The plane enthusiasts thread

[a.twiddler]

One of the most chilling things about the Vulcan was that, of the five crew, only two had ejector seats ...

An even more chilling thing was that the all-too-solid front undercarriage leg was immediately behind the crew hatch so if the undercarriage was extended the remaining crew had to somehow avoid being slammed against it by the slipstream when they bailed out. In an ideal situation the pilot and co pilot would endeavour to let the crew bail out safely before ejecting but a sudden need to vacate the premises did not leave many options.
It gives an insight into how dispensable military aircrew truly were despite the cost of training them.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

We had the 'NHS Flypast' today

It was scheduled last week but was postponed due to the weather (& it was indeed low cloud - Emley Moor TV mast was almost invisible from Upper Cumberworth


View: https://www.facebook.com/Lawphotography2014/photos/a.766744270020789/3821134321248420/?type=3&theater




This was the Spit in question
https://www.aircraftrestorationcompany.com/spitfire-pl983

 

[Drago]

I saw a Vampire last week. Definitely a Vamp and not the Venom. Couldn't believe my eyes. It wasn't going flat put, butnwasn't hanging around either, and was pretty low. A glorious sight.

 

[classic33]

I saw a Vampire last week. Definitely a Vamp and not the Venom. Couldn't believe my eyes. It wasn't going flat put, butnwasn't hanging around either, and was pretty low. A glorious sight.

WZ507

 

[midlife]

One of my old consultants was ground crew in the RAF and went on about the Vampire and how it melted the tarmac lol

 

[Drago]

WZ507
View attachment 548685

Possibly. It wasnt hanging about so I didn't get the best look, but it was a silver colour scheme..

One of my old consultants was ground crew in the RAF and went on about the Vampire and how it melted the tarmac lol

My neighbour is an old boy in his 80's and he was an airframe mechanic in the 50's working on the Vampire. He was pleased I'd seen it, but gutted he'd missed it.

My Dad has his own plane and I mentioned the viability of owning a Vamp to him. He reckons to buy isn't extortionate, and while they guzzle fuel the jet fuel is half the price of the 'petrol' used in piston planes, but the maintenance requirements are crippling, in the order of 10+ man(or woman) hours maintenance for every hour of flight, and he reckoned that was a conservative estimate.

Edit - Mrs D checked the Facebook page - it was indeed WZ507! Honest fellers, it was an absolutely magnificent sight.

 

[gbb]

Possibly. It wasnt hanging about so I didn't get the best look, but it was a silver colour scheme..

My neighbour is an old boy in his 80's and he was an airframe mechanic in the 50's working on the Vampire. He was pleased I'd seen it, but gutted he'd missed it.

My Dad has his own plane and I mentioned the viability of owning a Vamp to him. He reckons to buy isn't extortionate, and while they guzzle fuel the jet fuel is half the price of the 'petrol' used in piston planes, but the maintenance requirements are crippling, in the order of 10+ man(or woman) hours maintenance for every hour of flight, and he reckoned that was a conservative estimate.

Edit - Mrs D checked the Facebook page - it was indeed WZ507! Honest fellers, it was an absolutely magnificent sight.

My dad worked on Vulcans and he once told me the maintenance ratio to every hours flying time was astronomical (i seem to remember 70/1 for some reason but may be wide of the mark)
This seems infeasible but i suppose if say 10 people are working on a plane at the same time, thats 10 hours in one hour.
The maintenance ratio probably accounts why the RAF had over 130 of them made.

 

[DaveReading]

My dad worked on Vulcans and he once told me the maintenance ratio to every hours flying time was astronomical (i seem to remember 70/1 for some reason but may be wide of the mark)
This seems infeasible but i suppose if say 10 people are working on a plane at the same time, thats 10 hours in one hour.

The Lightning and Phantom each consumed about 40 maintenance manhours per flight hour, so a figure of 70 for the Vulcan probably isn't too far out.

 

[DaveReading]

Edit - Mrs D checked the Facebook page - it was indeed WZ507!

No real surprise, as it's the only flying Vampire in the UK and (despite what Wikipedia says) there are no flying UK Venoms at all.

 

[Drago]

There is an airworthy Venom for sale, currently hangered at Coventry, just finished a cycle of mods to extend airframe hours at Brunters and has a low hours Ghost engine.

 

[classic33]

There is an airworthy Venom for sale, currently hangered at Coventry, just finished a cycle of mods to extend airframe hours at Brunters and has a low hours Ghost engine.

Price?

 

[DaveReading]

Price?

You're too late - it's been sold.

Its C of R was cancelled in 2018 and it has a revoked Permit to Fly, so it's not about to demonstrate its airworthiness any time soon.

 

[classic33]

You're too late - it's been sold.

View attachment 548855

Its C of R was cancelled in 2018 and it has a revoked Permit to Fly, so it's not about to demonstrate its airworthiness any time soon.

Is that the one whose airworthy certificate was issued in 2018, expires on 30th June 2021?

 

[DaveReading]

Is that the one whose airworthy certificate was issued in 2018, expires on 30th June 2021?

No - a Venom isn't a certificated aircraft, so can't have a C of A, only a Permit to Fly. There are no Venoms currently on the UK register, and therefore none with a current P to F.

 

[Drago]

Has anyone seen the SEPECAT Jaguar parked in a field close to the M6?