Planes
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@Donsteppa A bit radical of me I know, but fixing the fault would actually mean that they didn't have to train the pilots. On the other hand training pilots to cope with bad aircraft design and system failures is quite traditional and a recognised way of preventing accidents (which aren't really as they knew the faults existed), crashes is a better word.
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@Donsteppa A bit radical of me I know, but fixing the fault would actually mean that they didn't have to train the pilots. On the other hand training pilots to cope with bad aircraft design and system failures is quite traditional and a recognised way of preventing accidents (which aren't really as they knew the faults existed), crashes is a better word.
Good point. Reminds me of back in the day (I'm sure they still do it, just I don't) doing analysis of road projects Transfund/Transit used to call it crash data, as they weren't accidents.
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A U.S. twin-engine transport Caribou crashes after being hit by American artillery near Duc Pho on August 3, 1967. U.S. artillery accidentally shot down the ammunition-laden plane, which crossed a firing zone while trying to land at the U.S. Special Forces camp. All three crewman died in the crash.
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@Paekakboyz F15Es are the shit. During TLP (best multi-national air training there is) we had a pair with us on the course. They'd take off first, self sweep (A2A), drop the most ordnance (along with the Tornado GR), then self escort out and land last. We had better SA with our data link, and the best heat seeker in the world with ASRAAM - but yeah awesome machines.
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@Paekakboyz said in Planes:
@jegga that plane + cargo could take over NZ!
We have this as our jet fighter defence. Flown by my ex colleague that I posted flying the Tiger Moth a week or two back. I honestly don't know which he enjoys more.
Dave used to tow some sort of target with it for the navy to shoot at - not live rounds I guess.
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@Snowy Is that the jet I see flying over Wellington every month or so?
I doubt it. He had it at Ardmore, not sure if he still has it actually. Ex Singapore AF plane I think.
We do actually have some other jets around now. A mate of mine owns an L 29 Delfin but it is down south of you. Have flown it - serious fun around the Southern Alps whilst upside down.
There are a couple of L39 Albatros (yes they spell it like that - Czech aircraft) around too but not sure where they are based, maybe Welly or Woodbourne.
Our warbirds Vampires (Venom was here once, but might have gone) but I think that they are Ardmore too.
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@Machpants said in Planes:
"When have you seen a Hunter flown this low and fast?" the caption says.
Well there was that one guy who flew one under Tower Bridge in London...
Yeah, I didn't write that.
Did you see Pollock (that should probably be Pillock - but I gotta admit it really would be tempting) do that?
So it holds true for me - I didn't see the Tower Bridge Hunter episode and have never seen one fly that low and fast.For those that don't know:
***On 5 April 1968, Pollock decided on his own initiative[4] to mark the occasion of the RAF anniversary with an unauthorised display. His flight left the soon-to-be-closed RAF Tangmere in Sussex to return to RAF West Raynham in Norfolk, a route that took them over London. Immediately after takeoff,[3] Pollock left the flight and flew low level. Having "beaten up"[Note 1] Dunsfold Aerodrome (Hawker's home airfield),[3] he then took his Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (XF442), a single-seater, ground-attack jet fighter, over London at low level, circled the Houses of Parliament three times[3] as a demonstration against Prime Minister Harold Wilson's government,[2] dipped his wings over the Royal Air Force Memorial on the Embankment[3] and finally flew under the top span of Tower Bridge. He later wrote of the decision to fly through Tower Bridge:"Until this very instant I'd had absolutely no idea that, of course, Tower Bridge would be there. It was easy enough to fly over it, but the idea of flying through the spans suddenly struck me. I had just ten seconds to grapple with the seductive proposition which few ground attack pilots of any nationality could have resisted. My brain started racing to reach a decision. Years of fast low-level strike flying made the decision simple . . .[3]"
Knowing that he was likely to be stripped of his flying status as a result of this display, he proceeded to "beat up" several airfields (Wattisham, Lakenheath and Marham) in inverted flight at an altitude of about 200 feet en route to his base at RAF West Raynham, where, within the hour, he was formally arrested[3] by Flying Officer Roger Gilpin.
Although other pilots had flown under the upper span of Tower Bridge, Pollock was the first to do so in a jet aircraft.[3]***
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