I googled NF104 too. - Slight thread variance, but I loved this quote that came up.

Clicker,

You would have loved the Beverley then. :eek:

X-15
P-51
Vulcan B2

If only :(

Absolutely anything I haven't flown...

Trim Stab - you are so right :ok:

In my case, this includes:

Hot Air Baloon (tried a couple of times but weather was OOL).

Glider.

Any super carrier fixed wing with a cat launch and trap.

Mossie
B29
Mig 29

YF-23
Mustang or Spit
Catalina
:ok:

My best = ~44K, M1.83 (down hill with a tailwind!)

Lightning
F16
Thunderbird 1

STP

I'm old enough to have seen a Beverley fly but if you don't mind I'll stick to the slimmer girls who can curl their legs up. ;)

Quite a few interesting aircraft mentioned, nice to see the merlin engines are doing well.

Also high or fast flying seems to be popular as well. Highest I've seen was only FL370 on an almost empty DC-8 across the pacific, crew kept asking for FL410 but we were blocked by other traffic. Fastest was across the atlantic with a good tail wind with an average speed 560kts for the whole flight (DC-10-30)

Yes, Sunderland, Lightning, F4, Vulcan, Lancaster - 4 out of 5 :)

Did Gnat; Hunter and Phantom but, getting old, also A330.

Military mates flying that will now be grinning ear to ear. Phabulous.

Here's my guess. The rocket motor is mounted significantly above the longitudinal fuselage datum, in other words the thrust acts above the aircraft's CofG. If mounted parallel to LFD it would cause quite a big derotational moment (a pitch down force). At very high alitude with little or no aerodynamic control it would mean applying a continuous nose up moment using the RCS. THe pitch down effect of the rocket may have exceded the control authority of the RCS. By pointing the thrust line of the rocket through, or closer to the CofG, the problem goes away. Look where the line of thrust is acting here - looks like through the centre of the ac.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...0px-NF-104.jpg

If you want to mount a rocket pack below the CofG, you'd need to angle it downwards. In NF-104 I would think that mounting it low would just have been yet another big drag penalty.


Just an idea. I'm surprised one of the QFIs or TPs around here didn't come up with that. Unless, of course, I'm completely wrong. :ouch:

Tourist,
The flight manual for the NF-104 states 'The rocket engine nacelle is located at the base of the vertical stabilizer. The rocket engine mounting is canted so that the thrustline will pass through the airplane center of gravity at rocket burn out thus minimising pitching moments due to pitch change'. :8

Ah. Smug mode! :cool:


This is the firt time a Baldrick's ever come up with a cunning plan that didn't turn out to be utter pig swill.

I would put you all in the mighty Jaguar and give you all a good laugh...


:O

Is this the dictionary definition of an oxymoron?

Some Russian kit would be fun: Mig-25, Su-37, Hind, Blackjack, or, if I was feeling particularly brave, one of those Caspian sea monsters.:uhoh:

Mosquito because she's beautiful.

SR-71 because she's a thinderingly powerful beast.

Sunderland Flying Boat because it's such a mad mixture of ship and aircraft.

F-14
Apache

For civil hardware the VC-10.

de Havilland Hornet
Aurora
Wright Flyer

A bit iffy about what I would like to fly, but do know for a fact what I never ever want to fly again. BN2A Islander in the tropical sun, with a full load of smelly locals whose bodies have never experienced the application of soap and water. Mind you, I suspect the Islander was one of the few aircraft where it was SOP to hose out the cabin after a longish flight.

.

Alisonncc, that could be the start of another thread, aircraft I flew but wished I didn't.

>that could be the start of another thread, aircraft I flew but wished I didn't.<

Tiger Moth. A horrible thing in my opinion.

In order:

1. Brit (but not 404), and without the whole cockpit being an overflowing ashtray. Loved every minute

2. Belfast, because it always went low and slow, and the views were superb.


3. C5A just because it's big.

Imagegear

Hunter, but didn't make FJ.
JP and Bücker Jungmann were fun.

Damn you! Now I want to fly it to find out why. :{

ACW599 ...

I had the great pleasure of flying G-ACDC out of Headcorn Kent on my 40th Birthday in 1997 ... including aerobatics ... the Tiger is a wonderful aeroplane in my opinion. But you have to "fly" it ... it's not easy in a cross wind and unless you have some previous tail wheel experience it can be a bit of a handful to start with ... it's not a benign aeroplane like most modern high wing/nose wheel civil light aircraft.

Sorry ACW599 I have to disagree with you ... but it's down to personal preference I guess :ok:

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/ima...2/23/32057.jpg

Courtney ... Price gone up a tad ... But still worth it :ok:

The Tiger Club Headcorn

Coff.

My "Stick Time" Bucket List

Chipmunk ✔
Tiger Moth ✔
Beaver ✔
Twin Otter ✔
Yak 52 ✔
Bell 47G ✔
Stearman ✔
Harvard✔
Spitfire ✔
Vampire ✔
Strikemaster/JP
A-37
Macchi MB-326
Hunter
F-4
Mustang
DC-3
Catalina
Skywarrior
Dragon Rapide
Jet Ranger
Huey

Aircraft I NEVER want to fly:

BD-5 - too big now anyway!
ASW-12 - 1960s Open Class glider - a large proportion of the fleet was crashed on landing by new owners on their first flights!

>Sorry ACW599 I have to disagree with you ... but it's down to personal preference I guess<

Well, it's a free country. But I'm surprised a Chipmunk man has anything remotely nice to say about the Tiger Moth!

I did a few trips in one many moons ago and thought the overall handling rather peculiar with essentially non-existent control harmony. Ground handling was a pain too. Compared with a Chipmunk (on which I was current at the time) it was dreadful. But maybe the one I flew was past its best.

ACW you hated it and Coff loved it. Notice however that Coff flew ACDC, so it could have gone either way. :E

STP

Now now Steve ! I'm definitely a Direct Current kind of guy ... :E

Thanks CM, that makes sense, should have thought of that myself!

>ACW you hated it and Coff loved it. Notice however that Coff flew ACDC, so it could have gone either way.<

And I'm strictly butter-side up :)

Types I would have liked to have flown would be;

1. Short Stirling - just because my dad did and to share in a little way his own experience.

2. DHC Beaver - because I like the appeal of a radial-engine tail dragger, especially if being used in its AAC role exploiting its STOL capabilities.

3. Canberra B(I)8 - only as a pilot mind as the poor nav had no bang seat.:eek: As a low level interdictor with a massive gun pack and an internal bomb bay doing LABS it must have been fun. Not so sure about doing all this stuff at night, but must have been fun. It also had the legs to go to interesting places.......

The worst type I had the misfortune to fly was the Jetstream so I am with Beagle on that!

MB