Frank van Hemert took those? Some four years ago, my (then-)girlfriend and me used to live in the same flat building (he was on the ground floor, we were on the third). He’s one of the more autistical planespotters around, i hardly ever spoke with the guy and he is an expert in giving you the “Do-i-know-you?”-look.

Now his father, that’s a planespotter dinosaur. KC-97s at Wiesbaden, RB-66s at Spangdahlem…

How detailed do you want it? I mean, would you have to teach how to differentiate a T-33 from a MiG-25, or a MiG-25RB from a MiG-25RBT? I can help a bit if you’re looking for the second, for the first one i would suggest to look at a few basic aviation sites/books.

To keep basic types apart, a 3-side view plus one clear photo for each type is enough. Point out the most prominent features (intake shape, wing shape, number of fins, stuff like that) and your CO will be pleased. You can download 3-side views from anywhere or just scan them from books, and perhaps you might give your presentation a little exclusivity if you can persuade some of the resident photographers to help you out with pics.

And be a good chap… put a few obscure aircraft into the mix as well. Nothing more fun than showing off by putting a Simourq into the mix.

105 Tayaset at Hatzor.

It wasn’t me,
I was only paid
Flood gave me a fee,
For him to get laid
With his woman, so divine
named Anna – or Mark Nine

:rolleyes:

It would be a better idea if this thread was removed. If not, some people might try how far it needs to go…

Originally posted by SOC
Oh please, you’d be shocked at the amount of crap we typically return from overseas with 😀

No i wouldn’t! If i would be having a whole tanker at my disposal, i wouldn’t just be buying bicycle horns (China), Kvas-syrup (Russia), booze (everywhere), water pistols (Poland, Bulgaria), disgusting sausages (Romania), delicious sausages plus sauce (Denmark), plastic viking helmets (Sweden), huge pink sunglasses (can’t remember), annoying T-shirts, butt-ugly slippers which don’t even fit….

I wouldn’t bet against it, we can fit more than a few large pallets inside and still seat (although I use the term very loosely :rolleyes: ) 40 people or so inside, not counting the flight crew. Besides, the fighter pilots’ gear doesn’t even have to be put on our jet. Travel pods 😎

The requirement for the KC-10 was to get rid of the whole train of C-141s normally flying along with fighter deployments. Of course this didn’t work, as more transport capability obviously means more stuff that’s taken along on a trip. Hey, you don’t even need to deflate your beachball anymore.
Travel pods are indeed nice… especially since they aren’t visited by customs all that often. Bitburg AFB appearantly had a very populair PX, judging by the number of Norwegian, Danish and Italian travel pods loaded up on their visitors platform 😀

I haven’t ever defended my home yet, but i do believe i have offended it on a number of occasions.

What is the use to put fingerprints on a visa anyway? It’s not like your visa application is going to be compared with the stuff the phorensics guys dug out of Tora Bora. Neither do i have to leave my fingerprints when i go to the hardware store to buy a knife.

AFAIK, visa are just a nice way to collect extra nice stamps in your passport (sod the US and Russia, their visas are torn out when departing!) and -for the country concerned- both an entrance fee and an ineffective way of pretending to care who visits the country.

Spoken to you by someone who had gotten his Ukrainian (transit-)visa by handing over a xeroxed mugshot not being his own, by someone who had gotten his Serb visa on a discount because “It doesn’t make sense that a visa for an American is cheaper than mine”… i can go on, and then start adding other people’s stories too.

Besides, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by avoiding customs at all. If the fee is good, i can be your tourguide at Frankfurt, Orly and Schiphol :rolleyes:

Security works, until you know better.

For small tankers, apart from the tanking-capable Herks you’ve also got that French C160 with a single-point refuelling hose and the Chinese HU-6. Both are relatively small, but not really worth the hassle if you’re not already operating the types.

Besides, small tankers are pretty useless except if you want to have them operate from aircraft carriers. Usually, your tanker will be supporting a group of aircraft, be that a strike package or a squadron being deployed somewhere. So you’ll need plenty of fuel to stuff down the receptacles of a number of aircraft, and also the fuel for the tanker itself to loiter around at the refuelling station. Also, when going along with a deployment, it might be a good idea if your tanker can bring the ground equipment along as well. This is why the USAF got the KC-10, as it could play Mother Goose for a fighter deployment from the US to Europe.

And don’t forget that some aircraft, like the Su-30, have really big tanks to fill. China’s FuelBadgers only carry marginally more kerosene than their Su-30MKKs…

But i agree with you that six tankers is hardly any use for an air force the size of India. That’s hardly enough to train the fighter pilots to hook up, let alone sustain operations with.