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  • RAF Speeding Ticket
  • mcmoonter
    Free Member
    Brother_Will
    Free Member

    I do like the RAFs response

    Jamie
    Free Member
    Smee
    Free Member

    Urban myth a bit like this one. If only they were true though.

    “This is the USS Montana requesting that you immediately divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. Over.”
    “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid collision.”
    The American end of the conversation is now taken over by the ship’s captain.
    “This is Captain Hancock. You will divert your course. Over.”
    “Negative captain. I’m not moving anything. Change your course. Over.”
    “Son. This is the USS Montana, the second largest vessel in the North Atlantic Fleet. You WILL change course fifteen degrees North or I will be forced to take measures to ensure the safety of this ship. Over!”
    “This is a lighthouse mate. It’s your call… Hello… Captain?”

    stuartlangwilson
    Free Member

    Funny despite being untrue. A sidewinder is an air to air missile.

    tumnurkoz
    Free Member

    point it at something hot enough, it'll go…prob urban myth, but funny

    kiwijohn
    Full Member

    Funny despite being untrue. A sidewinder is a heat seeking air to air missile.

    Not radar guided like a Sparrow.

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    OK this one really is true as it comes from my wife who heard it herself, so it's not one of those, I know some one who heard it from a friend stories

    So the wife flies areoplanes for BA. While on route to Edinburgh. around the Newcastle area, she overheard on the radio another pilot requesting clearance to descend 'from 780'. Basically that means that whomever was making that request, was flying at 78,000 feet.

    To put that into context, the typical altitude that Concorde would fly at is 60,000 feet; a 747 is lower than this.

    So whatever was up at 78,000 feet was not civilian and certainly not common. Most likely a Blackbird SR-7, or something…..

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    somewhere on the net is that story in full. Some wet behind the ears controller telling a Blackbird that he'd got his altitue wrong not knowing what he was flying. Don't know if it's true, but it is amusing.

    Gingerbloke
    Free Member

    Is this the one you are on about.

    Blackbird story

    No sorry this one is the speed check…….Funny though!!

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    Fun blackbird (true) story apparently:

    Amusing SR-71 story:

    " There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71 Blackbird (The Air Force/NASA super fast, highest flying reconnaissance jet, nicknamed, "The Sled"), but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane – intense, maybe, even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

    It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat.

    There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him.

    The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot who asked Center for a read-out of his ground speed. Center replied: “November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground.”

    Now the thing to understand about Center controllers was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.”

    Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.” Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”

    And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done – in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it – the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.”

    I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.” For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, “Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.”

    It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there."

    mcinnes
    Free Member

    Love that.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    yeah, that's the one I was thinking of!

    fliptophead
    Free Member

    I think the altitude story goes along the lines of "Blackbird 52 requesting Flight Level 760". ATC reply is a somewhat sceptical "If you can make it you can have it", to which the laconic reply is "Roger, Blackbird 52 descending to FL 760…"

    GaVgAs
    Free Member

    nearly mach 2?

    speed12
    Free Member

    More than Mach 2. Can't be bothered to do the maths, but Mach 2 at sea level is around 1500 mph, at the height an SR-71 would be flying it will be coming up to Mach 3ish. Although the story is talking about ground speed, so its about Mach 2 and a bit…..pretty nippy basically!

    MtbCol
    Free Member

    A sidewinder is an air to air missile.

    That's not totally true…

    The Sidewinder’s simplicity has given it amazing flexibility over the years. It can be mounted on virtually any airplane, and although it was designed as an air-to-air missile, it has spawned ground-to-air versions (Chaparral) and airto-ground versions (Focus). It has even been adapted for ships (Sea Chaparral) too small to handle larger antiaircraft missiles.

    Taken from This article

    Also…
    AIM 9X Block 2 update

    I've heard these stories for ages, and the SR71 speed check always raises a smile from me.

    Buccaneer pilots also had a story about flight levels, where a pilot requested a low level pass of an airfield at some silly level like 50 feet, and when tower gave him permission, the pilot radio's bacl "Roger, Climbing!" Whether it's true or not is open to discussion…

    speed12
    Free Member

    Love this picture for low level flying!

    Low flying Phantom

    Raindog
    Free Member

    Many years ago when I was an ATC cadet we had a trip round the Brough factory where Buccaneers had been made. Apparently back in the day they would test fly the Bucs at "Zero minus Zero", which actually equated to about nine feet above the water.

    SR71 story above is great 🙂

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    Goan – Premier Member

    Urban myth a bit like this one. If only they were true though.

    “This is the USS Montana requesting that you immediately divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. Over.”
    “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid collision.”
    The American end of the conversation is now taken over by the ship’s captain.
    “This is Captain Hancock. You will divert your course. Over.”
    “Negative captain. I’m not moving anything. Change your course. Over.”
    “Son. This is the USS Montana, the second largest vessel in the North Atlantic Fleet. You WILL change course fifteen degrees North or I will be forced to take measures to ensure the safety of this ship. Over!”
    “This is a lighthouse mate. It’s your call… Hello… Captain?”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4po3C0FfjKc

    CountZero
    Full Member

    From reading the book about the Skunk Works, nobody ever really knew the top speed of the SR-71. The fun one was the YF-12A, the fighter interceptor version…
    Never made it past prototype. It'll be interesting to see if Aurora turns out to be fact. It'll explain the black deltas up and down the east coast.
    Love that Blackbird story, that's very funny.

    tony_m
    Free Member

    Buccaneer pilots also had a story about flight levels, where a pilot requested a low level pass of an airfield at some silly level like 50 feet, and when tower gave him permission, the pilot radio's bacl "Roger, Climbing!" Whether it's true or not is open to discussion…

    something like this? 😀

    (Pretty much at the end, 5mins 22secs in).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWwGVRf7d3Y

    genesis
    Free Member

    Aurora is one of several deep black projects and does indeed exist.

    Gary_C
    Full Member

    Aurora is one of several deep black projects and does indeed exist.

    And you know this,because?

    Just wait for the 'Men In Black' knocking on your door…. 8)

    nickc
    Full Member

    I always thought that Aurora was/is the stealth program along with Haveblue.

    My dad was a fighter pilot with the RAF and he always maintains that Bucc pilots "weren't right" His other phrase of choice was "Stuff happens to Bucc pilots" He'd then shake his head like they were the dodgy cousins at the wedding and recount some hair raising anecdote.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I remember when I was a kid, we were at Castle Urquahart on Loch Ness, and a couple of Buccaneers had been doing slow, very low passes over the loch… For the last one, we were standing above the water gate, which at a guess is 50-60 feet up, and they flew under us, and no more than about 50 metres away. Fantastic to see, my brother swore they were leaving a wake but I never saw it. I guess it was a carrier landing exercise or something from the speed. They'd have been below the road level for most of the lochside road as well so another one to confuse the local cops 🙂

    genesis
    Free Member

    I used to know a freelance engineer that worked on the F-22 project and has quite a high DoD security clearence. Once told me to compare whats flying now compared to the end of WW2 and there are things flying in Nevada that are a 100yrs ahead. If they do ever break cover is another issue totally.
    Think of how long the Have Blue project took to go public and the B-2 Spirit as well as U2 and Blackbird, its no suprise that a force multilpier like Aurora is still classed deep black.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    There was a rumour with Buccaneers that you could take them down to about 15ft above the ground and take your hands off the stick, they'd stay there 'chained' to the ground by some weird combination of aerodynamics and ground effect just riding the ground cushion.

    Talking to some Jaguar pilots after the first Gulf War, they had various tall tales to tell about how low they could go including stories of buzzing camels and trying to hit them with the underslung weaponry. I'm guessing it was slightly exaggerated! 😉

    nickc
    Full Member

    Once told me to compare whats flying now compared to the end of WW2

    By the end of WW2 most of the airplanes that are 6th generation (F22 F35) were already drawn and conceptualized by the German aerodynamisists that were captured by the Yanks at the end of the war. Remember that the A12/SR71 prototypes were already flying by Mid '62, thats only 17 years after the end of the war

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    and has quite a high DoD security clearence. Once told me to compare whats flying now compared to the end of WW2 and there are things flying in Nevada that are a 100yrs ahead

    A bloke down the pub, who's got the highest DoD security clearence, told me that they tell that to the engineers with lower DoD clearence to try and cover up for not having any really exciting secrets. 🙂

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