When I watch a show from outside the perimeter ( which I have done several times ) it is because, in descending priority:

1. Better views, with aircraft often turning overhead my position. Not just for photography but also the experience being closer than 250 metres from the aircraft. Am I at risk? No more so than any other day standing at the same spot with aircraft passing overhead.

2. Avoiding the uppity parents and their misbehaving progeny.

3. Avoiding the rude elbow-digging ‘enthuasists’ who push past.

4. Avoiding the inane commentary blasted beginning-to-end from speakers placed in my face.

5. Saving my money for new lenses 🙂

The only ‘experience’ I miss is the static display, butif I wanted to see inert lumps of metal sitting on their undercarriage I’d go to a museum. Aircraft are supposed to fly, something Fairford in particular tends to forget.

And I don’t block the roads because I don’t have a car, so the local residents are usually friendly. I’ve had a good chat and a few cups of tea over the years.

But exports are not the criteria for success. Fighters are built for domestic use first and foremost. As long as they satisfy that need, they are a success in my books

That might very well be the key.

It seems odd to the Western mind-set, but perhaps China just doesn’t want to export the J-10. Sure they could probably make some decent money through export sales, but at the cost of establishing a support organisation and introducing distractions from domestic requirements.

AGM-114B from MH-60S

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AIM-9 from P-3, 1989

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Bear in mind that ALCM derives from SCAD, which started life as a penetrating decoy to replace ADM-20. But then it was realised that when SCADs came over the horizon, the enemy would be alerted to an incoming strike. So, some SCADs were to be fitted with warheads to suppress the defences.

But if you’re fitting a portion with warheads, adding a warhead to all of them was nominal. And to deliver that, a decent guidance system…

Similarly as soon as an ISR cruise missile comes over the horizon you’ve given the game away. Any decent AAD system will chop-down a lone subsonic cruise missile without sweating. So you’ll have to have your mules very close behind, to swamp the defences. At which point why not make them self-targeting and remove the single point of failure?

Taildog test shot from Hunter.

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On the ground, the Air Force carried out a public relations event by having five Air Force officers and a photographer stand under ground zero of the blast,

Wow! And here’s the cine-film of the test and those gentlemen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VZ7FQHTaR4

WUMP the shock-wave hits.

Interesting to see a B-57 as chase-plane, it could probably outfly the F-89…

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