Planes
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@Machpants said in Planes:
@Snowy was there for the Fairford coming together
Nasty, and bloody lucky. MIG 29's?
Yeah, glad I wqasn't lounging o the wing of the orion, was dicey there!
@Machpants said in Planes:
@Snowy was there for the Fairford coming together
Did you ever come across that guy who was shot down in his harrier by the Serbs ?
F16 dude? No, but we were briefed on the incident and his E&E efforts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_O'Grady
Probably all classified still but this bit probably give hints "As the second Sea Stallion landed, a figure with a pistol who turned out to be the missing pilot appeared running towards the Marines"
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@Machpants said in Planes:
@Machpants said in Planes:
@Snowy was there for the Fairford coming together
Nasty, and bloody lucky. MIG 29's?
Yeah, glad I wqasn't lounging o the wing of the orion, was dicey there!
@Machpants said in Planes:
@Snowy was there for the Fairford coming together
Did you ever come across that guy who was shot down in his harrier by the Serbs ?
F16 dude? No, but we were briefed on the incident and his E&E efforts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_O'Grady
Probably all classified still but this bit probably give hints "As the second Sea Stallion landed, a figure with a pistol who turned out to be the missing pilot appeared running towards the Marines"
Nope the harrier pilot
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This was the Gee Bee, stumpy, ugly as a bushel of broken arseholes , not much forward vision and due to its design a danger to itself . It was capable of 300 mph which was quick for the early 1930s but quickly surpassed by the likes of the spitfires predecessor the Supermarine S.6b
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My favourite passenger plane to travel in is this ugly duckling
Such a roomy comfy plane. Apparently the pilots that flew her loved it. I still remember standing with the pilot on the flight deck during a holiday flight as a kid. One thing my kids won't get to experience because of the plane being withdrawn from general service and Johnny terrorist
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Not planes but tanks. A lot of tanks are getting taken out in Syria and Yemen , they are the current models with all the upgrades but they are the same types . Also the way they are being used isn’t ideal against suicidal enemies .
My stepbrother used to drive a Scorpion I suspect they’d last a nanosecond on the battlefield these days .
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"..less about technical deficiencies and more about crew training, competent morale, and sound tactical employment." That's the key point. Anywhere built up you have to have integrated infantry to support. A Challenger 2 was disabled during Telic with a molotov onto the engine grill behind the turret bustle, and a few other hits. You're never invincible - combined arms works.
Just like in the air, all of our losses, aside from accidents, were to simple small arms and/or unguided rockets - you can't 'flare off' those!
The Scorpion (scimitar versions) is still going with the Brits - very much up armoured and improved fire control - but you don;t want to use those 'incorrectly' either! They're being replaced by a wheeled vehicle, I think.
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My favourite passenger plane to travel in is this ugly duckling
Such a roomy comfy plane. Apparently the pilots that flew her loved it. I still remember standing with the pilot on the flight deck during a holiday flight as a kid. One thing my kids won't get to experience because of the plane being withdrawn from general service and Johnny terrorist
Yeah they were popular to fly (known as Queen of the skies) but so were DC10s and quite a few others. There are still plenty of -400s flying in commercial pax service today. BA, KLM, Lufhansa all operate them still. Air China, Korean and Lufhansa all have -8s as well. Loads more as freighters. The biggest problem with them - cost. Pilots love 4 engines, as do fuel companies and engineers. Accountants not so much.
Correct that your kids won't be on an Air NZ one, nor on the flight deck, (unless you get a job flying one, then your kids are allowed). I don't think that will be for much longer either.
It took a lot of fun out of the job when flight deck visits were banned. We used to let pax up for take off and landing which most airlines had already stopped pre 9/11. Then they hid us behind bullet proof doors (in my case for the safety of the passengers from me, not the other way around, I think).
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40th anniversary of the Erebus disaster coming up in a couple or weeks or so (28th Nov)
Stuff have released another fine podcast (shame their news site is such shit)
Couple episodes in plus have done a bit of catching up online with the history and facts.
Fuck me hard not to see this as a cover up at the highest level ( Air NZ were 100% govt owned back then and Muldoon was heavily involved)Did all they could to put all blame on the pilot despite the obvious fuck up of changing the programmed course the day before the flight and not informing the flight crew