willedoo

Small article in today's Toowoomba Chronicle - not much in the way of new news, just a bit about the documentary and search plans. According to the pozible website for public donations, about $800 of a $130,000 target has been reached with 23 days to go. http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/spitfire-search-returns-to-oakey/2043515/ Cheers, Willie.

Not sure what their current plans are.There was talk of it locating to Melbourne for a couple of years. Cheers, Willie.

That was interesting to watch, thanks for posting it, Peter. It's the end of an era - the last QF-4 Phantom was converted a few months back. I suppose they'll have plenty of de-commissioned F-16's to play with in the next few years as the QF-4's gradually drop off the scene. Cheers, Willie.

An article about the Archangel armed surveillance aircraft, based on the Thrush 710P two-seat cropduster, as featured at this year's Paris Air Show. It was displayed at Paris with Hellfire missiles and laser-guided rockets. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/paris-air-show/2013-06-16/archangel-comes-paris [ATTACH=full]1935[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]18480[/ATTACH]

Quite enjoyable photos, thanks Peter. That would have been quite a sight. Cheers, Willie.

Great clip, thanks for posting. That would certainly get the adrenalin going. Cheers, Willie.

Saw this in the weekend papers. Apparently the making of sausages was banned in Germany for a while because it took 250,000 cow's intestines to make one Zeppelin. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2400890/Germans-banned-eating-sausages-World-War-One-intestines-250-000-cows-needed-make-Zeppelin-airship.html [ATTACH=full]1922[/ATTACH] Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18475[/ATTACH]

Thanks Darren, I really enjoyed that. Looked like a worse landing than the first one. What's the technical specifications of this project - RC plane + phone + duct tape, or is there more to it? Cheers, Willie.

This is quite an amazing model project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uFO1tljkRc Cheers, Willie.

Short video of some Su-35C aerobatics. There's an interesting maneuver at 2.24 minutes into the video. It starts off like a normal Cobra, then turns into a sort of half vertical 360°, before resuming level flight. I don't know what the maneuver is called; doesn't look like a Super Cobra.

I remember a cook we had on one of the crews many years ago, he couldn't pronounce his T's. Instead of 'got it', he'd say 'gorrit' etc.. Not sure where he was from, maybe a Cumbrian or Geordie or something. At least we don't have a real big variation of accents here, only the dance/chance/castle type thing. And proper Queenslanders have a port and not a suitcase, but that's more vocabulary than accent. Cheers, Willie.

I read about this in yesterday's 'The Australian' paper, but this is the only online reference I could find. Apparently some German voice recordings of WW1 British POW's has surfaced, giving some insight into changing British accents. Particular mention was made of the significant change in the Oxfordshire accent. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389902/German-recording-British-PoWs-reveals-rural-society-rich-regional-accents-lost.html Cheers, Willie.

August 2 - Two F-16's from the 113th Wing D.C. Air National Guard collided midair, forcing one of the pilots to eject into the ocean and be rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter a few hours later off the Virginia coast. http://www.wboc.com/story/23027326/coast-guard-rescues-f-16-pilot-after-plane-crash-near-chincoteague-va [ATTACH=full]1903[/ATTACH] August 5 - A USAF Kadena Air Base Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed near Camp Hansen in Okinawa, killing one crew member and injuring three. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/06/world/asia/japan-us-helicopter-crash [ATTACH=full]1895[/ATTACH] August 9 - An Ethiopean Air Force Antonov An-24 crashed on landing at Mogadishu Airport in Somalia, killing four of the six crew members. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23628549 [ATTACH=full]1905[/ATTACH] August 12 - An A-29 Super Tucano of the Brazil Air Force flight demonstration squadron crashed during a training flight, killing both pilots. http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=938981&CategoryId=14090 [ATTACH=full]1904[/ATTACH] August 19 - A B-1B Lancer strategic bomber from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, crashed in Montana during a routine training mission. All four crew members survived after ejecting. http://www.argusleader.com/viewart/20130819/UPDATES/130819012/Ellsworth-B-1B-bomber-crashes-Montana-all-crew-members-survive [ATTACH=full]1911[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]18471[/ATTACH]

That TSR2 engine no.1 is still on Ebay - no takers yet. It sure was a hard road to finally arrive at the Tornado. The TSR2 and the British Phantom debacle remind me of that saying, "Military aircraft have four dimensions - height, length, width and politics." Can't remember the author. Cheers, Willie.

At first I thought it looked a bit Japanese, but not so. It would have to be a Fairey Spearfish. Cheers, Willie.

Just wondering how you got that shot, Geoff. Did you use a zoom, or get inside the fence, or is it of another one in the workshop? [ATTACH=full]1882[/ATTACH] Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18462[/ATTACH]

Another intake - this one might be too easy; there's not many like it. [ATTACH=full]1876[/ATTACH] Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18459[/ATTACH]

Spot on, Peter - the Delta Dagger. Cheers, Willie.

It's not the Dassault or the Phantom. Other clues are delta winged, supersonic, internal weapons bay. This gives it away as a single engine. [ATTACH=full]1873[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]18457[/ATTACH]

Side intake doesn't really identify twin or single engine. Fixed geometry inlet may or may not indicate vintage. This might make it easier - it's an interceptor (F-). Cheers, Willie.

Good idea, mn - a bit like a jig-saw puzzle. Not sure how many clues to give with this one. [ATTACH=full]1871[/ATTACH] Cheers, Willie. [ATTACH]18455[/ATTACH]

They had a lot of handling problems & most were solved or contained by workarounds & design changes. The roll coupling was helped by the Stab Aug system & I think it was the Navy or Bauer who first saw the pitch up problem in the design. From memory, that was fixed by the dogtooth outer wings. Also, at a certain AOA, putting the stick to the left would result in the aircraft turning right. I don't think that was ever fixed; they used their rudders a lot in that situation to turn. Mostly due to their spoiler/drooping aileron setup creating drag. It was certainly no air superiority fighter & would go into a spin at the drop of a hat if the pilot didn't hold his mouth right. But I guess it was a big powerful lethal beast and people had a healthy respect for it. From what I can gather, it had to be flown fairly precisely or it would bite. Flying Brick sounds about right. At least in Vietnam when they came up against the MiG-21's & the old MiG-17's, they had the power and speed to dis-engage, as they couldn't effectively dogfight. Different days; it's all a bit more technical now. Apologies for getting a bit off topic from the original post. Cheers, Willie.

Well, I suppose a Phantom is doing a good job to fly with two perfectly good wings. As some pilots used to say, "The Phantom is proof that you can make a brick fly with enough thrust". ;) Cheers, Willie.

SIPA S.500. Well, there you go. Checked every French a/c I could think of & didn't see a photo of it, only the S.300. The penny still didn't drop in spite of the similarities. Cheers, Willie.

Has some similarities to a Fairey Barracuda, but the tail is different. Cheers, Willie.