The plane enthusiasts thread

[TheDoctor]

Hmmm. I like flying on the 380, but they are pretty ugly to look at. The 747 is way prettier. There will never be an aircraft as lovely as Concorde though.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Been a few Hawks doing low level stuff around here recently. Seems someone is paying for more petrol for the RAF at the moment.

 

[vernon]

Been a few Hawks doing low level stuff around here recently. Seems someone is paying for more petrol for the RAF at the moment.

Cheaper crude oil products. No budget stretching needed.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Hmmm. I like flying on the 380, but they are pretty ugly to look at.

PLane spotters give some planes nicknames. The 747 is a lump while 737s are known as pigs. The A380's is a crude slang for female genitalia on basis that while looking quite odd outside it's very accomodating inside.

(Mods - please delete if this is to near the knuckle!)

 

[Yellow Fang]

Bummer

Oooops - sorry - Bomber

Even bigger bummer:

 

[Bromptonaut]

Even bigger bummer:

TSR2 was a beautiful machine but never capable of meeting the requirement it was designed for.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Even bigger bummer:

Used to be bits at Duxford IIRC?

 

[classic33]

TSR2 was a beautiful machine but never capable of meeting the requirement it was designed for.

Just there at the wrong time. Knocked out of the air by missiles.

 

[Yellow Fang]

TSR2 was a beautiful machine but never capable of meeting the requirement it was designed for.

It could fly away from a Lightning on one engine.

Edit: not strictly accurate. During the flight in question, the TSR2 had both engines running. The test pilot turned on the after-burner on one engine and flew away from a Lightning which had switched both after-burners on.

 

[vernon]

It could fly away from a Lightning on one engine.

That's as maybe but its perceived success was at the expense of downgraded performance specifications: longer take-offs, reduced top speed, reduced combat range and an increasing overspend.

It simply didn't and couldn't deliver the goods to meet the operational specifications on time or within budget. It's a romanticised white elephant.

@User's appraisal of the plane's aesthetics is difficult to challenge. It's an underwhelming design.

Used to be bits at Duxford IIRC?

There's two complete/near complete aircraft, one at Duxford and one at Cosford. I think that there's a cockpit section elsewhere. The rest of the airframes, jigs and tooling were scrapped within months of the project being abandoned.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Pretty sure one of the engines was on ebay for a while

 

[Alex H]

My trade in the RAF was created especially for the TSR2.

So I had to spend most of my time with these

 

[Yellow Fang]

That's as maybe but its perceived success was at the expense of downgraded performance specifications: longer take-offs, reduced top speed, reduced combat range and an increasing overspend.

It simply didn't and couldn't deliver the goods to meet the operational specifications on time or within budget. It's a romanticised white elephant.

@User's appraisal of the plane's aesthetics is difficult to challenge. It's an underwhelming design.



There's two complete/near complete aircraft, one at Duxford and one at Cosford. I think that there's a cockpit section elsewhere. The rest of the airframes, jigs and tooling were scrapped within months of the project being abandoned.

Still a lot better than the American F111 that the Wilson government said they would replace it with, the development costs of which quadrupled before those purchases were cancelled too, which left us relying on those 1950s subsonic V bombers for decades after they were obsolete.

 

[vernon]

Pretty sure one of the engines was on ebay for a while

It's still available

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TSR2-Aircraft-Bristol-Siddeley-Olympus-320-Jet-Engine-TSR-2-/131452123119

Yours for £29,999 plus £1,499 delivery

 

[vernon]

Still a lot better than the American F111 that the Wilson government said they would replace it with, the development costs of which quadrupled before those purchases were cancelled too, which left us relying on those 1950s subsonic V bombers for decades after they were obsolete.

Good job we had them for the Falklands then