Those are very good shots. I find that the 18-200 is a very useful lens for airshow and museum work but with such a zoom range it is something of a compromise and not the sharpest at the upper end of its range.

Of course, provided you were sure of your position.

Nap-of-the-earth map-reading at high speed was a different matter and demanded a high degree of concentration and precision – not something that your average GA pilot trains for nowadays, I suspect.

“……Operators, ASL of Belgium, said the pilot had to navigate on Saturday night using only charts and a compass…..”

Is that a problem ?

Are you being serious?:confused:

With the latest changes:
ttack helicopter
• Belgian OV-10B Bronco demo

Possibly now off with the crash of the Bronco at Kemble yesterday?

Dont worry Patrick its all OK …..Cutting up manky old planes is part of the Irish work experience initiative ….so it is .

We’ll soon have this airport all cleaned up nice& tidy..so we will .

I can assure you that there are plenty of people in Ireland who were horrified to learn of the scrapping of this aircraft. I suspect that whoever was charged with its care (or disposal) was not aware of its value, even if just as a source of parts. Unfortunately not everyone, especially in a country without a strong aircraft preservation movement, would be aware of the potential interest in such an aircraft from Northern Ireland or overseas.

As for the Buccaneer at Weston, as the last example to be launched from HMS Ark Royal this is a historic airframe, but in an Irish context this is regrettably of no significance. Unless someone in the UK is strongly interested in acquiring it, I would not be optimistic about its continued survival at Weston. However once the Disposal Services Agency sold it in 2007 following its removal from the gate at Lossiemouth, its future was not assured. If there had been sufficient interest in the UK at that time, it might never have ended up in Ireland in the first place.

There was a German-schemed one, with a gas-powered machine gun mounted in the top hatch, based with Jeff Hawke at Rochester in the 1980s. I seem to remember that it was wrecked in Germany whilst being used as a crew trainer for the Lufthansa one.

This one, perhaps? This photo was taken at Brize Norton in 1984. It is now preserved at Sinsheim.

CASA 352L N9012P “Tante Ju” by Irish251, on Flickr