It would appear the Tristars are off to the States
I remember the first RAF one coming to Farnborough (still in BA markings) to get its IR signature analysed. They had great fun doing a series of low passes at high speed (about 200ft agl)
When they were flown into Abingdon 30+ years ago, I seem to remember someone telling me that a few French pilots ferried them in gear down all the way, without proper comms etc - they were cleared for the one flight only due to their slightly precarious condition, having been laid up for so long. Any truth in that?
You may be thinking on the ex-BA VC10s, which were flown to Filton from Abingdon for conversion to K4 in that state.
The Tanker Conversions
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Onceapilot The relevance of my military experience escapes me when applied to Tristar APUs. I maintained Tristars from 1981 and ended up operating some of the last in service. I am not a Tristar knocker - as I stated,aircrew loved them ,a comfortable aircraft to fly in but maintenance wise it was a very difficult aircraft to keep serviceable. When I was assigning manpower for routine checks I always required more manpower for a Tristar than a 747. As an example,the early aircraft cargo doors were so much of a problem later aircraft were fitted with what was known as Boeing doors as they were the same as 747. If experience is relevant - how much maintenance experience as opposed to flying them do you have?
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What would an apparently 21 year old wannabe FJ pilot assume "high speed" is in multi-engine language?
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THS,
No clue, although I'd assume somewhere between 60-100 knots at a guess. I don't know a great deal about the large aircraft that the RAF call 'multi-engine'*, hence why I asked a person with experience.
*I don't know a great deal about fast jets either, however I'm not even close to being an expert on anything aviation, never have been, and since there is apparently so much to learn, mostly from aircraft that even if I made it, I would never get to fly, I never will be.
I am, however, not sure why you (and several others) doubt my age. I have nothing to prove to anybody and certainly nothing to gain from lying about my age, or anything else for that matter. Although if you believe that I am the forum member Ronald Reagan, as another member suggested, then I am sure PPRuNe Pop would obliterate that myth in a matter of seconds by confirming that our IP's are different.
No clue, although I'd assume somewhere between 60-100 knots at a guess. I don't know a great deal about the large aircraft that the RAF call 'multi-engine'*, hence why I asked a person with experience.
*I don't know a great deal about fast jets either, however I'm not even close to being an expert on anything aviation, never have been, and since there is apparently so much to learn, mostly from aircraft that even if I made it, I would never get to fly, I never will be.
I am, however, not sure why you (and several others) doubt my age. I have nothing to prove to anybody and certainly nothing to gain from lying about my age, or anything else for that matter. Although if you believe that I am the forum member Ronald Reagan, as another member suggested, then I am sure PPRuNe Pop would obliterate that myth in a matter of seconds by confirming that our IP's are different.
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Disagreeing isn't trolling, oap. His technical comments -and your "best 500,000lb ac " -come to that, don't hinge on RAF service. What experience do you have of any other 500,000lb aircraft?
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Onceapilot - getting a little touchy? You obviously have never been involved in maintaining Tristars - I have and I think I am a little more qualified to comment on their problems than you. I have held maintenance engineers licences - starting with the ARB,Then CAA,FAA A&P finally Easa, from 1965 until 2010 when I retired.There is a world of difference between flying an aircraft and maintaining it.I would not be so arrogant as to comment on a large aircrafts flying characteristics as I only ever had a PPL.
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The fastest and lowest TriStar flypast I was involved in (not me flying, I was calling out the radio height from the RHS) was 320KT and 80' radio. Not massively fast by fast jet standards but I always imagined it was impressive from the ground, that airplane displaced a lot of air.
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Apparently, OAP believes that as soon as the Tristars transferred from BA to RAF all the systems magically became something different than they were in civvy service, the APU transformed into a completely different design, and so on.
In reality, other than comma and other military-only systems, I doubt anything was upgraded - much less replaced with different units - thus bcgallacher's extensive experience of civvy Tristars & B747s is about 95% relevant to the Tristars operated by the RAF.
But of course, in the blinkered and self-superior world of certain posters here, that experience is meaningless as it wasn't gained while under a service oath.
In reality, other than comma and other military-only systems, I doubt anything was upgraded - much less replaced with different units - thus bcgallacher's extensive experience of civvy Tristars & B747s is about 95% relevant to the Tristars operated by the RAF.
But of course, in the blinkered and self-superior world of certain posters here, that experience is meaningless as it wasn't gained while under a service oath.
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Davef68,
Thanks, that could be it - it could have been the 10s, but my time holding at Abingdon pre-dated the shuttle trips to Filton. The incident of the crew's food poisoning and multiple flame outs from Bombay was almost funny to read, I imagine this unsettled a few passengers..
Thanks, that could be it - it could have been the 10s, but my time holding at Abingdon pre-dated the shuttle trips to Filton. The incident of the crew's food poisoning and multiple flame outs from Bombay was almost funny to read, I imagine this unsettled a few passengers..
Prompted by a shout from the captain, purser Harry Everitt rushed to the toilet and hammered on the door for the FE to return to the flight deck.
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Having flown RAF Tristars I can say the aircraft was a pleasure to operate as a Pilot or Flight Engineer, Some systems were a little harder to maintain but that was the price you paid for an all electric aircraft that was (in the 1980s) pushing the edge of the technological envelope, it was far more advanced that a 747 and at times, you paid for that edge.
In the 10 years I operated the Tristar I never had an APU problem (not saying that didn't happen to other guys), that may well have been due to the excellent Engineers we had at 216, I know those guys worked their ar**s off to keep our aircraft serviceable.
Like any aircraft there were pros and cons to its operation but the Tristar will always have a special place in my heart and if some dude wants a Pilot or a Flight Eng to fly the ones out in the States I have a list of guys available....
In the 10 years I operated the Tristar I never had an APU problem (not saying that didn't happen to other guys), that may well have been due to the excellent Engineers we had at 216, I know those guys worked their ar**s off to keep our aircraft serviceable.
Like any aircraft there were pros and cons to its operation but the Tristar will always have a special place in my heart and if some dude wants a Pilot or a Flight Eng to fly the ones out in the States I have a list of guys available....
I recall flying to the Falklands in 1984/5 in a Tristar with PanAm logos on the seat belts. The in flight entertainment system was still installed, but there was some issue about funding to process the headsets.
There may be a perspective issue here.
Anyone who flew the TriStar for two decades with the RAF did so, for most of that time, in a service whose other large aircraft had their design roots in the 1950s (VC10 and C-130) or 1940s (Nimrod and Belslow). 1968-launch technology looked pretty good by comparison, I'm sure.
Conversely, if you worked on TriStars in the civvy world at the same time, your benchmarks were increasingly set by post-ETOPS twins with better reliability and onboard diagnostics, and the 747-400, which incorporated a metric eff-ton of lessons from earlier versions. In which case the TriStar could seem a little dated.
Anyone who flew the TriStar for two decades with the RAF did so, for most of that time, in a service whose other large aircraft had their design roots in the 1950s (VC10 and C-130) or 1940s (Nimrod and Belslow). 1968-launch technology looked pretty good by comparison, I'm sure.
Conversely, if you worked on TriStars in the civvy world at the same time, your benchmarks were increasingly set by post-ETOPS twins with better reliability and onboard diagnostics, and the 747-400, which incorporated a metric eff-ton of lessons from earlier versions. In which case the TriStar could seem a little dated.
