The plane enthusiasts thread

[ebikeerwidnes]

I've been following the flights of the various royals as they attend different events around the country after the death of Her Majesty

This afternoon FlightRadar24 has crashed and had to introduce a queuing system deu to the numbers following the aircraft carrying her as she left Scotland for the last time

Never seen that before - I've seen a lot of people following B52s wandering up and down the Polish side of the Russian border but never something like this

 

[Donger]

I've been following the progress of a broken B52 bomber that has been passing directly overhead as it circles repeatedly around Gloucestershire for hours using up fuel before doing an emergency landing at Fairford.

 

[Yellow Fang]

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.

Yes, but the Spitfire XIV really came into the war too late to make much difference. The Griffon engine was a much bigger than the Packard Merlin but the Spitfire XIV was only about 10 mph faster than the P51D. I suppose the Spitfire XIV was useful at shooting down V1s. What was the range of the Spitfire XIV? Mustangs could provide cover for American heavy bombers all the way to Berlin and back. They ground down the Luftwaffe. On the way back they would shoot up targets of opportunity on the ground, so the Spitfire XIV was not really more versatile.

 

[Jenkins]

I've been following the flights of the various royals as they attend different events around the country after the death of Her Majesty

This afternoon FlightRadar24 has crashed and had to introduce a queuing system deu to the numbers following the aircraft carrying her as she left Scotland for the last time

Never seen that before - I've seen a lot of people following B52s wandering up and down the Polish side of the Russian border but never something like this

At one point they had over 230,000 people tracking the flight carrying HM and a further 21,000 on youtube watching a live feed of the flight's track on a computer screen.

 

[tribanjules]

I've been following the progress of a broken B52 bomber that has been passing directly overhead as it circles repeatedly around Gloucestershire for hours using up fuel before doing an emergency landing at Fairford.

Thinks it’s down now as not on the map but ranker still circling

 

[DaveReading]

I've been following the progress of a broken B52 bomber that has been passing directly overhead as it circles repeatedly around Gloucestershire for hours using up fuel before doing an emergency landing at Fairford.

The dreaded 7-engined landing ...

 

[Illaveago]

I've been following the progress of a broken B52 bomber that has been passing directly overhead as it circles repeatedly around Gloucestershire for hours using up fuel before doing an emergency landing at Fairford.

I was wondering what it's turning circle was as when I saw it at Bournemouth it was huge . Bournemouth , Weymouth ,The Needles,Christ Church/ Highcliff?

 

[midlife]

Could out turn an F100,

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/b-5...-of-an-unusual-bomber-v-fighter-dogfight/amp/

I guess you have seen the clip if the B52 at a near vertical bank... Just before it crashed

 

[Illaveago]

Could out turn an F100,

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/b-5...-of-an-unusual-bomber-v-fighter-dogfight/amp/

I guess you have seen the clip if the B52 at a near vertical bank... Just before it crashed

I wish I could find the book or magazine I found the information in . The subject was about the turning radius of planes travelling at different speeds . I can't remember correctly but the turning radius of a fighter jet at over Mach 1 was incredibly large .

 

[gbb]

Yes, but the Spitfire XIV really came into the war too late to make much difference. The Griffon engine was a much bigger than the Packard Merlin but the Spitfire XIV was only about 10 mph faster than the P51D. I suppose the Spitfire XIV was useful at shooting down V1s. What was the range of the Spitfire XIV? Mustangs could provide cover for American heavy bombers all the way to Berlin and back. They ground down the Luftwaffe. On the way back they would shoot up targets of opportunity on the ground, so the Spitfire XIV was not really more versatile.

Spitfire more versatile, no, quite right, simply horses for courses.
Bear in mind, development of the Spit began in 1936 where biplanes still ruled the air, the Spitfire itself a huge leap in design. The Mustang started development something like 4 years later, that's eons in technological terms.
As an example of that, the Mustang was scarcely on the drawing board when the Spitfires were engaging the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.
Another example of technological advances vs time, my dad, airframe fitter from about 1949 said to me one day (talking about his time with aircraft) , advances come along so fast, it was bewildering, you were constantly challenged by new aircraft, technology etc etc.

Each with its virtues and vices.

 

[midlife]

I wish I could find the book or magazine I found the information in . The subject was about the turning radius of planes travelling at different speeds . I can't remember correctly but the turning radius of a fighter jet at over Mach 1 was incredibly large .

I've got a book that's all about the F4 Phantom. There's a picture of a Phantom turning whilst supersonic and turning inside it at subsonic speed either an A4 or a T38 Talon (can't remember)

The phantom is going in almost a straight line

 

[Illaveago]

The mk 1 Mustang looked quite a bit different from the later mk 2 when it first arrived here . It's performance at higher altitudes meant that it was restricted to lower levels and used to replace Lysanders and Tomahawks in the Army Cooperation role .
I am reading a book by Wing Commander H. R. Allen. DFC. In which he states that he took 3 early versions of the Mustang for test flights and had to glide back due to engine failure . He also said that he asked if the Merlin engine could be tried in one .

 

[Illaveago]

I've got a book that's all about the F4 Phantom. There's a picture of a Phantom turning whilst supersonic and turning inside it at subsonic speed either an A4 or a T38 Talon (can't remember)

The phantom is going in almost a straight line

Yes the distance mentioned in what I read was measured in miles .

 

[figbat]

Well to be fair, agility and high speed are divergent requirements - the sort of plane that can achieve supersonic speed has an airframe designed in a way that generally precludes low speed manoeuvrability. The variable-geometry wing types overcame this to some extent, as do more recent vectored-thrust examples.

 

[MichaelW2]

Globemaster C17. How slippery is that rear ramp in the rain ?