS timeless beauty surrounding the lakes of northern Italy. As identified in my 1927 Cook’s Traveller’s Handbook Northern & Central Italy, they are from west to east Orta, Maggiore, … Continue reading

May 6, 2013 · Leave a comment

E30 NONSENSE

WHEN WILL this ethanol fuel nonsense cease? We already have 10-percent ethanol “extending” our gasoline; that is, the gasoline is really E10. And then there’s E85 (85-percent ethanol/15-percent gasoline). It … Continue reading

May 5, 2013 · Leave a comment

MORGAN TRIKES

H.F.S. MORGAN, founder of the Morgan Motor Company in 1910, understood his fellow Britons’ aspirations for mobility—and also their Inland Revenue’s tax regulations. Motorcyclists wished to move up to proper … Continue reading

May 4, 2013 · Leave a comment

CONCORDE VS QE2

THE CONCORDE Supersonic Transport and Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth 2 were already classic craft when we at R&T had our 1988 experience with them. Each craft was a fantastic technical … Continue reading

May 3, 2013 · 3 Comments

IS CURSIVE DEAD YET?

THERE’S GOOD controversy going on about cursive handwriting, also known as script, the kind in which letters of each word flow one to another. Is it of any use today? … Continue reading

May 2, 2013 · 3 Comments

THE FOUR-COLOR PROBLEM

ARE FOUR colors enough to differentiate adjacent regions on any map? This question, for a long time called the four-color problem, came to mind with the death of mathematician Kenneth … Continue reading

May 1, 2013 · 3 Comments

CHINESE PLATES

THE CHINESE have been entrepreneurs for millennia; they’ve been communists for less than 64 years. This is confirmed by recent happenings concerning Chinese license plates for automobiles. I add my … Continue reading

April 30, 2013 · Leave a comment

MY TARGA FLORIO

ITALY’S AUTONOMOUS Regione Siciliana has a rich Greek, Roman, Arabic, Norman, Spanish and Italian history—and a wonderful cuisine that reflects all these. It also has the Piccolo Madonie, one of … Continue reading

April 29, 2013 · 1 Comment

IS ANYONE OUT THERE??

THERE ARE billions and billions of stars in the universe. Some of these stars likely have planets orbiting them. Some of these orbiting planets likely lie in what’s come to … Continue reading

April 28, 2013 · 2 Comments