Illustrated Encyclopeodia of Aircraft

[Little yellow Brompton]

Those F104 Starfighters were striking looking aircraft, but with those stubby wings I'm surprised it managed to lift off at all. Its turning circle must have been the radius of Greater London. I seem to remember George W Bush use to fly them when he was an USAF reservist.

Lots of technology ( blown flaps and wings) and a BIG motor, if you have enough power you don't need wings ( the Lighting had more thrust than all up weight) .

 

[PocketFrog]

It's all about piston power for me:

EP120, suit you, sir! *rubs knees*

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I've got about 30/40 years worth of Country Music People magazine - I'm not giving them away though, not that anyone wants them. Better than boring old geeky plane jazz mags anyway.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

It's all about piston power for me:

EP120, suit you, sir! *rubs knees*

looking at the clipped wings , is that the Mk IX that was in the opening scenes of " A bridge too far"?

 

[PocketFrog]

looking at the clipped wings , is that the Mk IX that was in the opening scenes of " A bridge too far"?

EP120 is a Mk V but it is the same one from Bridge too Far. See it every year at Flying Legends at Duxford, by far my favourite Spitfire.

 

[Scoosh]

The Phantom was also known as "a collection of rivets flying in loose formation" - by those who flew them ...

The Buccaneer was a much-loved aircraft by all who flew them or worked on them. Brilliant bit of kit.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

They didn't come off, but had a very high wing loading, which meant stall speeds were high and difficult to recover from. As a result a lot inexperienced pilots bought the farm. Downward firing ejector seats in the early ones also meant that if anything went wrong at low altitude you were stuffed.

Happily corrected

 

[Yellow Fang]

I generally use the "one year" rule. If I haven't read it, used it, or referenced it in over a year - then it can either go in the bin, get sold off, or go to someone else in the family or the local charity shop.

I used to be terrible at hoarding paperbacks that I had no intention of ever reading again - but now just have one shelf and when it reaches the left hand side it goes in "The Bag" which is carted off once it has a sufficient volume of books.

It's harder with things that have sentimental value or hark back to a time of a particular interest or passion - my photography stuff lived on happily for years before the wife finally talked me into "letting go!" ...

That's probably a good rule. However, I often regret having got rid of many of the paperbacks I bought. I used to have all of Raymond Chandler, some pretty good science fiction, most of Jeeves and Wooster, all the Patrick O'Brien books, all the Flashman books. The problem is space.

 

[green1]

That's probably a good rule. However, I often regret having got rid of many of the paperbacks I bought. I used to have all of Raymond Chandler, some pretty good science fiction, most of Jeeves and Wooster, all the Patrick O'Brien books, all the Flashman books. The problem is space.

If I ever can afford to buy a house, there will be a fight over the spare bedroom, OH thinks it will be a room for her collection of clothes,shoes and handbags. I KNOW it will be my library.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

That's probably a good rule. However, I often regret having got rid of many of the paperbacks I bought. I used to have all of Raymond Chandler...

I started re-reading the Chandler Marlowe collection last holiday, brilliant books.

 

[Yellow Fang]

The Phantom was also known as "a collection of rivets flying in loose formation" - by those who flew them ...

The Buccaneer was a much-loved aircraft by all who flew them or worked on them. Brilliant bit of kit.

I read a book called Phoenix Squadron by Rowland White, which was largely about the Phantoms and Buccaneers on the old Ark Royal <sigh>. It talked about the pilots of the Fleet Air Arm (unless it was called something else by then). It was about a mission to stop Honduras from invading Berlize, which was a British overseas territory at the time. The book was a slight anti-climax because the Hondurans backed down when they say a pair of Buccaneers flying over Berlize right at the edge of their range. The Hondurans were still equipped with P51 Mustangs, but the only weapon the RN Phantoms could have used against them were under-wing rocket launchers. The RN Phantoms did not have a cannon and their air-to-air missiles were heat seeking. The Mustang with a piston engine at the front would have given off a much smaller signal. I think a Phantom might have had a hard time trying to shoot down a Mustang. A Mustang could just turn inside. The book also told about how good the Fleet Air Arm pilots were. It were pilots from the Royal Navy who turned around the training at the US Navy's Top Gun establishment. Also how dangerous being a Royal Navy pilot was. Their casualty rate was worse than the German Starfighter pilots.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

I read a book called Phoenix Squadron by Rowland White, which was largely about the Phantoms and Buccaneers on the old Ark Royal <sigh>. It talked about the pilots of the Fleet Air Arm (unless it was called something else by then). It was about a mission to stop Honduras from invading Berlize, which was a British overseas territory at the time. The book was a slight anti-climax because the Hondurans backed down when they say a pair of Buccaneers flying over Berlize right at the edge of their range. The Hondurans were still equipped with P51 Mustangs, but the only weapon the RN Phantoms could have used against them were under-wing rocket launchers. The RN Phantoms did not have a cannon and their air-to-air missiles were heat seeking. The Mustang with a piston engine at the front would have given off a much smaller signal. I think a Phantom might have had a hard time trying to shoot down a Mustang. A Mustang could just turn inside. The book also told about how good the Fleet Air Arm pilots were. It were pilots from the Royal Navy who turned around the training at the US Navy's Top Gun establishment. Also how dangerous being a Royal Navy pilot was. Their casualty rate was worse than the German Starfighter pilots.

It was FAA pilots that learnt how to land the WW2 Corsair ( Long lefthand turn keeping th flight deck in sight until the last moment) the Merkin navy and marines had written the AC off as too dangerous to use on carriers because of it's lonh nose and poor visibility. The "Meatball" mirror landing system is also a FAA invention.