Farnborough Report
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Apa, apo ndi kulikonse!
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Rich
Sorry old chap - been sooooo busy (not with helis, sadly!)
Will be in Boeing tomorrow
AlanM
P.S. Am in the HELIPAD ATC tower!
Sorry old chap - been sooooo busy (not with helis, sadly!)
Will be in Boeing tomorrow
AlanM
P.S. Am in the HELIPAD ATC tower!
Last edited by AlanM; 22nd Jul 2004 at 05:35.
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Rich & Nick,
Having great fun here in Africa. Spent last two days with SA Nat Parks two EC120s capturing Rhinos. Amazing flying and also shot their helos with Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffe, Hippos and Water Buffalo. Its interesting waking up in the morning and finding Hyenas sitting on your veranda.
Now here in Livingstone, Zambia with On Air who have an EC130, 120 and a AS350B. Sat on the deck here at the Royal Livingston Hotel, over looking the Victoria Falls, watching the sun go down, with a beer in the hand, listening to the hippos. Aint life sweet.
Oh by the way how is it in England
Autorotate.
Having great fun here in Africa. Spent last two days with SA Nat Parks two EC120s capturing Rhinos. Amazing flying and also shot their helos with Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffe, Hippos and Water Buffalo. Its interesting waking up in the morning and finding Hyenas sitting on your veranda.
Now here in Livingstone, Zambia with On Air who have an EC130, 120 and a AS350B. Sat on the deck here at the Royal Livingston Hotel, over looking the Victoria Falls, watching the sun go down, with a beer in the hand, listening to the hippos. Aint life sweet.
Oh by the way how is it in England
Autorotate.
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Hey Autorotate!
We were on the same sundeck sipping Pimms just a few months back.
As much fun as the heli flights are, go to the activity centre and book your Tiger Moth flight mate! Best $90 you will EVER spend!
(1000ft over Vic Falls, then 500ft over the Zambezi watching wil elephants bath!)
more here............
We were on the same sundeck sipping Pimms just a few months back.
As much fun as the heli flights are, go to the activity centre and book your Tiger Moth flight mate! Best $90 you will EVER spend!
(1000ft over Vic Falls, then 500ft over the Zambezi watching wil elephants bath!)
more here............
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Rich,
Thanks to you, Todd and Mike for taking the time to show us over the Apache on Wednesday morning. Awesome beast is an understatement!! The coffee was very good as well!
I have the Apache display on video. If Rich has no objecions I'll put it on my web server for downloading once I've edited it. This is apparently the "tame" show. Still involves moves with a fully articulated head that I didn't think should be possible
The main show was much quieter than previous years. Helicopter manufactuers appeared not to give a rats about the UK market. 1 AB139, A109 Power Elite, the new Grande, Super Lynx and a couple of EH101's was the static show. Flying 1 x Apache. I did see the Chinnok Display which was very good. The 139 was doing demo flights on the Wednesday.
From the Jet side the F16 gave a good display and the B52 found Farnborough twice (found a hospital and Blackbushe the second day!!). Not sure if it is worth the cost of flying the B52 and B1 across from the states each day for one or max two passes along the runway at 1000 ft. Typhoon looked impressive and was VERY noisey. Glad I kept to 1500 ft to keep the noise down on approach!!!!
One question to the organisers we have to route to specific points on the ground to route in and out,. Why not include the GPS position of each point... just a thought as 90% of the aircraft have GPS nav now.
Thanks to you, Todd and Mike for taking the time to show us over the Apache on Wednesday morning. Awesome beast is an understatement!! The coffee was very good as well!
I have the Apache display on video. If Rich has no objecions I'll put it on my web server for downloading once I've edited it. This is apparently the "tame" show. Still involves moves with a fully articulated head that I didn't think should be possible
The main show was much quieter than previous years. Helicopter manufactuers appeared not to give a rats about the UK market. 1 AB139, A109 Power Elite, the new Grande, Super Lynx and a couple of EH101's was the static show. Flying 1 x Apache. I did see the Chinnok Display which was very good. The 139 was doing demo flights on the Wednesday.
From the Jet side the F16 gave a good display and the B52 found Farnborough twice (found a hospital and Blackbushe the second day!!). Not sure if it is worth the cost of flying the B52 and B1 across from the states each day for one or max two passes along the runway at 1000 ft. Typhoon looked impressive and was VERY noisey. Glad I kept to 1500 ft to keep the noise down on approach!!!!
One question to the organisers we have to route to specific points on the ground to route in and out,. Why not include the GPS position of each point... just a thought as 90% of the aircraft have GPS nav now.
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magbreak
Will pass that on to those who write the procedures. (I am just guesting at the Helipad tower!)
I agree - the B52/B1 thing seems a little pointless really. The B52's had been swapping over from Fairford so was done on the way out/way in in the first few days.
Which display callsign are you then!?!?!?!?!?
Will pass that on to those who write the procedures. (I am just guesting at the Helipad tower!)
I agree - the B52/B1 thing seems a little pointless really. The B52's had been swapping over from Fairford so was done on the way out/way in in the first few days.
Which display callsign are you then!?!?!?!?!?
Just back from Farnborough. Superb display by the Apache ! (And a superb picture of it, AlanM) Excellent F18 display, too. The big bazzer A340 was pretty impressive, and quiet for a large airliner. Unfortunately, Eurofighter was a little tame. But, we got a few good freebies and had a good laugh at the Eurofighter promo film so the day was all round a success.
Not enough $$$ ...
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I was wondering the same thing - they look like airflow directional meters/indicators - interesting that the one on the right is facing up!
[waits to get slapped down]
[waits to get slapped down]
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OK, I have to ask (since no-one else has); In AlanM's pic, what are the pendulum type objects protruding from the top of the eng cowls?
"Airspeed and Directional Sensor (AADS): The AADS is mounted on a boom to the right side of the airframe between the pilot and gunner stations. The purpose is to measure local airflow pitot and static pressure, the angle of the airflow relative to the helicopter, and the air temperature. The probe can swivel 360 degrees in pitch and 60 degrees plus or minus in yaw, accurately senses impact and static pressure up to 250 knots forward, 50 knots aft, 50 knots left and 50 knots right. The probe information is also used for rocket and automatic gun operations. A 115 VAC heater is contained within the probe which can be activated by the pilot during inclement weather."
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The probes give the fire control computer accurate information about the flow around the weapons pods to help correct the aim point and make the weapons more accurate. This is especially valuable for the folding fin rockets, which are very sensitive to local angle of attack, and tend to point into the relative wind upon launch, confounding the gunner's best intentions. The chaiotic flow under the rotor in a hover is somewhat better understood using such probes, allowing more accurate fire while hiding in the bushes.
The Apache uses 2.75" folding fin rockets, which carry various warheads and are quite effective against soft targets. They are cheaper and more plentiful as compared to the Hellfire, which has been described as "boosting luxury cars down-range." Shots of trucks being taken out with Hellfires in Desert Strom drove commanders nuts, as the saying goes, "It would be nice if the target cost more than the bullet." FFAR's are cheap, effective and plentiful, and were the mainstay of attack helos for decades.
The Apache uses 2.75" folding fin rockets, which carry various warheads and are quite effective against soft targets. They are cheaper and more plentiful as compared to the Hellfire, which has been described as "boosting luxury cars down-range." Shots of trucks being taken out with Hellfires in Desert Strom drove commanders nuts, as the saying goes, "It would be nice if the target cost more than the bullet." FFAR's are cheap, effective and plentiful, and were the mainstay of attack helos for decades.
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Yesterday was the first Farnborough attended. Did RIAT in 2002, Waterkloof and Swartkops having been the venue of choice for many years.
Was a little disappointed with the static displays but the flying made up for it.
As ever...Red Arrows were magnificent....the Lynx's gave a brilliant aerial ballet display.....
The 747 was an eyeopener as were the latest from Airbus.....not enough of the B1/B52 and the 117.
Strangely enough, and I think that this holds true for every airshow attended and that includes Andrews Joint Force Open Day.....the star performer still has to be the Harrier.....
Was a little disappointed with the static displays but the flying made up for it.
As ever...Red Arrows were magnificent....the Lynx's gave a brilliant aerial ballet display.....
The 747 was an eyeopener as were the latest from Airbus.....not enough of the B1/B52 and the 117.
Strangely enough, and I think that this holds true for every airshow attended and that includes Andrews Joint Force Open Day.....the star performer still has to be the Harrier.....
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It is over! Many thanks to AlanM who did a brilliant job at the Heliport tower and a personal job well done to those Ppruners who worked the show and I was not able to meet.
Magbreak. It was a pleasure to show you around the beast. Hope things are well with you.
Autorotate. Hope you are still having fun. Should we meet up again I still have an open seat approved by the Army for you.
The helicopters finally came out for the public days. The Chinook gave a heart stopping low level display. We complained that we should be allowed to work the same floor as the Chinook but Colin would have nothing of it. They have some new kit in the tower and everytime we sneaked below the floor a tad we were spanked. Their altitudes and our altitudes did not differ by any appreciable amount so we stayed up. A 600 foot floor is just too high for a helo. I was getting nose bleeds. Lynx pairs got stronger each day and were a crowd pleaser. This is my fourth or fifth Farnborough and I must say I am a little sad that there were no civil rotorcraft being displayed in the flying lineup and few manufacturers could be found in static. No real helicopter announcments. Perhaps some country will step up and fund a true international helicopter only airshow.
When we moved from the heliport on Friday our lives became difficult because we quickly discovered that even a pilot cannot walk across a taxiway to get to his aircraft without the ramp gestapo issuing a stern lecuture. I wore a yellow reflective vest that could be seen from the International Space Station but still had to ride to my aircraft in the back of a speeding truck from one side of a taxiway to the other. What could have been done in less than one minute was a fifteen to thirty minute exercise. There were a few Ppruners I would have liked to have taken to the aircraft but the King of the West Ramp made that all but impossible. Farnborough used to be such a display friendly venue. What happened?
Our F-18 pilot Rico "suave" Traven said RIAT was the place to be. A pilot show par excellence.
Magbreak. It was a pleasure to show you around the beast. Hope things are well with you.
Autorotate. Hope you are still having fun. Should we meet up again I still have an open seat approved by the Army for you.
The helicopters finally came out for the public days. The Chinook gave a heart stopping low level display. We complained that we should be allowed to work the same floor as the Chinook but Colin would have nothing of it. They have some new kit in the tower and everytime we sneaked below the floor a tad we were spanked. Their altitudes and our altitudes did not differ by any appreciable amount so we stayed up. A 600 foot floor is just too high for a helo. I was getting nose bleeds. Lynx pairs got stronger each day and were a crowd pleaser. This is my fourth or fifth Farnborough and I must say I am a little sad that there were no civil rotorcraft being displayed in the flying lineup and few manufacturers could be found in static. No real helicopter announcments. Perhaps some country will step up and fund a true international helicopter only airshow.
When we moved from the heliport on Friday our lives became difficult because we quickly discovered that even a pilot cannot walk across a taxiway to get to his aircraft without the ramp gestapo issuing a stern lecuture. I wore a yellow reflective vest that could be seen from the International Space Station but still had to ride to my aircraft in the back of a speeding truck from one side of a taxiway to the other. What could have been done in less than one minute was a fifteen to thirty minute exercise. There were a few Ppruners I would have liked to have taken to the aircraft but the King of the West Ramp made that all but impossible. Farnborough used to be such a display friendly venue. What happened?
Our F-18 pilot Rico "suave" Traven said RIAT was the place to be. A pilot show par excellence.
