Jump to content

Home

Close encounters with cool planes


vanir

Recommended Posts

I was at work last week when a Yak-3 in full colours flew right over my head at about 50ft. Very impressive little plane.

 

A couple of years ago I lived at an inner suburb and watched from a park as a Hornet did a series of aerobatics right above me. The Moomba celebrations (local yearly event) were actually on the other side of the city so it was especially cool and almost like a treat just for me.

 

I do remember way back in cadets too long ago, my flight was the first Australians to see the Hornet arrive at our bases, flanked by a pair of F-111's. Naturally the pilot did a bit of show off and put on a good show for us. That's twice I've seen someone really pull the stops out on an F-18 and show what it can do (it's a really quick plane around sea level).

 

Of course I've been to some shows and seen the usual Spits and Warhawks, some Cold War bombers (Canberras, Vulcans).

 

So I figured most of you are yanks, some probably live in West Germany or something, maybe someone's from the Czech Republic around here who knows? I was interested in hearing about other people's encounters with cool planes. Yeh I'm a big aircraft fan.

 

So what about it? Seen any F-4's doing a mock combat? MiGs going vertical? Sukhoi's killing crowds?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love planes. I went to an airshow this summer and was privledged to see the F-22 Raptor Demo. Impressive! I probably enjoyed that more than watching the Blue Angels perform. It really was a great show.

 

Got to see the C-17 GlobeMaster III do it's short runway landing, and that was mind blowing. Amazing to be able to see an aircraft that large land on such a short amount of runway. I was also privledged to see the MiG-17 Fury Fighters do some tricks, as well as a F-15 driver. The best air show that I have ever been to!

 

I also live close to an Air Force Base. Tankers, KC-135s. Occasionally see them fly over my house. As you can tell, I am quite the aviation junky. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love it! I heard the F-22 is the only modern warbird that can match the Sukhoi's cobra manoeuvre...though to be fair the Flanker was doing that before variable geometry outlets and it still has the world records for time to altitude and ordinance to 40,000ft from a cold runway start (5 tons in just over 2min).

 

I also read there's a few resto warbirds from Korea doing the rounds in the 'States in private hands, MiG-15/17 models and Sabrejets. Been more F4F's resto'd too. New Zealand has the best Zeroes, since they were the occupational forces in the Solomons and got the captured booty. They've got the only airworthy Model 32 I think.

 

F-15 was a Cold War classic. You know it was made during a compromise on the sheer cost of the YF-17A prototype and the (presumed) performance of the MiG-25. As it turned out it actually outperformed the Foxbat under normal aerial combat scenarios, which was entirely unexpected at the time. The MiG was clocked after all, doing 3.2 Mach in Egypt like it was out for a Sunday cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get to see a patroling police helicopter over my neighborhood almost every night...

Is it black? If so, then put on your tin foil hat, take all that you need and sneak out at night. Don't say anything if they catch you, not a word. Take up residence in a cave, forest or any other non-urban area you are unrelated to.

 

:conspire:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love it! I heard the F-22 is the only modern warbird that can match the Sukhoi's cobra manoeuvre...though to be fair the Flanker was doing that before variable geometry outlets and it still has the world records for time to altitude and ordinance to 40,000ft from a cold runway start (5 tons in just over 2min).

Yup, that is pretty impressive. The Russian military builds strong, rugged aircraft that can perform. The few differences that I have found is that the F-22 is a lot more stealthy, and it has supercruise allowing it to reach and maintain supersonic speeds without using afterburner.

I also read there's a few resto warbirds from Korea doing the rounds in the 'States in private hands, MiG-15/17 models and Sabrejets. Been more F4F's resto'd too. New Zealand has the best Zeroes, since they were the occupational forces in the Solomons and got the captured booty. They've got the only airworthy Model 32 I think.

These are the MiG Fury Fighters. The jet engine on those aircraft are amazing. Just being able to hear and see it in afterburner is exhilerating. It has such a unique sound to it...I am so happy that I was able to see them in action.

F-15 was a Cold War classic. You know it was made during a compromise on the sheer cost of the YF-17A prototype and the (presumed) performance of the MiG-25. As it turned out it actually outperformed the Foxbat under normal aerial combat scenarios, which was entirely unexpected at the time. The MiG was clocked after all, doing 3.2 Mach in Egypt like it was out for a Sunday cruise.

3.2? That is fast. The US's F-15E Strike Eagle can get up to Mach 2.5+, so it is up there. The F-15 is a classic and one of my all-time favorite aircraft. It has broken/holds many of our speed and performance records. Just hearing one of them in the air just sounds like freedom. Un-describable.

 

Nice to know that someone else out there shares my love for aviation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love it! I heard the F-22 is the only modern warbird that can match the Sukhoi's cobra manoeuvre...though to be fair the Flanker was doing that before variable geometry outlets and it still has the world records for time to altitude and ordinance to 40,000ft from a cold runway start (5 tons in just over 2min).

can honestly outdue the
.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eh, the Su-37 has a more classic-jet-fighter look to it, and it doesn't need to have the area around it perfectly clean, but something about internal ordinance bays is just cool.... that and the F-22's radar signature is pretty small for a fighter.

 

But, anyway, my 'Close Encounters'.

 

A P-38 was flying around my neighborhood a few months back, at about 200-some feet that thing is loud! And, I got a decent picture of it too... but then my SD card in my camera had to go corrupt itself! (Yes, that really bit!)

 

A few years ago, the Blue Angels were preforming at LaCrosse Municipal Airport for an airshow, and my grandmother's house is less than ten miles away, so we got to see some pretty cool stuff that isn't normally seen at the airshow proper. I was so glad we were visiting that week!

 

Then it's just the obligatory airshows and museum visits...

 

Though, Ellsworth AFB out in South Dakota was pretty cool... Not only did we get to see a B1-B waaaayyyy up close, but then got to tour a missile silo... I wish I remembered what the missile in it was, but it looked nothing like the silo in Wargames...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The MiG (-25) was clocked after all, doing 3.2 Mach in Egypt like it was out for a Sunday cruise.

Funny thing about that story: it happened when the Soviets sent a few MiG-25Rs to Egypt to overfly Israel, ostensibly to take photos, but actually to show off the type's performance to western intelligence. That flight resulted in the engines being damaged beyond repair because they were not meant to be run at that high of speed for extended periods of time. So while at the time western intelligence was convinced that the MiG-25 was in the same performance class as the Lockheed SR-71, it really wasn't. As a matter of fact, the type wasn't even capable of intercepting an SR-71, either. However, it's successor, the MiG-31, was. Western intelligence also incorrectly assumed that it was built primarily out of titanium, like the SR-71, when the material used was actually far less advanced: plain old steel. I guess that the Soviets thought that that kind of intelligence spoof was worth a pair of burned-out engines. ;) One wonders if it really could have taken on the aircraft that it was designed to intercept: the North American (Rockwell) XB-70 Valkyrie, IMO one of the sexiest aircraft ever constructed.

But the Su-37 just looks so much cooler than the F-22! ;)

Agreed. I always thought that the F-22 looked like an F-15 with a water retention problem. :p

Eh, the Su-37 has a more classic-jet-fighter look to it, and it doesn't need to have the area around it perfectly clean, but something about internal ordinance bays is just cool.... that and the F-22's radar signature is pretty small for a fighter.

I believe that RedHawke may have been referring to the Sukhoi S-37 Berkut, which is now known as the Su-47, and the appearance of that aircraft is anything but "classic." As far as the F-22 is concerned, the less I say about it the better. It's way overbudget and, in being fielded 20 years after it was designed, was obsolete before it was even deployed. Ridiculous!

 

Anyone in the States with even a passing interest in aviation should make the pilgrimage to the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio and discover what awesome really is. And yes, it has the only surviving XB-70, along with just about every other type of aircraft ever flown by the Air Force and quite a few from foreign nations as well. It's got to be one of the coolest places on Earth, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's the Mecca of aviation nuts everywhere, like myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live just outside RAF Midenhall but its USAS home to 100th Air Refueling Wing and the

352nd Special Operations Group which is cool so often see KC-135 ,MC-130p but during the 1991 gulf conflict i recall seeing A10s F111s F15s and my dad says he can rember hearing the SR-71 blackbirds taking off in the early 80s. Also get fair amount of RAF activity including Harriers, Tornados, Typhoons and Army Coop Apaches, all of which is very cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw a Chinook on my way home from school once. I felt it first though. The sound that thing puts out is amazing.

 

Shortly after the Iraq war started i remember seeing a huge fleet of about 50 helicopters fly over my town. don't know where they were going though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn straight it works. :D

 

The X-29 served its purpose in proving that a supersonic aircraft with a forward-swept wing was both feasible and practical through the use of modern composites and fly-by-wire. I'd venture to say that in the Su-47 the Russians benefitted more from that program than the US. If they can keep it's weight down and increase its available thrust it could very likely fly rings around the F-22.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw a strange helicopter flying near one of the military camps where I live, if you were to classify it, it would probably be a super-chopper. It was definately American, but I couldn't find any choppers that fit its description.

 

Is it possibly something I wasn't supposed to know about? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CommanderQ I think you saw something you weren't meant to see, Listen closely. Watch your back, Know where your family is at ALL times and always carry something to defend yourself with for about a year and a half.. If you see men in black suits who are trying to blend in with crowds, go into a crowded area and always have at least three people with you when out in public. Don't make any uneccesary phone calls and get a few guard dogs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...