The General Airplane Thread

  • Thread starter Crash
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Also some F-14.
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^ Taken at the USS Hornet museum. And I am sure you all know what my avatar is :sly:
 
Tomcats! YES!!! I miss seeing those things at airshows.

The last one I saw at an air show was allowed to make several extra passes at the end of his standard demonstration; you know, the high-speed loud "photo pass?" Made about 6 of those!

And Pensacola's museum has one of the prototype F-14's (on a pedestal at the entrance) and the aircraft which flew the last combat mission by an F-14. Kind of Alpha and Omega, sort of.

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That last-combat F-14 is now indoors, in a new expansion of the museum; this shot was from 2008.
 
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The Pensacola museum has definitely been on my list of places to visit for some time now. I've been to the Smithsonian and the Udvar-Hazy annex, and the museum at Wright-Patterson AFB; the Pensacola museum would nicely round things out.

Anybody anywhere remotely near New York City owes it to themselves to visit the USS Intrepid museum. They charge for admission, though, unlike the Smithsonian and Wright-Patterson.
 
1. Aeroplane*
2. Good idea for a thread.
3. For some odd reason I absolutely love the A340-600.
 
I was just at Wright Patterson a few months ago. You could easily spend two full days there. MASSIVE place, and the prototype and presidential hangars are like nothing else.

On one side you've got the XB-70 Valkyrie and the YF-23 and on the other you got FDR's "Sacred Cow" and the Boeing 707 that President LBJ was sworn in on while JFK's body was in the cargo hold after his assassination. They've also got a T-39 Sabreliner that one of my college professors flew in there (he frequently flew generals around and would fly LBJ around a bit too).


XB-70 Valkyrie and A-12 in the Hangar by gregthestig, on Flickr


"Sacred Cow" - Roosevelt's Douglass VC-54C by gregthestig, on Flickr


And the plane that ended WWII


"Bockscar" B29 Superfortress by gregthestig, on Flickr




wfooshee
Anybody who ever comes within day-trip range of Pensacola and likes aircraft should visit the Museum of Naval Aviation aboard Pensacola Naval Air Station. Aircraft from pre-WWI to the present are on display, mostly American, but German, British, French, and Japanese aircraft are also plentiful.
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Yes! I've been there plenty of times to see the Blue Angles practice and have hit up the museum afterwards. My dad spent a lot of time in that area during flight school in the Navy so that's a special place for us.

p.s. And the last time I was there, I saw a Pearl Harbor survivor standing next to the plane he was in on that day. I forget if it was a Dauntless or a Vindicator, but he was in the backward-facing gunner seat while his friend flew them up to try and fight back a bit. That plane was fully restored with the exception of a few small panels that were untouched to show off the original paint and the gun he used on that day. He happened to be there that day and got to show it off to us like it was the world to him. Definitely one of the more memorable experiences I've had lately

Driving Park
I don't know too much about planes but I know a little thanks to Ace Combat and my dad, who was the navigator on P-3s for a long time. My grandfather was the navigator on B-52s back in the day. Hopefully I can learn some things in this thread. 👍
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Are.... are we brothers?

:lol: My dad was a P3 pilot as well and Ace Combat 4 was my first true gaming love.
 
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This is a very cool thread :D:tup:

My favorite airplane is probably the F-117 Nighthawk. And if I was to choose a carrier, it'd be the Boeing 777

I personally am a helicopters guy, but I still do enjoy planes. I'm a helicopter component technician and work with parts that come from the S61, S76 and S92.

S61
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S76
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S92
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Beeblebrox237
Two aircraft I love:
English Electric Lightning
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Cool story about the Lightning.

LIGHTNING vs CONCORDE

The Lightning that once overtook Concorde was described as 'the best of the best' by Flt Lt Mike Hale at the roll-out ceremony for XR749 at Teeside Airport on September 28th 1995. Now an instructor with 56 Sqn at Coningsby, Mike flew 80 sorties in XR749 after the aircraft was allocated to 11 Squadron at Binbrook. He has a particular affection for the aircraft: "The Lightning was an exceptional aircraft in every respect, but XR749 was one of the best of the best. It is probably the best aircraft that I will ever have had the privilege to fly. Because of her tail code BM, she was known as 'Big Mother', although the tail code changed to BO for her last few months on 11 before joining the LTF in January 1985. She was a very hot ship, even for a Lightning. She remained my aircraft for all her time on 11 Sqn despite my being entitled to an F6 as I moved up the squadron pecking order. I invariably asked for her to be allocated to me for the major exercises such as MALLET BLOW, OSEX, and ELDER FOREST despite her being a short range F3 - there were invariably plenty of tankers about!"

His memories include the time in April 1984, during a squadron exchange at Binbrook, when he and XR749 participated in unofficial time-to-height and acceleration trials against F-104 Starfighters from Aalborg. The Lightnings won all races easily, with the exception of the low level supersonic acceleration, which was a dead-heat. This is not surprising when the records show that the year before on one sortie XR749 accelerated to Mach 2.3 (1500 mph) in September 1983.

It was also in 1984, during a major NATO exercise that he intercepted an American U-2 at 66,000 ft, a height which they had previously considered safe from interception. Shortly before this intercept, he flew a zoom climb to 88,000 ft and, later that year, he was able to sustain FL550 while flying subsonic. Life was not entirely without problems, however, as in a three month period his No 2 engine seized in flight and its replacement failed during a take-off when intake panelling on the inside of the aircraft became detached and was sucked into the engine.

In April 1985, British Airways were trialling a Concorde up and down the North Sea. When they offered it as a target to NATO fighters, Mike and his team spent the night before in the hangar polishing XR749 which he borrowed from the LTF for the occasion, and the next day overhauled Concorde at 57,000 ft and travelling at Mach 2.2 by flying a stern conversion intercept. "Everyone had a bash - F-15s, F-16s, F-14s, Mirages, F-104s - but only the Lightning managed to overhaul Concorde from behind".
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http://www.lightning.org.uk/oct04sotm.html
 
Oh yes! I've found my "The pocket guide to military aircraft" by Hamlyn.

I got some good reading for the next few days :)

Anyway, some discussion on the Red Arrows.

After the two accidents a few years ago, which killed the pilots on both occasions, people called for the Hawks to be replaced. What do you personally thing should take the job of being the Red Arrows plane?
 
MarinaDiamandis
The Hawks aren't the problem. Also, if the Hawks were replaced, I doubt the Red Arrows would ever fly again due to budget cuts.
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From what I heard they were. I aren't too sure though.

And sadly, that is true :(
 
This thread peaks my interests.

And did someone say Paris Air Show? That and Farnborough are on my bucket list.
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If you're travelling over for either, I'd suggest hitting the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford as well. And expensive show but one of the best out there and usually, current circumstances aside, you get to see lots of American planes there too. I remember well seeing the F-22 make it's European airshow debut. While Farnborough was good, I prefer my mil' spec.


I'll be going to RIAT this year, sadly no yanks but there's a good bunch of private-owned classic aircraft and I missed the MiG-29 last year.

After the two accidents a few years ago, which killed the pilots on both occasions, people called for the Hawks to be replaced. What do you personally thing should take the job of being the Red Arrows plane?
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If the Red Arrows' Hawks were replaced it would be for Tucano's. Hopefully they'll just be upgraded to T2s.
 
ExigeEvan
If you're travelling over for either, I'd suggest hitting the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford as well. And expensive show but one of the best out there and usually, current circumstances aside, you get to see lots of American planes there too. I remember well seeing the F-22 make it's European airshow debut. While Farnborough was good, I prefer my mil' spec.
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That's another one I'm interested in, just forgot the name when I typed that. I saw a bunch of video come out of the last one and it looked awesome.

And yeah, the current state of military air shows over here is pretty sad but at least the privately owned classics are stepping up. Right now the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels must be dying to get some hours right now since they're grounded till September (or longer?)

And it'll give Lockheed another year to knock out the bugs with the F-35 :lol:
 
MarinaDiamandis
The Vulcan flanked by Hunters and Buccaneers would do it for me!
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No love for the Hunter?

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I wish the RAF would do a C-130J display.

GregTheStig
That's another one I'm interested in, just forgot the name when I typed that. I saw a bunch of video come out of the last one and it looked awesome.
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RIAT is usually within a week of Farnborough/Paris and often has shared aircraft.

And yeah, the current state of military air shows over here is pretty sad but at least the privately owned classics are stepping up. Right now the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels must be dying to get some hours right now since they're grounded till September (or longer?)

And it'll give Lockheed another year to knock out the bugs with the F-35 :lol:
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Hopefully 2014 will see an F35A on the circuit, but probably '15/'16 before we'll see one in Europe :irked:
 
MarinaDiamandis
The Vulcan flanked by Hunters and Buccaneers would do it for me!
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There's a Vulcan in my local "airport" I'll get a photo off the Internet.

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Pass it on the way to school, it's a wonderful thing. Also stood under it as a kid. Thought a bomb might drop while it was parked :-/
 
ExigeEvan
Hopefully 2014 will see an F35A on the circuit, but probably '15/'16 before we'll see one in Europe :irked:
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Funny thing about the new Lockheed fighters for me is that I live 10 mins away from where they're built and I've only seen two in person. One flying about 10K feet and the other in the museum at Wright Patterson AFB. So I probably won't see an F35 for about 5 years :lol:

Since we're posting favorite planes, this one I think is mine. When it's in flight, it looks like nothing else. Well maybe except for the Soviet version :P

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There's only one left in the world and I posted a pic of it earlier. That thing is barely big enough for the hangar it's stored in at Wright Patterson AFB.
 
I have a quick question.


Was the Hypersoar UAV supposed to be real or was it a concept? I remember it being the best one in my top trumps collection. The Allspark to transformers, the Veyron to road cars etc.
 
I love the Valkyrie. I've had it as my wallpaper at work for quite some time now.
 
legacyMACHINE
There's a Vulcan in my local "airport" I'll get a photo off the Internet.
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Vulcan. Now you're talking. Never get tired of looking at it. I've seen one at Newark, Duxford & Cosford.

Vulcan 607 by Rowland White about the Black Buck raids on the Falklands is an excellent read. 11 Victors used to refuel 1 Vulcan in what was, at the time, the longest bombing raid ever attempted. In a plane that was near the end of it's life, wasn't designed to drop "conventional" weapons, and that hadn't done in-flight refueling for years. When they were re-attaching the refueling equipment, they ran out of spares and found one of the bits they needed in the officer's mess, where it was being used as an ashtray! If it wasn't true, you couldn't make it up.

The inflight refuelling plan...

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