Those skycrspers really damaging the beauty love city of Paris. ca fait mal aux yeux….

Funny, that’s exactly what many Parisians use to say about the Eiffel Tower when they were building it in the 1880s… in fact some still do!!:confused::rolleyes:

Can’t help but notice that the Vigilante in the photo I posted has a single piece windscreen – something of an innovation for a 1950s aircraft I should think.

Was it the first combat jet to have such a windscreen?

If memory serves, the whole thing had become a bit too complicated, due in part to a lack of money. The problem was that they decided they wanted a ‘fast jet’ to help patrol duties, and many seemed to think an upgraded L-39 was a likely choice. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they started talking about actually buying a proper fighter, with used Flankers being suggested. This did seem rather odd, since the Mexican Air Force relies on old F-5E Tigers, so the Navy getting Flankers was certainly interesting! :diablo:

Basically, it would seem that sense has finally prevailed, and they have been forced to back away from the purchase…

Using a fast jet for maritime patrol seems like a very strange idea and I’m not sure what advantages it would bring – can they not use a CN-235 or Do-228 twin-prop like everyone else?

Also, spending long periods of time far out over seawater in a single engined L-39 doesn’t seem like a good idea – better an Alpha jet or a Yak-130 (if they must use a “fast jet”).

The A-5 – I just love those 1950s aircraft!!

Such a brilliant, ground-breaking but also something of a pig’s ear of a design.

If they were to convert it into an air-defence fighter what were they to do with the strangely located bomb bay. Remember, the Vigilante’s wings were never even designed for underwing munitions carriage and I should thing that if North American were to go about redesigning the A-5 as a fighter, they would in effect be creating a completely new aircraft!

Also, the A-5 was so large it wasn’t able to operate from many of the USN’s smaller carriers, which would have effected operational flexibility somewhat.

I love this picture of an A-5.

The aircraft still looks modern for a 50 year old design, the ancient looking tanker truck helping to provide a time period reference (you could almost expect to see Cary Grant running by, followed by a crop duster)!;)

Would you believe that some people actually enjoy a good dose of turbulence on their flights.:eek: 😮

Just goes to show how bored you get to be on some of the long haul flights!:rolleyes:

“much maligned?” the data show otherwise re: DC-10 and MD-11..

Are you some sort of Provocateur?:rolleyes:

Try the Aviation-safety.net website – and read the narratives as well…

The press has an annoying habit of just adding the suffix “ski” onto the end of anything to make it sound russian. They forget that “ski” is really more of a polish surname feature, not a russian one.

A lot of surnames in Russia end in ‘sky’ even if its origins are Polish…

Besides, giving a helicopter a Polish or even a Ukrainian name might not be so unusual. In America a leading Helicopter producer was founded and named after Igor Sikorsky, a Ukrainian immigrant of Polish origins. Another leading company is Boeing Vertol, originally called Piasecki after the son of a Polish immigrant, whilst I believe Kaman is a surname of Polish or Ukrainian origins also? Not to mention Alexandre De Seversky, who founded the Seversky aircraft company, which later became “Republic Aviation.”

Many Russians give Alexander Mozhaisky and not the Wright brothers credit for building the first airplane in the 19th century. The father of Russian aviation and the world’s leading aerodynamicist in his time was Nikolai Zhukovsky, while Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was probably the greatest mind of his time in the fields of Astronautics and rocket propulsion.

Let’s not forget Tumansky of jet engine fame, or Boris Cheranovsky, who was building pure delta-winged aircraft decades before anyone else.

Plenty of “skys” or “skiys” or “skiis” in Russia as far as I can see… or certainly in the aerospace world.

Nice pictures!

Don’t forget this picture: