How low can you go
Paxing All Over The World
John_T, glad you liked it 
My only complaint was that dad had not told me about it in advance - if he had, I would have been in Devon faster than the Harriers!!!!
I cannot recall the height but Mothercombe is on a steep sided hill, the land slopes down to the sea very rapidly. So, as they shot over the the houses (dropping their munitions!) they would have had to be pulling back very strongly. Come to think of it, the attack run would have had to have been started from a position below the street (close to sea level) and then be climbing steadily throughout. 'Appropriate' height might have been mentioned at the briefing but not considered thereafter!
Again, if I recall correctly (this was about five or six years ago) two of the a/c were attacking and the the third was the Taining Capt (He is a Grp Cpt now) to observe. So three of them at zero altitude must have been simply glourious.
My only complaint was that dad had not told me about it in advance - if he had, I would have been in Devon faster than the Harriers!!!!
I cannot recall the height but Mothercombe is on a steep sided hill, the land slopes down to the sea very rapidly. So, as they shot over the the houses (dropping their munitions!) they would have had to be pulling back very strongly. Come to think of it, the attack run would have had to have been started from a position below the street (close to sea level) and then be climbing steadily throughout. 'Appropriate' height might have been mentioned at the briefing but not considered thereafter!
Again, if I recall correctly (this was about five or six years ago) two of the a/c were attacking and the the third was the Taining Capt (He is a Grp Cpt now) to observe. So three of them at zero altitude must have been simply glourious.
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To paraphrase Roger Bacon, ahhhhhhhh NOISE
I was lucky enuff to be at RNAS Lossie in 1963 for "Navy Day" when SIX Scimitars went past at Warp7
Also at RAF Finningly in '67-'68 [can't remember] when we had the Full Monty "VULCAN Scramble"
The runway was IMC for about 10 mins Oh Happy days
we aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy
I was lucky enuff to be at RNAS Lossie in 1963 for "Navy Day" when SIX Scimitars went past at Warp7
Also at RAF Finningly in '67-'68 [can't remember] when we had the Full Monty "VULCAN Scramble"
The runway was IMC for about 10 mins
Oh Happy dayswe aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy
A least 2 memorable experiences....
1. Camping just in the saddle next to Mt Kosciuszko (Australia's highest hill") tending the little trangia stove, when I heard a shout from the person sitting next to me. Looking up, the sky was filled with a FA-18. The first noise came a split second later - he was moving....
2. Standing on a small hill on the Norwegian highlands. Looking at the wonderful autumnal colours, I spied two small dots, getting bigger as they moved towards us. they were Norwegian A.F. F16s, as as they hamered past, slightly below us, but only a few metres away, one of them waved.
1. Camping just in the saddle next to Mt Kosciuszko (Australia's highest hill") tending the little trangia stove, when I heard a shout from the person sitting next to me. Looking up, the sky was filled with a FA-18. The first noise came a split second later - he was moving....
2. Standing on a small hill on the Norwegian highlands. Looking at the wonderful autumnal colours, I spied two small dots, getting bigger as they moved towards us. they were Norwegian A.F. F16s, as as they hamered past, slightly below us, but only a few metres away, one of them waved.
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.. brings to mind a superb solo display from a few years back ...
Airshow in country Victoria (Australia) ... all very predictable but OK .... the finale was an RAAF ARDU Miracle which was first seen holding out at a modest distance .. making a little smoke ... as the assembled crowd ambled off to their various velocipedes ...... in he came .. and as the roar rolled across the field, the crowd ... in a wave which followed the sound .... turned to witness the following 10 minutes of delightful idiocy ....
Cloudbase was probably 800 feet at the time ..... the display included all the usual things one expects from a Mirage ... including loops into the cloud and bottoming out at, I guess, no more than 15-20 feet above the runway ..... multiple twinkle rolls ... including a few with three or four rolls which I have been told is a no-no due to roll-yaw coupling ..... during one of these (and they were all at a sufficiently low height to see the terrain above the aircraft's flightpath) he got caught and, for a moment, my heart was in my mouth .. but he recovered and got away with it ....... in the end ... they must have radioed to tell him to "go away" .. or words to that effect .... I am sure he was just going to keep enthralling the multitude there present until he got down to bingo fuel .....
Airshow in country Victoria (Australia) ... all very predictable but OK .... the finale was an RAAF ARDU Miracle which was first seen holding out at a modest distance .. making a little smoke ... as the assembled crowd ambled off to their various velocipedes ...... in he came .. and as the roar rolled across the field, the crowd ... in a wave which followed the sound .... turned to witness the following 10 minutes of delightful idiocy ....
Cloudbase was probably 800 feet at the time ..... the display included all the usual things one expects from a Mirage ... including loops into the cloud and bottoming out at, I guess, no more than 15-20 feet above the runway ..... multiple twinkle rolls ... including a few with three or four rolls which I have been told is a no-no due to roll-yaw coupling ..... during one of these (and they were all at a sufficiently low height to see the terrain above the aircraft's flightpath) he got caught and, for a moment, my heart was in my mouth .. but he recovered and got away with it ....... in the end ... they must have radioed to tell him to "go away" .. or words to that effect .... I am sure he was just going to keep enthralling the multitude there present until he got down to bingo fuel .....
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Closest I ever got was Stefan Karwowski (I think) in Spencer Flack's beautiful red single seat Hunter - it was at a Dunsfold Families Day, either 81 or 82 and we were at the extreme eastern end of the display line - he came curving in from the east and slightly behind us , in the turn to hit the display line and - just - clipped the crowd line - knife edge, pratically overhead, low and fast - wow! Not fast enough for the blue note (though else where on this forum someone said only certain marks achieved it), but awesome nonetheless - and a big buffet from the wake turbulence...
Also at Biggin '83 on the Friday just to the west of the 03 threshold on the main road watching the arrivals. Someone, probably John Watts or Mark Hanna arrived in the OFMC Pilatus P-2 and proceeded to beat up the airfield, coming towards me with the prop arc seemingly at head height - despite an 8 foot fence between me and the aircraft I felt the urge to duck. He cleared me by a good few feet though!
Incidently, I always used to pay one day at Biggin and watch the show from the road the next - a few times while standing there I saw people right under the approach get the lunch scared out of them by a Tornado or similar coming over the road at bus-top height under reheat...
And I saw a good pic of Ken Ellis spreadeagled at Bembridge as Ray Hanna's P-40 passed a dozen or so feet above his head!
Also at Biggin '83 on the Friday just to the west of the 03 threshold on the main road watching the arrivals. Someone, probably John Watts or Mark Hanna arrived in the OFMC Pilatus P-2 and proceeded to beat up the airfield, coming towards me with the prop arc seemingly at head height - despite an 8 foot fence between me and the aircraft I felt the urge to duck. He cleared me by a good few feet though!
Incidently, I always used to pay one day at Biggin and watch the show from the road the next - a few times while standing there I saw people right under the approach get the lunch scared out of them by a Tornado or similar coming over the road at bus-top height under reheat...
And I saw a good pic of Ken Ellis spreadeagled at Bembridge as Ray Hanna's P-40 passed a dozen or so feet above his head!
Those of you familiar with the Dovey Loop in Mid Wales will know the route from the Cross Foxes pub and down towards the sea over the Talyllyn Lake. It is a steep sided valley with a long road on the side.
A few years ago, I was sat on my Honda VF750 at a traffic light (roadworks) facing up the valley, when a Phantom F4 came at 90* through the top gap at about 20' and leveled out below the level of the road. I flashed my headlamp at him as he came towards me (v. fast) and as he flew past the Nav looked at me and a white goved hand gave me the V sign as they sped past about 40 feet away. WOW! Silly grin day or what?
A few years ago, I was sat on my Honda VF750 at a traffic light (roadworks) facing up the valley, when a Phantom F4 came at 90* through the top gap at about 20' and leveled out below the level of the road. I flashed my headlamp at him as he came towards me (v. fast) and as he flew past the Nav looked at me and a white goved hand gave me the V sign as they sped past about 40 feet away. WOW! Silly grin day or what?
Honington, late 70s. Visiting Vulcan crew are heartily peed off with being called 'V-force w***ers' by the Bucc mob for the previous 2 days, so decide to go home in style from the static display. Get airborne with full power, turn downwind at 150ft, climbing to 500ft. Then come back along the southern taxiway at 350KIAS and 50ft on the rad alt, then over the main parking area before flying between the tower and 12 Sqn's hangar. Then up into the climb with a wingover at 150 deg angle of bank onto course back to Scampton - and the biggest bollocking we.....err, I mean they ever got.
But it impressed the punters..... But not our....err, their Wg Cdr!!
But it impressed the punters..... But not our....err, their Wg Cdr!!
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Measles rock, Mount Alice.
B****r 20ft, 10ft would have stretched it on a couple of occasions. (Best, however, was FIGAS who did a touch and go on the helipad just to show who was best. Not bad for an Islander)
And the last 3 ship F4 flypast when the F3s took over and the F4s were scrapped on site. The cloud base was low over the hill and the F4s climbed the side, rolled and pulled through and all you could see was the faces looking down from the cockpits, waving, as with only their canopies visible below the cloud base, they pulled through and thundered down the far side of the hill.
Mind you, I would love a copy of THE low pass at Alice by a certain pilot, if someone has a copy after all these years?
B****r 20ft, 10ft would have stretched it on a couple of occasions. (Best, however, was FIGAS who did a touch and go on the helipad just to show who was best. Not bad for an Islander)
And the last 3 ship F4 flypast when the F3s took over and the F4s were scrapped on site. The cloud base was low over the hill and the F4s climbed the side, rolled and pulled through and all you could see was the faces looking down from the cockpits, waving, as with only their canopies visible below the cloud base, they pulled through and thundered down the far side of the hill.
Mind you, I would love a copy of THE low pass at Alice by a certain pilot, if someone has a copy after all these years?
Last edited by ORAC; 14th Aug 2002 at 12:34.
Yes - that is indeed an impressive video. Can't help thinking that not all of it was intended to be that low though. Particularly after he flies over the site and is still descending below the top of the mountain on the far side.....
(Sorry, don't have a copy. Saw it years ago on my EWO course when someone put it on the VCR!)
(Sorry, don't have a copy. Saw it years ago on my EWO course when someone put it on the VCR!)
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Yeah.....Vulcans.
BoB day, Biggin 74, I think. Approaching across the field towards the crowd (no woosy restrictions then), gear down, doors open. Clean up, nose up, noise up, straight up.
What a sight.
BoB day, Biggin 74, I think. Approaching across the field towards the crowd (no woosy restrictions then), gear down, doors open. Clean up, nose up, noise up, straight up.
What a sight.
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For sheer noise, having some ****** at Cottesmore hover directly over me can't be beaten. Him and 2 mates had been coming into land, and the last one hovered backwards for a bit to be directly overhead the group of photographers near the runway end, just outside the fence. Blew umbrellas and things all over the place and couldn't hear a damn thing for about 10 minutes. Not so much a low pass as a low squat-on-top-of-you really.
My father tells a story about a Skyhawk low pass he saw once when he was in the RN. Approached his ship at below deck height and pulled up going over the ship, flashing past just above the main gun and at about eye-level with the bridge windows. Thankfully the two bombs he pickled off took the same trajectory because he left it too late and just made BIG splashes in the sea a few hundred feet away. Unfortunately one his mates had better luck a few days later.
My father tells a story about a Skyhawk low pass he saw once when he was in the RN. Approached his ship at below deck height and pulled up going over the ship, flashing past just above the main gun and at about eye-level with the bridge windows. Thankfully the two bombs he pickled off took the same trajectory because he left it too late and just made BIG splashes in the sea a few hundred feet away. Unfortunately one his mates had better luck a few days later.
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Haddenham, Cambs North of Oakington and East of Wyton.
There used to a brickworks North of the village with a tall chimney,
saw a Vampire one evening come off the fen going N-E who had to bank right to miss the chimney.
Later had the chance to see the same sort of thing from the other side, arrived back with outboard fuel in the NF10 so my driver (Pat S.) decided to burn it off running down the Solent jumping yatch masts, called it 10 mins local, all the way to Poole and back to Thorney.
There used to a brickworks North of the village with a tall chimney,
saw a Vampire one evening come off the fen going N-E who had to bank right to miss the chimney.
Later had the chance to see the same sort of thing from the other side, arrived back with outboard fuel in the NF10 so my driver (Pat S.) decided to burn it off running down the Solent jumping yatch masts, called it 10 mins local, all the way to Poole and back to Thorney.
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I was at 'First Flight Memorial' in Kitty Hawk North Carolina, on a vacation one year. The monument is a stone obelisk on top of a fairly high sand dune.
My (now-ex) wife and I were just starting to leave the monument when I happened to notice two F-14s coming in low. They circled the monument and hill, about 50' above us, lit the burners, and roared back up north.
Still don't know why I looked up-there was absolutely no sound on the way in, but quite a roar as the tomcats departed.
It turns out that the monument is a common training run landmark for Navy planes out of Oceana NAS (near Norfolk Naval Base) so this wasn't a special treat just for me
My (now-ex) wife and I were just starting to leave the monument when I happened to notice two F-14s coming in low. They circled the monument and hill, about 50' above us, lit the burners, and roared back up north.
Still don't know why I looked up-there was absolutely no sound on the way in, but quite a roar as the tomcats departed.
It turns out that the monument is a common training run landmark for Navy planes out of Oceana NAS (near Norfolk Naval Base) so this wasn't a special treat just for me
Senis Semper Fidelis
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Watching Lighnings depart from Valley (EGOV) in the early 70s in the most violent vertical trajectory that could be imagened, was then, and still is my most endearing thought of power most awsome!
Iconoclast
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Noise is noise it just depends on how close it is when it happens.
If it is just noise your interested in how about these two experiences. Both occurred while I was a Tech Rep on the Atlas ICBM.
In one case I was walking alongside an Atlas as it rested in the coffin complex. The Air Force was exercising the control radar, which sent control signals to an antenna on the roof of the complex. They would send control signals, which in turn would cause the rocket engines to displace, as they would in powered flight. The generated signal was so strong that it overcame the grounding circuits causing two 1000 Pound Second rocket motors to ignite. I was three feet below these rockets when they went off and it was like two shotguns going off next to my ears.
In another instance I was checking out the hold down and release system which consisted of two large pneumatic rams that under pressure held the Atlas into the launcher. At a predetermined time the internal pressure would be vented and the missile would be released from the launcher.
In the test the rams which have 750 Cubic inches of displacement and are pressurized to 5500 PSI with Nitrogen gas. The launcher is inside of the coffin complex and I was about six feet from one cylinder and sixteen feet from the other cylinder. I had no hearing protection and when I pressed the release button the valves opened and the rams blew down to ambient in about 2/10th of a second. That noise was like standing next to the barrels of two 155mm cannons.
In one case I was walking alongside an Atlas as it rested in the coffin complex. The Air Force was exercising the control radar, which sent control signals to an antenna on the roof of the complex. They would send control signals, which in turn would cause the rocket engines to displace, as they would in powered flight. The generated signal was so strong that it overcame the grounding circuits causing two 1000 Pound Second rocket motors to ignite. I was three feet below these rockets when they went off and it was like two shotguns going off next to my ears.
In another instance I was checking out the hold down and release system which consisted of two large pneumatic rams that under pressure held the Atlas into the launcher. At a predetermined time the internal pressure would be vented and the missile would be released from the launcher.
In the test the rams which have 750 Cubic inches of displacement and are pressurized to 5500 PSI with Nitrogen gas. The launcher is inside of the coffin complex and I was about six feet from one cylinder and sixteen feet from the other cylinder. I had no hearing protection and when I pressed the release button the valves opened and the rams blew down to ambient in about 2/10th of a second. That noise was like standing next to the barrels of two 155mm cannons.
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Someone out there must have had this happen to them..
A couple of years back I was involved with testing parachuting stuff at China Lake, Ca.
Well one weekend I sense terminal boredom setting in so I take a drive out to Death Valley. Its pretty much an all day drive there and back and there is one particular stretch of road just North of a place called Truna (I think) that is particularly straight for about as far as the eye can see. So its getting dark and Im heading back and I suppose im not really as attentive as I should be.. I think I sensed rather than heard it first, when this b##tard in his F18 sneaks up from behind and practically takes my roof off then pulls up and half rolls away! I tell you I could FEEL the heat.
Initially I was p##sed off cos hed scared the s##ts out of me, then saw the funny side and grinned all the rest of the way back.
A couple of years back I was involved with testing parachuting stuff at China Lake, Ca.
Well one weekend I sense terminal boredom setting in so I take a drive out to Death Valley. Its pretty much an all day drive there and back and there is one particular stretch of road just North of a place called Truna (I think) that is particularly straight for about as far as the eye can see. So its getting dark and Im heading back and I suppose im not really as attentive as I should be.. I think I sensed rather than heard it first, when this b##tard in his F18 sneaks up from behind and practically takes my roof off then pulls up and half rolls away! I tell you I could FEEL the heat.
Initially I was p##sed off cos hed scared the s##ts out of me, then saw the funny side and grinned all the rest of the way back.
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Whilst I share the sentiments behind all the memories of the Vulcan, and recall a shattering spiral climb out of Leuchars some years ago, I reckon pride of place must go to the Lightning. Not many references to it here, sadly, but I can remember the sight and SOUND of (was it ?) 74 Sqn's aerobatic team departing Farnborough for their display. Now, that was an experience !
low flying
Orac and/or Beagle
Mt.Alice
What was it and when-just professional interest of course?
Wasn`t a Kiwi perchance?
Mt.Alice
What was it and when-just professional interest of course?
Wasn`t a Kiwi perchance?
