Russian Carrier Landing
Discussion
Simpo Two said:
Eric Mc said:
Just bought a couple af 1/72 Airfix Buccaneer kits. I plan to do both in Royal Navy colours - one out of the box as an S2 and the other to convert into an S1.
Ha, I made an Airfix Buccaneer when I was about 10 
Also a Sepecat Jaguar. Happy days.
hidetheelephants said:
the longer front undercarriage we fitted tended to cause fires on US carrier decks.
How did it do that?
I think they ended up with a watercooled blastfence on Ark and Eagle got a extra slab of steel welded on which the lineys pointed a firehose at during flight ops... guess which refit was on the cheap.
I'd confirm this from the Ark Royal history, but inconveniently it's in a box 150 miles away.
Eric Mc said:
Just bought a couple af 1/72 Airfix Buccaneer kits. I plan to do both in Royal Navy colours - one out of the box as an S2 and the other to convert into an S1.
One of my all time favourite aircraft.As a nipper at airshows, I never failed to be shocked and excited by a Buc hurtling towards me at about 4 feet in silence...........then...........BOOOOOOOOOOM! as it passed overhead.
Ruddy marvellous.
TEKNOPUG said:
Simpo Two said:
eharding said:
The Royal Navy got out of the catapult/arrestor-hook business a long time ago, and if it were ever to try to get back into the business I hope there would be a long period when there would be US Navy LSOs standing at the back of the deck eye-balling every approach until the tradition, and skills, were re-established in the RN - otherwise we would revisit the accident rates experienced the first time round in the 1950s and 1960s.
Coincidentally I was reading only this morning Eric 'Winkle' Brown's account of landing a Mosquito on a carrier - he got the landing speed down to 78mph. Highly recommended book: www.amazon.co.uk/Wings-My-Sleeve-Eric-Brown/dp/075...
Apparently this is him!
Magog said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Simpo Two said:
eharding said:
The Royal Navy got out of the catapult/arrestor-hook business a long time ago, and if it were ever to try to get back into the business I hope there would be a long period when there would be US Navy LSOs standing at the back of the deck eye-balling every approach until the tradition, and skills, were re-established in the RN - otherwise we would revisit the accident rates experienced the first time round in the 1950s and 1960s.
Coincidentally I was reading only this morning Eric 'Winkle' Brown's account of landing a Mosquito on a carrier - he got the landing speed down to 78mph. Highly recommended book: www.amazon.co.uk/Wings-My-Sleeve-Eric-Brown/dp/075...Apparently this is him!
Magog said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Simpo Two said:
eharding said:
The Royal Navy got out of the catapult/arrestor-hook business a long time ago, and if it were ever to try to get back into the business I hope there would be a long period when there would be US Navy LSOs standing at the back of the deck eye-balling every approach until the tradition, and skills, were re-established in the RN - otherwise we would revisit the accident rates experienced the first time round in the 1950s and 1960s.
Coincidentally I was reading only this morning Eric 'Winkle' Brown's account of landing a Mosquito on a carrier - he got the landing speed down to 78mph. Highly recommended book: www.amazon.co.uk/Wings-My-Sleeve-Eric-Brown/dp/075...Apparently this is him!
There was a serious point. Early jets were woefully short on power and range. Anything that could extend the performance and range of the aircraft would make it more effective. One item an aircraft doesn't need when airborne is its undercarriage. It is just dead weight. The idea of removing the landing gear was to lighten the aircraft and improve its performance.
During WW2, undercarriageless Hurricanes had been launched from warships (not carriers) as a stop gap effort to protect convoys, so the idea had been used before. With these aircarft, there was no means of recovering them after each sortie so the pilot bailed out and the aircraft crashed into the sea. It was considered that the cost of Hirrican was far less painfull than the loss of a cargo ship or warship.
The Vampire experiments were a continuation of the idea after the war. However, the main impracticality of the rubber deck was not the launching of the aircraft but the time it took to manhandle it out of the way after each landing. In the event, jet engine technology was improving so rapidly that the fuel useage and power issues resolved themselves without the need for such drastic measures.
The original idea behind the Supermarine Scimitar was that it would be designed for undercrriageless, rubber deck operations. In the end, it was built as a conventional aircraft.
During WW2, undercarriageless Hurricanes had been launched from warships (not carriers) as a stop gap effort to protect convoys, so the idea had been used before. With these aircarft, there was no means of recovering them after each sortie so the pilot bailed out and the aircraft crashed into the sea. It was considered that the cost of Hirrican was far less painfull than the loss of a cargo ship or warship.
The Vampire experiments were a continuation of the idea after the war. However, the main impracticality of the rubber deck was not the launching of the aircraft but the time it took to manhandle it out of the way after each landing. In the event, jet engine technology was improving so rapidly that the fuel useage and power issues resolved themselves without the need for such drastic measures.
The original idea behind the Supermarine Scimitar was that it would be designed for undercrriageless, rubber deck operations. In the end, it was built as a conventional aircraft.
Carriers? Fly Navy?
Reminds me of this always. Pete, Dud and a Piano. On Ark Royal. Or off it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5cD_oTV2wI
Reminds me of this always. Pete, Dud and a Piano. On Ark Royal. Or off it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5cD_oTV2wI
ninja-lewis said:
I mean, how would they launch the aircraft in the first place without undercarriage?
The crew get underneath the rubber deck and pull it down as far as they can, then let go...Incredible Sulk said:
Reminds me of this always. Pete, Dud and a Piano. On Ark Royal. Or off it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5cD_oTV2wI
Yep, a classic!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5cD_oTV2wI
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