It's Grεεκ To Me

RichardTheBruce

Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton, 1964.

Goldfinger: I call it Operation Grand Slam. I have devoted years of my life to it. Every detail has been scrupulously prepared. Every eventuality has been considered. We'll operate on a split-second schedule. Your organisation, Mr Midnight, brought a batch of these canisters across the Canadian border. They contain Delta.

Gangster: Delta? What's that?

Goldfinger: An invisible nerve gas which disperses minutes after inducing complete... unconsciousness for hours. Tomorrow at dawn, the flying circus of my personal pilot, Miss Pussy Galore, will spray it into the atmosphere. Once the population, including the military, has been immobilized my task force, which Mr Strap and his people smuggled across the Rio Grande from Mexico, will approach Fort Knox in motorised equipment along Bullion Boulevard, which runs past the depository here and intersects with Gold Vault Road. This fence surrounding the depository, as Mr Strap reminded us, is electrified. It will be dynamited! My task force will then move to the main entrance and demolish it.

Mr. Solo: How, may I ask?

Goldfinger: You made that possible, Mr Solo. By using your influence in shipping circles to bring through customs uninspected a consignment labelled machine parts. All that will then remain is to descend to the vaults where the bullion is stored.

Mr. Solo: I've heard enough.

Gangster: Let him finish.

Mr. Solo: If you have no objection... I'll take my money now.

Goldfinger: Mr Bond. Sit down, please. Mint julep? Traditional, but satisfying.

Bond: Yes, thanks.

Goldfinger: Sour mash, but not too sweet, please.

Bond: You disappoint me, Goldfinger. You know Operation Grand Slam simply won't work.
And incidentally Delta nerve gas is fatal.

Goldfinger: You are unusually well informed, Mr Bond.

Bond: You'll kill people uselessly.

Goldfinger: Ha! American motorists kill that many every two years.

Bond: Yes, well... I've worked out a few statistics of my own. 15 billion dollars in gold bullion weighs 10,500 tons. Sixty men would take twelve days to load it onto 200 trucks. Now, at the most, you're going to have two hours before the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines move in and make you put it back.

Goldfinger: Who mentioned anything about removing it? Is the julep tart enough for you?

In the film.
Delta nerve gas at the gangsters' meeting.

Bond's warning.

Aerial delivery at Fort Knox.

RichardTheBruce

GoldenEye, Martin Campbell, 1995.

Delta Doric - site maintenance services.

RichardTheBruce

IMDB says he’s Delta Force. Seems to be in Austria at the opera. What the heck, here he is.

Quantum of Solace, Marc Forster, 2008.

Herbert Forthuber - Delta Force Member (uncredited).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3909111/
https://youtube.com/watch?v=98gO-QGPiyc

RichardTheBruce

j_w_pepper wrote: »

Bond is definitely an alpha male... No gamma rays ...or delta wings (Avro Vulcan!) can change that.

Thunderball, Terence Young, 1965.
Avro Vulcan B.2 MRR bomber. With delta wings, tailless.
High-altitude strategic bomber, Royal Air Force (RAF) and other NATO countries, 1956 to 1984.
http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Thunderball#Avro_Vulcan_B.2_.28MMR.29

Thunderfinger

Agent_99

Delta wings abound in Moonraker. Double (O7) delta:



not forgetting:

CommanderRoss

You Only Live Twice, the B58 Hustler with Delta Wings (and nuclear delivery capability)


Hanggliders are always Delta's:

Live and Let Die https://gettyimages.nl/detail/nieuwsfoto's/british-actor-roger-moore-for-the-first-time-engaging-in-nieuwsfotos/482269083#british-actor-roger-moore-for-the-first-time-engaging-in-the-part-of-picture-id482269083

Hangglider in Moonraker


Concorde in Moonraker:


The Moonraker in... er.... Moonraker:


There are, of course, endless amounts of Delta-winged aircraft, so I stuck to Bond related.

Then there's Delta Airlines


(the Lockheed Tristar was the first airliner I ever boarded. Yes, Delta's).

A rocket family


And the infamous Lancia Delta

CommanderRoss

Was working on that @Agent_99 ;-)

RichardTheBruce

Great work on the delta wings.

Incredibly I found no Oldsmobile Delta 88 (which appears in MANY films since 1965) or Lancia Delta, Dennis Delta, Daihatsu Delta, or Chrysler Delta automobiles in Bond films.

Nor Riga Delta motorcycles, @Agent_99.

Anyway, you'd think there'd be some reason for a Bond crossover with some of these.

j_w_pepper

Perhaps you can find a connection via Bond's vodka martini (sh., not st.) and the Martini (& Rossi, in the States) sponsoring to the Lancia Delta. But please, only the 1980s rallye version.

Agent_99

CommanderRoss wrote: »

Was working on that @Agent_99 ;-)

I would apologise for stealing your thunder, but you had plenty of extra thunder!

CommanderRoss

Agent_99 wrote: »

CommanderRoss wrote: »

Was working on that @Agent_99 ;-)

I would apologise for stealing your thunder, but you had plenty of extra thunder!

Well my thunder is for the sharing anyway ;-)

RichardTheBruce

You Only Live Twice, the B58 Hustler with Delta Wings (and nuclear delivery capability)

@CommanderRoss, where specifically does the B-58 appear? I want to firm up that reference.

CommanderRoss

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

You Only Live Twice, the B58 Hustler with Delta Wings (and nuclear delivery capability)

@CommanderRoss, where specifically does the B-58 appear? I want to firm up that reference.

Well now that I'm verifying myself (source : https://airspacemag.com/daily-planet/airplanes-james-bond-180957171/
it should be the one in this movie clip
at 1:24 exact. But I've got the feeling that's just another B52.

It's not noted by the database:
http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Category:Convair_B-58_Hustler

j_w_pepper

I checked the magic second several times and would also assume it is "just another" B-52, especially since it seems to be from the same footage as the others.

This is as big as I get it (from a full-screen frame on my 2560x1440 monitor):

Looks like something with a considerable wing span instead of the delta which had only 17 meters. Could also be a B-47 (chances are the footage is far older than 1965).

At least I don't "buy" it as a B-58 so far.

RichardTheBruce

UPDATED: Air & Space Smithsonian must be referring to the formation at 1:26 as the B-58 Hustler (and therefore delta wings).

But in question by @j_w_pepper for several items below. So unconfirmed.

(Slightly inclined left, they SOMEWHAT match the profile.)

j_w_pepper

Sorry, but no way those planes at 1:26 are B-58s.

You can see from the screencap that they don't even have delta wings, but slightly drooping swept-back stubs, and no engines under the wings, let alone two on each side. The exhaust is apparently at the tail (single or twin jet engine), which is why the tailfin seems to sit considerably more forward on the fuselage than is the case with the B-58.

The overall shape also lacks the certain elegance I'm ashamed to see in the B-58. My guess is that it's an F-105 fighter-bomber. Similar nose, but no delta wings.

RichardTheBruce

Okay, I'll make that correction, @j_w_pepper, and back off the confirmation.

So who contacts the Smithsonian?

j_w_pepper

How about an American...?

RichardTheBruce

Fair enough, @j_w_pepper .

I compared a list of delta wings to both IMPDB and the Air & Space Smithsonian list.
No more matches to consider.

So here's a roll-up of the delta wing appearances as aircraft.

Thunderball, Terence Young, 1965.

Avro Vulcan B.2 MRR bomber. With delta wings, tailless.
High-altitude strategic bomber, Royal Air Force (RAF) and other NATO countries, 1956 to 1984.
http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Thunderball#Avro_Vulcan_B.2_.28MMR.29

Moonraker, Lewis Gilbert, 1979.

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde 101.
http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Moonraker#A.C3.A9rospatiale-BAC_Concorde_101


Rockwell Space Shuttle.
(Enterprise OV-101 was the existing craft, the standard used for the Moonraker shuttle model work. )
http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Moonraker#Boeing_747-123_SCA_.26_Rockwell_Space_Shuttle_Enterprise_OV-101

RichardTheBruce

Honorable mention, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Adjoins Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Tomorrow Never Dies, Roger Spottiswoode, 1997.

From the South China Sea, Bond and Wai Lin travel the length of Vietnam.


Halong Bay (filmed at Phuket and Phang Nga Bay, Thailand).

And the real Halong Bay, Vietnam.


Halong Bay to Saigon (filmed in Thailand).

The real Saigon, which adjoins the Mekong Delta.


Mekong Delta, Saigon at upper right.

RichardTheBruce

James Bond 007: Nightfire, Electronic Arts, 2002.

Delta Repeater Crossbow (pump action).
jamesbond.wikia.com/wiki/Delta_Repeater_Crossbow
The Delta Repeater Crossbow is a weapon that appears in Nightfire. It is a very silent and powerful weapon at close range. Although equipped with a scope, the weapon's power and accuracy decreases over long distance shots. Its slow firing rate and small clip size causes the weapon to become almost useless in large fights with many goons.

The Delta Repeater Crossbow meets to the following specifications:
Primary Fire: Single shot with scope
Secondary Fire: None
Calibre: Crossbow Bolts
Capacity: 3 bolts

RichardTheBruce

Then there was this promotional gathering in 2006.

Daily Intelligencer
nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2006/11/on_delta_airlines_secret_servi_1.html

On Delta Airlines’ Secret Service

Bond girls Jane Seymour, Grace Jones, and Maud Adams. Don’t you want to fly Delta now?
Photo: Courtesy Dan Klores Communications

You can’t bring water on your flight anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wet your beak. At least if you’re flying Delta, where efforts to ease passenger tension in this age of check-in delays and cavity searches have turned to that time-tested panacea: designer booze. Well aware that a buzzed flier is likely a happier one, the airline enlisted nightlife mogul Rande Gerber to create a special cocktail list, which will be available on Delta flights starting next year. To promote this, and for reasons we don’t begin to comprehend, last night the airline gathered a trio of former James Bond girls (Delta is adding a direct New York–to–London flight later this month, and yes, Bond is British, but that’s a tenuous connection at best) and a gaggle of guests — mostly men, most old enough to prefer Pussy Galore to Christmas Jones — at Gerber’s Stone Rose, which is in the Time Warner Center and thus far from any airport, to drink to drunk flying.

Grace Jones — perhaps you know her as May Day from A View to a Kill — was clad in a shimmering vintage Issey Miyake number replete with a hood and definitely could use that drink. “I actually have to fly back to London tomorrow at 8 a.m.,” she said. “Not on Delta, though. I need me a sleeper bed, so I’m flying British Airways.”

Awkward pause.

“Oh, whoops,” she continued. “Was I not supposed to say that? Whatever, I don’t give a fxxx. These American airlines have to get their act together. Corporate cannibalism, this is. They took all my makeup on my way over here — lip gloss, powder, everything. Like I’m gonna blow sxxx up with some eyeliner.”

Lip glossed or not, how does she feel about Daniel Craig as the next Bond? “I just want to see him coming out of the water in short shorts,” Jones said. We concurred — Mr. Craig is quite dashing — but what of the fact he reportedly had to be taught to drive stick shift for the role? She laughed. “It’s funny they let that leak out. That’s cute. Driving stick is very phallic. I hope he’s picked it up by now.”

A Delta representative interrupted to remind Jones that her presence was required to judge a martini-making contest. (The booze-plane-London-Bond series of connections was taken seriously, even if it was incomprehensible.) It’s unclear which bartender actually won the event — all were wearing short black cocktail dresses and thigh-high boots, and, for the most part, were indistinguishable, but the Bond-girl judges smiled dutifully. Except for Jane Seymour — Live and Let Die’s Solitaire — who seemed to have other things on her mind. “I can drive stick,” she mused. “Maybe I should be Bond.”

— Neel Shah

Agent_99

You don't have to be old or a man to prefer Pussy Galore to Christmas Jones. Just sayin'.

(That's a fantastic article - loved it!)

CommanderRoss

Same here, allthough I doubt Jane said she should be Bond. @RichardTheBruce at 1:26 are F105 Thunderchiefs for sure.


They did, on a side note, operate in the Vietnam war from Thailand.


Edit: And after considering the engine smoke and profile of the wings and fuselage I'm now quite convinced at 1:24 is in fact a B47, instead of either a B52 or B58. Good catch @j_w_pepper !

RichardTheBruce

Sigma / Σ ; σ /ˈsiɡ·mə / noun
1. 18th letter of the Greek alphabet
2. 18th star of a constellation.
Also:
3. symbol for mathematical summation
4. symbol for standard deviation

Hebrew (samekh). Phoenician (samekh).

RichardTheBruce

Casino Royale, Martin Campbell, 2006.
Smith & Wesson Sigma.
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Casino_Royale_(2006)#Smith_.26_Wesson_Sigma

One of Le Chiffre's thugs keeps a Smith & Wesson Sigma in his waistband while the money is being loaded into the SUV.

Smith & Wesson Sigma SW9F

RichardTheBruce

Spectre, Sam Mendes, 2015.
Stephanie Sigman as Estrella in Mexico City.

Thunderfinger

Bondathon-such a dumb word.

But there you have another connection. At least on this board.

j_w_pepper

It may be a certain leap...but DR: NO, of course is about the toppling of American rockets as a compensation for "Look, Ma, no hands." DR.NO premiered in the UK on October 5, 1962.

Only two days before, the fifth mission of the Mercury (alas, not Hermes) program was launched at Cape Canaveral, with the Atlas(!) rocket sending Walter Schirra on a nine-hour flight. The call sign of that mission was Sigma 7.

In unrelated news, no sign of Mitsubishi Sigmas anywhere in a Bond film, it seems.