OK here's my English Electric Lightning story (well my dad's anyway!)
When he was in the Royal Air Force my dad was based at St Mawgan near Newquay. This was in the mid to late 50's. Anyway late one afternoon they got a call to say that one of the new "Lightnings" was coming in with an electrical fault. The plane came in and dad, who was radio/radar, was one of the people who looked at the fault. It couldn't be repaired without spares and the plane couldn't be flown with the fault, so a part so sent up from somewhere (Farnborough maybe?) overnight and the pilot was put up in barracks. Gaurds were posted around the plane, it being new and secret, and stayed there all night. Next morning first thing, when the part arrived, the plane was fixed.
The pilot, who dad says was about 19(!) came out and signed for the plane. As he was getting in he thanked the guys for looking after it, and for fixing it etc.
One of the guys asked this pilot if he could "do a bit of a display" when he left?
Now the pilot, who had clearly gone to public school, answered that the plane was very new, very expensive and "not a bloody toy" . . . then climbed into the jet. It was also a bit of an overcast day with low cloud.
Anyway, engines were started, the plane taxied very noisily to the end of the runway whilst dad and the guys walked to the edge of the runway to watch the take off. The plane rolled along the runway, picked up speed and took off just as it got to where dad was standing. He said the noise was just unbelievable. The plane climbed steeply and disappeared through the low clouds. That was that, dad and his mates walked back across the grass towards the tower. About a minute later the Lightning flew over their heads, sneaking up behind them, at about 50ft and "very very fast". Dad and his mates hit the deck - almost cacking themselves, while the plane climbed and did a victory roll before disapearing into the clouds once again.
I don't know how many times I heard that story at bedtime when I was little! 🙂
Only found about the Boeing Bird of Prey the other day, it flew 40 times in the '90's and it has to be one of the most sci/fi looking cold war era aircraft ever
[url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Bird_of_Prey [/url]
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Thanks CountZero, i knew i had that story down (Tu144), and from your post, my earlier one was almost spot on. Just sounded a little far-fetched when i read it back after writing it.
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."
Just flicked through this thread and didn't spot one of these. One of my favourite airfix kits when I was a kid.
Also available in red...
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jimbo, that's pretty funny. Can just imagine how smug those boys would have felt that day. haha
Anyway, for all the SR71 fans out there, I just found this...
[url] http://72.14.253.104/custom?q=cache:gmaps.tommangan.us/blackbirds.html [/url]
Comprehensive list of the locations of all the Blackbirds ever made, including all those that crashed.
There was another similar SR-71 story about a Blackbird that had been test flying out over the Pacific, this must have been just about the time people were becoming aware of it.
Flying back over LA on it's way to the desert and sharing frequency with some normal air traffic, planes were asking control for clearance to climb to various altitudes - then the blackbird asked for permission to fly at 60000 feet. The tower came back with a rahter sarcastic "permission granted flight xx22 - climb to 60000 ft, if you think you can get there" the blackbird replied with a cool "thank you control, descending to 60000ft"
🙂
Snoopy was quite a plane, i remember seeing it fly over Fairford years ago, no longer i operation i believe, last i heard it was being converted back to a standard Hercules, somebody must have had a job on their hands!
Snoopy is now being used as a testbed for the TP-400 D6 engine for the A400M.
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Oh and did someone say low level?
[img] http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=162121&d=1210244478 [/img]
Rattling window panes at RAF St Athan.
The story of the Phantom at St Athan is [url= http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/TPC/Funny_Pictures/0001-1000/0001-0100/0090/TPC_0090.htm ]here[/url]
I see your low Phantom, and drop some more...
Has anybody seen [url= http://www.incredible-adventures.com/capetown.html ]This lot?[/url] ... flights in all sorts of interesting aircraft
Aye, Thunder City.
CFH fancies a trip in a Lightning (very quick, lots of noise, doesn't stay up long) whereas I'm gonna plump for a trip in a Buccaneer (big, stays up for ages and gets the job done).
My brother in law was an RAF flyboy, it was a pain (although he wasn't), ask him about his day at work & he would have been out in a Tornado all morning playing around, bombing poor innocent targets etc etc, my normal "sat in the office" sounded distinctly lame.
Still better now he is in 747's I dont feel nearly as envious
GJ - My brother flies Nimrods whereas I was very definitely ground-based whilst in the RAF.
Still, I have more medals than him. 😆
sootyandjim - Member
Aye, Thunder City.CFH fancies a trip in a Lightning (very quick, lots of noise, doesn't stay up long) whereas I'm gonna plump for a trip in a Buccaneer (big, stays up for ages and gets the job done).
😆
Yeah, but more people remember the Lightning....! 😆
Yes, likes to let everyone know its there but doesn't bring much to the party.
😛
Ok then, pull up a sandbag and swing the lamp here's a couple of stories that I hope are true but have become legends.
A propulsion chief doing a ground run on a lightning, sat on a crate as the seat was out, jumped the chocks when at max chat. It took off as it was basically a rocket. He was able to bring it round a circuit and land.
The Americans, whilst showing off their new U2 spy plane sent a photo of the houses of parliament to the British government from their "undetected" mission. The British sent back a picture of the U2 above the houses of parliament taken from above by a Canberra.
I have seen Buccaneer beat ups that make those F4 pics lok like kids play. Buccs could sit on a ground effect bubble at 5ft or so that made it impossible to hit the ground even if they had pushed the stick forward (not sure anyone tried). When they played cat and mouse with F4s and F3s they just went to ground and nothing else could live with them. Not that the F3 could catch a cold! Air Display Variant we called it.
A propulsion chief doing a ground run on a lightning, sat on a crate as the seat was out, jumped the chocks when at max chat. It took off as it was basically a rocket. He was able to bring it round a circuit and land.
I guess you mean [url=
Taffy Holden[/url], a qualified pilot BTW, though not on the Lightning.
Ejection seat was actually fitted (not a crate) but the safeties were fitted.
Oh and a Banana jet beat up.
[img] http://a3.vox.com/6a00e398d65b90000500e398d9523b0004-pi [/img]
The Americans, whilst showing off their new U2 spy plane sent a photo of the houses of parliament to the British government from their "undetected" mission. The British sent back a picture of the U2 above the houses of parliament taken from above by a Canberra.
I so desperately want that to be true!
Sorry, back to my fave plane...[img]
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10 SR71's all lined up together!!!
They're not SR-71s, they're A-12s, the CIA's far more secret single-seat precursor to the Blackbird. (Well OK one's a two-seat training model.) They seem to have been replaced by the Blackbird for a couple of reasons. First, flying such a plane and perfoming the reconnaisance duties proved quite tricky for one person and secondly the USAF didn't like the civvies in the CIA getting to play with such cool toys! 🙂
[url=
than the tin triangle?[/url]
[url=
low can you go?[/url]
Thanks for the SR71 story Jimbo, made my day, office is empty as its lunch, so i don't have to explain all the chuckling............
where did you get it and are there any more?
cheers jono.
Swiss Mirage 3
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Jaguars
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Saab Draken
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Venom and Hunters, Swiss airforce
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I think that Jag landing badly is from 16 Sqdn... That must have been taken before they swapped to Tornados.
Regarding the M55 takeoff, I heard a rumour that there are a lot of straight bits of motorway in the UK that were built "just in case" we needed spare/excess runway for whatever reason. Similarly, they are a lot of bridges that are a lot stonger and bigger than they really need to be so that planes have a nice shelter out of the rain.
I'm feeling a little retrospective right now, so I thought I'd post up a couple o' piccies of the oldschool Russian Migs.
Mig-21 Fishbed
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SU-22 Fitter M
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Has someone photoshopped this guy undercarriage out.......
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Regarding the M55 takeoff, I heard a rumour that there are a lot of straight bits of motorway in the UK that were built "just in case" we needed spare/excess runway for whatever reason. Similarly, they are a lot of bridges that are a lot stonger and bigger than they really need to be so that planes have a nice shelter out of the rain.
I grew up being told that one as well - all up and down the M-way network, straight runs, heavy/big bridges and narrow divisions between carriageways....so if needed, M-ways could be very quickly turned into runways...
I'm pretty sure it's true in Singapore. Motorways as spare runways, that is. Am pretty sure one of the big roads on Cyprus is also a standby runway.
[i]"they are a lot of bridges that are a lot stonger and bigger than they really need to be so that planes have a nice shelter out of the rain"[/i]
Why would they need to be stronger and bigger to take 'rain loading'. Surely they're designed to withstand the rain .. ?
The implication was obviously too subtle, james. The question you should be asking is why planes should need to shelter out of the rain.
'cos they are all delicate-like. Poor things will catch their death if left out in the rain.
Unlike the Itialian jets, which will rot away before your eyes... Just like my Fiat Panda did
Forget the Harrier, I bring you the mechanical nightmare that was the Yak-38 Forger.
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Ah yes... The easiest plane to shoot down in F-19 Stealth Fighter when I were a lad.
I swear the Harrier is half that size and twice as good...
Just resurrecting the low level theme for a bit. 😀
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all the low flying vids and pics are fantastic - the phantom between the hangars is superb...
[url= http://www.glumbert.com/media/flylow ]My favourite low flying video[/url]
The Phantom between the hangars pic is amazing. We heard the story of that one when we were there, no one believed it.
They used to have "competitions" in the Falklands between the Phantoms and the Chinooks as to who could buzz the accomodation blocks the lowest. the helicopters would usually win - as they flew over they'd stand it on a wingtip which would cause massive blade slap and the resulting wingtip vortices would shatter all the windows!
Those Lightning pilots scrubbed up well.
[img] http://www.e-goat.co.uk/photoplog/file.php?n=242&w=l [/img]
Oh and low and fast, Mt Kent, Falkland Islands.
[img] http://www.e-goat.co.uk/photoplog/file.php?n=194&w=o [/img]
How low can you go?
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Unusually pylon-less Tornado.
😯 😯 😯
'kin 'ell, that's LOOOOOOW!
That pilot must have balls the size and weight of canonballs! That is just too low. Another inch and he'd start grinding metal off the wingtip.
[url=
is low[/url]
Perhaps a little too low (84 killed, 100 injured)
If you want too low, how about this?
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=94479
Yep there were some stunts pulled in the falklands at MPA in the hercs the low flying was unberfugginlevable when doing fighter affiliation with the Phantoms. Did a flight once when we refuelled 2 phantoms once full they flew so low there was 2 rooster tails in the sea
must dig out my old pics
Pah! Thats not low! To cunningly combine low flying with my previous picture post, I give you Yak-38 Forger negative height ejection, sadly only one 'chute though....
[url=
The "new" (as in not yet in service) MiG-35
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Looks almost no different to the MiG-29, and remarkably similar to the F-15 Eagle, 2 planes that have been in service since the early/mid 70's. Nice to see the russians are developing as quickly as the rest of the world these days since the demise of Communism 😉
