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Old February 6th 05, 09:21 PM
Terry
 
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If you stretch a string on a globe from London to Florida, it will show
the 'great circle' route that's the shortest, and that should be your
plane's path, barring storme, hurricanes, etc. You'll see that it comes
really close to the eastern Canadian provinces.

In fact the Avalon Peninsuala in the most eastern part of the island portion
of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, is a 'Way Point' for
many transatlantic flights headed to/from Europe.
Clear days Transatlantic flight con-trails, at 30,000 feet etc. can be seen
almost continuously.
That is why so many of the flights that were prevented from entering US air
space 9/11 had to land in eastern Canada.
Many US/Canada friendships were founded between grounded travellers that day
and eastern and western Canadians who voluntarily accommodated them during
the delay.
Cape Spear near St John's is the most easterly point in North America.
Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless telegraph signal near St
John's in Dec. 1901.
French is one of the 'Official Languages' in Canada. A significant
percentage of the population, mainly in Quebec, New Brunswick, but also
elsewhere in Canada, is French speaking. Many/most are bilingual.
Same way Spanish is significant in the USA?
The word 'Cajun' in southern US comes from the French word "Acadian";
originally inhabitants of Acadia or what is now the eastern Canadian
Province of Nova Scotia.
Terry.
PS. Staff at the National Historic Park at Signal Hill, St. John's, which
incorporates the memorial and events which celebrate Marconi's first
wireless telegraph reception say that visitors unaware of the approximately
1800 miles across the Atlantic, (4.3 hours by jet to London-Heathrow) will
sometimes ask "Can you see across to England/Ireland etc.". The answer is;
"No, but sometimes you can see "Whales"! :-)
And sometimes icebergs as well.