I Like Planes

Akirasho

... born, raised and still living near a large airbase, as well as living in the town credited with giving the world the Wright Brothers, I've always liked flighty things...

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Akirash ... a.mp4.html

... I'm fairly shur I've posted this second vid here before, but it was from last year's Doolittle Raid Anniversary (this year, was the last Anniversary of the surviving Doolittle crew) and is of 16 B-25s in tribute... the largest single gathering of B-25s since the raid (even during WWII, B-25s weren't assigned huge bomber wings like the B-17s or Lancasters)...

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Akirash ... r.mp4.html








YAY!

arran77

We have this in the middle of a roundabout near here......



8)

antfly

We have this on a roundabout, it flew from the beach to America.

seanoconn

arran77 wrote:

We have this in the middle of a roundabout near here......



8)

Nifty bit of landing

heavy_rat

antfly wrote:

We have this on a roundabout, it flew from the beach to America.

No way. That truck hasn't even got wings :?

thegreatdivide

Grew up next to a busy airbase too (RAF Leuchars). The Cold War was a great time (for me anyway). It was a plane spotters dream. Sadly the base is about to be mothballed so no more rumbling in the skies over Fife and Tayside :-(

estampida

could sit here watching footage all day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf5IQEqQ8Ec

seanoconn

estampida wrote:

could sit here watching footage all day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf5IQEqQ8Ec

Me too...



Yeah baby!

VTech

If ever you guys get the chance, take a small aircraft out for a few hours and feel true flight, it a wonderful feeling.

MountainMonster

Interesting to hear you are from NC, I'm born and raised in Durham/Chapel Hill.

Monty Dog

arran77 wrote:

We have this in the middle of a roundabout near here......



8)

The irony is that the Whittle jet isn't even on the Whittle roundabout, which is the next one along the road....

Plus there's another one in Rugby:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/606710

arran77

Monty Dog wrote:

arran77 wrote:

We have this in the middle of a roundabout near here......



8)

The irony is that the Whittle jet isn't even on the Whittle roundabout, which is the next one along the road....

Plus there's another one in Rugby:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/606710

You're right, the Whittle roundabout has some weird sort of standing stone type things on it I think!!

peat

We have a plane on a stick over a roundabout here.

Lovely stuff.

antfly

"Planes on roundabouts" is surely set to become more popular than "girls in lycra".

AchillesLeftKnee

antfly wrote:

"Planes on roundabouts" is surely set to become more popular than "girls in lycra".

I'm holding out for "Girls in lycra on planes on roundabouts" myself.

ballysmate

seanoconn wrote:

estampida wrote:

could sit here watching footage all day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf5IQEqQ8Ec

Me too...



Yeah baby!

These planes give me wood.

declan1

VTech wrote:

If ever you guys get the chance, take a small aircraft out for a few hours and feel true flight, it a wonderful feeling.

This. It feels like you're in a dream, floating around the sky in a beautiful flowing aircraft and you feel wonderful!





Until you hit a thermal and nearly hit your head off the roof.

chrisaonabike

declan1 wrote:

Until you hit a thermal and nearly hit your head off the roof.

If this happens, your lap strap is not tight enough. No excuses.

VTech

declan1 wrote:

VTech wrote:

If ever you guys get the chance, take a small aircraft out for a few hours and feel true flight, it a wonderful feeling.

This. It feels like you're in a dream, floating around the sky in a beautiful flowing aircraft and you feel wonderful!





Until you hit a thermal and nearly hit your head off the roof.

Im usually too busy keeping the 3 fingers on straight and narrow
I havent done many hours this year so need to get some in, what do you fly declan ?

declan1

VTech wrote:

declan1 wrote:

VTech wrote:

If ever you guys get the chance, take a small aircraft out for a few hours and feel true flight, it a wonderful feeling.

This. It feels like you're in a dream, floating around the sky in a beautiful flowing aircraft and you feel wonderful!





Until you hit a thermal and nearly hit your head off the roof.

Im usually too busy keeping the 3 fingers on straight and narrow
I havent done many hours this year so need to get some in, what do you fly declan ?

I'm in the air cadets so we sometimes fly these:


However we quite often get to fly these:


Which are great fun. Aerobatics and everything!

The first time I went up the pilot mainly took control, but the second time I told them how I was into flying and he let me take control for the whole hour!

Also, my head is literally an inch from the canopy in the G115 so and turbulence at all and it hits it!

VTech

My baby,



Great to fly, im still learning as the hours go by but I love it. Just need to put more time into it.

declan1

VTech wrote:

My baby,



Great to fly, im still learning as the hours go by but I love it. Just need to put more time into it.

What's that - a Saratoga?

It looks nice! Loving the paint scheme!

VTech

You know your stuff, yes a PA32.
Im planning on doing some medium flights and would love to one day get my IR and be able to manage a night flight.

Ive always fancied being able to fly from local airfield and then down to Majorca, doubt ill ever do that but its a great thought

declan1

VTech wrote:

You know your stuff, yes a PA32.
Im planning on doing some medium flights and would love to one day get my IR and be able to manage a night flight.

Ive always fancied being able to fly from local airfield and then down to Majorca, doubt ill ever do that but its a great thought

Yeah definitely go for your IR - I hear it's great fun flying with no visibility then suddenly emerging from the clouds perfectly lined up with the correct runway (that's if you do it right, of course)!

Not wishing to brag, but I'm currently the best in the Air Cadets at aircraft recognition

Escadrille Ecosse

However we quite often get to fly these:


Which are great fun. Aerobatics and everything!

The first time I went up the pilot mainly took control, but the second time I told them how I was into flying and he let me take control for the whole hour!

Also, my head is literally an inch from the canopy in the G115 so and turbulence at all and it hits it!

Used to fly one of these when I was in the university Air Squadron (XX559 amongst others)

Plenty of headroom, but we did once have to hurriedly rescue one of the Boss's jelly babies from the canopy after it fell out of his pocket whilst inverted.

This has recently arrived close to where I work, a replica but quite a good one

declan1

Bulldogs were apparently much more fun than the Tutors. They felt more like planes, where the Tutor feels more like a glider (Grob mainly make gliders). I'd love to have a flight in a Bulldog one day!

AchillesLeftKnee

I'm now starting to feel needlessly old by virtue having done my CCF AEF stuff in Chipmunks.

Anyone else remember "Jump jump John! Jump jump Sir!" ?

declan1

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

I'm now starting to feel needlessly old by virtue having done my CCF AEF stuff in Chipmunks.

Anyone else remember "Jump jump John! Jump jump Sir!" ?

Blimey, you must be old :P

Escadrille Ecosse

declan1 wrote:

Bulldogs were apparently much more fun than the Tutors. They felt more like planes, where the Tutor feels more like a glider (Grob mainly make gliders). I'd love to have a flight in a Bulldog one day!

Bulldog was enormous fun, not sure the g limits were were much different from the Tutor but it did have a little more power. Another benefit was the complete absence of any flight data recording thirty years ago.

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

I'm now starting to feel needlessly old by virtue having done my CCF AEF stuff in Chipmunks.

Anyone else remember "Jump jump John! Jump jump Sir!" ?

Yup, did my first air experience flights in the back of a Chipmunk out of RAF Turnhouse as it was then.

Can still remember most of the landing checks for the Bulldog; rpm max, mixture fully rich, etc....all the way up to harness tight, canopy latched.

For the most immediate flying experience though, I think paragliding (solo) has to be the most visceral.

AchillesLeftKnee

Most of mine were from Hurn (Bournemouth), usually over north Dorset / West Hants, plus a couple of laps of the Isle of Wight (on of which involved flying over the Red Arrows in V formation, with them on a reciprocal course 1,000ft below us... what I'd have done to have had a GoPro for that!).

Apart from the AEF, I think the most amazing experience was at the Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe down on a base visit. We went up in threes in two of the school's Gazelles. Clearly no-one got near the controls, but half an hour's nap-of-the-earth flying over the Salisbury Plain ranges was, to put it mildly, a ****ing amazing experience that'll stay with me forever.

Flying is something that would be very high on the list if the money was available and spendable, that's for sure, although given my ineptness in such things I think it's probably better for population at large that it isn't.

Paragliding isn't something I've experienced, but definitely has the look of exhilarating / terrifying in equal measure.

@Declan... I'm still clinging on to my thirties, just.

declan1

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

Most of mine were from Hurn (Bournemouth), usually over north Dorset / West Hants, plus a couple of laps of the Isle of Wight (on of which involved flying over the Red Arrows in V formation, with them on a reciprocal course 1,000ft below us... what I'd have done to have had a GoPro for that!).

Apart from the AEF, I think the most amazing experience was at the Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe down on a base visit. We went up in threes in two of the school's Gazelles. Clearly no-one got near the controls, but half an hour's nap-of-the-earth flying over the Salisbury Plain ranges was, to put it mildly, a ****ing amazing experience that'll stay with me forever.

Flying is something that would be very high on the list if the money was available and spendable, that's for sure, although given my ineptness in such things I think it's probably better for population at large that it isn't.

Paragliding isn't something I've experienced, but definitely has the look of exhilarating / terrifying in equal measure.

@Declan... I'm still clinging on to my thirties, just.

That's not too old then haha!

Back then you guys got a lot more flying than we do now. I've been in the cadets for 4 and a half years now and have been flying around 4 times. Budget cuts and all that...