Air Display experience
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Posts: 14,573
Received 419 Likes
on
221 Posts
A common mis-quote.
What actually happened was that as the radar director turned the B52 onto final, it overshot the turn due to the fact they opened up all 8 engines at the same time and due to previous B52 display incidents, the angle of bank was limited. When my turn came up a few days later, I ran the B52 in on Runway 06 rather than 24 having already been told by the radar man what happened on the first flythrough
I think actually, my one was the one which arrived from across the ocean and the first one departed from Fairford where it had been on display and was due to fly back to the USA from there..
What actually happened was that as the radar director turned the B52 onto final, it overshot the turn due to the fact they opened up all 8 engines at the same time and due to previous B52 display incidents, the angle of bank was limited. When my turn came up a few days later, I ran the B52 in on Runway 06 rather than 24 having already been told by the radar man what happened on the first flythrough
I think actually, my one was the one which arrived from across the ocean and the first one departed from Fairford where it had been on display and was due to fly back to the USA from there..
I remember the Buccaneer display at Culdrose in 1984 (I think) quite clearly... the weather was overcast with low cloud (usually the way in Cornwall, especially for Culdrose airdays!), but flying continued. The display pilot will remain un-named (DS - he later went on to qualify as a TP and flying historics out of Duxford and other places and probably still does) went up and started to put on a flat, LL display. At some point, something went a bit wrong and he appeared very low, pulling hard right from behind the tall fir trees that used to be next to viewing enclosure. From crowd right to left, still pulling hard, trying to get on to the display line which he missed, he came right over the crowd, narrowly missed the old ATC tower (or so it seemed - he was v. low after all) and kept going. Overhead, vortices whished and whooshed and he left quite breeze blowing around the amazed crowds. Terrific stuff!
I've often wondered if he remembers that display, but not had the opportunity to ask him!
I've often wondered if he remembers that display, but not had the opportunity to ask him!
Last edited by NickB; 25th Oct 2022 at 09:43.
Airshow at Edwards earlier this month, is this standard for the B-1? You can settle one dispute perhaps, aileron or barrel roll?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a45U464NVGU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a45U464NVGU
LONG ago -- better make that LONG long ago when I was still young and lusty -- I was enjoying the finale of an air display from the side of my Tiger Moth when I found myself gazing into two huge blue eyes. Under them was a shapely fuselage beneath a T-shirt bearing a picture of a biplane, above a tight-fitting garment which in those faroff days were known as Hot Pants, from which emerged a long and elegant undercarriage.
She wanted to be a pilot, her only flight had been to Majorca and back for package holidays. Her smile would melt the hardest of hearts. Well, I suppose she could sit in the Tiger Moth to have her photo taken. Yes indeed aerobatics were great fun… the display had short time to run, but perhaps after the airfield reopened… I borrowed a helmet and a pair of coveralls.
My briefing was even more longwinded than usual, as was the careful strapping into the front seat (Oh, those big blue eyes). There was no intercom so we agreed that one dainty thumb up would mean good, thumb down meant take me smoothly back to the airfield, please.
For those who have yet to enjoy it, an aerobatic introduction should not even need a seat belt as positive G should be maintained throughout, though of course the harness is always tightly fastened. A first loop should keep you gently pressed into your seat, like a bucket of water being swung over your head so it doesn’t spill. You might even enjoy a few moments of weightlessness at the top, before you see the horizon slowly descend from above your head.
I avoided negative-G manoeuvres such as the slow roll, when the crew hang in their straps as we go through the inverted position. I wanted novices to enjoy their first aerobatic flight so they would come back for more and best of all learn to fly themselves.
We began very gently with chandelles, then loops, then a barrel roll which produced both thumbs held high and a dazzling smile over her shoulder. The 90-deg stall turn and general tumblings went equally well, indeed so well that I decided she would enjoy a slow roll. Big mistake.
Turning upside down and falling into the straps was too much for my pretty passenger, who grabbed the handle which Mr. de Havilland had conveniently situated in the centre of the cockpit, pulled it back and held it tight. My first reaction was that something had broken, as the Tiger Moth fell out of the roll into a half-loop and started up the other side before the beautiful one remembered her briefing and released the stick just in time for me to avoid a tailslide.
In fairness she was very apologetic once back on the ground and gave me a big hug as I helped her down from the wing, thereby raising my heartbeat for the second time that day. Later my grizzled, fierce old CFI, who had 2000+ hours on wartime Tiger Moth instruction, said he had known one or two pupils freeze on the controls, and told me: “Be ready for the passenger or student who does something unexpected when they encounter something they don’t expect.” Then with a chuckle: “Never mind, lad, it’s the only time you want a girl to keep her hands to herself.”
And no, I never saw her again.
She wanted to be a pilot, her only flight had been to Majorca and back for package holidays. Her smile would melt the hardest of hearts. Well, I suppose she could sit in the Tiger Moth to have her photo taken. Yes indeed aerobatics were great fun… the display had short time to run, but perhaps after the airfield reopened… I borrowed a helmet and a pair of coveralls.
My briefing was even more longwinded than usual, as was the careful strapping into the front seat (Oh, those big blue eyes). There was no intercom so we agreed that one dainty thumb up would mean good, thumb down meant take me smoothly back to the airfield, please.
For those who have yet to enjoy it, an aerobatic introduction should not even need a seat belt as positive G should be maintained throughout, though of course the harness is always tightly fastened. A first loop should keep you gently pressed into your seat, like a bucket of water being swung over your head so it doesn’t spill. You might even enjoy a few moments of weightlessness at the top, before you see the horizon slowly descend from above your head.
I avoided negative-G manoeuvres such as the slow roll, when the crew hang in their straps as we go through the inverted position. I wanted novices to enjoy their first aerobatic flight so they would come back for more and best of all learn to fly themselves.
We began very gently with chandelles, then loops, then a barrel roll which produced both thumbs held high and a dazzling smile over her shoulder. The 90-deg stall turn and general tumblings went equally well, indeed so well that I decided she would enjoy a slow roll. Big mistake.
Turning upside down and falling into the straps was too much for my pretty passenger, who grabbed the handle which Mr. de Havilland had conveniently situated in the centre of the cockpit, pulled it back and held it tight. My first reaction was that something had broken, as the Tiger Moth fell out of the roll into a half-loop and started up the other side before the beautiful one remembered her briefing and released the stick just in time for me to avoid a tailslide.
In fairness she was very apologetic once back on the ground and gave me a big hug as I helped her down from the wing, thereby raising my heartbeat for the second time that day. Later my grizzled, fierce old CFI, who had 2000+ hours on wartime Tiger Moth instruction, said he had known one or two pupils freeze on the controls, and told me: “Be ready for the passenger or student who does something unexpected when they encounter something they don’t expect.” Then with a chuckle: “Never mind, lad, it’s the only time you want a girl to keep her hands to herself.”
And no, I never saw her again.
Dont think heavy bombers are designed to fly rolling manoeuvres! Hence an aileron roll becomes a mushed out barrel. Not the safest aerobatic I have witnessed imho.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,615
Received 290 Likes
on
158 Posts
B-1 at RIAT-related display at Boscombe 1990? (CAF Liberator was there) disappeared off to the west to wind up the elastic, caned down the display line at just this side of Mach 1 the went pretty much vertical, describing several rolls on the way up before punching a hole through some altostratus, how high? no idea, at leat 10000'... Great stuff! Also recall the Spanish F-18 pulling very hard out of some manoeuvre and appearing to stall at somewhere between 500' and 1000', lowering the nose and carrying on. The benefit of having a sensible base height, which I think was higher than RIAT's minimum 100'?
Last edited by treadigraph; 25th Oct 2022 at 17:49. Reason: ShyTorque pointed out a flaw in my phone's interpretation of my fingers' attempts to spell...
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Posts: 14,573
Received 419 Likes
on
221 Posts
Also recall the Spanish F-18 pulling very hard out of some nanoeuvre and appearing to stall
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,615
Received 290 Likes
on
158 Posts
That's why he was pulling so hard!
Gender Faculty Specialist
B-1 at RIAT-related display at Boscombe 1990? (CAF Liberator was there) disappeared off to the west to wind up the elastic, caned down the display line at just this side of Mach 1 the went pretty much vertical, describing several rolls on the way up before punching a hole through some altostratus, how high? no idea, at leat 10000'... Great stuff! Also recall the Spanish F-18 pulling very hard out of some manoeuvre and appearing to stall at somewhere between 500' and 1000', lowering the nose and carrying on. The benefit of having a sensible base height, which I think was higher than RIAT's minimum 100'?
Big airshow at my hometown in the 60's....in the heyday of the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flying F-4 Phantoms and putting on "competing" displays....and lots of static display of various military aircraft.
End of show....all the military iron are fired up and departing....radio chat being broadcast on the Public Address system.....US Navy S-2 "Stoof" is given taxi instructions for RWY 15...the long Runway with the ILS that landed on RWY 33.
Long Run-Up with Mag Checks and Props on the two big noisy...really noisy Radial Engines....then a bit of quiet and Takeoff Clearance on RWY issued.....more lots of noise as Throttles pushed against the stops.....Brakes held....and off he goes....and in very short order after Tower states...."That is Runway 18 which is closed!"....silence other than the squealing of brakes.
18/36 had been closed for decades and used for parking....and a Fairchild Aircraft Factory at the end of 18....a rather large red brick building of three stories with the Firm Name in huge letters on it.
Same show....Army OV-1 Mohawk roared off down 18....stayed low over the runway...pulled the gear up and accelerated to max warp and did an incredibly steep sharp pull-up,......and resulted in the Pilot blacking out.......to come to as the aircraft was about to turn itself into a Yard Dart.
He later recounted that experience in the US Army Aviation Safety Magazine.
End of show....all the military iron are fired up and departing....radio chat being broadcast on the Public Address system.....US Navy S-2 "Stoof" is given taxi instructions for RWY 15...the long Runway with the ILS that landed on RWY 33.
Long Run-Up with Mag Checks and Props on the two big noisy...really noisy Radial Engines....then a bit of quiet and Takeoff Clearance on RWY issued.....more lots of noise as Throttles pushed against the stops.....Brakes held....and off he goes....and in very short order after Tower states...."That is Runway 18 which is closed!"....silence other than the squealing of brakes.
18/36 had been closed for decades and used for parking....and a Fairchild Aircraft Factory at the end of 18....a rather large red brick building of three stories with the Firm Name in huge letters on it.
Same show....Army OV-1 Mohawk roared off down 18....stayed low over the runway...pulled the gear up and accelerated to max warp and did an incredibly steep sharp pull-up,......and resulted in the Pilot blacking out.......to come to as the aircraft was about to turn itself into a Yard Dart.
He later recounted that experience in the US Army Aviation Safety Magazine.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,615
Received 290 Likes
on
158 Posts
Must have been as I think that was the only IAT event at BD, though I don't recall a boom but could have been the other day. Certainly was moving and there was a suspicion of a shockwave as it arrived just about coincidental with its noise - I was towards the eastern end of the airfield and had spotted a certain brown-ness in the air out to the west as it accelerated towards us, so it wasn't a surprise to me! The only other aircraft I can recall seeing travelling that fast was a Lightning at Biggin Hill in '76 - I'm not entirely sure but I think that didn't go vertical due to LHR restrictions so had to dissipate the energy out over Surrey - and before encountering Gatwick's zone!
Megan Lad.....I have twisted the throttles of some lovely old Radials....in the H-34 and H-37.....and indeed music to the ears and palpitations to the Heart...especially when they decided to skip a beat or two in a asthmatic fit of coughing,.
The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Engine was a classic Radial Engine design.....and having two of them on the H-37 made for a lot of noise....exhaust fumes....and leaked oil.
The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Engine was a classic Radial Engine design.....and having two of them on the H-37 made for a lot of noise....exhaust fumes....and leaked oil.
For me it’s the Boscombe Down air show/families day on 83 or 83. ETPS T5 Lightning did a display and I remember standing on the Apron with beacon hill to my left. Lots of noise and turning then for the final high speed run (clear blue day), it came from the beacon hill direction quite low with the halo just aft of the cockpit and then zoom climbed until you could see it no more.
Strange how some things stick with you.
Strange how some things stick with you.
Mention of the B-1 reminds me of the departure day take off from RIAT at Cottesmore, when the spotters round the fence were blown away - literally ! There's a Youtube video which I can't find with a quick search.
As for airshow memories, Lincolns "bombing the fort" in the early 60's is a bit vague, but I do vividly recall being totally impressed by a Navy Phantom incredibly high speed run, pull up and disappearing vertically at Finningley 1971 BofB show.
RIAT and the SBAC shows have always brought some tremendous aeroplanes (wish I had seen the Tu-95 flying!) but in a different vein, the simplicity of the Harrier ski-jump demonstration at Farnborough was so impressive and the appearance of several Hungarian Mig-21's (RIAT early 90's) marked the end of the Cold War.
As for airshow memories, Lincolns "bombing the fort" in the early 60's is a bit vague, but I do vividly recall being totally impressed by a Navy Phantom incredibly high speed run, pull up and disappearing vertically at Finningley 1971 BofB show.
RIAT and the SBAC shows have always brought some tremendous aeroplanes (wish I had seen the Tu-95 flying!) but in a different vein, the simplicity of the Harrier ski-jump demonstration at Farnborough was so impressive and the appearance of several Hungarian Mig-21's (RIAT early 90's) marked the end of the Cold War.
Mention of the B-1 reminds me of the departure day take off from RIAT at Cottesmore, when the spotters round the fence were blown away - literally ! There's a Youtube video which I can't find with a quick search.
As for airshow memories, Lincolns "bombing the fort" in the early 60's is a bit vague, but I do vividly recall being totally impressed by a Navy Phantom incredibly high speed run, pull up and disappearing vertically at Finningley 1971 BofB show.
RIAT and the SBAC shows have always brought some tremendous aeroplanes (wish I had seen the Tu-95 flying!) but in a different vein, the simplicity of the Harrier ski-jump demonstration at Farnborough was so impressive and the appearance of several Hungarian Mig-21's (RIAT early 90's) marked the end of the Cold War.
As for airshow memories, Lincolns "bombing the fort" in the early 60's is a bit vague, but I do vividly recall being totally impressed by a Navy Phantom incredibly high speed run, pull up and disappearing vertically at Finningley 1971 BofB show.
RIAT and the SBAC shows have always brought some tremendous aeroplanes (wish I had seen the Tu-95 flying!) but in a different vein, the simplicity of the Harrier ski-jump demonstration at Farnborough was so impressive and the appearance of several Hungarian Mig-21's (RIAT early 90's) marked the end of the Cold War.
Why can't I see all theses attachments which people post, the latest being the one by 'Stichbitch'.
All I got was the quote then a huge blank space.
When are the Mods going to fix this?
All I got was the quote then a huge blank space.
When are the Mods going to fix this?