Aircraft General Discussion

My reading of the accident report is that the touch and go was unplanned, not agreed with the airshow organisers and had not been rehearsed. These reports do not make statements unless they are backed up by hard evidence.

Andrew

sorry wrong place

Edited By stevetee on 31/05/2015 01:59:37

Edited By stevetee on 31/05/2015 02:00:27

> It seems we are on the route they take to do their low level flying exercises

Until they blew up the cooling towers east of us we got lots of interesting plane navigating by them, a lot of chinooks which are a bit scary when they come over very low! Last year (and from time to time in the past) we go we had a lot of hercules going over at 'touching height'.

Driving through mid Wales a few weeks back a (Eurofighter) Typhoon came the other way up the (rather open) valley following the road and well under the 300 foot limit. I could see the control surfaces move as it followed the two turns ahead and you could tell it was 'fly by wire' by the way it 'flicked' to the new orientation and stopped there.

Neil

A couple of years back I saw a Typhoon over Cheviot, he can't have been more than 200 feet above the hill. Slightly more concerning I was 500 feet above Cheviot in my glider and he went between me and the hill. Fortunately I had seen him turning in from miles out over Kelso; I wonder if he ever saw me though?

Andrew

Things were much worse up there before the cold war ended. Especially with the yanks.

I've been actively buzzed several times by A10's. Had a pair of Jet Provosts pass between me and the runway on finals below 500ft. Tornadoes would just expect the "little people" to get out of their way.

It's been 25 years since I stirred a stick now.

Yesterday for me!

Andrew

Have you seen the telly show "Bush Pilots" and the lengths they went to? Also the majority who couldn't find a place. That was similar to my story.

Well that's why I went back into engineering.

At the risk of repeating what most know; apparently, the Eurofighter is designed to be unstable, to make it more maneuverable (NEVER could spell that word!) and is kept in the air by its computers which constantly avert disaster.

Based on my very limited experience of being flown in light aircraft, I would never have made a pilot. You seem to need eyes everywhere. The thought of having a jet fighter fly under me in a glider, or on finals, is terrifying.

Howard

If I remember correctly the Sepecat Jaguar was one of the first Aircraft to be built unstable, apparently if the computers stopped working the pilot used the yellow and black handle between his legs as there was no point trying to manually fly the aircraft, I saw a film a long while ago which showed a Jaguar in flight and you could see the control surfaces constantly moving.

Martin P

Many years ago I lived on the Solway in sw Scotland. I was repairing a roof on a single storey house when a tremendous noise and wind came up, I gripped the chimney stack and held on. V jet at about 30ft ? Guess he was practising low level bombing. That's as close as I ever want to be. Next morning started again, I could not get my arms round the stack, shows what adrenalin can do.

Reverting to the subject of Air Marshalls, back in the 80s Iran Air had them.

The Captain announced that we were flying at 36,000 ft, as we looked at two guys cradling their AK47s! One itchy finger and we would ALL have been flying at 36,000 feet, but not inside the aircraft!

On another occasion, we were told that RAF Marholm used to train Pilots and Navigators in aircraft equipped with ground following radar. The Flight Plan was recorded onto a cassette tape, which was then played back in the cockpit, to the control system. One of the later flights was for the whole squadron to fly, in a time interval line astern pattern, a LOW level figure of eight route to Scotland, crossing somewhere in Yorkshire, at night. Apparently everyone came back lighter and more moist than when they took off!

Howard

In 1984, when I was flying at Thurleigh (RAE Bedford), there was a Jaguar parked there briefly, minus 5 feet of one wing. Apparently the pilot had hit the guy wires of a radio mast on high ground near Daventry in bad weather, following which he made an emergency landing at Bedford. I wonder what the software made of a chunk of one wing missing? The change of trousers needed for the pilot was nothing compared to the workman who was up the tower doing maintenance at the time.

Andrew

Dad had a similar thing happen in 1944 with a Radar mast, and a Mosquito, he;d just come down when the Mossie flew into it.

Ian S C

I used to enjoy flying in cloud. I'd go there on purpose.

Best to do it on a weekday when you can get radar service from the military

Superb, just had my own personal aerobatics display by a Griffon powered Spitfire. Right in front of the house, towards Bourn airfield. Low point can't have been much above 500 feet, sure made the windows rattle!

Andrew

Hi
This week our house was bussed by a spitfire . From the local airfield White Waltham HQ of the war time ATA
There were 3 spitfires ans 2 hurricanes flying round in formation . Great sounds
Nobby

Edited By Nobby on 16/06/2015 15:16:50

Earlier reference to a Chinook flying low overhead, it is even more fun flying low, when you are in it

"Grass cutting" missing the obstruction is much more fun than merely watching them go by.

Low cloud ceiling prevented the Spitfire, with D-Day markings, making its appearance at the Diss Carnival on Sunday.

Was looking forward to the sight and sound, as previously.

Geoff - Oh well, better luck next year.

>>> NEWSFLASH <<<

MichaelG.

Geoff

Keep a lookout for the two Mustangs from Hardwick up most weekends, they are both Merlin powered and sound lovely. Keith.