The plane enthusiasts thread

[gbb]

Id say so as the tech has got so much better, and they did originally switch from high level to low level because of advances in missile tech.

It was that change that caused the failures in the Vickers Valiant airframes. I remarked up post somewhere how dads brother, crew chief on Vulcans was physically scared when they did low level runs, the plane used to buck and shake violently apparently. Obviously the Valiant couldn't take it.
Dad personally found cracks on them (he was originally airframes mechanic on a Valiant squadron) but I don't know if he was the first to alert them to the problem. He did say how he reported to his superior who came, looked, contacted his superior, looked....and it went up the chain, a succession of ever more superior, ever more glum looking people, from RAF officers, then he assumed people from Vickers and the MOD .
Told in another thread somewhere, when they were effectively scrapping them, dad removed the 'spectacles', the control column and snuck it home. Kept it for decades then threw it away in a moment of madness, fed up of it being in the loft.
A couple years later he was delivering a painting (he was an artist ) to someone in an aviation museum I think, they found kinship in they'd both been in the RAF...and the fella was horrified he'd thrown it away...irreplaceable, it would have been gladly given a place in that museum .

 

[gbb]

I'm slightly cock a hoop
While clearing mums house bedroom and laying a new carpet for her, we found one of dads aviation paintings down the back of some drawers, unframed. Between the family we have a few but most of them were sold by dad for a second income, commission works etc
Will try to find a frame fir it, probably wants a new mount as well.
Really happy to find a physical connection, dad must have produced hundreds of paintings like these

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Very sad news from the Antipodes

https://flyer.co.uk/spitfire-pilot-carolyn-grace-killed-in-car-crash/

 

[gbb]

I'm slightly cock a hoop
While clearing mums house bedroom and laying a new carpet for her, we found one of dads aviation paintings down the back of some drawers, unframed. Between the family we have a few but most of them were sold by dad for a second income, commission works etc
Will try to find a frame fir it, probably wants a new mount as well.
Really happy to find a physical connection, dad must have produced hundreds of paintings like these

Looking at that painting above, I suspect I know why it wasn't framed or sold.
I think the German plane is a Pfalz DIII,, the British a Sopwith Triplane, both of fairly similar size. In the painting, I think the scale is wrong, the Sopwith, while it was a little smaller, looks too small considering its closer the the viewer.
Its exactly the kind of reason dad would reject a painting.

I recall visiting the Shuttleworth collection eons ago when we were kids. I looked at some of the aviation paintings on display,as and was shocked by the price of them, even then. I asked dad why he didn't sell his for 5 to 10 times the amount he did.
I could, he replied, but I'd only sell a few. He enjoyed what he did and liked to sell to a wide (often ex or current serviceman) audience at an affordable price. I see his works in auctions in the States even now. They don't bring big money but hopefully, still some pleasure to people.

 

[Cycleops]

We all know what danger is presented by birds when near jet aircraft, particularly when it's the most expensive one in the world.

View: https://youtu.be/EFo-5TBIRPI

 

[DaveReading]

What a ridiculous video - "Tiny bird takes down most expensive fighter jet ever built" ???

I suppose "The most expensive fighter jet ever built swallows a tiny bird without even noticing it" wouldn't have got as many hits ...

 

[a.twiddler]

Something and nothing really. If it had been a 30 pound goose it might have been something to worry about. But bird strikes have been a thing since aviation began, not a suddenly new and alarming crisis, as the video seems to be trying to suggest. In this case, the bird appears to have been vapourised before it realised it. Naturally all precautions are taken and follow up checks done, but normal procedure after each flight, surely. From the title one might expect a catastrophic crash followed by the aircraft carrier sinking with all hands. Dearie me.

 

[Cycleops]

What a ridiculous video - "Tiny bird takes down most expensive fighter jet ever built" ???

I suppose "The most expensive fighter jet ever built swallows a tiny bird without even noticing it" wouldn't have got as many hits ...

Sensationalism and hype at the BBC ? Never.

 

[Cycleops]

Sorry for the thread drift but following the death of Terry Hall the beeb have suggested Thatcher never wanted their 'Ghost Town' never to be released. If course they know because they were there.
They just get worse.

 

[gbb]

Regarding the bird strike, yes its over hype, but the need to immediately inspect for damage would be absolutely paramount.
Dad recalled once a bird was once spotted flying into the engine intake of a parked Valiant or Vulcan on an airfield (I can't remember, he served on both), probably looking for somewhere to nest. The plane was immediately grounded until it was thoroughly inspected.
But yes, ridiculous over exaggeration by the news makers.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Sorry for the thread drift but following the death of Terry Hall the beeb have suggested Thatcher never wanted their 'Ghost Town' never to be released. If course they know because they were there.
They just get worse.

I read that as (probably) a quote from an interview about either the song or the band, not from the Iron Lady herself.

 

[Badger_Boom]

We all know what danger is presented by birds when near jet aircraft, particularly when it's the most expensive one in the world.

View: https://youtu.be/EFo-5TBIRPI

What a ridiculous video - "Tiny bird takes down most expensive fighter jet ever built" ???

I suppose "The most expensive fighter jet ever built swallows a tiny bird without even noticing it" wouldn't have got as many hits ...

I thought the most controversial thing in that video was the state of creativity in our armed forces. Was ‘Blackers’ Blackmore really the best nickname/call sign they could come up with? Not Ritchie?

 

[Cycleops]

I read that as (probably) a quote from an interview about either the song or the band, not from the Iron Lady herself.

If that was the case they should have said that, it was just speculation on the part of the journo. Not what we’ve come to expect from the BBC.

 

[FishFright]

If that was the case they should have said that, it was just speculation on the part of the journo. Not what we’ve come to expect from the BBC.

Sadly it's pretty typical of today's BBC and it really pains me to write that.

 

[DRM]

I was at a job next door to Leeds/Bradford (Yeadon) Airport sat in the van, when there was a huge noise as a C17 Globemaster was taking off, not something you would expect at a civilian airport, but I had also seen one coming in to land at Newcastle Airport during the summer, don't know why they would be going to those airports though.