Flying. Everything planes.

[neko 2,350]

Canada has 8 or 9 Lancasters, but only one that flies....

 

https://www.warplane.com/aircraft/collection/details.aspx?aircraftId=4

 

You can buy a flight $$$

[neko 2,350]

59 minutes ago, Captain Willard said:

It’s massive, 6 huge hangers and mostly deserted particularly during term time. Got virtually every significant European military aircraft ever made. Probably my favourite museum and completely free. 

Here's a google view of the Lancaster that still flies....

 

https://goo.gl/maps/P5xScKDT5Bpw9WNG9

[dockers_strike 4,194]

23 minutes ago, neko said:

Canada has 8 or 9 Lancasters, but only one that flies....

 

https://www.warplane.com/aircraft/collection/details.aspx?aircraftId=4

 

You can buy a flight $$$

Cool. I didnt know there were so many Lancs on static display in existence. Are there any plans to return any to flight?

[Kepler-186 552]

Hawker Fury for sale, just under 2 million Euros. 

 

https://silodrome.com/hawker-fury-fighter/

 

Also a clip of one taxing and taking off. 
 

 

Shot down a MiG jet in Korea. 

[dockers_strike 4,194]

2 hours ago, Kepler-186 said:

Hawker Fury for sale, just under 2 million Euros. 

 

https://silodrome.com/hawker-fury-fighter/

 

Also a clip of one taxing and taking off. 
 

 

Shot down a MiG jet in Korea. 

Awesome. Out of juice, will be back!

[rb14 1,901]

12 hours ago, Captain Willard said:

Another trip with the kids  to the RAF museum in Hendon. Absolutely brilliant place and free ! Worth going just to see the astonishing Vulcan (which is too big to photograph). 

Closer to many on here will be RAF Cosford which I can utterly, wholeheartedly recommend. 

 

In other news I went up with a mate yesterday. We flew fairly close. First time I've ever done that... 

 

 

[rb14 1,901]

.

[Stouffer 2,825]

The Cosford museum is free as well. Used to have a wander round on a lunchtime when I was doing my Watchman course there.

[Preston Red 947]

The Cosford Air Show is always a winner as well.

 

I went in 2017 and they had the Italian Tornado display. Them lads flew it like they stole it. Superb display.

[Kepler-186 552]

Article about the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

 

Looks a beast with the radial engine. 

 

 

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/04/meet-the-grumman-f6f-hellcat-the-best-combat-plane-of-world-war-ii/

[dockers_strike 4,194]

On 10/04/2022 at 23:05, Preston Red said:

Wonderful sound isn't it. I think the Hurricane does have a Merlin in. The sound is like music. The Merlin Mustangs are beautiful too. We had the Lanc over ours in 2018 on the Friday night for Southport. I honestly thought some big arsed motorbike was about to roar past ours.

 

One engine I would love to hear in person is the Daimler Benz DB601/605 that was in the 109s. That thing has a whistle to it that is very distinctive, from the vids I've seen.

 

One of the BBMF Spits has the Griffon engine. PS915 is the Griffon Spit. My dad made some of the parts to return that one to the skies. The apprentices at BAE Warton worked on her as a project but a lot of the machining was done at Wellfield Road machine shop at the old BAE Strand Road site in Preston.

 

There's another Lanc at East Kirby that they're trying to return to the skies. You can even have a "taxy experience" in it. 

Ah this one, half way through a 10 year restoration.

 

Some great vids to look back through.

 

Not sure why they didnt get all 4 engines going, looks like they tried outboard port side but didnt spin up?

 

 

[Preston Red 947]

4 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

Ah this one, half way through a 10 year restoration.

 

Some great vids to look back through.

 

Not sure why they didnt get all 4 engines going, looks like they tried outboard port side but didnt spin up?

 

 

Nice one. Lovely to see how she's coming along.

[dockers_strike 4,194]

32 minutes ago, Preston Red said:

Nice one. Lovely to see how she's coming along.

I was a bit confused watching some of the vids because they said they were half way through a 10 year restoration yet she almost looks ready to fly.

 

Turns out they have to swap the wings and some fuselage parts out of the current airframe and replace with the parts they are refurbing.

 

This way, they can still do the taxi rides and show the plane off instead of just having a big pile of parts that wouldnt peek people's interest.

[Preston Red 947]

9 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I was a bit confused watching some of the vids because they said they were half way through a 10 year restoration yet she almost looks ready to fly.

 

Turns out they have to swap the wings and some fuselage parts out of the current airframe and replace with the parts they are refurbing.

 

This way, they can still do the taxi rides and show the plane off instead of just having a big pile of parts that wouldnt peek people's interest.

It's amazing just how much goes into something like that. Granted they'd have had hundreds of people on them during the war to manufacture them, but now with the skills dwindling it's taking far longer to carry out. Sadly, the same fate that the Vulcan suffered.

 

I work in the shed where the rear sections of the F-35 are made. It is basically a glorified meccano set and is thrown together. You go through to the other shed that links on to ours and you can see sections of the Eurofighter being built and that looks like a hybrid of meccano and proper engineering.

[VladimirIlyich 9,756]

10 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I was a bit confused watching some of the vids because they said they were half way through a 10 year restoration yet she almost looks ready to fly.

 

Turns out they have to swap the wings and some fuselage parts out of the current airframe and replace with the parts they are refurbing.

 

This way, they can still do the taxi rides and show the plane off instead of just having a big pile of parts that wouldnt pique people's interest.

Fixed.

[dockers_strike 4,194]

4 hours ago, Preston Red said:

It's amazing just how much goes into something like that. Granted they'd have had hundreds of people on them during the war to manufacture them, but now with the skills dwindling it's taking far longer to carry out. Sadly, the same fate that the Vulcan suffered.

 

I work in the shed where the rear sections of the F-35 are made. It is basically a glorified meccano set and is thrown together. You go through to the other shed that links on to ours and you can see sections of the Eurofighter being built and that looks like a hybrid of meccano and proper engineering.

Soz, out of juice! Yeah you look at the number of older guys working on that Lanc and you wonder how many will still be there by the time they finish her. people dont get younger, after all.

[dockers_strike 4,194]

3 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Fixed.

Ha! Good spot!

[dockers_strike 4,194]

Potential BAE Hawk replacement?

 

Aeralis, the British-designed jet fighter that could replace the RAF’s ageing fleet of Hawk trainers, has won the backing of Rolls-Royce and Martin Baker as it gears up to make a demonstrator version.

 

The company is looking to capitalise on tight defence budgets and ageing fleets of trainer aircraft to sell adaptable jets that can be upgraded and modified.

 

The programme recently won investment from the Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office to test its system to allow electronic components to be swapped in and out and upgraded without the aircraft needing a costly recertification by regulators.

 

Aeralis has estimated there is a market for up to 5,500 of its jets, which could be worth £150bn.

 

Rolls-Royce has agreed to supply its Adour jet engines for the plane, while Martin Baker will provide ejector seats. 

 

It will also work with Hamble Aerostructures, which was a supplier to BAE Systems for the Hawk and before that worked on the 1960s-era Folland Gnat jet trainer. 

 

Training top pilots is a costly process starting with smaller propeller-driven craft and graduating on to faster and more powerful designs. 

Previously, governments had to maintain sizeable fleets of each type of plane.

 

However, a cheaper fleet of adaptable jets opens the door for a provider to move them around the world and train pilots as needed, adapting power and capability to match the skills and needs of students. 

 

The design could help reduce the runaway costs of other programmes, especially for the fastest jets, where costs increase exponentially with speed.

 

Tristan Crawford, chief executive of Aeralis, said: “You're not having to redevelop a new aeroplane for when you need to do something different in the future. That makes the whole cost to the customer much less and much quicker to upgrade.”

 

Russia’s war on Ukraine has focused the minds of customers who want to make their defence budgets go further, he said. “The priority on replacement programmes has increased because of the conflict.”

The fighter sells itself on its modular design. Everything from the wings and engines can be swapped out for different missions, meaning the jet can train pilots, act as a light attack plane, an aerobatics jet or even a potential refueller for drones.

Modular components mean the Aeralis could adapt to multiple scenarios, from training and support to combat

This means defence ministries can repurpose the craft as needs change without having to scrap them.

 

While many military aircraft are upgraded during their lives, designing it with this in mind is what makes the plane different. 

 

Inability to upgrade military planes has historically been a costly business. In 2010, the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol and attack aircraft was scrapped, wasting £3.4bn of taxpayer money. 

 

The Aeralis will start with the older Adour engine that powers the Hawk, but the plane could be adapted to accommodate newer, more powerful engines in the future, including supersonic models if there is enough demand, although that will push up the cost.

 

“Airliners have a range of engines you can put onto the aircraft, depending on what the customer wants. We're doing the same thing in the sector here,” Mr Crawford said.

 

The company plans to have a demonstrator ready by 2025 and a saleable product by 2028, when many training and surveillance aircraft will be reaching the end of their lives.

 

The company is working with Martin Baker, a private British company, for its ejector seats.

 

Based in Higher Denham, near Uxbridge, the business is jointly managed by John and James Martin, the twin sons of Sir James Martin, who established the company in 1929 as a plane maker. It has saved 7,671 pilots with its technology.

 

The company moved into ejection seats in 1942 after co-founder Captain Valentine Baker died testing a company plane.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/18/rolls-royce-backs-new-hawk-fighter-jet-trainer/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

[rb14 1,901]

I did quite a bit of flying earlier this week. On the way back, one of my legs was direct across the Gatwick controlled zone. It was like christmas. About six jets in succession flew (what seemed like a couple of hundred feet) above me on their approach to landing. 

 

The only decent pic I took was of my SkyDemon, showing just some. The plane on the extreme left has just taken off, the others had either already crossed my route and landed, or are inbound. I could see the lot. ACE. 

 

[Stouffer 2,825]

I used to spend Friday mornings just watching the radar display looking at all the lucky bastards taking off from Newcastle going on their holidays and trying to work out where they were going.

[VladimirIlyich 9,756]

13 hours ago, Stouffer said:

I used to spend Friday mornings just watching the radar display looking at all the lucky bastards taking off from Newcastle going on their holidays and trying to work out where they were going.

If you download flightradar24 you'd have known exactly where those lucky bastards were going.

[rb14 1,901]

Yesterday... 

 

[Stouffer 2,825]

1 hour ago, rb14 said:

Yesterday... 

 

Rog', does your rating allow you to fly offshore or is there further training?

 

I think it would be amazing to be able to fly over the open sea.

[rb14 1,901]

1 hour ago, Stouffer said:

Rog', does your rating allow you to fly offshore or is there further training?

 

I think it would be amazing to be able to fly over the open sea.

Honestly it's mad. You just go. That's it. If I want to land abroad, I have to notify customs in advance (a few hours for Ireland, 24 hours for EU), but I just go. My license covers me over the "open sea".

 

I've done France and Germany over both the Channel and the North Sea. Its ace. Some pilots are like "wear a lifejacket" and "take a raft" but I haven't. It is funny that those weird, almost imperceptible changes in engine noise that I hear when I'm over the sea, magically disappear when I'm back over land! 

 

I'm going to whizz over to Oirland in June. Am I allowed to say that? 

 

 

[Stouffer 2,825]

3 hours ago, rb14 said:

Honestly it's mad. You just go. That's it. If I want to land abroad, I have to notify customs in advance (a few hours for Ireland, 24 hours for EU), but I just go. My license covers me over the "open sea".

 

I've done France and Germany over both the Channel and the North Sea. Its ace. Some pilots are like "wear a lifejacket" and "take a raft" but I haven't. It is funny that those weird, almost imperceptible changes in engine noise that I hear when I'm over the sea, magically disappear when I'm back over land! 

 

I'm going to whizz over to Oirland in June. Am I allowed to say that? 

 

 

Fucking he'll Rog, that sounds magic.

 

Nipping over to France for a pack of Gauloises and a baguette then smoking the full pack on the way home with the wind flicking at the mane.