The sky-high aircraft and aviation thread

They were supposed to be; "For But Not With" in procurement-speak.

edited 10th May '12 2:25:47 PM by Greenmantle

And the MoD proves that it can make rather questionable decisions yet again.

@Air filter story:

Holy smokes, I'd ground them immediately after something like that happens, backlash be damned.

I thought the cardinal rule of air crash investigation is never to assume pilot error as the cause of any crash, unless and until you get evidence to the contrary?

The biggest foul up in the whole F-35 for Britain story is not the plane itself, it is, in my view and a lot of others, the decision by the British Government not to tell British Wasteofspace and the other members of the consortium responsible for the carriers to go and take a flying fuck to themselves but to go ahead with an order that isn't going to make any more Scottish people vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat.

Legal Action? Would be covered by the Government saying, we are the legal system, bitch. Deal with it. The carrier order has been an unmitigated disaster, and cancelling it would not have been as expensive as going ahead, no matter what the building consortium would have people believe.

Well, I'm not investigating the case, am I?

Still, mountain flying, a request to descend to a lower flight level and turning towards a mountain range sounds like a pretty good combination.

Anyway, talking about Top Gun: Royal Navy 'Top Gun' pilots train to fly US fighters — The FAA are there...

And, in other news, another World War II fighter has been found: A P-40 in the Western Desert.

FAA pilots have been training at Top Gun since the seventies (Ark Royal IV times), when the Top Gun squadron had more planes than the entire FAA...

I do hope they recover that one, it doesn't look all too bad.

@Catfish:

Bunch of no-nos right there, chief. I assume that they must've thought they had more height than they really had or something, though obviously I can't say for sure.

@Greenmantle:

Nice links.

I genuinely hope that the souvenir hunters don't get to the plane before the British Embassy (or whoever will end up picking up the wreckage) does.

I can't really think of anything to say about the Top Gun thing.

As for the airliner: Given that the article Tuefel linked says the pilot requested descent to 6000 feet and the wreckage was found at approximately 5500, misjudged altitude might be a thing here.

Damn crying shame it happened.

Incorrect pressure settings might also have contributed.

And yes, it is a real tragedy that it happened. We can only hope that the lessons learnt will lead to a new generation of safer pilots - and aircraft.

It's Photo Archive Monday, where I dive into my photo folders to bring you what I think looks interesting.







325th Fighter Group F-82 and two F-94s in 1950.◊

5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-106s tanking from a KC-135 in 1981.◊

A-10 + KC-97.◊

KB-29 + B-45.◊

Mass F-100 refueling.◊

MDNG O-46.◊

A-4 intercepting a BE-6, or, "Excuse me, what the fuck are you doing?"◊

Minnesota Air National Guard F-51.◊

509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-102s over Vietnam, 1966.◊

69th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-104G at Luke AFB.◊

119th FIS, "Jersey Devils", F-106s of the NJANG, the last combat F-106 unit.◊

131st FIS of the Massachusetts Air National Guard at Otis ANGB.◊

I heard you liked ocean surveillance so we surveilled you while you surveilled so you can feel uncomfortable as we feel uncomfortable!◊ (Thanks Sabre)

MDANG Special Operations HU-16s.◊

Unloading ambulances from a C-130.◊

Il-38 intercepted by an F/A-18 and an A-6, up close.◊

Caribou refueling an OV-1 Mohawk.◊

F-102 high-speed break above a Bear.◊

MY GOD, IT'S EATING HER!◊

English Electric Lightning intercepting a Tu-95.◊

319th FIS scramble from Homestead AFB.◊

edited 14th May '12 3:01:03 PM by hotelkilo

Very nice pictures.

The one with the A-10s and the KC-97 looks almost surreal.

Tell me about it — I didn't realise anything based on the B-29 was in service so late (apparently, to 1978)...

Pah! We had Shackletons (upgraded Lincolns which were basically upgraded Lancasters) as our primary MPA until the mid '80s.

Those are some really nice images, though some of them feel a little off due to the contrast between the aircraft. Great job!

Speaking of things such as that twin Mustang, meet its' Teutonic equivalent, the Bf-109Z!

That's actually the last KC-97 in service in 1977/1978 in the Texas ANG.

Additionally, here is RAF Tornado GR.4 ZA398 in a special scheme celebrating the 100th Centenary of II(AC) Squadron.

edited 16th May '12 12:13:42 PM by Greenmantle

Huh, I think I might have seen that in AFM. Looks pretty nice, I guess.

You probably did see the first photo — I can see it now!

Nice paintscheme. I presume Shiny Two is the callsign of the aircraft?

edited 16th May '12 1:14:43 PM by Flanker66

It's the Squad Nickname of No. II(AC) Squadron.

...Oh.

Nice pics of that Tornado. Good artwork on the tail.

Just read something interesting in this months' Classic Aircraft — apparently, as part of trials with MBDA, they are fitting one of their Hunter T.8 aircraft with...

...a Glass Cockpit. It's meant to be a military version of the Garmin G600 cockpit. All it says on the HHA Website is:

Oh, that is interesting. Reminds me a bit of the scenes in the Salvation War when Caesar bought Hunters as opposed to Hawk jets as his air units' equipment in Free Hell.

Wonder if the Hunters in Lebanese service will get these upgrades? Things are getting more interesting in that region as each day passes.