Wow, was retired in 1990? Thought it was later than that. Time flies.
My personal favourite is the English Electric Lightning. Two after burning Avons wrapped by the minimal amount of aeroplane to make them fly.
My personal favourite is the English Electric Lightning. Two after burning Avons wrapped. by the minimal amount of aeroplane to make them fly.
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Awesomeness in a picture.
DOCUMENTARY: Strange Days
On: BBC 2 London (2)
Date: Tuesday 12th November 2013 (starting in 14 days)
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (1 hour long)
What was that American cold war spy plane that was faster than any Russian missile, was it Bluebird??
What was that American cold war spy plane that was faster than any Russian missile, was it Bluebird??
Almost, it was the Lockheed-Martin SR-71 Blackbird -
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It was at the time the highest-flying, fastest air-breathing aircraft ever built - on the same day in July 1976, two separate SR-71s set the records - one reaching an altitude of 85,069 feet, the other reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 or 2193.2mph.
The SR-71 also holds the record for the fastest flight from London - New York in around 1 hour 54 minutes - Concorde's best was 2 hours 52 minutes!!
They used to fly them out of Mildenhall in Suffolk.
The thing that got me with the SR71 was how small it was compared to how big I'd imagined it would be!
Saw them displaying at Mildenhall a couple of times, awesome bloody things to see.
Awwww, go on. Let's have a Strikemaster. Getting looooooow
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Based on the lovely little Jet Provost.
The ruskies couldn't shoot down the SR71 with SAM's so they built the Mig25 Foxbat to chase it down, but I think even they struggled to get anywhere near it.
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/10562714203_2de4dcba47.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/88504879@N03/10562714203/ ]Foxbat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/88504879@N03/ ]wobbliscott[/url], on Flickr
The award for the best aircraft of the cold war never to go into service goes to:-
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3768/10562773693_5765d236c2.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/88504879@N03/10562773693/ ]TSR2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/88504879@N03/ ]wobbliscott[/url], on Flickr
the TSR2. Was year ahead of its time, and the technology available at the time unfortunately, so the costs spiralled. The cancellation of this project marked the beginning of the end for the British Aerospace industry, in terms of being capable of building entire aircraft. Now we just make bits of aircraft.
And this has to be one of the most bonkers aircraft of the cold war. A supersonic heavy nuclear bomber. The XB70 Valkyrie - real Flash Gordon stuff. This aircraft demonstrates that it is not easy to make a Concorde and why no-one else has done it. Its far more to it than just bolting on as many jet engines as you can and beat the laws of Physics into submission. It was supposed to replace the B52. Best laid plans...
[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/10562649434_2d98ccc962.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/88504879@N03/10562649434/ ]xb70 valkrie[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/88504879@N03/ ]wobbliscott[/url], on Flickr
The ruskies couldn't shoot down the SR71 with SAM's so they built the Mig25 Foxbat to chase it down, but I think even they struggled to get anywhere near it.
And when they were both retired, I'm sure that this was the fastest, highest flying plane in regular service.
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If not, it wasn't far off it. Champagne, anyone?
The Valkyrie really was bonkers. But improved Soviet SAM's rendered it pretty much useless.
And when they were both retired, I'm sure that this was the fastest, highest flying plane in regular service.
I'm sure I read somewhere about a Blackbird pilot being asked nicely to move over because Concorde was about to overtake him.
Lots of fast military jets could beat Concorde on a short dash but only the MiG-25 and SR-71 could better it for sustained speed. But then neither of them had trolley service
neither of them had trolley service
😀
But then neither of them had trolley service
I believe you also had to pee in your suit 🙂
The ruskies couldn't shoot down the SR71 with SAM's so they built the Mig25 Foxbat to chase it down, but I think even they struggled to get anywhere near it.
The Mig 25 was [i]supposed[/i] to be almost as fast as the SR71 (it could manage Mach 3.2 in short bursts, whereas the SR71 could [i]maintain[/i] Mach 3.3 for long periods) but in actual fact it was only rated for Mach 2.83. Any attempt on Mach 3 or above usually borked the engines.
Like the SR71, the Mig 25 used afterburning turbojets, but the difference was that the SR71's engines effectively became ramjets with the intake spikes fully open.
Cheers for the heads up & +1 one on the awesomeness of the Lightning.
I thoroughly recommend a visit to Bruntingthorpe to see their cold war jets. They are kept in operable condition so on an open day you get to see them do fast taxi runs.
Also based there is the Lightning Preservation Group who have a QRA hangar with two F.6 Lightnings in working order. I recently had the pleasure of visiting them for the day, sitting in the cockpit whilst one was towed out to the runway & then standing next to it as those Avons went through a full power run. I don't know which was more intoxicating, the smell of the cockpit or the smell of the unburnt avgas sizzling in the jet pipes afterwards.
Lots of fast military jets could beat Concorde on a short dash but only the MiG-25 and SR-71 could better it for sustained speed.
IIRC the only military jet that "caught" a Concorde at cruising speed was a Lightning...but one assumes that a fully fuelled Victor wasn't far away, otherwise the Lightning pilot would have taken an impromptu swim.
Now the MiG 25 was utterly bonkers. When the Soviets first demonstrated it in the sixties, it threw the west into panic. It was assumed that with the boxy fuselage and large wing that the plane was built as a dogfighter, with a high speed dash to target as a bonus. The US wound up producing the F-15 as a response, which could fly fast AND dogfight with the very best.
It transpired that the MiG-25 was built largely out of steel, not titanium as expected. As a result, the MiG was heavy and limited to just over 2g sustained turning load. Moreover, if the engines were run at full power for too long, they invariably lunched themselves and a mach 3 dash resulted in a subsequent engine rebuild.
The MiG's main trump card was it's radar - built on vacuum valve technology and monstrously powerful. It could simply overpower enemy jamming through sheer wattage. An oft-quoted fact was that the MiG 25's radar running at full power would kill a rabbit, from two kilometers away.
I thought the MiG 25 was a response to the XB70?
Isn't it a shame that we never made the Bombcorde?
How about we big it up with a Zubr
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The world would be a better place if we used hovercraft more. 🙂
The world would be a better place if we used hovercraft more.
You are Jeremy Clarkson and I claim my $5
Chortles!
Now, what about this beauty as well;
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And, say hello to my leeeetle friend;
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An oft-quoted fact was that the MiG 25's radar running at full power would kill a rabbit, from two kilometers away.
Whats a rabbit doing that high up?
Read this ages ago, dunno how true it actually is but it sounds good!
SR-71 Blackbird Communication to Tower
Written by Brian Schul—former sled (SR-71 Blackbird) driver.
[I]There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, 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.[/I]
Let's not forget some of the awesomeness on the ground. ..
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Woohoo! looking forward to this!
That SR-71 piece never fails to make me laugh.
Pity the SR-72 will be pilotless.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/170463-lockheed-unveils-sr-72-hypersonic-mach-6-scramjet-spy-plane
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I hope they carry nuke to reduce the maggot kind ... 🙄
You guys should look into doing the tour of Upper Heyford.
A mate did it, loads of great stuff, the highlights being, a state of alert light that indicates total global annihilation, as well as nuclear bombs listed on the wall. They always swore there were no nukes.
chewkw - Member
I hope they carry nuke to reduce the maggot kind ...
Spook plane, innit. Ain't gonna carry nukes. Or any other weapons, no-one's going to shoot it down at Mach 6...
It all looks pretty good. [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jtngj/features/about ]BBC Cold War Season[/url]
The Silent War should be interesting.
Ah yesh, shubmarinesh, with captainsh with Scottish accentsh.
😉
20 minute warning!
OK, I know it should be a four minute warning, but I need to get to the fridge and get another beer!
Here we go!
Yee haaa! One for iPlayer.
Used to have a lodger from Upper Heyford and one from Craughton.
Lots of beer related interest.
I used to commute to the magazine via Heyford and when Dessert Storm was served up they closwed the pub
Road through the base until tjhw legality of this was questioned. The next day my van of toys and I went through with me in full Arabic dress courteswy of test trips put to the Sinai /over the last ten years.
I think this may be worth paying my subscription to my proxy so I can watch I player this month ...
Unless anyone has a means of sharing the episodes?
Zokes, they will most likely be on pirate day in a few days.
Brilliant show. Can't wait for next week.
Infact its already on there - downloading it now 🙂
Thanking you. Is there a BBC website with at least the names and an overview of each episode? Might make it easier to prod the more nefarious/liberal corners of the internet in the right direction if I know the correct search terms!
zokes - [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jtngj/features/about ][/url]
Bit OT, but the Vulcan is on bombing the Falklands 1600(now) More4
You guys should look into doing the tour of Upper Heyford.
A mate did it, loads of great stuff, the highlights being, a state of alert light that indicates total global annihilation, as well as nuclear bombs listed on the wall. They always swore there were no nukes.
I grew up less than ten miles away. F1-11s were a multi-flight a day occurrence. Boy they were loud!
Used to see lots of Hercs and very rarely the rumble of a flying fortress. Especially the night they flew to bomb Libya.
Local farmer painted a CND symbol on the roof of one of his barns 🙂