Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys

Girls, Flight Commander Smythe is hear to discuss the Battle of Brittian in the Air, thank you Commander for joining us today at Saint Ann's Acedemy for girls. Please go ahead Commander...
...so there we were, my wingman left teneant Ross and I alone in the sky when the fuckers dove in on us from above...
Ahem, girls let me remind you, Focker was an airplane manufacture for the Nazis, Cammander Smythe please continue...
...wel when those fuckers dove in on us, I counted 12 Messerscmidts...
 
Vincenthdfan said:
Indeed...thats why when I see folks talking to each other in cargo bays of aircraft in the movies I always get a good laugh.

No hydraulic pump whine, no engine drone...not built for creature comforts. ;)
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I flew in those Fockers several times. It is cool to wander to the side window and see the props spining. Wander aft and urinate into the aft piss tube. It is tuff to get a game of cribbage going, seeing the cards is obvious but the trash talk lost in the noise ruins the game.
 
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halfmile said:
Today on VFT. I`d give my left spectacle to take that one around the patch a couple of times.:thumbsup:
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Just pray for no cross wind …. I’ve done a couple of hours in a Waco of the same era …. Can be a bit pucker-ing doing a wheel landing with that narrow wheel track
Makes you a heluva pilot though! I have a lot of respect for ww2 students ….
 
Mailman said:
Is the Osprey a fatally flawed design? It seems to have a tumultuous history. Do I recall rotor failures as being a problem?
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“Last week's crash of the U.S. Air Force CV-22 was the first-ever fatal Osprey accident in Japan. The aircraft, assigned to Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, had been on a training flight. It departed from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture but then requested an emergency landing on the tiny island of Yakushima just before crashing off of its shore. Eyewitnesses said the aircraft flipped over and burst into flame before plunging into the ocean.”
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Waaaaay back in 1964, Canada ( Canadair corp.) built a neat early version of this ….. but because Canada can never get its act together on anything aerospace related … it got canceled of course …. Sigh…. What could have been …

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Paleomechanic said:
Waaaaay back in 1964, Canada ( Canadair corp.) built a neat early version of this ….. but because Canada can never get its act together on anything aerospace related … it got canceled of course …. Sigh…. What could have been …

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Back in the 50's it was thought that a Russian "first strike" would take out all the (military) runways. The race was on to develop usable VTOL aircraft. Hence, the 50's, 60's and 70's were the "wild west" as far as vertical take-off. If you can imagine it, they tried it. Here's some others. Just a few... they tried a lot more than this....


Convair XFY-1 Pogo
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Dornier Do 31
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LTV XC-142
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Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird
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Ryan XV-5
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SNECMA C.450 Coléoptère
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Jim said:
Back in the 50's it was thought that a Russian "first strike" would take out all the (military) runways. The race was on to develop usable VTOL aircraft. Hence, the 50's, 60's and 70's were the "wild west" as far as vertical take-off. If you can imagine it, they tried it. Here's some others. Just a few... they tried a lot more than this....


Convair XFY-1 Pogo
View attachment 256975


Dornier Do 31
View attachment 256976


LTV XC-142
View attachment 256977


Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird
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Ryan XV-5
View attachment 256979


SNECMA C.450 Coléoptère
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I always tried to get stationed at Edwards AFB, throughout my career....especially early on.

I was always pretty enamored with the history of experimental aircraft, the history of Edwards and especially Chuck Yeager.

Never got there, went TDY there once...its definitely in the middle of nowhere.

Ending up working on the F-117's for 13 years turned out to be a pretty fair trade though, I cant complain.
 
Vincenthdfan said:
I always tried to get stationed at Edwards AFB, throughout my career....especially early on.

I was always pretty enamored with the history of experimental aircraft, the history of Edwards and especially Chuck Yeager.

Never got there, went TDY there once...its definitely in the middle of nowhere.

Ending up working on the F-117's for 13 years turned out to be a pretty fair trade though, I cant complain.
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Spent about 7yrs in Systems Command. Back then Wright Patterson, Edwards and Eglin were the main bases for testing. spent a fair bit of time at all 3. Funny, at Edwards you could almost feel the history. Lots of ghost's there.
I was looking for something yesterday and ran across a pic I took out at Edwards back in the 70's. The only two B-1A's ever made. This was before Reagan cancelled the program. Edit: My bad, it was Carter that cancelled 'em.


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Jim said:
Spent about 7yrs in Systems Command. Back then Wright Patterson, Edwards and Eglin were the main bases for testing. spent a fair bit of time at all 3. Funny, at Edwards you could almost feel the history. Lots of ghost's there.
I was looking for something yesterday and ran across a pic I took out at Edwards back in the 70's. The only two B-1A's ever made. This was before Reagan cancelled the program.


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Wow, white "BONES", there's something I never thought I'd see. 😳

"Funny, at Edwards you could almost feel the history. Lots of ghost's there.". You totally get it...exactly why I always wanted to get stationed there. 🥰👍
 
Paleomechanic said:
If anyone watches “ man in the high castle”
That German Do 31 makes a few CGI appearances!
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Jim said:
Back in the 50's it was thought that a Russian "first strike" would take out all the (military) runways. The race was on to develop usable VTOL aircraft. Hence, the 50's, 60's and 70's were the "wild west" as far as vertical take-off. If you can imagine it, they tried it. Here's some others. Just a few... they tried a lot more than this....


Convair XFY-1 Pogo
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Interesting boarding ladder I am sure....
 
Row upon row of F4F Wildcat fuselages pictured in Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation's Plant Two at Bethpage, Long Island, New York. The attack on Pearl Harbor the day after this photograph was taken shaped the ultimate destinations for these fighters.

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Jim said:
Spent about 7yrs in Systems Command. Back then Wright Patterson, Edwards and Eglin were the main bases for testing. spent a fair bit of time at all 3. Funny, at Edwards you could almost feel the history. Lots of ghost's there.
I was looking for something yesterday and ran across a pic I took out at Edwards back in the 70's. The only two B-1A's ever made. This was before Reagan cancelled the program.


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Speaking of white BONES (B-1's), look what popped up on my facebook feed this morning....ironic timing:

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Vincenthdfan said:
Speaking of white BONES (B-1's), look what popped up on my facebook feed this morning....ironic timing:

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The B-1B's are gettin' a little long in the tooth, but back when I was supporting the B-1A program, it was arguably the most advanced jet ever built. When you dropped the crew ladder, there was a switch marked simply "Alert." That one switch would start the APU, power up all electrical busses and start initializing the inertial nav platforms. By the time the crew got in their seats, everything was powered up and ready for engine start.... all off of one switch.
In todays world of automation, that's pretty simple... but for late 60's tech, that was magic.
 
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