Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 October 31

= October 31 =

How did Air Force one go to the Reagan Library?
Reading a news report about the fires in California, I learned that the Reagan Library has a display including the retired Air Force One plane. That plane, VC-137C_SAM_27000, served several presidents, and Reagan was not even the last one. How was it decided that the plane would go to the Reagan library and not to one of the other president's libraries? The articles on the Reagan library and plane doesn't say. RudolfRed (talk) 01:00, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * As a wild guess, it was the first library which had space for an aircraft, and some plausible route for transporting it there. Andy Dingley (talk) 01:13, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * That makes sense, thanks. RudolfRed (talk) 03:11, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Also to be considered: Reagan was the president to use it the longest (8 years), and while strictly speaking Reagan was not the last president to fly on it, it was replaced as the primary Air Force One in 1990, little more than 1 year after he left office (it remained in service as a backup plane and saw occasional use until 2001, but it was not the primary Presidential plane after 1990). Even if what Andy Dingley says above weren't true, those are two more very good reasons why the plane is specifically associated with President Reagan.  -- Jayron 32 14:53, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * There is some discussion here [//www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Decoder/2015/0916/GOP-debate-How-did-Reagan-Library-get-a-real-Air-Force-One] suggesting lobbying by Reagan (and I guess his supporters), starting before the end of his presidency, was the main factor. That said, as Jayron32 said, Reagan also seemed to be the with perhaps the biggest claim which would also likely have affected any lobbying. It was only used during a small part of Richard Nixon's presidency and his resignation and what lead up to it likely was a major factor against his library being able to claim it. Gerald Ford was unfortunately for him, probably also somewhat tainted by Reagan and the pardon (whether or not it was wrong), and more importantly was not elected president or even vice president and also had a very short tenure. Jimmy Carter had a longer tenure but still only a term. He also remained more active in areas which may have caused controversy. It was only the primary plane during part of George H. W. Bush's term and in addition he only served one term. The fact that his son was the current president was probably more of a hindrance than a help. Bill Clinton was the only one to serve 2 full terms (at the time) but the plane wasn't the primary plane during any of his presidency, he was impeached even if not convicted (whatever people think about the rights of that), his wife was a senator and his library had only just broken ground. Oh and I realised after posting I forgot to write about George W. Bush but it was only used as the non primary plane during a tiny part of is eventually 2 term tenure and he was the current president. To be fair, Reagan did have the Iran–Contra affair and other controversies but still..... To put it a different way, although I personally dislike a fair amount of what Reagan stood for and did, if I were involved in deciding who to give it to Reagan would seem the least controversial choice out of all the other ones. The alternative was to give it to no one. Or to split it up in some way, but that's not likely to work so well. Nil Einne (talk) 07:19, 1 November 2019 (UTC)

One more forgotten Top Gear controversy
Usually, Jeremy Clarkson is the one who comes to mind when thinking about Top Gear controversies. But I also remember an episode where James May smoothly incorporates several Nazi slogans (of the work sets you free, strength through joy type) into his part of the dialogue. But which episode was it? Thanks in advance -- 77.185.18.44 (talk) 15:38, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Top_Gear_controversies Nanonic (talk) 15:43, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * That’s not what I meant. I think it was a travel/camping episode (?). -- 77.185.18.44 (talk) 16:31, 31 October 2019 (UTC)


 * Might have been the first episode of James May's Cars of the People rather than Top Gear.  Lugnuts  Fire Walk with Me 17:15, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Nope, definitely an episode of Top Gear I have in mind. -- 77.185.18.44 (talk) 18:04, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

Height of a child actor/actress
How could I work out what height a child actor/actress was from age 5 to 20 years old? For example, what height was Jake Lloyd (who is now 30 years old and his height is 1.65 m) when he played young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace at age 8? 86.128.246.20 (talk) 21:48, 31 October 2019 (UTC)


 * It sounds like you are looking for a formula. That wouldn't work well because everybody grows at different rates, including growth spurts at variable times. Better to try to estimate it by pics of him at the time next to objects of known height, like adult actors. SinisterLefty (talk) 22:04, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Assuming the heights we "know" for them are correct. Adding an inch to an actor's published height is not exactly uncommon. --Khajidha (talk) 14:28, 1 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Growth-height charts are common. Human height is correlated to age and falls very closely into a natural distribution. So, you can estimate a person's height with age within a standard deviation. Some people are outliers. For example, I stopped growing at age 13, but when I was 13, I was by far taller than anyone else my age that I knew. So, if you attempted to place my adult height on the growth chart, you would underestimate my height at 13 because you would assume that I grew after that age. 135.84.167.41 (talk) 16:12, 1 November 2019 (UTC)


 * Note that those charts show averages, but child actors are often chosen because they are short for their age, and thus they can have a more experienced actor play a younger role. SinisterLefty (talk) 16:42, 1 November 2019 (UTC)
 * But it's not clear to me the OP is actually asking for a formula. They did say "work out" but that could be for various reasons. This thread seems to have touched on what could be the OP's question but missed it. For many reasons the height of an actor is often important, for child actors surely no less so including for the reasons mentioned here. I'm fairly sure it's basic biographical likely to be included in any profile provided to agents, casting directors etc [//www.backstage.com/magazine/article/become-actor-5125/]. While it won't necessarily begin at 5, many child actors do have carriers or carrier attempts before they become famous even if it's just appearing in commercials or if they're lucky as extras. While Khajida has a point that such info may not be entirely accurate, there are strong limits to how much you can lie for something so easily checked and seen. While I guess some parents (or whatever) may hope that when the casting director sees their 140 cm son's performance, they'll put aside the fact that they were expecting a 125 cm actor but on the whole, it probably doesn't work well. This isn't quite like age. There may also be a differences between what's provided privately where it matters, and what's given to magazines and the like. However, although a bunch of people likely have this info, it's probably not something easily publicly available for many actors. And even if there is a site that collects records, I'm not entirely comfortable with us providing links for WP:BLP reasons. That said, for modern famous child actors at a time when they were famous, it seems unlikely you'd need to estimate yourself. There must surely be published info, whether estimated from those around them or more likely provided by someone involved with the caveat mention by Khajidja coming into play. Nil Einne (talk) 15:38, 2 November 2019 (UTC)
 * You could get a good idea of his height, by measuring the ratio of his height to his on-screen mother (Simi, played by Pernilla August), or his slave-masters. LongHairedFop (talk) 21:31, 3 November 2019 (UTC)