WesWorld

“What do you mean? “They’re having a joke!””, asked Johann as he turned from his desk to look at his colleague.
“I mean that those guys at D.A.F. have finally lost it. It must be all that thin air they breath!” Max replied as he held out the letter he had just received to his boss.
Johann took the letter and quickly scanned through it. He handed it back to him and smiled “It looks like an order inquiry to me, not that strange really, we get them all the time”.
“Yes, I know it’s a possible order, as your sales manager I have become sort of familiar with them over the last 20 years that I’ve slaved away under your leadership. By the way, thanks for giving me Christmas off, Scrooge!
“Don’t mention it, Cratchet, and how is Tiny Tim’s leg?” Johann retorted, laughing.
“No, seriously Johann, look at this again, it’s got to be at best wrong, and at worst a joke” as he handed back the letter to his boss.
Johann picked up his spectacles, and eased the arms behind his ears as he settled them on his nose. Taking on a look that can only be described as that of a dis-satisfied teacher with his pupil, he took back the letter.

Johann read through the letter carefully, giving it his full attention. The phone on his desk rang. He reached over and lifted the receiver without taking his eyes off the letter. “Yes” he mumbled absentmindedly into the receiver. Just then he spotted it, the section of the letter that Max must have meant. He said just one word “Later”, and hung up the phone.
“Who was that?” Max asked.
“Sorry?”
“I asked who was on the phone”
“Don’t know” Johann looked at Max as he pointed to the letter.
“This is what you mean?” indicating a set of dimensions and requirements for piping.
“Yes, so what do you think, have they lost it or not?” Max asked.
“It’s got to be a mistake, these dimensions make no sense.” Johann replied
“I could believe it if they meant 2.5cm but this says 2.5m, it has to be a typing error. Give them a call and see if you can get someone to verify it.”
“Will do boss!” Max said and walked out of the office.
Johann looked back to the letter and cast his eye over it again.
He read out loud in the hope that hearing the words would help it make more sense.

“To/ Johann Johannsen & Co. Pipe Mnufacturers,
King Christian Str.
Ballerup
Sjaelland.

Dear Sir, I would be pleased if you could supply us with a quotation for the supply of the following pipes
1- 10 only 2.5m diameter x 3.0m long steel pipe, smooth bore, external strengthening ribs, flanged.
2- 1 only adaptor section from 2.5m diameter to 3.0m x 3.0m square section over a distance of 4.0m.,of similar construction to other pipes listed, flanged.
3- 1 only section 2.5m diameter pipe centred in a 3.0m x 3.0m square sectionwith access hatches and provision for observation windows.

If you have any queries as to the finer points of our request, please feel free to contact me at the company offices.

For D.A.F.,
Yours respectfully,
Wolfgang Rohrbach.”

Johann scratched his head. No, he thought, it still didn’t make sense, even out loud!

...if it was a 2x4 I might could find a use for it, but I dunno...

^_^

Too small for a traditional wave motion gun firing gate...also not rifled. Observation windows? Even if mistyped as meters instead of centimeters that does make not sense...so it must be meters.

Ten pieces 3 meters long, one piece 4 meters long, and one piece not specified, or perhaps just taken into an existing piece. Diameter ranging from 2.5 to 3 meters. Eight and an eighth feet to nine and three quarters feet.

Hmmm...

Observation windows? Almost sounds like a rocket or something.

Bathyscaphe?

Not a good shape for a bathyscape. The best shape for that would be a sphere.

I was going to suggest something like Gerard Bull's "Supergun", but it seems too short and it doesn't explain the square section...

An aircraft fuselage? With the square section for the crew cabin?