Not many planes using Texaco for fueling up though.
Mind you the new stealth planes are pretty good
Mind you the new stealth planes are pretty good
So did anyone else feel the boom
- Thread starter ex-member BareThrills
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When I was working on them in the late 70s they were burning over mach 2 (don't really know what they were advertised as capable) They would occassionally do a high mach left turn and fly into their own bullets; the 20mm was mounted under the left wing (when it carried a gun) and it would fly in front of it's own bullets on a left turn. I used to have to patch those holes.
You're quite right about NASA though. They used it as a chase plane for other experimental craft. As did AF Logistics command when developing the B1.
You're also right about it not being used as a fighter per se. But it was always asigned to TAC nonetheless and the pilots always had a fighter pilot mentality.
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Well we don't live in fear, at least I don't. I've got a better chance of winning the lottery than of being blown up by terrorists.
Read some history. For example next time somebody mentions our special forces, ask what they did in Oman.
so what did `our ` special forces do in oman ?? And why arn,t you in charge of the RAF ?? and why is the british government spending millions of pounds replacing peoples windows and flying jets out in all weathers to protect the capital against `terrorist` attacks during the olympic games ?? History is being made a we speak !! but why do we have to go to these measure,s ??? who have we upset and why ?? 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mirbat
who have we upset and why ??
Just about everybody, I think. Call it Imperialism.
Victoria ruled the largest empire on the planet. Military power made that possible. That's why we're an affluent nation, and that's what made us so many enemies.
But this discussion must stop here; history is OK, but the BCUK rules don't permit political discussions.
Your absolutely right about the mach 2 part, but only at altitude. She can do it up high with ease, but down low, 1.2 is where the 'vark tops out.
That was still world beating for many a year however, no mean feat for an elderly lady such as her. She sat at the top of that tree for over 25 years.
With the inlets I was referring to the work NASA did in the 60's on the design to stop compressor surges and stalls. Something the 111 was known and feared for. Doing a low level bunt or a high alpha pitch up meant big trouble before the redesign. It's thought to have contributed the aircrafts initially very poor safety record. Ironic, seeing as she eventually went on to become a very safe aircraft indeed once they ironed the bugs out and sorted out the quality issues on the welding - the first two aircraft operationally used in Vietnam were lost, thought eventually to be due to fin detachment through welding fatigue.
The crews I met who flew her loved her though, and felt that when her time did eventually come, as a spiritual successor, then the B1 is probably the closet out there. I had some very good times with the B1 crews in Diego Garcia (good lads even if they cant drink worth a damn) and those guys really did like to put the shoes to it low down under the radar.
Happy times those. Glad I had them.
We were always taught that the initial poor safety record (when burning mach at treetop) was due to pilot error. that being that the pilots would get nervous watching approaching terrain (i.e. mountains or hills) and would try to fly the plane manually. Unfortunately there was a lag between when they disengaged the TFR and the plane allowed manual control input. Supposedly once they learned to trust the TFR and keep their hands off the controls, the safety record went up. However I enlisted in 1976 so by then there's no telling how much the reality of the Vietnam record had been skewed.
And yeah I understand the memories. I enjoyed my AF time too. Never got to Diego Garcia though. All my overseas time was either in Europe or SE Asian mainland.
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Um, some of 'em wrote books about it. Of course they may just have been making it all up.
Makes sense. Churlish pilots though. The last lot used to fly stunts over the paddocks when we waved to them
Fly Past by British Red, on Flickr
Fly Past by British Red, on Flickr
i remember walking home from school in the late 90's and a red arrow flew down the main road at about 150 feet, then a couple of years back there was a hurricane doing mock strafe runs over greetwell hollow. living in lincs does have its advantages
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