Joe, Indeed, Airbus did not exist yet in 1962 The Caravelle jet was built by a French aircraft builder, but I do not know its name. I read the 1964 edition of the Etude Critique, and there the Caravelle and the way it was developed and built was mentioned.
Han ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph B.Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Joseph B.Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2003-12-21 1:33 Subject: Re: [USMA:27895] Re: Airbus and metric In USMA 27895 Han wrote: I read about serious problems with the French Caravelle jet in the 60s in M Danloux-Dumesnils, Etude critique du Systeme Metrique, Paris 1964. I read there that this plane was built in absolute conformity with ifp standards in order to be sellable abroad. It was a French, but 100% non-metric jet. At least it seems, Airbus tries to be as metric as possible. Danloux-Dumesnils, a mining and civil engineer, was a whistleblower who warned of the encroachment of ifp in France during the 50s and 60s. He even was a member of a task force of 10 highly placed people in engineering and technology dedicated to combat this threat. An English translation of his other book 'Bon Usage et Esprit du Systeme Metrique' is present in the library of the Imperial College, London. I read it there years ago. The 'Etude Critique' may be there as well, but in French. > > Han I have a 1962 edition of Danloux Desmesnils' "�tude Critique du Syst�me M�trique. I could find no reference in it to Airbus. However, I have examined the Airbus site on the Internet and I could not determine there whether it builds in inches or millimetres. Han has now confirmed that Airbus builds in inches.
