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View Full Version : Waddington cheap skates got their comeuppance!!


N707ZS
6th Jul 2014, 08:42
This bunch of free loaders got more than they bargained for.

Typhoon fighter jet flies so low at air display it forces onlookers to duck and run for cover | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2361593/Typhoon-fighter-jet-flies-low-air-display-forces-onlookers-duck-run-cover.html)

TOWTEAMBASE
6th Jul 2014, 08:51
Wasn't that last year ???

N707ZS
6th Jul 2014, 09:18
Sorry it was in deed, still funny, I thought.

Simplythebeast
6th Jul 2014, 09:40
The Turkish F16 provided an equally low approach yesterday to keep the cheapos happy......
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WGNoupIF5SU&feature=youtu.be

DaveReidUK
6th Jul 2014, 10:57
Great caption on YouTube. Aircraft really ought to stop making those low landings. :ugh:

TOWTEAMBASE
6th Jul 2014, 11:05
Would have been in trouble had an truck been passing at the time

7of9
6th Jul 2014, 12:52
TOWTEAMBASE

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1601
Posts: 437
Waddington cheap skates got their comeuppance!!
Would have been in trouble had an truck been passing at the time

Don't think so! Red lights come on to stop traffic at least 3 minutes before anything lands.

Signs either side of runway on A15 warning why.

Old Photo.Fanatic
6th Jul 2014, 17:23
N707ZS and Simplythebeast

I really must put the record straight.

At Waddington, especialy for the Friday arrivals, which is when your making your observations about.

A very large majority of persons outside of the airfield are there HAVING PAID to go into the Park and View area.
Then as photographers, they, like myself, look for the best situation regarding the direction of light for best results.

So having PAID to park , everyone then walks back along the fence line until south of the runway awaiting the "arrivals".
When the light swings around , about mid-afternoon everyone gravitates back to the north of the runway, eventually ending up in the park and view
for any late afternoon arivals. HAVING PAID TO BE THERE.

So please do some research before you tar genuine PAYING photographers with the slur that they are "cheapskates" and free loaders, THEY ARE NOT!!!!!!. I am certainly not either, for 40+years of semi pro. aviation photography I have always paid my way.

Rant over.

OPF

ranger703
6th Jul 2014, 19:34
Old Photo Fanatic. The video of the Turkish display is from Saturday 5th July, so an airshow day, not an arrivals day. The people in the undershoot are not in the park and view area, they are in an area that is signposted as an unsafe area for pedestrians when aircraft are landing, hence the traffic lights to stop traffic. Your argument has no credence, these people are putting themselves in danger and the ones with ladders up against the fence line on the centreline,even more.

The people in the video from yesterday are freeloaders and I am surprised that the airshow authorities continued to allow landings whilst they were there!

Old Photo.Fanatic
6th Jul 2014, 20:04
In the name of fairness, I have to agree with you about the "Goofers" who place themselves within the "Safety" zone under the lights.

I should have differentiated between the two groups, but still maintain that serious photographers ,are not cheapskates, and act responsibly away from the middle section of the approach/lights. Again I make the point they will have paid to park in the designated Park and View area.

Hope this brings a little balance to the thread.
OPF

SpringHeeledJack
6th Jul 2014, 20:21
I'm always reminded of that tragic incident where a C-130 with it's rear door open, did a very low pass of a vehicle with a squaddie on top…..The F16 in the video was close to clipping heads with it's wheels and whilst exhilarating for the people underneath a metre or two less and it would've been a pretty sizeable loss of life.



SHJ

DaveReidUK
7th Jul 2014, 08:40
The F16 in the video was close to clipping heads with it's wheels and whilst exhilarating for the people underneath a metre or two less and it would've been a pretty sizeable loss of life.Agreed. But so what?

We all take risks in everyday life and, consciously or unconsciously, we weigh up the possible consequences against the probability that they will actually happen.

Personally I'd say that counting on a NATO fast jet pilot's ability to land without hitting the boundary fence was a pretty safe bet ...

thing
7th Jul 2014, 18:25
Personally I'd say that counting on a NATO fast jet pilot's ability to land without hitting the boundary fence was a pretty safe bet ... I wouldn't take up gambling then if I were you...

I fly from somewhere that is probably very close to Waddington and am continually amazed by the spectators who stand underneath the approach waiting for their Darwin award. There have been instances of jets flying through the boundary hedge. Of course when the first of those spectators are killed as will inevitably happen there will be uproar; which will be akin to complaining that you were hit by a car while standing in the fast lane of the M1 taking photographs. There is no fathoming some people. If you are willing to take that risk then fair enough, but why not spare a thought for the poor sod that knocks your head off and has to live the rest of his life with that.

I will say it only once, anyone standing under the approach is risking their life; it is not a game, none of the pilots can see you (nor are they looking for you), all they are concentrating on is the most critical phase of any flight, the landing; and sometimes even the best pilots get it a bit pearshaped. That's the reason why you are not supposed to be there, it's for your safety.

Don't think so! Red lights come on to stop traffic at least 3 minutes before anything lands.And you will find that locally based trucks etc who are up and down the A15 all day go sailing straight through on red. I see it happen regularly. We were talking about this today and one of our guys who is ex Vulcan actually blew a van over on the A15 while performing his pre take off engine checks on 20 (or 21 as it was in those days).

Edit: Always glad to see people like OPF in the viewing areas. Plenty of people there up till early afternoon today.

ZOOKER
7th Jul 2014, 19:00
Interesting comments thing.

"I fly from somewhere that is probably very close to Waddington" Hmm, you fly and you don't know the exact location of your home airfield?

"Standing in the fast lane of the M1" There is no such thing as a 'fast lane' on a U.K. motorway.

May I suggest you climb back inside your big yellow teapot and spend a few days studying aeronautical charts of the Lincolnshire area and a thorough re-read of the Highway Code, with special emphasis on the section entitled 'Motorways'.

When these objectives have been achieved, your next task is to contact the operators of the aerodrome known as EGCC. In the undershoot of their runway 23R not only is there an electrified railway line, there will soon be the A555 South Manchester Relief Road dual-carriageway, and brand-spanking new 'Metrolink' tram line. And if that isn't enough, the open fields in front of these obstacles are being tarmac-ed over for a 5000 space car park, which will probably contain about 250,000 litres of mixed petrol/diesel.

Safe flying/driving….Keep a sharp-lookout. :ok:

thing
7th Jul 2014, 19:04
OK you win. I'll let them get on with it.

DaveReidUK
7th Jul 2014, 19:15
I wouldn't take up gambling then if I were you...OK, pray enlighten me.

Roughly how many fast jet sorties are there, say in a year, across all the NATO nations?

And how many instances of boundary fences/hedges being demolished, or landing in the undershoot, are there in a typical year?

Feel free to use scientific notation in calculating the resulting probablility of this happening for a given landing, to save you having to type all those zeroes after the decimal point.

Then, next time you are landing at your field that's "probably" (that word, again) close to Waddington, nip up the road and explain to the spectators there how one of them is "inevitably" going to get killed.

Let us know how you get on.

thing
7th Jul 2014, 19:20
As I said, I have been enlightened as to the crassness of my post, feel free to continue viewing as you see fit, not that I ever had a say in it anyway of course. I can only apologise for any offence I may have caused.

Musket90
7th Jul 2014, 20:13
Zooker - Good reasons why Manchester's 23R landing threshold is displaced as is Gatwick's 26L which also has railway line, car park etc in undershoot.

ZOOKER
7th Jul 2014, 21:35
Musket90,
Well observed. That threshold has been displaced since the late 1970s, due, (as far as I'm aware), to the proximity of the houses on Ringway Road. I remember a large headline on the front page of the Manchester Evening News many years ago which had a photograph of displaced/missing roof tiles and an overflying jet. Above the picture were the words "AIR VORTEX TERROR".
On 05L, the similarly long-standing threshold displacement was introduced to move the touchdown point away from the roof of the Altrincham-Wilmsow road tunnel.

Mach Jump
7th Jul 2014, 22:02
"I fly from somewhere that is probably very close to Waddington" Hmm, you fly and you don't know the exact location of your home airfield?

"Standing in the fast lane of the M1" There is no such thing as a 'fast lane' on a U.K. motorway.

This is just the kind of thing that drags PPrune down.:sad:

If you are willing to take that risk then fair enough, but why not spare a thought for the poor sod that knocks your head off and has to live the rest of his life with that.

I will say it only once, anyone standing under the approach is risking their life; it is not a game, none of the pilots can see you (nor are they looking for you), all they are concentrating on is the most critical phase of any flight, the landing; and sometimes even the best pilots get it a bit pearshaped. That's the reason why you are not supposed to be there, it's for your safety.

The main thrust of Thing's comment is still perfectly valid, whatever you may think of his geographical orientation or his knowlege of the Highway Code.


MJ:ok:

treadigraph
8th Jul 2014, 11:59
Not an airshow but, as I recall, Spencer Flack's Sea Fury was destroyed ploughing up spuds just short of the road when he tried for an emergency landing on 20/21 at Waddington - the engine had misbehaved en route from somewhere to somewhere.

Having watched a Ju52 mainwheel pass me by at head height and little more than a wingspan away while standing by the airfield fence on the common at Blackbushe many years ago, I would never stand under an approach close to threshold.

bentbanana
9th Jul 2014, 15:52
Also not at an airshow but in the dim and distant past Northolt AB used to be bung full of spotters in an enclosure near to threshold 25 - one wag decided to sit on the hedge :eek: as a C130 was landing - ended up getting blown off the hedge by the slipstream........:=

Airclues
9th Jul 2014, 19:51
Apparently the 2015 show has been cancelled;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=auZ62rS2eyQ

grounded27
10th Jul 2014, 22:41
Seems to me the Typhoon pilot either wanted to give those people a show or a lesson. Had to be Maverick flying, not like he had to catch a wire.

AndoniP
16th Jul 2014, 06:42
Bit harsh on thing there to be honest. He's just mentioned the risks and that the precautions are there for everyone's safety. No need for the smart arse responses imo

WH904
16th Jul 2014, 08:47
Some nonsense being thrown about here. The Typhoon pilot didn't "teach a lesson" - that would be to completely misunderstand the nature of flying. He was simply landing his aeroplane. Sometimes the approach is higher, sometimes lower, either way it is completely routine and safe.

Out of the many, many thousands of landings made at Waddington, I seem to recall that only a couple could be described as dangerous, so that's not a bad record. A Starfighter did clip the fence once, but even that didn't result in any casualties.

In reality, the chances of being hit by an aircraft landing at Waddington are virtually zero, therefore one can claim that there is no risk. Obviously it's not impossible but nothing is. Rather like the Typhoon and F-16 landing, they look rather more spectacular than they really are. The real issue is when stupid people stand on ladders directly on the approach line and are therefore unable to make a hasty retreat. Likewise, one could argue that some people aren't clued-up enough to judge if a landing is about to end in disaster (and move away quickly), so maybe they should stand in a place where there is absolutely no risk - even a small one.

As for freeloading, that isn't the reason why most (not all) people stand on the A15. The main motive is to obtain good photographs. The display line and position of the sun means that the only really good images of the aircraft have to be taken from the road, where one can get closer to the aircraft. I've done it many times myself. I wouldn't pay to stand half a mile away from an aircraft when I can get up close outside the airfield for free. That would be crazy.

Incidentally, I seem to recall that the F-16 landing was on the Wednesday when it arrived (after flying a validation/practice display). And yes, people were on the road but P&V wasn't open on the Wednesday. As one poster has said, many people do pay to park in the P&V and then walk outside to stand on the road - to get the best photos.