The plane enthusiasts thread

[classic33]

There was a B52 circling around Estonia this morning - and it looked like a tanker heading towards it possibly to top it up

They did this a few months ago for several days running around the Russian Border

I suspect they are making a point

There's at least one one tanker close to the Ukrainian border at any hour of the day. Usually from the south of England.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Finished a book called The Horsepower Race about WW2 fighter engines. Jolly interesting. From this I learnt that the British should:
* Have developed fuel injection
* Not have gone down the sleeve valve cul-de-sac, but stuck with poppet valves (whatever they are)
* Developed jet engines earlier

Seems the Spitfire was actually obsolete after about 1941, but had to soldier on, since the replacements were not ready.

It was interesting reading about the Germans' problems. They did not have access to the high octane fuels the allies had. They also did not have access to nickel, so they had difficulty making heat resistant steel alloys for valves and exhausts. They did not have quality rubber for seals. They could not make as high quality spark plugs as the allies because of rare metal shortages.

 

[Illaveago]

Afternoon .
I am back !
We have had a few good but tiring days in Bournemouth watching the air displays . I need to down load my pictures to see what they are like .
The B52 did a slow fly past of the beach and then flew back to Brize Norton yesterday afternoon .

 

[Illaveago]

You know that Mars Bars have shrunk over the years !
So have the Red Arrows !
They now only have 7 planes in their display !

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

There's at least one one tanker close to the Ukrainian border at any hour of the day. Usually from the south of England.

Initially there were often 3 or 4

Today I have checked several times around the normal Black sea coastal area and ther ehave been none

The Global Hawks have not been as frequent recently either - on their normal loop around the centre of the Black sea - although I have seen a couple of them, and Rivet Joints, go much further East on a couple of days

 

[figbat]

I saw a B52 last weekend overflying The Cirencester area - I’d not seen one for years before that.

 

[Illaveago]

Here are some pictures from Bournemouth.

 

[Jameshow]

Finished a book called The Horsepower Race about WW2 fighter engines. Jolly interesting. From this I learnt that the British should:
* Have developed fuel injection
* Not have gone down the sleeve valve cul-de-sac, but stuck with poppet valves (whatever they are)
* Developed jet engines earlier

Seems the Spitfire was actually obsolete after about 1941, but had to soldier on, since the replacements were not ready.

It was interesting reading about the Germans' problems. They did not have access to the high octane fuels the allies had. They also did not have access to nickel, so they had difficulty making heat resistant steel alloys for valves and exhausts. They did not have quality rubber for seals. They could not make as high quality spark plugs as the allies because of rare metal shortages.

You sure about the spitfire as it was developed right through to the later mks and only made obsolete by the post war jets

 

[Illaveago]

Finished a book called The Horsepower Race about WW2 fighter engines. Jolly interesting. From this I learnt that the British should:
* Have developed fuel injection
* Not have gone down the sleeve valve cul-de-sac, but stuck with poppet valves (whatever they are)
* Developed jet engines earlier

Seems the Spitfire was actually obsolete after about 1941, but had to soldier on, since the replacements were not ready.

It was interesting reading about the Germans' problems. They did not have access to the high octane fuels the allies had. They also did not have access to nickel, so they had difficulty making heat resistant steel alloys for valves and exhausts. They did not have quality rubber for seals. They could not make as high quality spark plugs as the allies because of rare metal shortages.

Poppet valves are used in most four stroke internal combustion engines . They are the type found in your car or motorcycle engine .

 

[Yellow Fang]

You sure about the spitfire as it was developed right through to the later mks and only made obsolete by the post war jets

Not completely obsolete. However the P51 Mustang with the same engine could walk away from it. The Mustang made better use of the Meredith Effect, which if I understand correctly, turned the radiator outlet into a sort of jet. The Mustang had laminar wings. The spitfire didn't. I do not understand the physics, but something to do with the aerodynamic centre of the Spitfire being too close to its centre of gravity meant that the Spitfire could not carry much in the way of underwing fuel tanks or bombs, so it was stuck as a short range fighter. The Spitfire V was completely outclassed by the Fw190. The Spitfire VIII addressed some of the airframe's shortcomings, but the RAF needed something right now, so they put a Merlin 61 with a dual intercooled supercharger in a Spitfire V airframe and called it a Spitfire IX. That could hold its own.

The Tornado/Typhoon was supposed to be the replacement fighter. It was built around a much bigger engine, but sadly the Rolls Royce Vulture failed and with it the Tornado. The Napier Sabre engine had a lot of teething problems with its sleeve valves. With all the effort it took to get it working reliably, they had no resource left to develop a supercharger for it, so it was only good at low altitude.

 

[simongt]

The Napier Sabre engine had a lot of teething problems

Including apparently, carbon monoxide leaks into the cabin. At least it developed by default into a cracking good ground attack number.

 

[Illaveago]

Including apparently, carbon monoxide leaks into the cabin. At least it developed by default into a cracking good ground attack number.

WW 2 fighter and test pilot Johnny Kent described how he luckily escaped death when another pilot took up a Typhoon instead of him . It was last seen plunging vertically into the ground . They thought that the pilot had succumbed to exhaust fumes .

 

[Yellow Fang]

Almost got to the end of my BAe 146 magazine. It is more like a book in magazine form. It had quite a career in its BAe 146 and Avro RJ forms. I read it is in use as a fire fighter in America and Canada.

 

[Illaveago]

Almost got to the end of my BAe 146 magazine. It is more like a book in magazine form. It had quite a career in its BAe 146 and Avro RJ forms. I read it is in use as a fire fighter in America and Canada.

I think sales were slow to begin with but they seem to have picked up later . I can remember seeing a few parked at Kemble airfield .

 

[gbb]

Not completely obsolete. However the P51 Mustang with the same engine could walk away from it. The Mustang made better use of the Meredith Effect, which if I understand correctly, turned the radiator outlet into a sort of jet. The Mustang had laminar wings. The spitfire didn't. I do not understand the physics, but something to do with the aerodynamic centre of the Spitfire being too close to its centre of gravity meant that the Spitfire could not carry much in the way of underwing fuel tanks or bombs, so it was stuck as a short range fighter. The Spitfire V was completely outclassed by the Fw190. The Spitfire VIII addressed some of the airframe's shortcomings, but the RAF needed something right now, so they put a Merlin 61 with a dual intercooled supercharger in a Spitfire V airframe and called it a Spitfire IX. That could hold its own.

The Tornado/Typhoon was supposed to be the replacement fighter. It was built around a much bigger engine, but sadly the Rolls Royce Vulture failed and with it the Tornado. The Napier Sabre engine had a lot of teething problems with its sleeve valves. With all the effort it took to get it working reliably, they had no resource left to develop a supercharger for it, so it was only good at low altitude.

Depends on who you read, what you're comparing tbf

Spitfire, like all wartime aircraft was under continual improvement and development throughout the war...much by neccessity as new technology was developed and in response to 'enemy' improvements.
Article below states the Spitfire was faster, had a better climb rate than the Mustang, however, the mustang did absorb punishment better and was better suited to long range escort. Later Spits did carry more underwing armament than the Mustangs
Horses for courses..of course. Lots of pro's and con's with both

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/mustang-vs-spitfire-which-is-best

As an aside, my father was a prolific and successful aviation artist and had acres of books for reference. One was Spitfire based and a part of that book chronicled the history of some individual aircraft, squadrons, introduction date etc etc etc. It was stark how many never actually made it to combat, lost to weather, training mishaps, crashes etc etc. I might look tonight, if i still have it, i know where it'll be.