BIGVERN1966Do the Brits still have a Meteor as an ejection seat tester?
Oh Yes, however they don’t count as combat aircraft as they are trainers and they are operated by Martin Baker (However, are MoD owned and have military serials).
BIGVERN1966I’m kind of surprised nobody’s mentioned it but the newest B-52 is 44 years old. In 2001 the average age of KC-135s in the inventory was 41 years.
There must be a Herc that old about somwhere.
BIGVERN1966When I say serving combat aircraft, I mean anything that flies with wings or rotors that either shoots or gets shot at :diablo:
Does that mean that the Canberra PR9 that was on Op Telic was not doing combat Ops?:confused:
BIGVERN1966Does Chile still operate Canberras?
BIGVERN1966I was told on another forum 😮 that the pilot was Wing Commander Blake.
I didn’t know this for sure, but I’ve been told today that Wing Commander Blake (little :diablo: ) is actually a Group Captain (which I thought he was), and has been for 4 months. Flt Lt Jim Luke 😎 was flying XZ112 on Monday and that final run was at just under 600 Knots (Jim is quoted as saying that is was very noisy in the cockpit on the final run).
Damian and Andy, Contact me privately please.
Richie
BIGVERN1966Suggesting Stealth will defeat radars is to say SAMs have already defeated the purpose of fighters and ATGMs have defeated tanks and MANPADS have defeated Helos… they still seem to be making Helicopters, tanks, fighters, and radars.
The aircraft are not invisible to emissions in the light spectrum so a laser radar might be the most obvious thing to try… especially in the UV or IR spectrum to combat clouds.
In response to the first point, Very True, However the laws of psychics get in the way of the second point. The big problem with the shorter wavelength EM emissions is that the atmosphere and the water vapour in it (Clouds in the visible form) absorb those frequencies massively. (There are certain IR frequencies that do not get absorbed so much, but none of them come close to the efficiency of Radio Frequency radiation in cutting thought the air. UV radiation is worst than visible light in all frequency bands). The problem of passive only systems (which Millimetric and IR mostly use) is that you do not get range information, which is very important when working out a firing solution for a weapon. Using Lasers to get the range will work, however you then need power to get any sort of range, and that blinds people if they happen to be looking the wrong way (which is a contravention of international law under the Geneva conventions).
BIGVERN1966No Stealth aircraft is totally invisible to Radar, All Stealth does is cut down the detection range to allow gaps in the radar coverage, which the stealth flies through. There are methods to defeat Stealth like Bi-static radar. Also the is the option of building very powerful radars with very sensitive receivers (I’d love to see how a B2 or F117 would have coped against one of the Old RAF Type 85 radars operating at full power). The main problem for the defender is that you may be able to see and Track the Stealth with your very large ground based radar (megawatts of power and a huge antenna with lots of gain), but your Fighter or SAM can not due to low power and small antenna. However there is an answer and that is Imaging Infra red (there is a well known piece of film of a Rapier FSC tracking a B2 at Farnborough in 1996 (I think). The problem with that system is that it is limited by weather and range is short. The simple answer is nobody knows, as every time the F117’s or B-2 have gone into combat, They have been behind a shower of Cruise and Anti Radiation missiles targeted at the air defence search radars and air defence operation centres. The aircraft have then used Stealth as protection against the SAMs and Fighters who have no ground based command and control, which greatly limits their effectiveness.
BIGVERN1966Cough cough, Northolt…
And also active, if no longer RAF, are Biggin Hill, Manston, North Weald, Duxford, Fowlmere, Exeter and Middle Wallop…
I suppose Colt was the last Battle of Britain station still in frontline RAF service though.
I was just about to say the same thing, and anyway the main foward base that Coltishall’s Spitfires and Hurricanes flew from during the Battle still has Merlin powered aircraft operating from it.
However a ‘Q’ shed and some F3’s at Northolt would be a bl**dy good idea in this day and age.
BIGVERN1966I bet my mate from APSS is pulling what’s left of his hair out over this (If he’s got any left after what he called the ‘Concorde fiasco’).
BIGVERN1966Not a GA man, but know a little bit about aircraft. Surely if the aircraft does not have a valid CofA certificate or a permit to fly (My knowledge of aircraft law is limited to gliders), then its legally not airworthy, period. Would not that make his insurance invalid too?
BIGVERN1966COLD WAR WEST RAYNHAM
Damien
Bids closed on the sale offer early March but not yet heard the outcome.
The dome trainer you highlight was put in during the 1980s for use by the Rapier Training Unit when training RAF Regiment gunners in the fine art of surface-to-air missile systems. It is not an original wartime building.
Regards
Spot on AgCat 🙂 , the Dome trainer was used for Rapier Field Standard B(1M) (known as the Bimberly) operator training (i.e. mostly baby Rockape Gunners straight out of Cattarick). The kit (I think it was called the AT4) was located next to No 4 hanger which was the home of 66 Squadron RAF Regiment (one of the 3 USAF funded Rapier Squadrons of 6 Wing, RAF Regiment who’s HQ was based in No 2 hanger along with the Rapier Training Unit). 2 Squadrons of Rockapes made life interesting for the RAF Police and the Kestrel Club (NAFFI) Duty Committee Member while trying to close the place on the Friday night Disco back in the mid 1980’s. The other two hangers were No 1 hanger (left of shot) which actually had aircraft in it during the 1980’s. The OC Eng Wing had a light aircraft (cannot remember what type) which lived there and on a couple of occasions some Tornado GR1’s out of Marham over-nighted there as part of an exercise in the use of West Ranyham as a dispersal airfield during 1987/88. No 3 Hanger was used as the Radar Maintenance Facility for the Bloodhound 2 Target Illuminating Radars.
BIGVERN1966Hi BigVern, I was told on another forum 😮 that the pilot was Wing Commander Blake.
I don’t want to start any flaming, but I’d like to get the correct info rather than stick my foot in it with someone 😉
Are you positive that it was Jim Luke?
I’d like to get the info right for my website.I agree Damien, This Jag and the other “tailed” Jags should end up in museums, they’re part of history now! There are no more active RAF “Battle Of Britain” era airfields left now, it’s a shame that Colt’s runways will probably get ripped up to be used as hardcore!
Cheers
Andy
Andy
Wing Commander Blake was in the aircraft on Saturday :diablo: . I’ve talked to a number of people and they all say that Jim Luke was in that aircraft on Monday 😎 . (And that has been confirmed by 😀 😀 my brother 😀 😀 who is on 6 Squadron and knows him 😉 . Mick Jennings has also confirmed it when I talked to him on Wednesday 😀 ).
As for the Specials, the 112 birds (XX (EA) 6 Sqn and XZ (GW)) will most likely be the only Jaguars to keep the tails (plus of course the 6 Sqn hanger queen which has the same markings as EA). The 41 Squadron End of an Era tail will be stripped in the very near future, as the aircraft will be a 😀 😀 Canopener 😀 😀 . XZ112 was of course the 54 Sqn disbandment kite before getting the Colt 65th Tail. I’ve no idea what happened to the Saints disbandment aircraft :confused: .
No problems with the flaming, getting the story right is the most important thing. (I do know a lot more, but it’s the old case of, if I tell you, I’ve then got to kill you 😉 . The simple story, however, I’ve already mentioned on another thread in this forum that has no place here. But the subject does have the word 😉 BUN 😉 in it.).
Richie (AKA Bigvern1966)
BIGVERN1966Top Photos Andy. Jim Luke of 6 Sqn was the pilot (don’t be surprised if a request for prints comes from his direction). Nice to see you included the Air Traffic boys and their Wagons (I spent a couple of hours in that caravan taking video of the Jaguars operating back in 1998 for a Computer presentation about Airfield Navaids, Radars and other RAF ground based electronic systems for the last but one Royal Tournament). I’ve been told that XZ112 will not be operated at Coningsby, but is one of the jaguars going into storage at Shawbury. Hopefully one day a museum will get her.
BIGVERN1966
Hey boys, I cannot believe anybody didn’t even think of this one 😮 . Take every conventional weapon on the thread so far, add the firepower together, times that figure by tens of thousands and put it into 🙂 ONE BOMB!!!! 🙂 Hang it under a Bear and drop it in the Soviet arctic. Soviet TSAR BOMBA (King of Bombs) 50 Megatonnes Plus, exploded on 23 October 1961. IMPRESSIVE WEAPON LOAD OR WHAT! :diablo:
For all of the details on the 🙂 [FONT=Impact] TSAR BOMBA [/FONT] 🙂 check out this link. For anybody who does not known, this was the biggest man made bang on the planet 😮 EVER!!!!!! 😮
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/TsarBomba.html
BIGVERN1966Hey boys, I cannot believe anybody didn’t even think of this one 😮 . Take every conventional weapon on the thread so far, add the firepower together, times that figure by tens of thousands and put it into 🙂 ONE BOMB!!!! 🙂 Hang it under a Bear and drop it in the Soviet arctic. Soviet TSAR BOMBA (King of Bombs) 50 Megatonnes Plus, exploded on 30 October 1961. IMPRESSIVE WEAPON LOAD OR WHAT! :diablo:
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