Contrasting technologies

摘要

It was good to see the Boeing 787 Dreamliner finally achieve its maiden flight on December 15. Even better was the sight of a pair of vintage Canadair Silver Star Mk.3s shadowing the 21st Century jetliner. The Silver Star was a Canadian version of the Lockheed T-33, powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet. In turn, the T-33 was a development of the P-80 Shooting Star, the USA's first operational jet fighter first flown on January 8,1944. So the contrast of technologies with the Dreamliner could not have been more extreme.