How low can you go
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F-18 over my head at 20'....
I have to share with you an amazing experience.
Can you fathom an F-18 on a low (20' AGL) high speed (680 kts) pass directly over you? Experienced it today at the Seafair Blue Angels display.
What a rush. Felt the heat from the engine followed by massive sort of shock wave. Thereafter smell of JP4.
Anyone with similar experience?
Can you fathom an F-18 on a low (20' AGL) high speed (680 kts) pass directly over you? Experienced it today at the Seafair Blue Angels display.
What a rush. Felt the heat from the engine followed by massive sort of shock wave. Thereafter smell of JP4.
Anyone with similar experience?
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Had a Tiger Moth circling over my house at about 1000 ft yesterday... is that close enough?? :-)
Seriously, I think the most mind-blowing "similar" experience I've had was watching/ hearing the two B1 bombers depart from Fairford last week. The noise was out of this world - the HACAN people would have loved it!
Seriously, I think the most mind-blowing "similar" experience I've had was watching/ hearing the two B1 bombers depart from Fairford last week. The noise was out of this world - the HACAN people would have loved it!
Moderator
Indeed .... from time to time I get away sailing on the Myall Lakes, north of RAAF Williamtown in Australia .... in the middle of their training area ...
I have no idea of the rules, but I presume that OCU students have a respectable limit with FCIs having more latitude .....
Oftentimes, after exercises doing whatever it is that training fighter pilots do, there is the semi-obligatory matter of targets of opportunity runs on any boats on the upper lake system ....
The best was some years ago ... I was sailing downwind with my feet up while the kids did all the work .. as fathers ought to be able to do from time to time ...... I saw the F18 come around the end of the particular section of the river we were on and approach the yacht astern in a quiet glide of sorts ..... he went past ... fast ... below mast height ...... got the attention of four wide-eyed kids like you wouldn't believe ..... when the taps were opened up ..... the vertical climb was more than impressive ....
Common experience on the lakes ......
I have no idea of the rules, but I presume that OCU students have a respectable limit with FCIs having more latitude .....
Oftentimes, after exercises doing whatever it is that training fighter pilots do, there is the semi-obligatory matter of targets of opportunity runs on any boats on the upper lake system ....
The best was some years ago ... I was sailing downwind with my feet up while the kids did all the work .. as fathers ought to be able to do from time to time ...... I saw the F18 come around the end of the particular section of the river we were on and approach the yacht astern in a quiet glide of sorts ..... he went past ... fast ... below mast height ...... got the attention of four wide-eyed kids like you wouldn't believe ..... when the taps were opened up ..... the vertical climb was more than impressive ....
Common experience on the lakes ......
Last edited by john_tullamarine; 4th Aug 2002 at 11:57.
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In the early 70's when Ray Hanna was leading the Reds in the Gnats. I went up to the club the day after BoB day at Biggin Hill. The Reds were still there. I had my then 5 year old daughter with me and my wife. It was apparent that the Reds were getting ready to go.
So, waiting at the Main Road end, they flew off and then came back in a 'broken' 9 at anything from 'God knows what' up to about 30' and all hell broke loose. My little girl ran in every direction there was and my wife stood in absolute shock. I ducked! But what magic. Never seen anything like it since.
So, waiting at the Main Road end, they flew off and then came back in a 'broken' 9 at anything from 'God knows what' up to about 30' and all hell broke loose. My little girl ran in every direction there was and my wife stood in absolute shock. I ducked! But what magic. Never seen anything like it since.
A long time ago, eight RNZAF Skyhawks were staging back to Ohakea through RAAF Williamtown. I was a lone Navy Skyhawk pilot on detachment to Willy.
After a raucous Saturday night in the mess, the Kiwis departed in two divisions of 4 early on Sunday morning. As the Kiwis are known for some spirited flying, I wandered off to the departure end of the runway to watch.
No 4 in each division was a TA4 carrying an extra D tank to make up for the small internal fuel cell. Everybody was probably close to MTOW as these guys had a long way to go. The aircraft rolled with ten seconds separation.
The last guy off suffered masses of hot air, and had to turn as he got airborne to cut the corner. He cleared the barrier by about ten feet, already rolling into a turn.
Exhilarating to watch, but must have been sweatbomb material for the last guy.
After a raucous Saturday night in the mess, the Kiwis departed in two divisions of 4 early on Sunday morning. As the Kiwis are known for some spirited flying, I wandered off to the departure end of the runway to watch.
No 4 in each division was a TA4 carrying an extra D tank to make up for the small internal fuel cell. Everybody was probably close to MTOW as these guys had a long way to go. The aircraft rolled with ten seconds separation.
The last guy off suffered masses of hot air, and had to turn as he got airborne to cut the corner. He cleared the barrier by about ten feet, already rolling into a turn.
Exhilarating to watch, but must have been sweatbomb material for the last guy.
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Can't remember exactly where or when, but it was on a beach a while ago, at an airshow -- probably Essex, given where I was living at the time it must have been. Late 80s or early 90s, certainly.
We'd seen a lot of nice hardware doing a lot of clever stuff. Then there was a loud noise out to sea, which became very loud indeed. Then there was a Vulcan. Then there was the loudest noise I ever heard in my life, as said device strolled overhead. Then there was a much louder noise, as it got bored with being so close to the deck, pointed upwards and went away.
Must have been one of the last outings for that frankly implausible machine. I do hope one of the various Vulcan restoration groups gets one up in the air again.
R
We'd seen a lot of nice hardware doing a lot of clever stuff. Then there was a loud noise out to sea, which became very loud indeed. Then there was a Vulcan. Then there was the loudest noise I ever heard in my life, as said device strolled overhead. Then there was a much louder noise, as it got bored with being so close to the deck, pointed upwards and went away.
Must have been one of the last outings for that frankly implausible machine. I do hope one of the various Vulcan restoration groups gets one up in the air again.
R
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Heathrow Director
Sorry Mate that Tiger Moth might have been me!, But if you were working at the time you saw it, I'm not admitting to anything!!!
Last edited by David Balchin; 6th Aug 2002 at 19:32.
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Not quite that dramatic, but was lucky enough to see an awesome display by a Harrier GR7 recently. This included ‘flying’ at about 10kts 100 yards or so off Southend seafront, then reversing, then going sideways. Ear splitting & jaw dropping.
(Unfortunately, it’s probably the same machine that’s just gone for a swim in the North Sea.
Thank God no-one hurt.)
(Unfortunately, it’s probably the same machine that’s just gone for a swim in the North Sea.
Thank God no-one hurt.)
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A10 Experience
John Tullamarine
I know what you mean about being "targetted"
I was on my way home one summers evening on a reasonably deserted stretch of road in Gloucestershire when 2 A10s based at the local MU in Kemble crossed over at about 150' one of which peeled off in a wide arc and commenced his "run" on my car at about 50' . I knew what he was up to so flashed my headlights at him ....he acknowledged with the the obligitory wing waggle.
Had I been quicker on the uptake I should have got my colleague in the front seat to take the rolled up projector case from the back seat and point it out the sunroof at the second guy that did the same thing!! I'd love a gauge his reaction as the innocent member of the public driving along points, what appears to be a blow pipe missile at him! although the effect of his 30mm cannon on my car would have been enough to spoil my day....
I know what you mean about being "targetted"
I was on my way home one summers evening on a reasonably deserted stretch of road in Gloucestershire when 2 A10s based at the local MU in Kemble crossed over at about 150' one of which peeled off in a wide arc and commenced his "run" on my car at about 50' . I knew what he was up to so flashed my headlights at him ....he acknowledged with the the obligitory wing waggle.
Had I been quicker on the uptake I should have got my colleague in the front seat to take the rolled up projector case from the back seat and point it out the sunroof at the second guy that did the same thing!! I'd love a gauge his reaction as the innocent member of the public driving along points, what appears to be a blow pipe missile at him! although the effect of his 30mm cannon on my car would have been enough to spoil my day....
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My two pennorth.
RAF Buchan, April 1963..Two Buccs flew UNDER the Type 80 radar
RAF Fynningly BoB 1967....Vulcan Scramble..IMC for 5 mins after
Manchester Airport.....
1. Red Arrows Formation TO
2. F16 display [before ] Barton
3. Post Barton diplay by F3 Lightning
4. RAF Patrington [a Radar unit] was" beaten up" by F6 Lightnings of the FCDU Binbrook on disbandment [mid '67 I think] They flew below rooftop level except we lived in single storey chalet type buildings
we aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy
RAF Buchan, April 1963..Two Buccs flew UNDER the Type 80 radar
RAF Fynningly BoB 1967....Vulcan Scramble..IMC for 5 mins after
Manchester Airport.....
1. Red Arrows Formation TO
2. F16 display [before ] Barton
3. Post Barton diplay by F3 Lightning
4. RAF Patrington [a Radar unit] was" beaten up" by F6 Lightnings of the FCDU Binbrook on disbandment [mid '67 I think] They flew below rooftop level
except we lived in single storey chalet type buildings we aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy
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..and the days of the "real" Farnborough Air Shows. The commentator (Oliver Stewart) screaming "and he's coming in over the Laffans Plain end nudging mach 1..." "He" would be below the height of the spectators in front of you so all you knew was when the noise wrecked your ears a second after he'd gone! The Vulcan Olympus test bed was quite a shaker too...
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Was on a last minute holls to Zakynthos in jun/jul 1993.
Whilst thoroughly bored on a round the island turtle tour, we were cruising between a cliff face and a small island, its peak being approx 100 asl, distance from cliff face to island being no more than 100 ft, the sea being quite choppy with approx 15 feet of swell when I spotted a small dot on the horizon directly infront of the vessel...
This dot was pointed out to a colleague and a brief joke was made about the seagul (theres one, theres another one etc..), when all of a sudden we realised that this seagul was travelling at speed, and getting bigger and bigger every split second...
There was no time to reach for the cameras, as this Aircraft, which we think may have been a Fiat/ Alpha jet or something similar, was directly on a collision course with us. And moving... FAST!!
We watched in amasement as the approaching aircraft, which we estimated to have been no more than 40 asl, flew on with no variation in heading....
Moments later, this aircraft being almost on top of us, the pilot realised that we were occupying the same space between island and cliff face, and rolled violently to port. The very moment the roll stopped the aircraft passed over and along side of us. The pilot did have a startled look on his face, a very startled look and very very BIG EYES!! He passed over usat no more than TEN feet clearence in height!! ( this was less than the distance from the top of the mast to our top deck position the mast being 12 ft tall!!)
As the aircraft passed over us and to our right between the island (no more than 50 feet between us and the island!) there followed the jet blast an incredible noise and a diaphram shaking like never before... clutching to bags and towels as the jet wash attempted to remove everything from the deck, including us!! (well it felt like it!!) We looked aft and saw this plane climb steeply towards two con-trails which were passing overhead at a range of about five miles... Beleived to be Phantoms, and a few seconds later we lost sight of him...
This was the highlight of the tour and we asked the captain how he managed to arange such a flypast for us, but the humour was lost in the translation.......
We didn't see any turtles on the tour, but I bet the Pilot did sitting there in the cockpit!!
Whilst thoroughly bored on a round the island turtle tour, we were cruising between a cliff face and a small island, its peak being approx 100 asl, distance from cliff face to island being no more than 100 ft, the sea being quite choppy with approx 15 feet of swell when I spotted a small dot on the horizon directly infront of the vessel...
This dot was pointed out to a colleague and a brief joke was made about the seagul (theres one, theres another one etc..), when all of a sudden we realised that this seagul was travelling at speed, and getting bigger and bigger every split second...
There was no time to reach for the cameras, as this Aircraft, which we think may have been a Fiat/ Alpha jet or something similar, was directly on a collision course with us. And moving... FAST!!
We watched in amasement as the approaching aircraft, which we estimated to have been no more than 40 asl, flew on with no variation in heading....
Moments later, this aircraft being almost on top of us, the pilot realised that we were occupying the same space between island and cliff face, and rolled violently to port. The very moment the roll stopped the aircraft passed over and along side of us. The pilot did have a startled look on his face, a very startled look and very very BIG EYES!! He passed over usat no more than TEN feet clearence in height!! ( this was less than the distance from the top of the mast to our top deck position the mast being 12 ft tall!!)
As the aircraft passed over us and to our right between the island (no more than 50 feet between us and the island!) there followed the jet blast an incredible noise and a diaphram shaking like never before... clutching to bags and towels as the jet wash attempted to remove everything from the deck, including us!! (well it felt like it!!) We looked aft and saw this plane climb steeply towards two con-trails which were passing overhead at a range of about five miles... Beleived to be Phantoms, and a few seconds later we lost sight of him...
This was the highlight of the tour and we asked the captain how he managed to arange such a flypast for us, but the humour was lost in the translation.......
We didn't see any turtles on the tour, but I bet the Pilot did sitting there in the cockpit!!
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Back in the mid-80's, in RSA, a friend and I were out jollying in a C172 near the Kruger Park. This was fairly close to the main strike airfield for the SAAF in that part of the world at Hoedspruit.
We were rather suprised when a pair of Mirages hurtled by not more than a couple of hundred feet away from us and then went screaming up into the sky. Fairly shook the C172 up, and, needless to say, we were quite shaky of hand as well.
We were rather suprised when a pair of Mirages hurtled by not more than a couple of hundred feet away from us and then went screaming up into the sky. Fairly shook the C172 up, and, needless to say, we were quite shaky of hand as well.
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Saw film once of a Buccaneer (magic!) having a go at a pretend sam site during an exercise Red Flag. Sequence filmed from aforesaid location. Desert dust coming up from the wingtip vortices. Low? I`ll say!
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Find it strange that as "Sonic" car alarms became popular in the early '90's then XH558 was taken from the airshow circuit.That final Vulcan"Full thrust" pull up at the end of it's routine was music to ones ears and the aftermath was the "chorus of the car park" for a couple of minutes as every car alarm within a mile or so trumpeted its departure. Pure magic
Paxing All Over The World
Firstly, on the Vulcan ... At the Bournemouth Air Show 1988 or 89, it's take off was the most fabulous bellyaching scream from a herd of tortured cows. The others in my party were holding their hands over their ears but I did not want to dim that sound. It rotated to the most ridiculous angle and went off like the proverbial bat out of hell.
This is borrowed from Tech Log, were there is a current thread about start up sequence ...
Now that must have been a sight for sore ears
As to Harriers, I can relate a story of late father. In his retirement, he lived in the hamlet of Mothercombe on the coast about 17 miles east of Plymouth. He had made friends with a Harrier training captain who was based at Wittering, where my father was in the war. Subsequently, the man wrote the forward to dad's book.
For one training operation ... the crews had been advised that a nasty foreign dictator had escaped to England and was holed up in Mothercombe. Further, the 'gen' was that the 'dictator' and his floozy (my step mother!) would be taking tea on the lawn at a certain time on a certain day.
The three Harriers arrived from the sea (south) and identified the cottage where the dictator was staying by the large table cloth that was spread on the lawn for 'tea'.
The Harriers passed over the collection of cottages in the single cul-de-sac road and then turned to make sure that they had fully destroyed the place.
Turning back from the sea again, they 'saluted' and roared off back to Wittering. According to my step mother, the villagers jumped out of their skins and could not understand why my father was grinning for a week.
This is borrowed from Tech Log, were there is a current thread about start up sequence ...
Never flew a Vulcan when 'Mass Rapid' starts were allowed - but we still had the 'combustor' facility on most of them in the late 70s. You parked the throttles at the 50% position, selected rapid start and pressed the 4 start buttons in succession. An uncontrolled fuel/air explosion in the engine combustors spun up the engines in no time at all, as soon as they'd started and the gennies were on you started the PFCUs, 8 seconds later they'd all be running. You briefly cycled the throttles back to idle, then selected full power, turned left a few degrees off the ORP and thundered down the runway. 10-15 minutes later you'd be passing 40 000ft, still climbing...
As to Harriers, I can relate a story of late father. In his retirement, he lived in the hamlet of Mothercombe on the coast about 17 miles east of Plymouth. He had made friends with a Harrier training captain who was based at Wittering, where my father was in the war. Subsequently, the man wrote the forward to dad's book.
For one training operation ... the crews had been advised that a nasty foreign dictator had escaped to England and was holed up in Mothercombe. Further, the 'gen' was that the 'dictator' and his floozy (my step mother!) would be taking tea on the lawn at a certain time on a certain day.
The three Harriers arrived from the sea (south) and identified the cottage where the dictator was staying by the large table cloth that was spread on the lawn for 'tea'.
The Harriers passed over the collection of cottages in the single cul-de-sac road and then turned to make sure that they had fully destroyed the place.
Turning back from the sea again, they 'saluted' and roared off back to Wittering. According to my step mother, the villagers jumped out of their skins and could not understand why my father was grinning for a week.
Moderator
... what an absolutely delightful tale ..... totally restores one's confidence in the war machine system, doesn't it ? I can only imagine the initial run over the village ..... presumably at something considerably less than an appropriate height ?
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At an airshow in Belgium yesterday (forgot the name of the place, tiny private airfield) with a rather respectable flight display. The award for "nosiest fcuker" went to the USAF B1B who came in very low on a downwind, lit the burners and pulled up. Impressive sound set. It did strike me a bit odd though, as he pulled up and rolled left begining what looked to be a 360 roll. But reaching inverted, he reversed his roll. Q: Does the USAF have a rule that prevents B1 crews from doing a 360 roll, whereas 2 x 180 is approved?
Most impressive off all was this french guy, a Mr D. Lapparent, and his SU26. This guy is most certainly certifiable, and what little understanding I thought I had of aerodynamics went down the drain. Apparently, nothing beats a big engine and a massive prop! For fecks sake, this guy traversed sideways with an AoA of, say, 80° at something like 10kts. He also took the SU26 straight up and then throttled back (I could hear the engine rev'ing down!) and just hung there. Throttled back a bit more and descended vertically still pointing straight up, then added power and climbed! I can't even describe the things he did with his flying machine. Amazing, and nothing will convince me that he didn't have an anti-gravity device installed somewhere. Did make the subsequent F16, Mirage 2000, Tornado etc. displays seem rather boring.
Most impressive off all was this french guy, a Mr D. Lapparent, and his SU26. This guy is most certainly certifiable, and what little understanding I thought I had of aerodynamics went down the drain. Apparently, nothing beats a big engine and a massive prop! For fecks sake, this guy traversed sideways with an AoA of, say, 80° at something like 10kts. He also took the SU26 straight up and then throttled back (I could hear the engine rev'ing down!) and just hung there. Throttled back a bit more and descended vertically still pointing straight up, then added power and climbed! I can't even describe the things he did with his flying machine. Amazing, and nothing will convince me that he didn't have an anti-gravity device installed somewhere. Did make the subsequent F16, Mirage 2000, Tornado etc. displays seem rather boring.