The Airplane Thread

11-19-2022

...because I feel that this topic needs its own thread, instead of cluttering up that other forum thread.

For those who love the sound of a Rolls-Royce Merlin, imagine having *four* of them on a single plane like the Avro Lancaster. Fortunately for us, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada has a non-airworthy Lancaster in their collection that they occasionally run up. Rumor has it that even a short demo costs them over 800 Loonies in AVgas.

Here's the audio of a three-engine run up on YouTube (fourth engine's prop was out for service). Grab your headphones and enjoy the Merin music.....

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11-19-2022

YouTube coincidentally suggested this video to me today, of a B36 startup/takeoff/landing:

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11-19-2022

Aluminum Overcast firing up.

Aluminum Overcast by Mark Johnson, on Flickr

11-19-2022

Of course, I need to pay homage to (IMHO) the most awesome airplane ever built...the XB-70 Valkyrie:

North_American_XB-70A_Valkyrie_in_flight_%28cropped%29.jpg

North_American_XB-70A_Valkyrie_in_flight_%28cropped%29.jpg

I know that some think it's an ugly duckling, but seeing the last survivor at the Wright-Patterson AFB museum is definitely on my bucket list if they ever roll it out again.....

11-19-2022

British Airways Concorde

An image attached to this post, provided by the poster

11-19-2022

<=== Flew on one in 2001! ^^^^^

11-19-2022

Late 50's CF-105 Avro Arrow, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow

11-19-2022

The A-10 is like the Michael Myers of aircraft. The AF keeps trying to kill it off but it keeps coming back.

I’d embed a short video, but most of them are clips of the A-10 annihilating terrorists and might get flagged for violence.

11-19-2022

the English Electric Lightning...

11-19-2022

^^^"I just planted that field!! Dammit!!"

11-19-2022

Mine

11-19-2022

Tracked one of these doing 440 ground speed over the Salt Lake, at 6K'. Prior to that, he made a low approach and buzzed the cockpit of a UAL 72 sitting on a high-speed taxiway. I thought my short career was over!

11-20-2022

Oh, I gotta get in on this thread -- how about nominations for the prettiest aircraft ever: Mine is the Vought F-8 Crusader. Here's a civilian-registered one -- I'm pretty sure it was used just for government contract work and is no longer flying. As a certified (certifiable?) Navy Air geek, there are examples in far more fetching livery, but this one shows the lines of the basic airplane well.

11-20-2022

Mingwan wrote
The A-10 is like the Michael Myers of aircraft. The AF keeps trying to kill it off but it keeps coming back.

I’d embed a short video, but most of them are clips of the A-10 annihilating terrorists and might get flagged for violence.

The Warthog speaks to me, the tough ugly duckling, first through the door kicking ass and taking names.

11-20-2022

I was just reading this the other day. It`s a long read, but I really enjoyed it. NATO Tiger Meet 2016.
http://defens-aero.com/2016/07/nato-tiger-meet-2016-edition-superlatifs.html

11-20-2022

And while talking pretty, I've loved this photo for 57 years: It was published as a centerfold in the Pacific Stars & Stripes newspaper in early 1965. (I was living in the Philippines as a high school senior and the S&S was our daily newspaper.) The photo depicts a KA-3B Skywarrior (AKA 'Whale') refueling an RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-5 above USS Ranger in the South China Sea. Beautiful! I've searched in vain for a larger version.

11-20-2022

M_Six wrote
Aluminum Overcast firing up.

Aluminum Overcast by Mark Johnson, on Flickr

I got to go for a ride in Aluminum Overcast a few years ago. It was awesome, inspiring and humbling to think about the young crews who manned these magnificent aircraft during WWII.