RE: Skyshark

I know it’s a bit sketchy,but I’m sure I’ve seen piccies of a preserved Skyshark in the 1990’s somewhere in the USA.How many examples of the Skyshark survive?

RE: TSR2 plans???

I dunno if it’s any help,but there is an excellent John Weal cutaway drawing of the TSR.2.I’ve got it in a magazine published quite a few years ago,but sadly I don’t have a scanner,so can’t post it up! Grrrrrhhh…

RE: Keithmac- If you liked that you will like this

It’s a Moraine Type N,otherwise known as the Moraine ‘Bullet’.I think the venue might well be Booker.If I remember rightly,this machine is part of the Blue Max Movie Museum.

RE: For all who are interested

An ‘Ernist’??If you mean a Bf109E,then the word you’ll be looking for is Emil 🙂 (The Germans applied nicknames to particular sub types of aircraft eg D=Dora,E=Emil,F=Friedrich,G=Gustav etc etc)
Sorry,don’t mean to be a nitpicker!
Ps Are you sure it was an E model?I’ve heard of a G being rebuilt in Aus,but not an E.

RE: So which Fury is this ?

I should think the TFC example will have the Centaurus fitted.The Americans have no particular grudge with the Bristol engine,it’s just easier to get hold of spares for the Wright or P&W engines when operating them in the USA.
If TFC don’t fit a Centaurus I would be rather surprised,not to mentioned rather disappointed 🙁

RE: So which Fury is this ?

Yep,this certainly is the Rob Lamplough SeaFury,but being as it was photographed at North Weald it was probably in the ownership of Aces High at this time.
She went back over ‘the pond’ in 1995 and went back to her old American registration N232J.In 1997 she was sold to Michael Brown and became N232MB,and at the same time went in for the usual American treatment ie. the fitting of a Wright R-3350 in place of the Centaurus.She’s still in Brown’s ownership and she was flown at Reno 2000 under the name September Fury.
It’s interesting to note that she started life as TG114 for the RCN (Royal Canadian Navy),as TG114 is said to also be the basis for Argonaut,another racing Fury!

RE: Message for Mr. Russ Snadden

I’m glad to say that I wasn’t present on that day,but I still got the gut wrenching sensation watching the video clips on the news that evening.I would agree that the pilot’s airmanship was first class after the point where he diagnosed engine seizure.He did everything correctly in terms of getting the aircraft down in double quick time, but the stiff tailwind was no help when it came to slowing down.I agree that he did remarkably well to ‘hop’ the M11.
As for the field beyond,about half of it WAS kept unused as an overrun area,but on the day it turned out to just not be enough by a matter of a few yards.Black 6 was only doing something in the region of 20mph when she ran into the soft stuff,so heavan knows what might have happened if this overrun area hadn’t existed at all.I’m unsure as to whether this overrun area has been extended since.
As for the intentional engine damage theory,we can take that with a pinch of salt.As it is the engine is in working condition now,although I don’t think it has been run since that fateful day. The AAIB investigators found absolutelly no damage to the engine,so it could be run tomorrow if the decision was taken!
As for the MOD’s intention not to fly her again,it’s worth remembering that they conviened a meeting to discuss her future even AFTER the accident had occurred,so I don’t think anyone at the MOD was too keen to see her grounded.
Finally,I’ve heard that Charlie Brown was otherwise engaged on operational matters on the day of the display,so AVM Allison was called up at rather short notice,hence the fact that he hadn’t flown a mid-week practice session.It all goes to show how a whole bunch of small inconveniences can have far larger consequences.

RE: Message for Mr. Russ Snadden

I think we have to give the Black 6’s accident pilot a bit of sympathy rather than cynicism.It should be remembered that the oil cooler shutter control on a 109 is down beside the pilot’s right knee,so is not particularly prominant.This lever was only a little way out of the ‘Automatic’ setting,but just enough to cause problems.I think that is stinking bad luck rather than bad piloting.
You could also criticise his handling of the situation,ie the belief that the engine was about to sieze.He mis-interprated the instrument readings and also failed to check other instruments which may have helped him diagnose the problem,but this to my mind is down to the pilot’s currency on type rather than his general abilities.If I remember correctly,he hadn’t flown the aircraft since the previous March (the accident being in October)and even then it was a short check flight rather than a flying display,his last previous display in the aircraft having been over a year before the accident.To add to this,the instrumentation was annotated in German,and the instruments gave readings of various values eg Metres of altitude instead of Feet etc,making the reading of the instruments difficult under such stressful conditions.
It is interesting to think that the accident would probably never have occurred had it not been scheduled to be Black 6’s last display.The winds were strong and conditions otherwise were not great.On any other day,they might not have flown her at all,but the fact that this was the last chance to display her gave added incentive to her taking part in the display.
Another piece of misfortune was that the owner of the land on the other side of the motorway had decided to start plowing his field on the Thursday before the accident.The area that Black 6 bogged down and flipped over in had been solid ground not much more than 48hrs beforehand!
To my mind,all this makes the Black 6 accident a terribly unlucky occurance,rather than it being down to poor airmanship.