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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 9:22:33 GMT
A terrible place ! I once had to endure the Glitter Band There ...?or was that the Steam Machine ? You can't forget that shameful episode Scarred for life I'm afraid Harry
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Post by Dutchpeter on Mar 8, 2016 11:34:57 GMT
1. Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - a plane introduced in 1966 that did Mach 3. If you wheeled one out today people would say it looks futuristic. Beautiful. 2. McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II - a jet that was from 1960 and was retired in 2013? For me, one of the best looking jets ever. 3. Blackburn Buccaneer - just because my Dad worked on the wing design. The Phantom was a great aircraft ....but our Lightning could fly rings around it ( politics again rear their head here as to why we operated Phantoms instead of navalised Lightnings ....the Lighthing in improved versions could and should have been a standard fighter for NATO air forces ) I think the problem with the Lightning was it was a bit of a one trick pony, in so much as it was an interceptor in its purest form and not much good for anything else. It's short range and the fact it could only fly for about 45 minutes before it refuelled were handicaps. The surface to air missile virtually made it obsolete early in its career. While it could beat a Phantom in an after burner race, the Phantom was a better aircraft. It was a better weapons platform, more adaptable and was certainly fast enough and longer lived than the Lightning.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 8, 2016 12:18:23 GMT
I love the F-16, very elegant.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 8, 2016 12:19:27 GMT
The Lockhead Starfighter was a bit of a looker, too.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 12:50:03 GMT
The Phantom was a great aircraft ....but our Lightning could fly rings around it ( politics again rear their head here as to why we operated Phantoms instead of navalised Lightnings ....the Lighthing in improved versions could and should have been a standard fighter for NATO air forces ) I think the problem with the Lightning was it was a bit of a one trick pony, in so much as it was an interceptor in its purest form and not much good for anything else. It's short range and the fact it could only fly for about 45 minutes before it refuelled were handicaps. The surface to air missile virtually made it obsolete early in its career. While it could beat a Phantom in an after burner race, the Phantom was a better aircraft. It was a better weapons platform, more adaptable and was certainly fast enough and longer lived than the Lightning. The Phantom certainly had a far superior range and could carry a greater weapons load .....but the Ligtning was what it was , an Interceptor designed to defend the Uk , it was faster , could certainly out climb it and generally outfly it ....it proved itself countless times in NATO exercises against Phantoms and other frontline fighters like the F-15 and the F-16 ....if it were not for politics it would certainly have been improved upon .....a two seat folding wing variant for the Royal Navy was cancelled because of the political requirement for Britain to purchase Amerian military aircraft ( the Phantom and the F-111 ) as part of a deal that was made to secure huge loans from America in the 60's. The TSR2 was also cancelled because of this , the F- 111 was selected as a replacement ( because of delayed delivery schedules we never actually purchased the F-111 ) and so the RAF ended up with the Buccaneer instead . I recommend that book that I mentioned in an earlier post by Roland Beamont ( Cheif Lightning Test Pilot ) he flew both types as well as all of the American Centuty series of fighters ...he says that there was nothing that could live with the Lightning ( at the time ) it had the best performance of any aircraft of its type .
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 12:50:53 GMT
The Lockhead Starfighter was a bit of a looker, too. Pilot killer though . Many NATO pilots were killed in it particularly German Air Force pilots , one of the reasons being its poor Ametican Ejection Seats .....the Luftwaffe had wanted British Martin Baker seats , but the Americans vetoed the idea unsurprisingly .
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 12:54:35 GMT
I love the F-16, very elegant. I always feel that it's contemporary the F-18 Hornet is a a better looker , an aircraft that the RAF wanted in the 80's rather than waiting another 20 years for the Typhoon .
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Post by harryburrows on Mar 8, 2016 15:23:19 GMT
The Lockhead Starfighter was a bit of a looker, too. Pilot killer though . Many NATO pilots were killed in it particularly German Air Force pilots , one of the reasons being its poor Ametican Ejection Seats .....the Luftwaffe had wanted British Martin Baker seats , but the Americans vetoed the idea unsurprisingly . As Churchill said " you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing once they've tried all the other options
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 16:15:05 GMT
Pilot killer though . Many NATO pilots were killed in it particularly German Air Force pilots , one of the reasons being its poor Ametican Ejection Seats .....the Luftwaffe had wanted British Martin Baker seats , but the Americans vetoed the idea unsurprisingly . As Churchill said " you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing once they've tried all the other options Indeed Harry , I should add however that the Luftwaffe did eventually get their way and the aircraft was retrofitted with the British seats , the initial American seats ejected the pilots downwards for Gods Sake !
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 16:31:45 GMT
Attachment DeletedIf we are talking hot ....the Lockheed B- 70 Valkyrie must be a contender , although only a couple of prototypes were built , one crashed after a collision with a Starfighter " chase plane " and the programme was cancelled shortly afterwards.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 8, 2016 16:34:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 17:28:32 GMT
Anything that get's me out of this country in winter!
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Post by lawrieleslie on Mar 8, 2016 17:54:25 GMT
Surprising that the Harrier Jump Jet doesn't get a mention. A proven and capable fighter and ground attack aircraft that single handedly saw off the Argentine airforce in the Falklands War. Also the grand old lady of them all The Vulcan Bomber that also gained legendary status in that conflict.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 19:11:00 GMT
Surprising that the Harrier Jump Jet doesn't get a mention. A proven and capable fighter and ground attack aircraft that single handedly saw off the Argentine airforce in the Falklands War. Also the grand old lady of them all The Vulcan Bomber that also gained legendary status in that conflict. Agreed Lawrie , the Sea Harrier probably gained legendary status for its performance in that conflict ....marvellous aeroplane , seeing a Vulcan in the air is one of lifes great experiences for an aviation enthusiast such as myself , sadly no longer .
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 19:11:58 GMT
Anything that get's me out of this country in winter! I won't argue with that !
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 20:26:54 GMT
P11-27 (jump jet)
Concorde
English electric lightning
Vulcan Bomber
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 8, 2016 21:12:25 GMT
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Post by ukcstokie on Mar 8, 2016 21:40:27 GMT
One of the forgotten V-Bombers - the Victor
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 22:48:06 GMT
P11-27 (jump jet) Concorde English electric lightning Vulcan Bomber Outstanding videos posted riv
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Post by lawrieleslie on Mar 9, 2016 7:37:07 GMT
One of the forgotten V-Bombers One of the V Bomber trilogy Vulcan, Victor and Valiant that carried Britains nuclear deterent before the introduction of SSBNs in the 60s. The Victor was also an unsung heroin of the Falklands war providing inflight refuelling for the Vulcan bombers that reeked terror on the Argies at Stanley Airport. No fewer than 11 Victor tankers were needed to perform 17 inflight refuellings to get one Vulcan over the target and back to Ascension. Seven raids were planned but two were cancelled due to weather and technical failure. Of the other five raids, four returned safely. However one Vulcan had to divert to Brazil after its refuelling probe broke and was impounded for the duration of the war. Another little anecdote regarding the Victor.......few years ago one was performing a ground taxiing display at an airshow with a retired Victor pilot and an engineer in the cockpit. The engineer, operating the throttles, "accidentally" opened them right up to full. The pilot realising that he couldn't stop, raised the aircraft to about 150 feet to clear houses and spectators and then landed it safely in a nearby field. Neither the aircraft, pilot nor engineer were licence to fly but the CAA did not take legal action but praised the old pilot for his quick thinking in avoiding a tragedy.
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Post by The Drunken Communist on Mar 9, 2016 8:41:51 GMT
You've gotta love the Typhoon. The daddy of them all will always be this bad boy though. The MiG-29 Fulcrum, what a gorgeous, gorgeous looking plane!
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Post by kiwistokie on Mar 10, 2016 0:49:51 GMT
1. Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - a plane introduced in 1966 that did Mach 3. If you wheeled one out today people would say it looks futuristic. Beautiful. 2. McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II - a jet that was from 1960 and was retired in 2013? For me, one of the best looking jets ever. 3. Blackburn Buccaneer - just because my Dad worked on the wing design. For me the plane that Dennis Healy killed....The B.A.C TSR 2 , years ahead of its time in the 1960's ....sadly cancelled ( that's politics so I won't go into it ) , If you are not familiar with it Google it ,a fantastic aeroplane ....It would still be very formidable even today . I think that the only remaining 1 is at Duxford, Imperial war Museum Go to youtube there are a few great docos
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Post by ukcstokie on Mar 12, 2016 1:33:48 GMT
Rockwell B-1B Lancer
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Post by outspaced on Mar 12, 2016 2:51:33 GMT
Rockwell B-1B Lancer A bomber with swept wings. WTF! The first time I saw one was at RIAT about 98. Watching it taxi to take off position and then bang. The noise was unreal and you could feel it under your feet, I was gobsmacked. Disappointing thing was that the display after that was a let down because the take off was so immense!
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Post by Linx on Mar 13, 2016 16:49:55 GMT
The F-22 Raptor changes all the rules for fast jets.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2016 17:28:01 GMT
The F-22 Raptor changes all the rules for fast jets. I can't help thinking that we ought to have gone for that instead of the F-35 , and fitted catapults to the new carriers ......the yanks have cleared us to operate them .
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Post by Linx on Mar 13, 2016 19:05:13 GMT
The F-22 Raptor changes all the rules for fast jets. I can't help thinking that we ought to have gone for that instead of the F-35 , and fitted catapults to the new carriers ......the yanks have cleared us to operate them . What has the Navy done with the pilots and maintenance crews while we wait for the new carriers and jets to enter service? Have they been seconded to the RAF or are they spread out to various foreign navies to keep up their training? I suppose they are busily training up on the F-35 as we get ever closer to commisssining the new carriers but what were they doing for the five years previously?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2016 19:08:18 GMT
I can't help thinking that we ought to have gone for that instead of the F-35 , and fitted catapults to the new carriers ......the yanks have cleared us to operate them . What has the Navy done with the pilots and maintenance crews while we wait for the new carriers and jets to enter service? Have they been seconded to the RAF or are they spread out to various foreign navies to keep up their training? I suppose they are busily training up on the F-35 as we get ever closer to commisssining the new carriers but what were they doing for the five years previously? Could be that it will be a new group of pilots and ground crew I would think ......I suppose some are still in the service ?
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Post by mattintheprem on Mar 13, 2016 23:39:29 GMT
For me the plane that Dennis Healy killed....The B.A.C TSR 2 , years ahead of its time in the 1960's ....sadly cancelled ( that's politics so I won't go into it ) , If you are not familiar with it Google it ,a fantastic aeroplane ....It would still be very formidable even today . I think that the only remaining 1 is at Duxford, Imperial war Museum Go to youtube there are a few great docos There are 2 remaining TSR2's, the other is at the excellent museum at RAF Cosford, sadly though when it's packed inside a hangar with numerous other cold war types it doesn't quite stand out as well at is should. Still well worth a visit though. Last time I was there the Defence Engineering School had half a dozen of their big collection of ex RAF Jaguars out on the airfield with systems running. Another fine machine the Jag, could have carried on for many more years.
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