This one….?

The description of said Cat in John Cooper’s post reminded me that a similar logo had been painted on the LH intake of Phantom ZE352 at some time during its career. ‘352 was based at Wtm, if that has any relevance.

It doesn’t look much like a Lightning flying away from you so much as a rather rude rendition of a strutting tom:D

If anyone can shed any further light on what it is meant to represent (apart from the obvious) and who might have painted it and why, I’d be interested to hear.

Anyway, here it is (apologies for the poor quality and thread hijack):

Anon.

Similar to this one?

Courtesy of 74 eng facebook page

It will be interesting to know which airframes have been selected from AMARG for conversion. I will be interested in researching their former life with the USAF.

Which of you is the RAF getting?

None of them.

All 3 are recently active frames. From http://www.ukserials.com they are

RJ18/18773 ZZ664 Rivet Joint Ex USAF KC-135R 64-14833
RJ19/18778 ZZ665 Rivet Joint Ex USAF KC-135R 64-14838
RJ20/18770 ZZ666 Rivet Joint Ex USAF KC-135R 64-14830

My apologies if this is covered earlier in this very long thread, but I read that the IAF was close to buying the Typhoon over F16, F118, and Rafale. Is that foul rumour or close to the truth?

Checck out this Reuters post:-

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USLDE6A605T20101107

Europe’s Typhoon jet leading India deal race-paper
Sun, Nov 7 2010
LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – The Eurofighter consortium, made up of Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy, is leading the race to win a 7 billion pound ($11.3 billion) deal to supply 126 Typhoon fighter jets to the Indian Air Force, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The Typhoon, produced by Britain’s BAE Systems (BAES.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Italy’s Finmeccanica (SIFI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and pan-European aerospace firm EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), topped the Indian Air Force’s technical assessment of bids, beating the American F16 and F18s, Russian MiG 35 and France’s Dassault Rafale, the report said.

If the Eurofighter jet wins the deal, India would become the consortium’s third-largest customer and an unofficial fifth partner in the project.

“The Indians would be one of the biggest users of Typhoon, which would give them a vote at the table,” the paper cites an official as saying, adding that the findings have been forwarded to India’s defence ministry who will make a final decision in “the next few months”.

Eurofighter representatives were unavailable for comment when contacted by Reuters.

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; Editing by Erica Billingham)

I dont think it’s XZ364 as this is still a complete airframe… More like a cockpit has been painted up to represent this aircraft. Anyone on here to confirm this?

I can confirm that XZ364 is not a complete airframe.

A Google search brings up a Wolverhampton Aviation Group report from the Orlando Area

http://www.wolverhamptonaviationgroup.co.uk/trip_central_florida.htm

Same thing, but technically there should be a full stop between the role designation letters and the Mk. number, ie FGR.2.
In fact there should really be a full stop between all of the role designation letters and the Mk. number, F.G.R.Mk.2 (Phantom Fighter Ground* Recconnaisance Mk.2), but it has to be said that it dosen’t read that well written like that!

*As in Ground attack!

Mmm.. Not sure about that.

I have just checked various official documentation, and there is NEVER a full stop between them when it is abbreviated in that format. There are certain AP chapter and page titles which would have a full stop when fully described (as in this case) Phantom F.G.R. Mk.2, but those are few and far between (and the dot there is just because the word “Mark” is shortened to “Mk.”).

In F700s and other MoD and RAF documentation it is always FGR2. In various enthusiast books and websites etc it is often FGR.2, but not in any official writing that I have seen.

I accept that there may be some exceptions around, but the vast majority of evidence I have seen points to it being FGR2, and I reckon it is just the enthusiast community that may have added in the dot.