The plane enthusiasts thread

[Punkawallah]

Aircraft headed (roughly) North. Sun would have been west'ish, afternoon's.
It's obviously relating to light, but I'm interested why, how ?
Not that it matters in the scheme of things, just idle curiosity

Now all we need is someone with an aircraft tracker to give us the height of the plane, find out the cloud height and we can go from there!

 

[Beebo]

Terrible news about the death of a spitfire pilot, and less importantly the loss of a very rare aircraft.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Yes - sad news about the pilot

anyone know if it was one of the BBMF spitfires?
I have seen that it was an RAF pilot but I have not heard if it was on of the BBMF ones - or another

 

[classic33]

Yes - sad news about the pilot

anyone know if it was one of the BBMF spitfires?
I have seen that it was an RAF pilot but I have not heard if it was on of the BBMF ones - or another

Spitfire of the BBMF
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-69056052

 

[DaveReading]

Engine failure almost immediately after takeoff from the BBMF base at Coningsby. The Spitfire is notoriously difficult to handle in those circumstances.

 

[Beebo]

i presume at some point these planes will have to be taken out of service. They cant go on for ever.
That will be a sad day.
Does anyone know how long they are projected to remain flying?
You can understand why the bigger planes like Vulcan and Concorde were grounded because it was too expensive to keep them airworthy. But that fate must await these WWII planes too at some point.

 

[Jameshow]

Engine failure almost immediately after takeoff from the BBMF base at Coningsby. The Spitfire is notoriously difficult to handle in those circumstances.

Why is that?🤔

 

[DaveReading]

That's a result of a combination of factors. The engine develops a massive amount of torque, which has to be counteracted by the pilot, so when that disappears almost instantaneously at low altitude, it calls for very fast reactions.

The Spit also glides like a brick, which doesn't help.

N.B. Those are general observations, I don't have any inside knowledge re this specific accident, so I'll be very interested to read the investigation report in due course.

 

[Jameshow]

Anyone know what these planes are at Hawarden airport (airbus)

 

[DaveReading]

A whole bunch of former USSR military aircraft were imported via Liverpool Seaforth Docks around 30 years ago. Most have since been dispersed to other UK museums, but those in your photo remain at Hawarden.

 

[midlife]

Sort of look like MIG 21...

 

[DaveReading]

The photo shows a pair of Sukhoi Su-17 Fitters.

 

[Moon bunny]

i presume at some point these planes will have to be taken out of service. They cant go on for ever.
That will be a sad day.
Does anyone know how long they are projected to remain flying?
You can understand why the bigger planes like Vulcan and Concorde were grounded because it was too expensive to keep them airworthy. But that fate must await these WWII planes too at some point.

The BBMF website indicates that their mission is to keep aircraft in airworthy condition, no time limit is stated. The various museums at Hendon, Cosworth etc concern themselves with grounded aircraft.
It is a matter of great debate in museum and preservation circles whether “objects” should be kept operating to the point that large scale replacement is necessary, several types of aircraft have already been lost completely, others damaged or restored to the point where they are useless to future study.

 

[TheDoctor]

It also helps that Spitfires are hugely less complex than Vulcans or Concorde.
Not that you'd build a Spitfire in your shed - a Hurricane would be easier.

 

[Jameshow]

It also helps that Spitfires are hugely less complex than Vulcans or Concorde.
Not that you'd build a Spitfire in your shed - a Hurricane would be easier.

Right hurricane it is...

Back later......