Post amazingly cool pictures of aircraft (Volume 2)

[Eric Mc]

Not far off. A lot of the basic design was borrowed from both the Sunderland and Stirling.

[mko9]

Eric Mc said:

mko9 said:

There is a good amount of wing flex in a B-52, they are very long wings. When they are taxiing around, fully loaded with fuel, the wingtip gear is rolling on the ground. At takeoff speeds, the wheels of the wingtip gear are a good 6-8ft off the ground. FWIW, that is also an older (relative) model of B-52, probably a B-52D.

Even older, a B-52B. NASA operated two of these very early models - 52-003 and 52-008. They were used extensively as drop aircraft, starting with the X-15 programme and then later on used for dropping lifting bodies and other air launched systems. Both are preserved.

I thought I remembered the Air Force transferring over a B-52H or two around the turn of the century, which they did - https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/pastpr... But like I said, I thought they were replacing D models, not B models.

[Eric Mc]

NASA did use at least one later B-52 model to replace the old B models - but it was never actually used as a drop ship as the need for such an aircraft faded as the 1990s progressed.


In the end, the limited "drop" programmes (such as the Pegasus launch vehicle) were transferred to a Lockheed L1011 Tristar operated by Orbital - ATK.

[Matt Harper]

Some digging through old pics unearthed this. I think it was taken during the late 60's during my first flying experience. I recall it was a Vickers Viscount - is that right? Look at the size of the windows! Why can't aircraft manufacturers do that any more?

[Eric Mc]

Safety.

Viscounts didn't fly as high as modern airliners therefore the pressurisation differentials were less. Having said that, the Boeing 787 has larger windows than previous jet airliners.

[Caruso]

They we still flying Viscounts commercially in the 1990s. I used to fly Aberdeen to Shetland in one regularly.

[Eric Mc]

Indeed there were. By 2000 they had all retired except perhaps one or two in Africa. The sound of four Rolls Royce Darts whining away is still very evocative to me.

G-APIM is preserved at Brooklands if you want to get on board one -

[magpie215]

mko9 said:

There is a good amount of wing flex in a B-52, they are very long wings. When they are taxiing around, fully loaded with fuel, the wingtip gear is rolling on the ground. At takeoff speeds, the wheels of the wingtip gear are a good 6-8ft off the ground. FWIW, that is also an older (relative) model of B-52, probably a B-52D.

For fatigue cracking inspection we used to jack up the wingtip to simulate air loading its a fair amount were talking feet rather than a few inches.

[magpie215]

Eric Mc said:

The sound of four Rolls Royce Darts whining away.

That sound just meant I was about to get my hands dirty lol.

[Flying Phil]

I remember flying in Viscounts in the late 70's from Heathrow up to Leeds/Bradford......after a much quieter, quicker flight from Cairo to Heathrow in a VC10. A nice pair of Vickers!

[Eric Mc]

Flying Phil said:

I remember flying in Viscounts in the late 70's from Heathrow up to Leeds/Bradford......after a much quieter, quicker flight from Cairo to Heathrow in a VC10. A nice pair of Vickers!

And if you had flown in a Super Freighter and a Britannia, you could have flown in a nice pair of Bristols.

[james_tigerwoods]

Eric Mc said:

pair of Bristols.

[AlexC1981]

Matt Harper said:

Some digging through old pics unearthed this. I think it was taken during the late 60's during my first flying experience. I recall it was a Vickers Viscount - is that right? Look at the size of the windows! Why can't aircraft manufacturers do that any more?

Decent amount of leg room too.

[tog]

mko9 said:

There is a good amount of wing flex in a B-52, they are very long wings. When they are taxiing around, fully loaded with fuel, the wingtip gear is rolling on the ground. At takeoff speeds, the wheels of the wingtip gear are a good 6-8ft off the ground.

Fairly heavily laden en route to Iraq in 2003. This one was at least the third to launch, hence the haze!

Edit to add:

Here is one of the aircraft on that mission the evening before:



Quite a difference in the wing loading!

I've got quite a few more of the B-52s at Fairford that week. Having dug them out for this I'll post more if anyone is interested.

Edited by tog on Tuesday 6th November 23:36

[MartG]

( Yes, I know it's an AWACS not a maritime patrol plane )

[irocfan]

MartG said:

( Yes, I know it's an AWACS not a maritime patrol plane )

[MartG]

Six B-58 Hustler's during a Mininum Take Off Interval (MITO) exercise. Little Rock AFB 1968.



Transonic Bucc at low level

[Rider007]

MartG said:

( Yes, I know it's an AWACS not a maritime patrol plane )

Didn't know that NATO operated E3's .

[MartG]

[MartG]

YB-49 and XB-35