Ultimate piece of gear - possible Lockheed Blackbird sighting or help me ID it!!
- Thread starter Paul_B
- Start date
quite right, soz i got confused with the TR1/U2 that they currently use for high altitude research, tis still black and sexy though
Paul it might help if you nip onto paint and trace what you remember of the out line, pick out the main bits and fill in the rest, also when you say dangling beneath itwhat do you mean, aircraft other than helicopters rarely have things dangling, could it have been a sentinel EW aircraft?
Also some chaps have some very strange private jets lately, could be worth widening you search,
Also some chaps have some very strange private jets lately, could be worth widening you search,
Many modern fighters (the F16 comes to mind) have ventril fins in about the same place as do fish. The pic you posted shows ventril fins below the fuselage below the engine pods.
SR-71 not bad for some thing originally design to run on coal - well coal slurry, until someone remembered coal particles can be a touch abrasive. Why - because a high flashpoint fuel was needed due to the operating temperatures. Those engines never got built and JP7 was developed instead
I think your right in that there's only one left, I've seen it flying a few times now, Bournemouth airshow have it every year, it's an amazing sight, ridiculously loud, awesome to watch, a great shame but its not going to be around for much longer I feel.
Sounds interesting, did it look modern or could it have been older?
similar to this?
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/5/2/0522251.jpg
similar to this?
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/5/2/0522251.jpg
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I can confirm the Russians are back on a regular basis, we had a pair of bears (No, not the large German bearded homosexual gentlemen) over the N sea last month, bloody nuisance when they get / got in the way of the helis out to the rigs I can tell you.
I think the canberras have gone the way of the dodo too now btw. In the UK at least.
You could try posting on the mil aircrew board at http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew-57/
I think the canberras have gone the way of the dodo too now btw. In the UK at least.
You could try posting on the mil aircrew board at http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew-57/
The trailing things were when I first saw something in my peripheral vision before I looked at it straight on. It turned out to be the black smoke/vapour trails coming from the engines about 1/3rds out along the wings from the fusilage.
I now suspect that it might not have been black but silhouetted against the sky. I also suspect I have been wildly mistaken in what it is. Hindsight is good and I wish I hadn't posted so soon after the sighting without taking time to think about it. I have two likely candidates, one is a vulcan as I could have seen it going skywards in that way they do like no other. I have seen enough photos of one and they have huge delta wings without a longer fuselage ahead of them. The second option is a concorde as it has a more swept back delta wing IIRC and has two of those mini-wings at the front (sorry I've forgotten their technical names). There are two very good reasons why any of these two planes could be the candidate, there was the Windermere airshow and both planes appeared on them on that day apparently.
I have come to the conclusion that when half tired and not really able to get a good look due to driving makes for a very unreliable witness. Lesson learnt. however what really surprised me is that I am not one for mistaking things for other things if you know what I mean. If I am unsure of something I don't fill in the gaps. Also I have seen enough photos and even video clips of both of these planes and actually have been on a Concorde before now. I've seen a Vulcan on the ground before now too although from a not very good angle. I am also interested in planes and grew up reading plane books. From observer book of military planes through to civilian ones too. However I am still partly unconvinced it was either of these planes. Half of me is admitting I made a mistake the other half is still unconvinced. So unless someone comes up with an idea what it could be I will have to assume it was a Vulcan or a Concorde and I was a blind, tired idiot!!
I now suspect that it might not have been black but silhouetted against the sky. I also suspect I have been wildly mistaken in what it is. Hindsight is good and I wish I hadn't posted so soon after the sighting without taking time to think about it. I have two likely candidates, one is a vulcan as I could have seen it going skywards in that way they do like no other. I have seen enough photos of one and they have huge delta wings without a longer fuselage ahead of them. The second option is a concorde as it has a more swept back delta wing IIRC and has two of those mini-wings at the front (sorry I've forgotten their technical names). There are two very good reasons why any of these two planes could be the candidate, there was the Windermere airshow and both planes appeared on them on that day apparently.
I have come to the conclusion that when half tired and not really able to get a good look due to driving makes for a very unreliable witness. Lesson learnt. however what really surprised me is that I am not one for mistaking things for other things if you know what I mean. If I am unsure of something I don't fill in the gaps. Also I have seen enough photos and even video clips of both of these planes and actually have been on a Concorde before now. I've seen a Vulcan on the ground before now too although from a not very good angle. I am also interested in planes and grew up reading plane books. From observer book of military planes through to civilian ones too. However I am still partly unconvinced it was either of these planes. Half of me is admitting I made a mistake the other half is still unconvinced. So unless someone comes up with an idea what it could be I will have to assume it was a Vulcan or a Concorde and I was a blind, tired idiot!!
Really? Thought one was still flying at shows. Plus a mate was working on the side of Windermere and says he saw one flying. He's a real nerd who's very matter of factly about things so unlike me he wouldn't say he saw something if he didn't.
Nope. No Concordes flying anymore. You may have seen the Vulcan after all
http://www.vulcantothesky.org/
http://www.vulcantothesky.org/
