Hairy Flypasts
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I remember late 60s early 70s at Yeovilton when the Reds had Gnats , looking down into the cockpits of the Gnats as I stood watching the team arrive , I was stood on grass on the edge of a taxiway beside the tower at the time & was suddenly engulfed in jet exhaust & diesel smoke ! Some Matelot on a monkey bike nearly s**t himself as he was going down the same taxiway in opposition to the Reds !!!
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Doh!!
Langwidges was never my strong point!
But I see what you mean, Alpine.
Langwidges was never my strong point!
But I see what you mean, Alpine.
Last edited by taxydual; 16th Jun 2010 at 20:52. Reason: Ahh. For Alpine
Quote X1
Makes a change not to see them returning with a tree branch in their wings at Goose Bay.....
Makes a change not to see them returning with a tree branch in their wings at Goose Bay.....
I was there, but all my trees survived! Was great fun flying in 100 feet with 540K!
franzl
Last edited by RetiredF4; 16th Jun 2010 at 22:30.
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West Freugh
There were many such goings on at Wet Freugh; the visiting A-10 drivers were always worth a watch, I remember at least one inverted at less than wingspan height; the tasty secretary's window with all the zaps on it made a natural gun-dive 'target' too...
In early GR5 days, a ( very good ) service pilot had carried out a Matra pod ripple firing on the beach target, then came back fast, well below the ATC balcony level, waggling around it at the last second.
This gained applause even from the ' seen it all ' West Freugh crews, then it turned out he'd had a hung up rocket...
If it had gone off and taken out Air Tragic ( nothing against them in particular, I found ALL at W.F. to be true professionals ) I don't know if this would have gained extra kudos, but the PDR would be a classic !
Naturally not really reported very much, may have been different if the pilot was a b----rd; if you know who you are, Thanks, it was an honour working with you.
Not a hairy flypast, but while mentioning the W.F. Range, I was with another T.P. one typically ultra-windy day when we visited ATC; he had a quick look round, then gave the anemometer scrolling pen an almighty flick.
When I raised my eyebrows, he whispered " I always do that here on windy days, I'm trying to get the highest recorded gust in Britain " !
In early GR5 days, a ( very good ) service pilot had carried out a Matra pod ripple firing on the beach target, then came back fast, well below the ATC balcony level, waggling around it at the last second.
This gained applause even from the ' seen it all ' West Freugh crews, then it turned out he'd had a hung up rocket...
If it had gone off and taken out Air Tragic ( nothing against them in particular, I found ALL at W.F. to be true professionals ) I don't know if this would have gained extra kudos, but the PDR would be a classic !
Naturally not really reported very much, may have been different if the pilot was a b----rd; if you know who you are, Thanks, it was an honour working with you.
Not a hairy flypast, but while mentioning the W.F. Range, I was with another T.P. one typically ultra-windy day when we visited ATC; he had a quick look round, then gave the anemometer scrolling pen an almighty flick.
When I raised my eyebrows, he whispered " I always do that here on windy days, I'm trying to get the highest recorded gust in Britain " !
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Gareth....... great thread.
ZKDLI
I am sure someone has this on video. I was one of the team that designed and installed the smoke mod onto the RNZAF A4K at the time this stunt was performed and remember a TV crew at one of the displays. It was filmed by TVNZ I think.
Most spectacular was RAAF F111 going off the end of the strip at Ohakea, I think 1981. Word was out the pilot planned to do something impressive on take off (we thought a dump and burn). Nearly the whole base was out watching. Instead he flamed out both engines during a stream takeoff in wet weather and ejected off the end of the strip. Might have stopped except the arrest gear had been taken down for maintenance. Fuselage cartwheeled into bomb dump at end of strip and exploded. Pretty sure this is on film somewhere. Understand the ejection capsule still used by the RAAF as a recruitment aid.
ZKDLI
I am sure someone has this on video. I was one of the team that designed and installed the smoke mod onto the RNZAF A4K at the time this stunt was performed and remember a TV crew at one of the displays. It was filmed by TVNZ I think.
Most spectacular was RAAF F111 going off the end of the strip at Ohakea, I think 1981. Word was out the pilot planned to do something impressive on take off (we thought a dump and burn). Nearly the whole base was out watching. Instead he flamed out both engines during a stream takeoff in wet weather and ejected off the end of the strip. Might have stopped except the arrest gear had been taken down for maintenance. Fuselage cartwheeled into bomb dump at end of strip and exploded. Pretty sure this is on film somewhere. Understand the ejection capsule still used by the RAAF as a recruitment aid.
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Interesting, very interesting.
I seem to remember a photo, or was it a youtube thingy of a F4 on a/b flying between 2 hangars somewhere in England.
I seem to recall that the pilot was on his last run before leaving the Airforce,
or maybe not.
I seem to remember a photo, or was it a youtube thingy of a F4 on a/b flying between 2 hangars somewhere in England.
I seem to recall that the pilot was on his last run before leaving the Airforce,
or maybe not.
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The F-111 crash at OH was in August 1979.
More info and pics (as well as lots of other OH related stuff) here:
Wings Over New Zealand - NZ F-111 crash Aug 79 photos ADF-serials.com
The capsule used as a recruiting aid was recovered from a different incident in 1978 that resulted in an F-111 becoming acquainted with the bottom of the Hauraki Gulf. I've got a picture of the capsule from around 2003 or so somewhere.
More info and pics (as well as lots of other OH related stuff) here:
Wings Over New Zealand - NZ F-111 crash Aug 79 photos ADF-serials.com
The capsule used as a recruiting aid was recovered from a different incident in 1978 that resulted in an F-111 becoming acquainted with the bottom of the Hauraki Gulf. I've got a picture of the capsule from around 2003 or so somewhere.
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Re the low Phantom.
Thats it, legend,
how cool is that!!!!
Thanks picks135
My contribution, and I was there.
YouTube - sunderland fly past
Thats it, legend,
how cool is that!!!!
Thanks picks135
My contribution, and I was there.
YouTube - sunderland fly past
Last edited by ekoja; 18th Jun 2010 at 23:53. Reason: slow posting plus addition