Official Aviation Thread...

[FLYNAVY]

God why won't you let this bird die?

https://www.facebook.com/SikorskyAircraft/videos/10153172116885770/

Not sure if I cut the link but it shows the new and improved CH-53K three engine monster. Glad I'm retiring this year so I hope I will not be loading these anymore.

I thought -53D and on all had 3 engines…..not the case?

[Kedge]

I got to see the Vulcan fly when I was a kid. They brought it over for the Abbotsford Airshow in the early '80s.

They should bring it here to North America and get it on the Airshow circuit as the rules that have grounded it in England do not apply here. Its a truly awesome sight to see. The other possibility is move all the good parts from that Vulcan to one of the few in the states and fly those.

Will

It really is a shame it's no longer allowed to fly. Are the regulations in the US not so strict regarding old planes then? My understanding is that once the funding companies pulled out, they deemed it too risky to allow it to continue flying due to being unable to detect potential airframe weaknesses.

[M-technik-3]

I thought -53D and on all had 3 engines…..not the case?

They did but these are just a bit heavier and bigger which means longer to load two of them on the jet. They are a serious butt pain.

[BlackbirdM3]

It really is a shame it's no longer allowed to fly. Are the regulations in the US not so strict regarding old planes then? My understanding is that once the funding companies pulled out, they deemed it too risky to allow it to continue flying due to being unable to detect potential airframe weaknesses.

Its my understanding that to keep an aircraft airworthy here in the states it simply needs to pass its annual inspection. It doesn't matter who does the work on the parts as long as they are certified to work on them. For instance, one of the big hurdles is the lack of support from Rolls Royce on the engines. I'd be willing to bet there are people here in the states who can work on the engines, and if parts are NLA, perhaps engines could be substituted for different ones. (I understand that is illegal to do in the UK.) The ejection seats need to be inspected every year. I think those were part of the BAE contract. I'd bet there are people here in the US who can do the inspection. Sure there are Vulcan specific systems that are unknown here in the states, but I'd bet there are guys in the Vulcan program who do know them and could teach people here how to work on them.

Its a shame that its grounded due to legal reasons rather than an actual unrepairable problem.

Will

[M-technik-3]

This aircraft needs to go under expirmental designation but then again that will limit it immensely as well. Shame where does the UK Gov't store their dead aircraft? We have many sites and Davis Monthan comes to mind immediately, but UK stuff? Too wet to store aircraft there outside.

[BlackbirdM3]

This aircraft needs to go under expirmental designation but then again that will limit it immensely as well. Shame where does the UK Gov't store their dead aircraft? We have many sites and Davis Monthan comes to mind immediately, but UK stuff? Too wet to store aircraft there outside.

They for the most part recycle them. There are a handful of Vulcans as gate guards around the UK, but very few post WW2 warbirds remain.

I got my pics done from the Reno Air races, have a look here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/473099...57660437403862

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

I'm working my way through the San Francisco Fleet Week pics. Here is a sample.






Will

[E30_Pare]

kewl!

[flyboyx]

i love the transitional mach shock wave.

[Kedge]

Its my understanding that to keep an aircraft airworthy here in the states it simply needs to pass its annual inspection. It doesn't matter who does the work on the parts as long as they are certified to work on them. For instance, one of the big hurdles is the lack of support from Rolls Royce on the engines. I'd be willing to bet there are people here in the states who can work on the engines, and if parts are NLA, perhaps engines could be substituted for different ones. (I understand that is illegal to do in the UK.) The ejection seats need to be inspected every year. I think those were part of the BAE contract. I'd bet there are people here in the US who can do the inspection. Sure there are Vulcan specific systems that are unknown here in the states, but I'd bet there are guys in the Vulcan program who do know them and could teach people here how to work on them.

Its a shame that its grounded due to legal reasons rather than an actual unrepairable problem.

Will

I know the engines have been listed as a problem, but it sounds like the airframe is the bigger one, they'd already had carryout modifications to it to allow it to continue to fly as long as it is, the story they're saying now is they just can't gaurentee the integrity of it with so much flying time now completed. I'm still convinced they could keep it flying, just finding someone who's prepared to take to the risk, which the original backers wouldn't.

I've also heard that there are very few, if any now, that are still alive from the design/production teams, if they are they'll be damn old! I also heard a lot of original documentation from that period has also been lost.

My uncle was actually a mechanic on these back in the day, may have to ask him what he knows

This aircraft needs to go under expirmental designation but then again that will limit it immensely as well. Shame where does the UK Gov't store their dead aircraft? We have many sites and Davis Monthan comes to mind immediately, but UK stuff? Too wet to store aircraft there outside.

UK GOV't doesn't, they're either sold (to other countries or private collections) or scrapped/recycled.

[Kedge]

Last year I also I had the chance to go an see the Antonov AN-225 take off from EMA.

[TroyShark]

Northrop Grumman gets contract for new stealth bomber

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/27/politics/long-range-strike-bomber-northrop-grumman/

[Eric]

Did the xb-70 fly to it's new home? That thing is a monster!

[Eric]

nevermind!




edit: Sorry for the spam, but at 4:45 on the lower left part of the frame is an SR-71 and it's humpback drone thing (I know blackbird will fill me in on the details). I'd never seen modern photo's of the little drone thing.

[BlackbirdM3]

nevermind!




edit: Sorry for the spam, but at 4:45 on the lower left part of the frame is an SR-71 and it's humpback drone thing (I know blackbird will fill me in on the details). I'd never seen modern photo's of the little drone thing.

Cool Video. At 4:45 that is a YF-12. They built 3, one crashed on landing, one had a fire and later became the SR-71C (A strange creature, designed to be another dual cockpit trainer, but the cockpit section was built from a static mockup and was never designed to fly. It was part SR-71 and part YF-12. You can find it at Hill AFB in Utah.) and the 3rd and last remaining YF-12 is the one you see in the video. The YF-12 was designed to be an air to air fighter. They put the round nose on to cover the radar system for the missile guidance system (predecessor to the Phoenix missile that the F-14s carried) The design was very good, and was faster than the SR-71 and higher flying as well. Sec Def McNamara axed the program just like he did with the XB-70, and ultimately the production of the SR-71 (He ordered all the tooling to be destroyed after 980 was built, hence the reason the SR-71C was built to replace 957 that crashed just after it was built.)

Will