Just out of curiosity, what engine are you using in the replica?

Having met “THE MAN” at Jet2 a few years ago, it will not be a merger, that is for SURE :eek::D:D For the few minutes I met him he didn´t seem like the “merger” kind of guy, but rather like keep it all guy! I think he will go down with Jet2, rather than merge! If we talk about Jet2 TAKING OVER, some other airline, I´ll believe it, but not a merger. So, IMHO, it will be a take over, NOT a merger, of what ever airline is P.M. sights.

And as a final note, PPRUNE are just horrible for that kind as a gossip! Or any kind of discussion for that matter!! 😮

Whilst it may be the last one extant, having regard to the level of appeal that post-war Miles aeroplanes seem to have at present

AA, I´m not sure I follow you there! The appeal of post-war Miles types is as strong now as it has ever been. Quite a few of them have changed hands in the last few years, both as flying aircraft and as restoration projects. Problem is, there is not a lot of them left and as a resault, the market seems stagnated. In the last 4 years (approximately) we have had AFAIK, 4 Geminis (2 flying, 2 projects) and 2 Messengers (one flying another “almost” flying) change hands. In my opinion, that speaks volumes for the appeal of post-war Miles types. Someone is actually prepared to buy, when the owner wants to sell! The price, on the other hand, is not always out in the public.

in the context of the current asking price and the economic climate that might explain why it has not aroused any particular interest from prospective purchasers.

The aircraft in question has been up for sale for many years, way before the current “economic climate” and in all that time, has failed to find a buyer. Lets just say, the price tag is only part of the problem! It has aroused interest for sure, and a guy I know that is an avid collector of all things Miles, had a look but walked away.

Regards,
S

Graham,
Thank you for starting this tread! I learned something new from it!

I would, however, like to make a small observation. This was a test flight for a new wing modification of the DC-8 and after reading the test “report” (it was made for public consumption!) I would not classify the -8 as an SST! In the report there are some subtle hints about this being much more problematic than if the report is taken at face value.
First of all would be the recovery. The aircraft was trimmed nose up BEFORE the dive, so a steady 50 pound push would be required to maintain the dive angle. Even with that amount of nose up trim, the pilots were unable to pull out from the dive with a pull up force in excess of 100 pounds. So with the trim set to initially to a position requiring a push of 50 pounds to maintain the dive, and the a pull of over 100 pounds to try to recover with out resaults, seems a bit far fetched to be able to call the -8 a “reliable”, every pilot´s SST.
A second, and maybe more troubling observation, is the fact that when they were recovering at lower altitudes the aircraft experienced both rudder and aileron flutter! Flutter tendency reduces with altitude. They started the dive at 50.000 feet, got rudder/aileron flutter at 42.000 feet that disappeared as the aircraft decelerated to .94 through 36.000 feet. Given that normal commercial -8´s were “generally” operated not much higher than 35 – 36.000 feet, I can only assume that a dive from that kind of altitudes would have torn the aircraft to shreds due to flutter.

After highlighting the above problems, where does that leave us with regards to supersonic flight on the -8? In my opinion, it will clearly show the aircraft as a transonic aircraft. Yes, it went to Mach 1 and beyond during MANUFACTURERS testing, in controlled conditions (very high!) and in these controlled conditions it exhibited behavior that would have been leathal in normal operations.
As has been highlighted by others above, many other manufactures did high Mach number tests in their aircraft at the time. Without having checked, I would not be very surprised if you could find similar reports of the Boeing Dash 80 (later to be the 707) being put through it´s paces at or near Mach 1.

A supersonic aircraft in my opinion is an aircraft that can, in normal conditions, with average pilot skill, accelerate to Mach 1 in level flight and then be decelerated to transonic speed without undue hassle. I´am afraid the -8 ticks none of these boxes!

Interesting thread though! Some, otherwise useless, time was used to think:eek: