Aircraft General Discussion

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Jason,

Thank you, I couldn't see it for looking.

Martin P

[Flying FiferParticipant @flyingfifer]

Martin,

The Blenheim had radial engines not rotary ones. I know a bit anal or pedantic even but I wonder if a couple of rotary engines would have had enough power to pull a laden Blenheim off the ground. Looking forward to seeing it at Duxford. Strangely about the only thing we see nowadays flying over Huntingdon is that noisy Police helo circling Spittal`s roundabout.

Alan

Edited By Flying Fifer on 28/05/2015 13:51:06

[Anonymous]

Bristol sleeve valve engines I believe. Many years ago my father visited Duxford with the RAeS. One of his colleagues (who had worked on Blenheims in the war) commented to the team rebuilding a Blenheim that the engines were sensitive to rate of throttle opening. He was patted on the head and told to go away. A month after the rebuild finished the aircraft crashed during an unplanned touch and go at Denham; due to rich cuts in the engines when the throttles were slammed open. Ho hum!

Andrew

[Capstan SpeakingParticipant @capstanspeaking95294]

Yeah, inertia is a *itch.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

It had a later front end then, this time its a mk1 front end, it wasnt unplanned he was doing a display, they couldnt land but could do touch and goes, read this and we are both correct https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5423040aed915d1371000c87/Bristol_149_Blenheim_Mk_IV__G-MKIV__11-87.pdf

Martin P

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

You are right about the Blenheim Martin, I would not have seen it as your directions have it flying away from me. However, we do get treated to regular flying displays overhead as a stunt team do their practice stuff here. I mentioned it to someone once and they told me they must be The Blades team from Sywell.

I have just briefly dougald "blades sywell" and it comes back with pictures of monoplanes. The stunt team I watch here fly small biplanes which to my untrained eye look a bit like Pitts Specials so "blades" they cannot be – right?

We are also regularly and noisily over flown by what I think are Apache gunships, very large military transporters and military jet fighters all at low level . It seems we are on the route they take to do their low level flying exercises

Tally-ho!

Rik

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Bear with me.

A while ago was listening to Micheal Bentine reading/talking from his autobiography.

Kept re-iterating that all he ever wanted to do was fly for RAF and design planes like his dad.

Now his dad worked for ( amonst others) super marine..and had a new chap starting..Mr Mitchell. .who later had some success apparently. .

One thing Bentines dad invented was a device for comparing/ measuring the tension in wires. .since the technique of the day of comparing the note with a tuning fork didn’t work for him being tone deaf…

Bentine junior has an interesting life too.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Rik,

We get the Apaches coming from or going to Wattisham where they are based at least once a week and usually in pairs.martin P

[Bob Brown 1Participant @bobbrown1]

Walking the dog today along the sea front (Cowes) and a pair of F15's flew past at low level, twice must have flown around the island either that there were 2 pairs.

Bob

[Capstan SpeakingParticipant @capstanspeaking95294]

Posted by Rik Shaw on 28/05/2015 17:11:45:

The Blades team from Sywell.

Rik

Oh wow Sywell. That brings back memories. The bump in 05/23 caught out many a visitor.

[Anonymous]

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

[steveteeParticipant @stevetee]

sorry wrong place

 

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

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

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> 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

[Anonymous]

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

[Capstan SpeakingParticipant @capstanspeaking95294]

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.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Capstan Speaking on 31/05/2015 12:09:49:

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

Yesterday for me!

Andrew

[Capstan SpeakingParticipant @capstanspeaking95294]

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.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

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

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

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

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

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.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

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

[Anonymous]

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

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

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

[Capstan SpeakingParticipant @capstanspeaking95294]

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

[Anonymous]

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

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