Well if history is anything to go by, all those little things missing off inventory would have been on board her when it was destroyed, so much so it was a wonder she got off the ground in the first place ;)

There goes the no claims discount ;) seriously though,

Glad everyone was ok, shame about the cab, but my butthole will heal over before the Labour Government puts in an order for a replacement cab.....

I gather that the Telegraph has been undergoing something of a sea change of staff this year starting with one senior appointment from a red-top who has subsequently replaced quality journos with more scum from the gutter-press. Maybe we will see more uninformed speculation from what was previously a quality paper.

Aye, Crab - Private Eye has been thoroughly enjoying itself over the Mailygraph's reinvention of itself for the past many months. See the Princess Royal thread for something similar. If I want defence info that can be corroborated these days I go to the Guardian. Or in our part of the country, the Western "Cull Those Badgers" Morning News.

Having to blow up the airframe
 

With the number of times I saw that salvageable and recoverable airframes were blown up so they would not fall in Taliban hands", I wonder how much real estate they really completely control in the country. Is there no way the area could have been secured long enough while technicians repaired the thing or hired a MI-26 to sling it back to base ?

Are we reduced to hit and run tactics in Afghanistan ?

Its not as though the Taliban could have repaired the thing themselves and flown it to their own base. Was blowing it up really necessary? The RAF Hercules that made a night hard landing in Aug 2007 was also blown up, although it was located on an airstrip. The military did not think they controlled the area enough to attempt recovery or salvage. The Taliban did.

As an ex tech I am sure they would not like to do an engine change or major repair within range of a Taliban sniper, But if securing the area then lifting the frame out was a viable option why was it not looked at?

As you say the Taliban were not going to repair it and fly off to their secret airfield, and I doubt very much that there were military secrets on a Chinook.

anyone know which airrame was destroyed I am hoping its not BN!

Rough guess at about +45 deg C and about 4-5000'. Never going to happen due to performance.

It was not BN.

Err, if it was viable it would have been looked at, so obviously it wasn't viable. Apart from what MGD rightly said would you want to do some extreme underslung load work in bandit country where where there had just been a contact.Would probably have ended up losing a second aircraft that way.

Trust me, there's plenty of stuff you wouldn't want to fall into the wrong hands.

That said I always find it shocking when something like this happens. It's not a decision I could easily make especially with such a valuable piece of kit. Very unfortunate to lose the frame but fantastic that the crew are OK.

Yes, the thought of taleban fitting miniguns to pick-up trucks springs to mind.

Even I, ex-involved with military aircraft kit, can think of much more sophisticated equipment than Miniguns, as I'm sure you can, ' wind-up Gainesy ' !

Aye, think of the damage the Taliban could do with a standard RAF-issue aircraft chock pasty. Thats if the aircrew managed to avoid succumbing to having to eat them.

Is there no way the area could have been secured long enough while technicians repaired the thing or hired a MI-26 to sling it back to base ?

Not this one:

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!



Monday, July 20, 2009



A civilian helicopter chartered by NATO has crashed while taking off from Kandahar International Airport in Afghanistan, killing sixteen. The Mil Mi-8 did not come under enemy fire.

The helicopter had been chartered from the Russian company Vertical-T and all the victims were civilians. A NATO statement said that there was no obvious cause for the accident but hostile fire had been ruled out.

Emergency responders are on the scene.

Five other people were wounded in the accident.

...

The crash comes just days after another civilian helicopter chartered for military activities crashed near Sangin Airbase in Helmand. The Mil Mi-26 is believed to have been shot down; six Ukrainian civilians onboard and one Afghan girl on the ground were killed in the crash on Tuesday. The helicopter had been taking supplies to a British military base. ...

Helicopter crash kills sixteen at NATO base in Afghanistan - Wikinews, the free news source

Ok
I am really confused now!!!!
This is on SkyNews as breaking news?? Right now. 1700hrs 30 Aug

Gobsmacked
 

...that the RAF have not lost more airframes or suffered more casualties in the 'stans.
Crazy flying that they're doing on a regular basis - before not too long such 'ops' will be regarded as 'the norm' - can only hope that crews' attitudes and planners' logic stay sharp in such an environment.

For many years the RAF thought 'Ops' meant Tacevals and missing a weekend at home - war in 'stans have seen a huge change in commitment with a reduced workforce and equipment operating at Mil Spec and beyond.......
Good luck all involved

Different airframe..
 

..happened this morning (August 30th) (See BBC/Reuters). No casualties reported thankfully..but another 'nook lost will hit ops hard. (Son on det) Cheers bm