Post amazingly cool pictures of aircraft (Volume 2)

[Tango13]

NM62 said:

D4VE 3LL said:

B1 taking off at Fairford recently

DSC_6487web by David Ellins, on Flickr

- Love the framing of the second one too!

These won't ever fly again...

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

Ayahuasca said:

and that is what happens when you ps off GinettaG15

I know the co-pilot of the a/c in that photo'. He later became a C-130 Captain and later still a QFI.

[anonymous-user]

Typhoons at Hurn yesterday.

[Steve_W]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

Ayahuasca said:

and that is what happens when you ps off GinettaG15

I know the co-pilot of the a/c in that photo'. He later became a C-130 Captain and later still a QFI.

Pardon my ignorance of C130s, but what are the pods on the wingtips? I don't recall seeing them often (or am blind)

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

The wingtip pods are the ORANGE CROP ESM (Electronic Support Measures). They were fitted to the Tanker aircraft in support of the Maritime Radar Reconnaisance sorties flown by 1312 Flt in the Falklands. They were also referred to as 'MAROC' pods (Marshall's Orange Crop) since Marshall's of Cambridge did the conversion. Basically they allowed us to 'listen to', locate, and classify RF transmissions in the C - J bands.

They were also fitted to the SF airframes used on the Sarajevo Airlift but later replaced, initially with the AN/ALR-66(VC) RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) system, and later still with the SKY GUARDIAN system.

The reason you don't recall seeing them is probably down to the fact that they were only ever fitted to 8 airframes and 2 were permanently based 'Down South':

Tankers: XV192, XV201, XV203, XV204, XV213, XV296

SF Aircraft: XV200, XV206

Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Saturday 1st July 13:20

[MartG]

Not an aircraft, but an engine - can anyone guess what it is ?

[FourWheelDrift]

It's the abandoned nuclear aircraft project of the USA using a heat transfer reactor to power two jet engines. I saw this on "planes that never flew" below

https://youtu.be/KRuXPQtbQtU?t=1169

[MartG]

FourWheelDrift said:

It's the abandoned nuclear aircraft project of the USA using a heat transfer reactor to power two jet engines. I saw this on "planes that never flew" below

https://youtu.be/KRuXPQtbQtU?t=1169

Yup - nuclear jet engine

[MartG]

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

20 Sqn jet in front of what looks like a 'B' (or possibly an 'A') Class '30s Expansion Period Officers' Mess.

Do you know where the photo' was taken? There weren't that many A and B Class Messes built.

[Stickyfinger]

It did not land there.....leaves on the grass

[Markbarry1977]

MartG said:

FourWheelDrift said:

It's the abandoned nuclear aircraft project of the USA using a heat transfer reactor to power two jet engines. I saw this on "planes that never flew" below

https://youtu.be/KRuXPQtbQtU?t=1169

Yup - nuclear jet engine

I believe the Russians actually got something similar to fly. Yes they did take out a lot of the nuclear shielding to make the aircraft light enough. And the problems if one crashed is unthinkable. Not to mention the life expectancy of a crew sat next to a reactor with no shielding made it pointless. That and the bogs and food still run out.

Another pointless idea was the laser mounted in a 747 to shout icbm down. Pointless, I went to a lecture at cranwell and it was discussed.

First you need to get a 747 within the 20 mile range of the laser within the 20 odd seconds you have from launch to it being practically in space.

Secondly the weather has to be near perfect as clouds are full of water and dramatically effect the range and accuracy.

Thirdly you have to hope they have no SAM sites or interceptor aircraft in the vicinity to shoot you down (yeah like that's ever going to happen).

Don't worry though, they had about a 10% success rate against test missiles fired along a trajectory they knew about before hand at a time they already knew about without having to perform any evasive manovers to protect themselves.

What a waste of money. Bit like nuclear aircraft.

Edited by Markbarry1977 on Tuesday 4th July 23:05

[Ayahuasca]

Stickyfinger said:

It did not land there.....leaves on the grass

Leaves? If it had landed there there would be great big holes in the ground and an engine full of dirt.

[Ayahuasca]

Easy one: what is unusual about this Lancaster?

[Fabric]

Markbarry1977 said:

I believe the Russians actually got something similar to fly. Yes they did take out a lot of the nuclear shielding to make the aircraft light enough. And the problems if one crashed is unthinkable. Not to mention the life expectancy of a crew sat next to a reactor with no shielding made it pointless. That and the bogs and food still run out.

I don't think any aircraft has ever flown under nuclear power, despite US and Russia making a few flights with working reactors on board - which were iirc, mainly as crew and instrument shielding tests.

Crew life expectancy was also a big issue, so they built a (working) nuclear ramjet to stick on a drone instead.



Have a look at Project Pluto, if you haven't already - it's a terrifying concept, but interesting reading.

[Eric Mc]

It's a Mk II with a two pairs of Bristols.

[Ayahuasca]

Eric Mc said:

It's a Mk II with a two pairs of Bristols.

Smut, Eric? Well I never.

I should have barred you from competing, too easy.




Yes, not powered by Merlins. Apparently they performed badly. A rare case of the second mark not being as good as the first mark.

[Ayahuasca]

[tuffer]

Ayahuasca said:

Easy one: what is unusual about this Lancaster?

It still has the Tyre warmers on.

[hidetheelephants]

Presumably at that stage of the war there was slack in the Brizzle Hercules production schedule and none in the Merlin's.