all it had to do was get into a missile firing position after intercepting the target ( a Russian aircraft carrying nuclear weapons) as quickly as possible

Kind of…if EE had followed the specification to the letter, we’d have ended up with something like an F104 Starfighter, all acceleration and performance with almost no agility whatsoever. The Lightning had a substantial amount of wing area and was certainly no slough when it came to a turning dogfight.

the Lightning really struggled as they tried to adapt it to do things it was never designed to do.

Right oh, chaps. Preflight checks?
Testicles, spectacles, wallet and watch? Jolly good.
Kick the tyres, light the fires. First one up is leader.

Chocks away at 2100hrs!

SCRAMBLE!

“…like a homesick angel………..” 😀

Rusty, agreed! That was glorious poetry!

Woohoo – red flag!

edit – pah, barely even mentioned the fact that we ran the spams ragged 🙁

Lightning!

ninfan – Member

Woohoo – red flag!

edit – pah, barely even mentioned the fact that we ran the spams ragged

TBH I think there is room for a whole channel on aviation, so much footage is out there waiting for us hungry viewers 🙂

Sad to see the Woodford Vulcan rotting away. 🙁

There used to Discovery Wings but it shut down five years ago now I think.

great to see Khrushchev’s grandson offering a Russian/Soviet perspective on things, tempering the potential jingoism and simplistic “red peril” presentation with some nice observations. Terrific series, though I agree Dominic Sandbrook could have done with turning the mugging-to-camera down a notch or seven.

Archive footage is great, interviews are pretty good too. Dominic Sandbrook is the weak link, doesn’t seem to be adding any value.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03j9f3w

The Looking Glass War. Tonight at 2100.

Does anyone know when the submarine programmes start? Can’t view any of the links on my work computer.

Some what skipped over just how close the Cuban Missile crisis was to armageddon.

Anyone watch the Storyville on Kim Philby?

Found it all very depressing, an alcoholic who seemed to completely neglect his family.

Wouldn’t be surprised if SIS directly tipped him off, just wanted rid of him.

Bump

BBC 2 now

Best one so far I reckon, I really enjoyed that.

On the aircraft subject my old boss who was ex RAF used to say the the reason the world was round was so that the Jaguar could take off.

Was a bit disappointed with tonight’s as no mention of Ronald Raygun and his barmy Star Wars idea making the Soviets realise that they couldn’t outspend the West on arms along with the terrible financial toll Chernobyl caused assisting in the break up of the USSR

Just watched part 3. The 80s sound track was brilliant, so many iconic hits.

Also, how many times did Dominic Sandbrook use the word ‘Modernity’!

On the aircraft subject my old boss who was ex RAF used to say the the reason the world was round was so that the Jaguar could take off

I heard a good one about the Shackleton at an airshow. Commentator said that the Shack was just 10,000 rivets flying in close formation & that to take off, the Shacklebox went along the runway at a reasonable speed then the world just went round underneath it till it took off.

The curvature of the earth comment was a longstanding one about the BUFF:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYOgsgnZ8dw[/video]

I too was saddened of the sight of the vulcan rotting at Woodford. I served my apprenticeship there during the early ’90’s and often popped down in my lunch break and had a nosey at the retired old-timers tinkering around with her. She was in half decent nick at that stage, at least visually (though I think there was a lot of internal corrosion), and they sometimes fired up an engine to keep them ticking over. There was a real desire to restore her to flying condition, but the funding never came through. I remember the flight displays at the annual Woodford air show when the Vulcan and Nimrod would put on fantastic shows for the crowds. Took it all for granted at the time, but would love to see them in action again.

Don’t forget that ‘Legacy’ is on BBC2 in a few moments!

http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/cqg9jc/legacy

Ah, that hallowed roar of the tin triangle!

I remember living at Finningley and ALWAYS being at the Air Show. Given father being based there, was always with the equivalent of a ‘backstage pass’.

The Vulcan was always, for me, the highlight. That noise! Like the gates of hell opening, only louder. And then, their party tricks. A low pass with the bay open and a waggle. Some lovely climbing and rolling. But, the final piece – A low pass, loud and fast, and then stick back, throttle forward and stand the thing on it’s end and rocket skywards. To borrow from an earlier show, like a homesick angel. Only louder!

Apocryphal, though probably true, tales abound of the maintenance staff at Finningley asking them to stop doing it, as their power was tearing up the end of the strip!

Only one other plane ever had that glorious mix of grace under pressure. There’s an engine link as well. Some great stuff from the archives of Flight here.

One of the most humbling stories about the calibre of men who served in those days, and how different times were is that, due to the design of the Vulcan cockpit precluding escape for the ‘back cabin’ crew, it was not unknown for the pilot and co-pilots ejection seat safety pins to be reinserted for low level flight, under the principle of ‘we’re all in this together’ 😯

Submarines, BBC 2. Now.

Thanksh CFH, downloading nowsh

I just sit there shaking my head throughout the entire series at the stupidity of humans. Millions of tons of ships and submarines rotting in Soviet shipyards after decades of pointless dick waving. All that effort wasted on crappy military technology while we’re still levelling mountains to burn coal for energy.

Imagine if all that effort and money was put into fusion etc.

Avro developed rear ejection capability for the Vulcan (and HP did for the Victor) but it was rejected on cost grounds.

The Vulcan seat pin story might be a bit of a myth.

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/438906-vulcans-rear-crew-disabling-pilots-ejector-seats-flight.html

last nights was a good one, very interesting especially the bit where Harrison Ford saved the sub crew

Yep, the Subs shows were fascinating. The first one was great as well, “We were right underneath him, and he had no idea”

However, I did find myself wanting someone to put on a Scotchish accent and yell “Crazy Ivan!” 🙂

Enjoyed the one last night. May have bankrupted the Soviet Union but they did build some nice subs! How about a Typhoon…

Hmmm. Seems last night’s is yet to emerge in the darker part of the internet. Pity.

Film 4. Now!

🙂

One typhoon sub could take out all major American cities 😯

Film 4. Now!

One of my all time favourites, thanks…

20 years ago I was working on Submarine comms for Nuclear Subs. We’d developed a new system and if it came to Phase II trials (on a real sub) you’d have to go on a 6 month tour just to run a week’s tests as that was the minimum stint. Luckily we failed sea trials on an MoD research boat, so avoided the 6 months submarine stint….

One typhoon sub could take out all major American cities

Hey, look on the bright side – one fully bombed up Royal Navy Vanguard sub could take out all major American cities too 😀

Hey, look on the bright side – one fully bombed up Royal Navy Vanguard sub could take out all major American cities too

I used to quite like the urban myth that of our four boomers, three were pointed at the ussr, and one at the usa, just in case….