Flying. Everything planes.

[dockers_strike]

5 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Maybe at the end they need to be close to avoid those 'wake vortices' that come from bigger aeroplane's wings and can cause problems to the smaller planes?

Yeah was thinking similar. When they used a refuelling hose out of wing pods, these were quite long, as you say to avoid turbulence.

 

In the vid I posted I had to look twice as I though I was seeing things and the Typhoon getting a lot closer again. It looks like they retract the hose probably to minimise turbulence as you mention.

[DalyanPete]

Thought this plane was circling waiting to land at Dalaman. Obviously a training flight,

"Right then fella, do us a simulation of Mr Magoos glasses."

no info given on flight radar.

[Rico1304]

Anyone with a few quid spare. 
 

https://www.platinumfighters.com/warbirds-fighters

[Bjornebye]

4 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

Anyone with a few quid spare. 
 

https://www.platinumfighters.com/warbirds-fighters

Yeeerrrsssss

 

 

https://www.platinumfighters.com/inventory-2/1951-bell-47-d-1

 

 

 

[dockers_strike]

I love the look of the Super Constellation. It looks gangly on te grounds with its long nose wheel but in the air, I think it looks fantastic.

 

Not many minutes of it in the air Im afraid but enough to have a good gawk at.

 

 

[tokyojoe]

59 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

I love the look of the Super Constellation. It looks gangly on te grounds with its long nose wheel but in the air, I think it looks fantastic.

 

Not many minutes of it in the air Im afraid but enough to have a good gawk at.

 

 

Beautiful, I see it's registered in Aus. Don't know if it's still there but there used to be one I've seen at Alicante Airport, not a flyer of course.

[Kepler-186]

Just found this lovely site after coming across an aircraft I’d never heard of, the Bristol Brigand. 
 

https://hushkit.net/

 

On Twitter, too. 

[Evelyn Tentions]

On 15/10/2021 at 01:41, dockers_strike said:

I love the look of the Super Constellation. It looks gangly on te grounds with its long nose wheel but in the air, I think it looks fantastic.

 

Not many minutes of it in the air Im afraid but enough to have a good gawk at.

 

 

An ex gf was the daughter of a Qantas pilot. He'd flown Sunderland's and Mosquitos during the war. He flew many different passenger and private planes and retired as the 747 was introduced. He thought the Connie was the sweetest thing he'd flown.

[Kepler-186]

Blatant propaganda site but interesting article.

 

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/sixth-generation-stealth-fighters-russia-and-chinas-great-nightmare-195909

[Kepler-186]

I’ve just bits of this programme, apparently it’s available through a Firestick and an Amazon Prime account.

 

James Holland the military historian presents and it covers the post WW2 British aviation industry.

 

The Mig-15 had a Rolls Royce! Thanks Cambridge University! 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-War-Hot-Jets/dp/B07NSNP3GG

 

 

[dockers_strike]

RAF pilot forced to eject from F35 Lightning while in the Med. Fortunately pilot survived. Jet totalled.

 

An F-35 fighter jet has crashed into the sea after a pilot had to eject during an incident in the Mediterranean.  

 

The incident involved one of the RAF's eight F-35b aircraft, which are currently on board HMS Queen Elizabeth as she continues her maiden voyage. 

 

It is understood that it happened over international waters at 10am on Wednesday. 

 

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the pilot had been recovered, and an investigation has begun. This is the first time an incident such as this has occurred.

 

No other vessels or aircrafts were involved in the incident, understood to have happened as a result of either a technical or human error.

 

It is understood that all F35s – which cost £100million each – are operational, and training flying continues.

 

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "A British F35 pilot from HMS Queen Elizabeth ejected during routine flying operations in the Mediterranean this morning.

 

"The pilot has been safely returned to the ship and an investigation has begun, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/17/raf-jet-crashes-sea-pilot-ejects-mediterranean/

[Mike D]

Been watching Treasure hunt as it got a mention in the TV theme tune thread. Love the last 6 minutes of this episode with the sea harrier.

 

 

[tokyojoe]

I'm giving a speech tonight at one of the local village halls for charity. 'Would you buy a used 747 from this man'?

 

Oh well.

[rb14]

Didn't know whether this should go in the "Pics you've taken", or @dave u"s Golf project thread, but I think it's better here. Boeing 777 to Singapore. 

 

[dockers_strike]

Some interesting clips. Looks like that Embraer and A380 pilots earned their corn with those landings!

 

The pilot of the Pawnee(?) crop duster survived.

 

 

 

[rb14]

8 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

Some interesting clips. Looks like that Embraer and A380 pilots earned their corn with those landings!

 

The pilot of the Pawnee(?) crop duster survived.

 

 

 

So, wings fall off one plane. From the man with the world's second most boring voice. 

 

 

 

[VladimirIlyich]

8 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

Some interesting clips. Looks like that Embraer and A380 pilots earned their corn with those landings!

 

The pilot of the Pawnee(?) crop duster survived.

 

 

 

The sideways landing is called 'crabbing' and is practiced regularly. Commercial pilots can be reprimanded for using it with passengers in extreme circumstances.

[rb14]

When you know you need to buy a lottery ticket... 

 

[Kepler-186]

The impossibility of choosing a favourite World War II aircraft

 

Hush Kit

Jan 461

 

There are millions of World War IIs, and some are more fun than others. The one your grand – or great grandparent –fought or endured was probably the least fun, though a period of (say) six years always holds countless contradictions. The most enjoyable 'version' of World War II was the retelling that was born as propaganda and became cemented to the public psyche through model kits, Commando comics, 1960s cinema and other appealingly celebratory channels. With its moral certainty, sexy machines and thrilling destruction it was utterly appealing to children, and those children became adults.

Wherever a favourite or loved aeroplane is mentioned a person's character is being judged – and along with it what they stand for. This is a terrifying situation so let us consider the matter. Here are some considerations when one attempts to answer the hardest question of all: 'what is your favourite aeroplane of World War II?'

 

The Spitfire

 

Loving the Spitfire is like loving The Beatles. It is like loving coffee or beer, it is ubiquitous to the point of pointlessness. It seems to say little about who you are to love the Spitfire, especially if you are British. On the other hand, the Spitfire is utterly wonderful. Despite what contrarians so tiresomely insist, the Beatles wrote great songs and the Spitfire is stunningly beautiful. And it was a miracle of engineering. And it did have a part in saving many countries in World War II. But then again...

 

Military history, as an account looking at 'things' more than 'people', will always have a right-wing, left-brained bent, something not to everyone's taste. The Spitfire, as known in Britain, is warm ale, clacking cricket bats and Conservative. This is at odds with the actual Spitfire pilots who spanned the entire political spectrum. 

 

What about the Hurricane?

 

You can spend about ten seconds on Twitter talking about Spitfires before someone will tell you the Hurricane was more important in the Battle of Britain. Vital yet underrated, the Hurricane is the Ringo Starr to the Spitfire's John Lennon (to further confuse our Beatles' analogy).

Oh wait, so which aircraft is Paul McCartney and George Harrison? Answers in the comments section, please. And do I have to stick to the Battle of Britain in this game? 

 

What now?

 

Then it gets even more complicated as you wonder if celebrating the aeroplane of a particular culture means consciously or unconsciously espousing something of that culture's beliefs. It certainly makes things a little less comfortable when you spot a load of Wunderwaffe titles on someone's bookshelf (though these have entered the mainstream recently). But that judgement is probably silly in some ways. Which War World II is this imagined lover of German WW2 aircraft living in anyway? Perhaps they are baddies in a sixties film in this person's head. 

 

Bombers

 

The phenomenon of the ever-popular Lancaster Christmas cards shows the bizarre degree to which bombers have become cosy. As engineering, a Lancaster is amazing, a B-29 even more so. If one can look at them with a child's eye we can enjoy the gun turrets, the quartet of roaring engines and the fraternal teamwork of the unlucky crews. Still, if fighters can be likened to flying knights, bombers seem more akin to flying human abattoirs. (note to self: may pitch flying abattoirs on Dragon's Den). 

 

Radial or inline?

 

Single-engine World War Two fighters either looked like barrels or dogs. The inline fighters had lovely noble snouts like hunting hounds, whereas the radial fighters looked like barrels. More than that the radials looked like butch brawlers. Essentially, the inlines were flamboyant cavaliers and the radials hard-drinking rough and ready roundheads. There are exceptions to this rule, the inline Hawker Typhoon, for example, was an absolute fucking bruiser. This brings us neatly to the next quandary. 

 

Big or small?

 

Most of the Soviet fighters (and I make no apologies for being fighter-centric) were tiny, whereas many of the US types, especially later ones, were huge. A P-47 (see early wind tunnel model above) was more than twice the weight of a Yak-9: at around 17,000Ib all-up compared to a mere 7,500Ib for the Soviet machine. Do you support the plucky underdog or the muscleman? And what does that say about you?

Wilfully obscure 

Any self-respecting muso appreciates the cachet of a working knowledge of Hungarian Witch House or West African Trumpetcore – knowing stuff others don't can be an enjoyable (if unstable) source of self-esteem. This elitism happily fits into av-geekery: 'what do you mean you've never heard of the Bichel-Zagnetova BZ-104?'. The problem with choosing these rare types is often there is a reason they are rare, and you are missing out on appreciating something magnificently capable and beautiful just because it is common. 

Update on the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes 

We're now at the final design stages! I'll share some pages with you at the first opportunity. CAN'T WAIT for the book to come out this year, all thanks to you. I want the production of the 2nd volume to be far swifter, which will be dependent on it reaching full funding in a decent timeframe (it's currently at 31%). If you're cautiously awaiting volume 1 before committing to the second I'd encourage you to take the plunge to ensure the fast arrival of the sequel. If you wish to support this and make it happen you can do it here. 

Happy New Year and a huge thank you for your support Xx

[rb14]

I just returned from a long weekend near Edinburgh visiting a mate. One of the myriad words of wisdom in aviation is "time to spare, go by air" - in other words it's not quick. But here are the figures for this journey:

Train is 4.5 hours plus two hours from Eastbourne = 6.5. 

Car is possibly 8.5 or five million hours.

Easyjet is 1.5 hours from Eastbourne, 1.5 in the airport and another 1.5 - 2 flying = 5.

Or I could fly myself. 1.5 hours to the airfield, an hour of prep, 2.75 hours flying and half an hour of post-flight = 6.

 

Of course I chose the latter. And what a flight. A little bit of cloud-dodging north of East Midlands and a very very close lookout for icing, but my goodness, the sights and, now I'm more confident, lack of stress, I'm so glad I did. Here are a few pics... 

 

[VladimirIlyich]

7 hours ago, rb14 said:

I just returned from a long weekend near Edinburgh visiting a mate. One of the myriad words of wisdom in aviation is "time to spare, go by air" - in other words it's not quick. But here are the figures for this journey:

Train is 4.5 hours plus two hours from Eastbourne = 6.5. 

Car is possibly 8.5 or five million hours.

Easyjet is 1.5 hours from Eastbourne, 1.5 in the airport and another 1.5 - 2 flying = 5.

Or I could fly myself. 1.5 hours to the airfield, an hour of prep, 2.75 hours flying and half an hour of post-flight = 6.

 

Of course I chose the latter. And what a flight. A little bit of cloud-dodging north of East Midlands and a very very close lookout for icing, but my goodness, the sights and, now I'm more confident, lack of stress, I'm so glad I did. Here are a few pics... 

 

I'm shitting myself just looking at those photos. Kudos to you Captain.

[Stouffer]

Awesome pics Rog'.

[rb14]

Thanks. Trust me, I feel deeply privileged. 

 

It's been a long and extremely demanding journey from my first flight on 13th August 2018 to where I am now, a qualified CAA Private Pilot with an IR(R) (restricted Instrument Rating), well over 200 hours logged in "complex" aircraft and an FAA (USA) certification to boot. I'd not remotely considered becoming a pilot before July 2018. Until my mid twenties I wouldn't even consider getting on any plane, I was so terrified of flying. Valium and beta-blockers were compulsory campanions for many years. 

 

And now I'm flying solo from London to East Fife, anywhere between two and seven thousand feet, in temperatures well below freezing, taking pictures and vaping my tits off (I'd smoke proper fags but my co-owners wouldn't approve). I mean how lucky am I? Where once I'd have meticulously planned every nautical mile of my route, every waypoint, every radio frequency, alternative airfields, procedures, wind drift, magnetic and true headings, now my flight planning is a little different. Here's the outbound journey... 

 

 

And here's the return... 

 

I actually didn't make it back as the weather in London was below minima for landing. I'd planned to drop in at Peterborough Conington enroute home to enable me to properly assess my options, and rather predictably, I ended up staying overnight.

 

Completing the return journey the following day, a zone transit across Luton Airport in stunning weather was some compensation. 

 

[dockers_strike]

13 hours ago, rb14 said:

Thanks. Trust me, I feel deeply privileged. 

 

It's been a long and extremely demanding journey from my first flight on 13th August 2018 to where I am now, a qualified CAA Private Pilot with an IR(R) (restricted Instrument Rating), well over 200 hours logged in "complex" aircraft and an FAA (USA) certification to boot. I'd not remotely considered becoming a pilot before July 2018. Until my mid twenties I wouldn't even consider getting on any plane, I was so terrified of flying. Valium and beta-blockers were compulsory campanions for many years. 

 

And now I'm flying solo from London to East Fife, anywhere between two and seven thousand feet, in temperatures well below freezing, taking pictures and vaping my tits off (I'd smoke proper fags but my co-owners wouldn't approve). I mean how lucky am I? Where once I'd have meticulously planned every nautical mile of my route, every waypoint, every radio frequency, alternative airfields, procedures, wind drift, magnetic and true headings, now my flight planning is a little different. Here's the outbound journey... 

 

 

And here's the return... 

 

I actually didn't make it back as the weather in London was below minima for landing. I'd planned to drop in at Peterborough Conington enroute home to enable me to properly assess my options, and rather predictably, I ended up staying overnight.

 

Completing the return journey the following day, a zone transit across Luton Airport in stunning weather was some compensation. 

 

Cool. I watch a lot of YT vids by Blancolario, Juan Browne, Flywire, Scott Purdue plus Probable Cause, Dan Gryder, all highly respected pilots in their field, who comment of GA  accidents in the US. In juan's case he also covers airlines as he's an airline captain.

 

They all say, if in doubt, use the Amex card and stay overnight at a location rather than succumb to 'getthereitis' and risk an accident.

[Red_or_Dead]

On 13/01/2022 at 11:04, rb14 said:

WHat were you flying over at about half past one which necessitated going up 2,000ft?  The clouds?