Post amazingly cool pictures of aircraft (Volume 1)

[Ayahuasca]

Eric Mc said:

Stuart said:

Ayahuasca said:

F104 starfigher ejected downwards !

Did it? Blimey, I've even more respect for anyone who flew one of those things now.

Only the early ones (F-104A to C). The F-104G and S variants (which made up the bulk of production) had normal upward firing seats.

Be a bit of a sod to eject downwards from a runway emergency.

[Fabric 2.2]

dr_gn said:

Oh look, the whole thing's faked - it was a ground ejection. What a surprise.

Thought it seemed too good to be true, nice find!

[Eric Mc]

Ayahuasca said:

Eric Mc said:

Stuart said:

Ayahuasca said:

F104 starfigher ejected downwards !

Did it? Blimey, I've even more respect for anyone who flew one of those things now.

Only the early ones (F-104A to C). The F-104G and S variants (which made up the bulk of production) had normal upward firing seats.

Be a bit of a sod to eject downwards from a runway emergency.

Early ejection setas didn't have a huge amount of "oomph". Lockheed thought that a high speed upward ejection would throw the pilot straight into the tail fin and/or tail plane. By the time the more sophisticated multi-role F-104G was in production, ejector seats had moved on quite a bit aqnd clearing the tail was no longer an issue.

[GreenV8S]

odyssey2200 said:

Fakes on a Plane!!

[spitfire-ian]

Better than what the rear V Bomber crews had. Although this was once a plan for the Vulcan...



The centre seat ejected first, then the others moved in and fired in turn!

[Traveller]

The B52 still has a downward ejection system for the navigator and radar navigator, which is probably not ideal for an incident near the ground.

[Le TVR]

Ayahuasca said:

Eric Mc said:

Stuart said:

Ayahuasca said:

F104 starfigher ejected downwards !

Did it? Blimey, I've even more respect for anyone who flew one of those things now.

Only the early ones (F-104A to C). The F-104G and S variants (which made up the bulk of production) had normal upward firing seats.

Be a bit of a sod to eject downwards from a runway emergency.

The technique required was just a little tricky:

http://www.aerodrome-gruyere.ch/video/touch-roll-t...

[Bernie-the-bolt]

Le TVR said:

Ayahuasca said:

Eric Mc said:

Stuart said:

Ayahuasca said:

F104 starfigher ejected downwards !

Did it? Blimey, I've even more respect for anyone who flew one of those things now.

Only the early ones (F-104A to C). The F-104G and S variants (which made up the bulk of production) had normal upward firing seats.

Be a bit of a sod to eject downwards from a runway emergency.

The technique required was just a little tricky:

http://www.aerodrome-gruyere.ch/video/touch-roll-t...

He must be bloody mental.....

[Eric Mc]

Le TVR said:

Ayahuasca said:

Eric Mc said:

Stuart said:

Ayahuasca said:

F104 starfigher ejected downwards !

Did it? Blimey, I've even more respect for anyone who flew one of those things now.

Only the early ones (F-104A to C). The F-104G and S variants (which made up the bulk of production) had normal upward firing seats.

Be a bit of a sod to eject downwards from a runway emergency.

The technique required was just a little tricky:

http://www.aerodrome-gruyere.ch/video/touch-roll-t...

Except that version had an upward firing seat

Pretty nifty flying for a Starfighter - all the same.

[AstonZagato]

Munter said:

AstonZagato said:

Eric Mc said:

Why would they eject at mach 2 for a movie?

I doubt very much they were even flying at Mach 1.

What would you film it from at Mach 2?

Well. You could film it from. And this is a shocker. But you could film it from an identical plane...

Yes but not exactly an ideal camera platform.

[Ayahuasca]

[Ayahuasca]

[Semi hemi]

Not only don't they get irony, they seem to have problems with stealth as well

[kiteless]

Ayahuasca said:

Fully lit Foxbat!

Eyelikeit

[peanutjb]

Further to the thread of F1 testing at Duxford, here's another shot of "Grumpy" (more here

[Eric Mc]

I think that B-17 is actually the famous Sally B. She was painted up as Memphis Belle for the 1989 movie and has carried the colours ever since.

[peanutjb]

Eric Mc said:

I think that B-17 is actually the famous Sally B. She was painted up as Memphis Belle for the 1989 movie and has carried the colours ever since.

I was bound to get at least one wrong!

[Stuart]

From the WW1 aircraft flypast of Henry Allingham's funeral. My knowledge of WW1 warbirds is zero, but I'm sure that someone will be along in a moment to fill in the gaps. Wonderful looking things though, aren't they?

[dr_gn]

Stuart said:

From the WW1 aircraft flypast of Henry Allingham's funeral. My knowledge of WW1 warbirds is zero, but I'm sure that someone will be along in a moment to fill in the gaps. Wonderful looking things though, aren't they?

SE5a replicas.

[Eric Mc]

There are very few authentic WW1 aircraft still flying. Most that you see knocking about are "modern" replicas (although some of those can be almost 50 years old themselves).