Yes, I still have yet to taxi the aircraft to the end of the strip without a major mechanical catastrophe.

Think I’ll just try shooting down a few Stuka. Behave whilst I’m gone!

Moggy

I have a new i7 4ghz Quad core. I’ll have another go and see what’s improved. Wonder why everyone always picks on the poor old Stuka’s? In IL2 those rear gunners were sharp shooters (but then I occasionally got blown by a tanks main gun!).

re the RSAF use of the Lightning- very true in what you say – very good experienced engineers if dare I say it not under the same pressure as RAF ones. I did operate in Saudi but not on Lightnings- No TACEVAL no 24 hour ops detachments etc. Also perhaps it’s true to say the RSAF aircraft were not operated as hard as the RAF aircraft so fewer accidents.
If you look at the last say five accidents of RAF Lightnings again off the top of my head it shows a more realistic picture of why the aircraft crashed
XR769 – engine fire following Re heat pump failure
XP707 – loss of control following non feeding ventral tank
XR763 – hit by part of the air to air banner causing engine -s to fail
XR760 Engine Fire
XR771 – aircraft lost after pilot entered spin in air combat
So what can we deduce – 5 aircraft lost all for different reasons – flying military aircraft is a dangerous game no ifs no buts and if you operate them in the civilian world you will have accidents – Perhaps not as many but history shows it would be unlikely to fly the Lightning under civilian ownership without incurring a loss – No one wants aircraft to crash but you have to treat these machines with the respect they deserve or they will and do bite.

What was the number of crashes v the number of successfull ejections?
Was the ejection seat generally safe, or did any service pilots suffer a seat failure, canopy jam?

Although massively off topic my dad, who served aboard HMS Anson during WW2 told me the day he was loading crates of AA shells into one of the ready use lockers on board the ship. He dropped a case. The wooden case split open and the graze fused shells hit the deck. One shell took the brunt of the impact and the lead cone bent over :eek:. Fortunately the shell didn’t go off.
Not sure how you would deal with that in a Health and Safety world.

BTW we suspect my dad lied about his age and couldn’t have been more than 14, 15 when he joined the navy!

I can’t imagine what it must be like to set foot on another planet (moon), look back at the Earth and wonder. It must be a very humbling and moving experience, and while I would never have the courage to do what he did, or ever in my lifetime see another person do what he did, I wish I had been there to witness the event, if only on TV.

One thing noted in the report that I find quite surprising was that the Pilot did not have a display license. Shouldn’t the authorities have said “hey, this guy isn’t authorized to display this aircraft. Shouldn’t we refuse his participation and alert the authorities?” After all operating a defective aircraft is one thing. Displaying it near thousands of spectators is another. Just look at the impact crater that aircraft left. The potential to cause damage is pretty horrifying.

This is just the opinion of a spectator but I sometimes feel we get left out. In this case the organizers definitely did not have the spectators safety as paramount.

One of these over Reading 23rd 17:30
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_VariEze

So, are the Russians improving their act with regards to formation, demonstration aerobatics then?
No disrecpect to the Russians but their demonstrations normally end with an appearance by the ejection seat and pilot sans aircraft!

Mainly because it’s the Imperial WAR Museum.

Oh yes, I forgot. They have some tanks.