Pilots

[Bibs]

I'm sure it felt a little like work at the time and it does sound brutal, but what an experience! I've always been a fan of the sleek look of the F-16 and it's held it's own through generations as a fighter which again is a testament to the airframe. Hell of a life Eric, there's a very small number of people who've been in an F-16 or any jet for that matter in a simulated dogfight

[C8RKH]

14 hours ago, yeller77 said:

Recently completed restoration of one of two YF-16 prototypes (presumably non-flying). I remember getting to see this one or its mate in a hush-hush no-photos hangar in Ft. Worth, TX in 1976 as an aerospace engineering student at uni close by. An iconic and enduring fighter that I've been privileged to ride along in.  

As a kid in the Air Training Corps as was an avid aero model maker. I had that F16, in that livery, hanging from my ceiling. It was a stunning looking thing, and had the privilege to be at a couple of air shows where F16's were flying.

The model below is #01567, one off your "real" 01568.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Just an excuse for a photo of a more modern Hellenic F16 displaying a Fairford 2022.

[Bibs]

[C8RKH]

Lovely, Phantom F4, complete with its ever present "burn tail". God I loved those planes as a kid.

[exeterjeep]

9 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Lovely, Phantom F4, complete with its ever present "burn tail". God I loved those planes as a kid.

I remember the US Blue Angel display team at an airshow with their 6 Phantoms (think it was 6)   many years ago. Awesome.

[march]

Meh - Photo was taken by a Buccaneer pilot.

 

Edited June 4 by march

[Bibs]

https://sierrahotel.net/blogs/news/the-bridge

[Bibs]

It must be international Phantom week!

[yeller77]

On 04/06/2024 at 00:31, exeterjeep said:

I remember the US Blue Angel display team at an airshow with their 6 Phantoms (think it was 6)   many years ago. Awesome.

Adding to "Phantom Week"

A bit of a wonky copy, but I remember seeing this movie on the big screen as a kid (minus japanese subtitles of course). It made an impression.

 

And this is a nice companion to the making:

Also highly recommend Robin Olds' autobiography and Dan Pedersen's Topgun, an American Story for good Phantom content ✈️ 

[Bibs]

 

[exeterjeep]

This came up today on FB...... lovely colours...

British Airways has an Airbus A319 painted in a retro British European Airways (BEA) livery. This aircraft is a part of their fleet and serves as a tribute to the airline's history.

The livery features the classic BEA red, black, and white design that was used between 1959 and 1968

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

It’s been painted like that for years. I saw it at LHR the other day. They did it along with the retro 747s before they were canned.

[Bravo73]

KLM have done similar:

[exeterjeep]

US fighter pilots from an FB post.....

[Bibs]

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I remember seeing a lengthy documentary about that back in the 1980s. It showed US Navy F14s passing through a time portal to enable them to engage the Japanese at Pearl Harbour. 

[Bibs]

[Gjk]

Wow! New pants needed!!!

[Bravo73]

2 hours ago, Bibs said:

“Strong wind effect on tail rotor”

That is internet 💩, I’m afraid. 

The actual reason is that the crew in question hadn’t done their performance calculations correctly (if at all). When trying to land on a pinnacle, hot & high (and probably very heavy), they ran out of power. The NR dropped so low that they lost tail rotor authority. Hence the spin. 

After that point, they were pretty much in the lap of the gods and it was much more down to luck (rather than skill) that they managed to get out of it without killing everyone. 

[Bibs]

Definitely luck. I thought adding more power (or lucky allowing them some more) would roll them over the nose as it made contact. Lucky indeed. 

PS on '19 Minutes to Live' now, flying Cobra's in 'Nam! It's pretty good but not as good as Low Level Hell or Guts 'N Gunships. There's a lot of talk about Hamburger Hill in this one which made me rewatch it yesterday. They really skip over the importance of the Loach/Cobra combo in that film, they really barely appear at all.