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Exi7wound posted:We were on our way to Lemoore when I remembered that bird was sitting out there. My wife had never seen a Blackbird first hand, so it was an essential side-trip. I haven't seen it in about 5 years, but last time I went, it looked great. The March ARB museum tends to take care of their planes.
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Mar 11, 2012 04:18
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Colonial Air Force posted:I haven't seen it in about 5 years, but last time I went, it looked great. Its just...wrong to let a blackbird rot. Anyone been to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford? They have a SR-71, an A-10 and a B-52 and i never seen those planes in real life but i really really wan't to. I don't know if i'll ever be able to afford a flight to the US but England is way more affordable. Is it worth the trip?
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Mar 11, 2012 08:34
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http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Reno-...no,+NV&t=h&z=19 Might have to zoom in a bit, but walk down the flight line.
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Mar 11, 2012 10:05
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Nebakenezzer, thanks for another amazing post. For outstanding service above and beyond the call of posting, I'm awarding you with the --++|| Croix de la Folie d'Aeronautique ||++-- o7
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Mar 11, 2012 11:13
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Shai-Hulud posted:Its just...wrong to let a blackbird rot. I have, it is legit awesome. Their collections is pretty impressive, they've got a U-2, Vulcan, Concorde prototype as well. Plus a pretty good-sized tank exhibition as well and a bunch of WW2 planes. Making a trip just for Duxford might be overkill, because there's so much else to see if you're already in England. In London there's the Imperial War Museum proper and Churchill War Rooms, and Bletchley Park isn't far off either if you're into crypto. I've been to all of those and they own.
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Mar 11, 2012 11:27
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Shai-Hulud posted:Its just...wrong to let a blackbird rot. Yes, it's bloody awesome. The Concorde prototype is great too. Try to go on a day when the radio hams have their shed open; they're old nerds but they were fun to chat to for a few minutes. Then bed down somewhere and go to Bletchley the next day 
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Mar 11, 2012 11:41
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Nebakenezzer posted:Never stop posting this stuff. I love every single one of the stories you've written about the Zeppelins 
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Mar 11, 2012 12:16
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Nebakenezzer, your Zeppelin posts are awesome!Shai-Hulud posted:Its just...wrong to let a blackbird rot. One neat thing about London is walking through various historic districts and seeing an out-of-place building with more modern construction. Walk a bit further, and you see another one. And another. Each one right where a Zeppelin bomb landed. If you're an airplane nut and can afford a trip to the US, definitely plan a stop to see the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy @ Washington Dulles Airport, and the Air & Space museum on the Washington Mall. Most tourists might only spend a few hours, but I could easily spend a full day at each. grover fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 11, 2012 17:57
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InterceptorV8 posted:http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Reno-...no,+NV&t=h&z=19 Are those all...personal aircraft? It looks like there's some guys in a white pickup working on the L-39(?) so I would guess yes... Christ, I wish I could afford a MiG-21.
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Mar 11, 2012 18:05
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Sagebrush posted:Christ, I wish I could afford a MiG-21. Got $95,000? http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MIKOYAN-MIG-21-UM/1967-MIKOYAN-MIG-21-UM/1163877.htm
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Mar 11, 2012 18:22
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grover posted:One neat thing about London is walking through various historic districts and seeing an out-of-place building with more modern construction. Walk a bit further, and you see another one. And another. Each one right where a Zeppelin bomb landed. Wouldn't they be more likely from WW2 bombs?
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Mar 11, 2012 20:38
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wdarkk posted:Wouldn't they be more likely from WW2 bombs? There were a surprising number of zeppelin bombing raids on london by the end of the war. Here's an annotated map of the London raids, complete with tracks of each zeppelin, and descriptions of damage done by the bombs. grover fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Mar 11, 2012 |
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Mar 11, 2012 21:37
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Nebakenezzer posted:Nebakenezzer posted:L 9 was given a special assignment: bomb the benzol works at Skinningrove in North Yorkshire. I'm not precisely sure what Benzol is,(it might be some sort of Britishism for Benzene) but evidently it is some extremely flammable liquid that you need to make explosives. Neither England nor Germany had any oil reserves, so they tried to figure out ways to stretch their petrol with stuff they had, like lots of coal. Benzole was a coal tar derivative that was mixed 50/50 with petrol. It also raised the octane. Benzole can be further refined to get benzene and ... tolulene. And how did the Germans make their incendiary bombs? The devices were a simple metal canister filled with a mix of thermite, tar, and benzol; the exterior was wrapped in tarred rope and a simple fuse was fitted.
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Mar 11, 2012 21:44
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Shai-Hulud posted:Its just...wrong to let a blackbird rot. I can warmly recommend a visit, combine it with an airshow. Check their season here: http://www.iwm.org.uk/events/iwm-duxford I went to Flying Legends in 2005, it was brilliant. To see a static SR-71 and Concorde is one thing, flying Lancasters, B-17s, Spitfires +++ is another. Stay in Cambridge and spend some time there as well, wonderful town. The American hanger is jam packed with stuff, four engined bombers hanging in the ceiling like model kits. You can actually touch the SR-71, the bit I could reach felt like crude glass fiber but much much harder. Then after a while I wondered "where's the B-52? there was supposed to be one here, I can't see it anywhere". Then you notice it. It's everywhere. Everything else is around it, above it, tucked under its wing etc. Dang, looks like they had an SR-71 lecture today: http://www.iwm.org.uk/events/flying-the-sr-71-blackbird-with-colonel-graham
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Mar 11, 2012 22:01
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I think this picture sums up Duxton quite well:
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Mar 11, 2012 22:22
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Thanks, guys. I'm glad my epic nerding out is of interest to others. grover posted:One neat thing about London is walking through various historic districts and seeing an out-of-place building with more modern construction. Walk a bit further, and you see another one. And another. Each one right where a Zeppelin bomb landed. Nice. I'd love to see this someday. joat mon posted:Neither England nor Germany had any oil reserves, so they tried to figure out ways to stretch their petrol with stuff they had, like lots of coal. Benzole was a coal tar derivative that was mixed 50/50 with petrol. It also raised the octane. Thanks for explaining it. I know my primary source mentions benzol a bunch of times, but the dude never mentioned what the stuff was...
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Mar 11, 2012 23:39
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co199 posted:Got $95,000? No, if I did then I would be able to afford a MiG-21. And I'd need the roughly $5000 per hour in fuel and money to pay for all the repeated experimental certifications and so on...but hey, that's still less than a Lamborghini. Definitely worth it. I hear that Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf) has one. True?
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Mar 12, 2012 03:40
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Went to a talk given by Col Graham at Duxford - nice chap. Brooklands in Woking is also worth a vist. Some of the volunteers there are old aeronautical engineers, and I spent 2 fantastic hours there sat in the Captain's seat of a test BAC 111 talking with the guy who 40 years previous was the lead systems engineer that had used that very same aircraft as a test bed! Nerd gauge was set to 11 that day... Siadwel fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 12, 2012 04:37
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Sagebrush posted:No, if I did then I would be able to afford a MiG-21. And I'd need the roughly $5000 per hour in fuel and money to pay for all the repeated experimental certifications and so on...but hey, that's still less than a Lamborghini. Definitely worth it. According to Wiki he has a T-33, a F-86 and a Saberliner. Which is awesome. Worf is awesome. Worf in a MiG-21 would be more awesome.
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Mar 12, 2012 08:46
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MA-Horus posted:According to Wiki he has a T-33, a F-86 and a Saberliner. Which is awesome. Worf is awesome. Worf in a MiG-21 would be more awesome. When I eventually becomes dictator of a Banana-republic, I want this guy to built my UAVs. Only thing I'd need would be some competent gunsmiths to build me a couple of thousand miniature GAU-8s. RQ-170s? Pfffff.... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=981_1264812422
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Mar 12, 2012 12:41
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From the same site as that ridiculous RC plane: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b64_1307935002 Pretty awesome.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:20
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Sagebrush posted:From the same site as that ridiculous RC plane: 
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Mar 12, 2012 16:34
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grover posted:Why would A-10s have to practice intercepting small aircraft? They can carry AIM-9s, they can catch up to a helicopter and in a poo poo situation I could see them being a "Well it's this or nothing" option for intercept.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:40
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Well, it says that the private pilot requested the intercept, so I'd imagine it was more of a "sure, why not, they're just practising formation flying anyway" kind of thing. Besides, those A-10 pilots probably don't get to pretend they're fighter jocks very often.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:47
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Booblord Zagats posted:They can carry AIM-9s, they can catch up to a helicopter and in a poo poo situation I could see them being a "Well it's this or nothing" option for intercept.  http://articles.latimes.com/1991-02-08/news/mn-937_1_air-combat LA Times posted:As Swain described Wednesday's episode to pool reporters, the pilot of the observation plane, Capt. Jon Engle, confirmed that the black dots were helicopters. Swain took off in pursuit. One chopper peeled off to the north and escaped. The other headed south, with the A-10 on its trail.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:47
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I was just trying to imagine what your average light aircraft would look like after being hit with a burst from a GUA-8 and all I can see is the confetti from one of these party poppers.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:54
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Reminds me of thisquote:On 14 February 1991, an F-15E scored its only air-to-air kill: a Mil Mi-24 helicopter. While responding to a request for help by US Special Forces, five Iraqi helicopters were spotted. The lead F-15E of two acquired a helicopter via it's FLIR in the process of unloading Iraqi soldiers, and released a GBU-10 bomb. The F-15E crew thought the bomb had missed its target and were preparing to use a Sidewinder when the helicopter was destroyed. The Special Forces team estimated that the Hind was roughly 800 feet (240 m) over the ground when the 2,000 lb (910 kg) bomb hit its target.
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Mar 12, 2012 16:55
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Sagebrush posted:From the same site as that ridiculous RC plane: 
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Mar 12, 2012 20:18
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 http://imgur.com/FydKd
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Mar 12, 2012 21:05
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Shai-Hulud posted:Its just...wrong to let a blackbird rot. You should probably steer clear of the Air and Space Museum in San Diego then. They have an A-12 outside the front that is looking sadder and sadder each year.
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Mar 12, 2012 23:31
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Dr JonboyG posted:You should probably steer clear of the Air and Space Museum in San Diego then. They have an A-12 outside the front that is looking sadder and sadder each year. Yes they do 
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Mar 12, 2012 23:49
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Dr JonboyG posted:You should probably steer clear of the Air and Space Museum in San Diego then. They have an A-12 outside the front that is looking sadder and sadder each year. The one on the Intrepid was in crap condition too. The cockpit was mildewed and the tyres had bleached white and dry-rotted
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Mar 13, 2012 00:41
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meltie posted:The one on the Intrepid was in crap condition too. The cockpit was mildewed and the tyres had bleached white and dry-rotted In the 13 years between my visits to the Intrepid it seems like they restored that one a bit - it looked a lot less sorry last year than it did in 1998, but you're right, I remember it looking pretty shocking the first time I saw it.
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Mar 13, 2012 01:24
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I was told a thing, by one of the curators at the Virginia Air Museum (which also has an outdoor SR-71). The thing was that the ferrite paint that is authentic to the SR-71 doesn't look right until it's been cooked on at mach 3. So when they need to referb, they have the choice of going with some matte black krylon that looks like it is supposed to, or an authentic paint that will be the wrong color and look weird. Now, I don't know if it is so, or if this curator was even in a position to know this. This was one of the professional staff, not a volunteer docent. But that is what I was told.
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Mar 13, 2012 01:47
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grover posted:Why would A-10s have to practice intercepting small aircraft? EVERYTHING practices intercepting small aircraft in this Homeland Insecurity era. I've been in a Red Flag shot validation debrief when an A-10 pilot calls out "Stop tape, assess," and the result was "Valid for kill, color Viper white." They color dead jets white during the computer playback to avoid confusion
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Mar 13, 2012 02:04
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Slo-Tek posted:I was told a thing, by one of the curators at the Virginia Air Museum (which also has an outdoor SR-71). The thing was that the ferrite paint that is authentic to the SR-71 doesn't look right until it's been cooked on at mach 3. So when they need to referb, they have the choice of going with some matte black krylon that looks like it is supposed to, or an authentic paint that will be the wrong color and look weird. You know, I can actually believe that. I'd love to see one restored to bare metal: 
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Mar 13, 2012 02:25
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Dr JonboyG posted:You know, I can actually believe that. The air museum in Seattle is your best bet for that.
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Mar 13, 2012 02:31
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Slo-Tek posted:The thing was that the ferrite paint that is authentic to the SR-71 doesn't look right until it's been cooked on at mach 3. I believe this, because I remember reading in Ben Rich's autobiography (this is the guy who ran the Skunk Works roughly between the U-2 and F-117 eras) that the paint actually turns kind of a steel-blue when the plane is at its cruising speed. By the way, I highly recommend the book, which I think is just called "Skunk Works". The whole episode surrounding the first real radar tests of the F-117 mockup is excellent. Something about using the McDonnell Douglas range, and Lockheed having to design a stealth pole to put their model on because the model's return was smaller than that of the support it was on, and the McD personnel saying something like "jesus christ, if they can do that with a goddamn POLE, what can they do with their airplane?"
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Mar 13, 2012 04:44
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If anyone in the Denver area is interested in a real treat, the Rocky Mountain Air Show announced today that Viper West wouldn't be performing this summer due to budget cuts. They got the F-22 demo team instead. http://www.cosportaviation.org/f22raptor.html
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Mar 13, 2012 06:47
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grover posted:I did not know that. I also just discovered The A-10 is credited with one actual combat air-to-air victory: against an Iraqi helicopter in 1991... with DU tank-busting rounds from the 30mm avenger cannon. I was reminded as well of the Mud Hen LGB kill...apparently it just vaporized it. Same tail is the one that shot down the Predator that went stupid in Afghanistan a couple years back. e: There was also an A-10 that engaged some small gunboat type vessels with the GAU-8 during the recent dustup over Libya, sinking one of them...that was also the same engagement where a P-3 engaged a patrol boat with a Maverick in what was (I believe) the first and only time the P-3 has ever employed that missile in combat. IIRC a Navy goon was actually on board when they made the strike. Godholio posted:EVERYTHING practices intercepting small aircraft in this Homeland Insecurity era. Hahahaha...I can imagine the BRAA call for that shot, I'm guessing the range was something like 1 mile. co199 posted:If anyone in the Denver area is interested in a real treat, the Rocky Mountain Air Show announced today that Viper West wouldn't be performing this summer due to budget cuts. FYI, all USAF demo teams except for the Raptor got canned due to budget cuts. iyaayas01 fucked around with this message at 11:04 on Mar 13, 2012 |
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Mar 13, 2012 09:23
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