Greek Mirage down - Pilot missing.

[Trevatanus]

Not sure if this is related to the current shenanigens or not, but there was talk of a "dogfight" with a Turkish jet earlier in the mission.

https://thedefensepost.com/2018/04/12/greek-milita...

[Eric Mc]

Not the first time this has happened.

[drdino]

Pilot KIA.

[slartibartfast]

st

[richomk6]

Didnt realise Greece still flew Mirages. I've had a few chances to get up and close with a few examples and they are a beautiful aircraft.

RIP

[Eric Mc]

Mirage is a generic name used by Dassault for a variety of different aeroplanes. The main version in use today is the Mirage 2000, which is a fairly modern design (i.e. it emerged in the 1980s).

Mirage III



Mirage V



Mirage IV (which was a bomber)



Mirage F1



Mirage 2000



There were some other Mirage named aircraft which only flew as test or development aircraft or never entered production, such as the Mirage I and the Mirage 4000.

[Dr Jekyll]

Was the Mirage 2000 a completely new design? Looking at it it's difficult to believe it wasn't conceived as a development of the Mirage III. Mind you the Mirage IV looks like a scaled up III and I'm sure that's not how they designed it.

[Eric Mc]

It was pretty much a new design with a much more sophisticated delta wing than the III. It is also fly by wire. Mirage have always been a fan of the delta and most of their designs, although different, did feature the delta layout.

The Mirage F1 was the exception within the Mirage family.

They also built a swing wing Mirage design which never entered production - the Mirage G



And a vertical take off variant -

[Yertis]

Dr Jekyll said:

Mind you the Mirage IV looks like a scaled up III and I'm sure that's not how they designed it.

Actually I think that's exactly how they designed it, the basic form anyway.

[Eric Mc]

The IV is my favourite Mirage. Last year I bought this kit which I will build - one day.

[Kccv23highliftcam]

RIP to our NATO colleague. Is there any information about the number of annual or monthly flying hours of the Greek Air Force at present?

The M2000.

Our AD pilots loved going against them because they were a hard opponent with matching weapons/radar [more or less] and in the merge very hard to spot head on. Some said it was the best training they had ever had, even if they "lost" now and then, you know train hard-fight easy sort of thing....

U.S.A.F. discovered M2000 could pull through 9g and track pipper on canopy top.....that REALLY pissed off the viper drivers.Think that was on a Cope Thunder...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mr6LPVwxRw

If you ever get the chance to walk round one, in clean fit, close up, for a look... do!!

Very close to my all time favourite aircraft [which was, incidentally half French] being Concorde.

[Eric Mc]

The 2000s always put on a good display at Farnborough. The 4000 was even more spectacular. Pity it never went into production -

[Yertis]

Eric Mc said:

The IV is my favourite Mirage. Last year I bought this kit which I will build - one day.

They had one up at RIAT a few years ago and even in its advanced years it was a sleek and impressive looking aeroplane, especially when compared with something like the f35

[Eric Mc]

Or even the Vulcan, which more or less performed the same role at the same time for the RAF. It is a surprisingly big aeroplane.

[Tony1963]

Elvington has a IV on display. It arrived last year by road and ferry. Quite a coup to have such a beasty in the U.K. I just wish I lived closer.

[aeropilot]

Yertis said:

Eric Mc said:

The IV is my favourite Mirage. Last year I bought this kit which I will build - one day.

They had one up at RIAT a few years ago and even in its advanced years it was a sleek and impressive looking aeroplane, especially when compared with something like the f35

A few years ago.......

Try 14 years ago

[Yertis]

aeropilot said:

A few years ago.......

Try 14 years ago

bloody hell

[maffski]

If the Mirage family wasn't complex enough you've then got the aircraft that are Mirage in all but name,

Israeli Nesher - the Mirage 5 was originally being developed for the Israelis but an arms embargo stopped delivery, however by this time they already had the plans so started manufacturing their own variant.


Which then evolved into the Kfir


Plus the South Africans remanufactured their Mirage III's into the Cheetah

[V8LM]

I saw one once, but turned out to be an optical illusion*.

• Or is that a soviet aircraft?

[wolfracesonic]

V8LM said:

I saw one once, but turned out to be an optical illusion*.

• Or is that a soviet aircraft?

ISWYDT At least I think I saw!