The plane enthusiasts thread

[ebikeerwidnes]

Not showing on flight tracker sites...you'll often see that US military aircraft won't show on adsb or FR, particually the rare sightings I've had of B52s for instance, they showed up on neither.

WHen they are based in Fairford then they do sometimes

You can see them having left and come back on https://ffdmovements.blogspot.com/

but whether or not they appear depends on the missions I think

some are clearly training missions over Norway or the Atlantic
some fly over Europe and up to Kaliningrad and all that area then wander around for a bit and head home
That last one is clearly sending a message

at other times they just don;t appear at all - who knows wher they go?

The U2s based there sometimes show up - but not very often and they seem to have one up somewhere most days

other times I see a tanker type aircraft happily circling over Easter Europe well in from Russian (or similar) territory but with nothing showing that might need it
I reckon this is clearly showing that something is around there - probably small and fast and carrying missiles - but "they" don;t want the general publib knowing what it is or where

 

[gbb]

F15 having some fun in the skies over Peterborough a while ago

Leve,l slow flight rolling over into a dive , bottoming out, twisting and turning, all at what seems like fairly slow speed with engines roaring.

 

[Drago]

F15 having some fun in the skies over Peterborough a while ago
View attachment 758234
Leve,l slow flight rolling over into a dive , bottoming out, twisting and turning, all at what seems like fairly slow speed with engines roaring.

And the pilot is laughing his backside off because he's actually being paid to do it!

 

[Conrad_K]

I'd love a ride in the BUFF.

My Dad was USAF, and I grew up on various USAF bases.

He was enlisted, and enlisted got the less-desirable housing. In one case, at the end of the runway. B-52s were flying out 24/7 during Vietnam, loaded so heavily they required JATO assist to get off the runway. Officially, this never happened, but I remember seeing strings of them take off, one after the other, fire shooting out at an angle from the rockets, so low it looked like I could reach up and touch them.

Anyway, the whole house would shake when they flew over. The shelves holding my mom's knick-knack collection, and she put folded towels on the counters and table so plates and dinnerware wouldn't walk off.

Jake: "How often does the train go by?"
Elwood: "So often, you'll never notice."

 

[gbb]

My Dad was USAF, and I grew up on various USAF bases.

He was enlisted, and enlisted got the less-desirable housing. In one case, at the end of the runway. B-52s were flying out 24/7 during Vietnam, loaded so heavily they required JATO assist to get off the runway. Officially, this never happened, but I remember seeing strings of them take off, one after the other, fire shooting out at an angle from the rockets, so low it looked like I could reach up and touch them.

Anyway, the whole house would shake when they flew over. The shelves holding my mom's knick-knack collection, and she put folded towels on the counters and table so plates and dinnerware wouldn't walk off.

Jake: "How often does the train go by?"
Elwood: "So often, you'll never notice."

I can imagine the sensory overload as they took off. As a kid, my dad worked 6 miles away (as the crown flies) from our house. As the Vulcans took off, our window panes would rattle with the deep ominous roar from their engines.
Heaven knows what it sounded like close up

 

[Drago]

My Dad was USAF, and I grew up on various USAF bases.

He was enlisted, and enlisted got the less-desirable housing. In one case, at the end of the runway. B-52s were flying out 24/7 during Vietnam, loaded so heavily they required JATO assist to get off the runway. Officially, this never happened, but I remember seeing strings of them take off, one after the other, fire shooting out at an angle from the rockets, so low it looked like I could reach up and touch them.

Anyway, the whole house would shake when they flew over. The shelves holding my mom's knick-knack collection, and she put folded towels on the counters and table so plates and dinnerware wouldn't walk off.

Jake: "How often does the train go by?"
Elwood: "So often, you'll never notice."

Indeed. I can't think of any scenario where being under a B52 in flight is better than being aboard one,

 

[DaveReading]

My Dad was USAF, and I grew up on various USAF bases.

He was enlisted, and enlisted got the less-desirable housing. In one case, at the end of the runway. B-52s were flying out 24/7 during Vietnam, loaded so heavily they required JATO assist to get off the runway. Officially, this never happened, but I remember seeing strings of them take off, one after the other, fire shooting out at an angle from the rockets, so low it looked like I could reach up and touch them.

Anyway, the whole house would shake when they flew over. The shelves holding my mom's knick-knack collection, and she put folded towels on the counters and table so plates and dinnerware wouldn't walk off.

That's interesting - there's no record of the Buff ever being fitted with JATO as such. Its predecessor, the B-47, did - but that was never used in combat.

The B-52 did, however, carry a pair of AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles, and they could be used to assist take-off (see pic) and then be refuelled from the B-52's tanks before being launched at their targets.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

That's interesting - there's no record of the Buff ever being fitted with JATO as such. Its predecessor, the B-47, did - but that was never used in combat.

The B-52 did, however, carry a pair of AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles, and they could be used to assist take-off (see pic) and then be refuelled from the B-52's tanks before being launched at their targets.

View attachment 760329

Some US aircraft do produce a lot of smoke on take off!!!

 

[Andy in Germany]

That's interesting - there's no record of the Buff ever being fitted with JATO as such. Its predecessor, the B-47, did - but that was never used in combat.

The B-52 did, however, carry a pair of AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles, and they could be used to assist take-off (see pic) and then be refuelled from the B-52's tanks before being launched at their targets.

View attachment 760329

They really didn't do subtle in that era, did they?

 

[DaveReading]

Some US aircraft do produce a lot of smoke on take off!!!

That photo shows an older B-52F with turbojet engines. The version currently in service (B-52H) has turbofans, so doesn't need JATO, and is a lot cleaner - though you can still see it coming !