RE: ANSWERS???

re RAF to falklands i think they use the tristar.
also i think there are planes that go to montevideo. i think argentine veternas fly in ocasionally too.

rabie :9

RE: Some Quiz Questions

isn’t the J32 the old sweedish lanseen ?

em let me see belfast is in the uk ??? – who do you take us for ??? ameriacans }> – the old 2/3rds of the us can’t fing the us on an unmarked globe 🙂

rabie :9

RE: Sri Lanka in shock!

i posted this on AFm and Aircombat forums.

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janes/com article is at http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/misc/janes010…

Carnage and retaliation as Tamil attack closes Colombo airport

By Iqbal Athas

Tamil Tiger rebels launched a pre-dawn attack on Colombo International Airport and the adjoining Sri Lankan Air Force Base today, leaving a trail of destruction unprecedented in the nation’s 18-year-long separatist war.
After six hours of mayhem, eight Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft had been destroyed: two Israeli-built Kfir interceptors, a Russian-built MiG-27 ground attack aircraft, two Mi-17 transport helicopters and three brand new Chinese-built K-8 trainers. Also destroyed were two A330 and one A340 Airbus airliners belonging to the national carrier, Srilankan Airlines. A further three Airbuses (two A320s and an A340) were damaged. The cost of the 12 aircraft destroyed is estimated at over US$400 million. The rebels also destroyed two air force fuel dumps and caused extensive damage inside the arrival and departure lounge of the airport.
Twelve rebels, three airmen and two commandos were killed in the attack. A further six airmen, a Russian technician working for Srilankan Airlines and a cameraman attached to national television station Rupavahini were injured.
The attack, which began at 04.00 h local time, came after an estimated group of 15 to 20 rebels destroyed a power transformer, plunging the air base at Katunayake, 30km north of Colombo, into darkness. Dressed in army fatigues, the rebels infiltrated via two different points after breaking through fences protecting the civilian side of the airport and began firing at military aircraft lying on a parking apron ahead of hangars using both light anti-tank weapons and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Hit by the fire, the aircraft exploded into flames, lighting up the darkness and sending plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.
An hour later, the attackers crossed the main runway that separates the air base from the international airport and began firing the same weapons at Srilankan Airlines aircraft. A high-ranking intelligence source told janes.com: “They would have conducted reconnaisance and planned for this attack for over six to eight months. Amazingly, they chose a time when there was no aircraft of any foreign carrier on the ground. They also clinically avoided attacking civilians.”
In one encounter, troops and tanks rushed in from Colombo cornered a group of four rebels, who then detonated their explosive-laden suicide jackets, blowing themselves to pieces. In another, army commandos corralled another group at the arrivals and departure lounges, where another rebel blew himself up once cornered. One commando was killed by friendly fire; another died in the heavy gunfire exchanged with the rebels.
Troops searching the area after the attack found three general-purpose machine guns, one 40mm grenade launcher, three RPG launchers, nine Type 56 (Chinese AK-type) assault rifles, eight explosive chargers and six shoulder-fired light anti-tank weapons.
Sri highest-ranking military official, General Rohan de S Daluwatte, Chief of Defence Staff, told janes.com: “We have now gained total control. The Colombo International Airport will be operational from Wednesday. We have now launched a thorough inquiry into what happened.”
Today’s attack coincided with the 18th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s worst ethnic violence between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils, which broke out on 24 July 1983. It came soon after Tamil Tiger rebels exploded their first ever landmine, killing 13 soldiers.
Adding greater significance to today’s incident was another important factor: the attack came as a clear retaliation for a string of air attacks on the rebel-held northern Wanni area two weeks ago by the Sri Lankan Air Force. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was away in London on a private visit at the time of the air strikes, which were ordered by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake despite ongoing facilitatory efforts by Norway to bring about peace talks. The decision for the strikes followed what the government said were credible intelligence reports claiming the rebels planned to re-capture the northern government-held town of Jaffna in the first two weeks of July.
That intelligence warning came from the Special Branch, an intelligence agency under the purview of the Inspector General of Police. However, the Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DII), the main domestic intelligence arm, along with the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) did not concord with the Special Branch report. They had expressed the view that the rebels were resorting to an arms build-up and were re-training but had not planned specific dates to go on the offensive.
The air attacks brought about an angry reaction from the rebels, who issued a statement warning that the “Sri Lanka Government should bear total responsibility for the adverse consequences that might arise from its misplaced strategy of escalating the conditions of war in the Tamil homeland”.
Barely an hour after the troops cleared and secured the runway today, Kfir and MiG jets took off to bomb rebel positions in the northern Wanni region. Air Force officials say attacks on rebels positions would continue.

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cnn is at

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/24/srilanka.airport.atta…

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/24/srilanka.airport.atta…

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) – The military in Sri Lanka says it is back in full control of the country’s only international airport after an attack by Tamil separatists that left 17 dead.
The daring pre-dawn assault on the airport and a nearby air base by Tamil Tiger rebels was followed by several hours of fierce clashes with government troops
Hundreds of tourists were caught in the crossfire.
The attack closed the airport to traffic for most of Tuesday and several inbound flights were either cancelled or had to be diverted to alternative destinations in southern India.
However, Gen. Rohan Daluwatto, Chief of Defense Staff, told CNN the international airport would resume operations at 6 p.m. local time.
He said the troops discovered 12 rebel bodies as they conducted a sweep of the area, but he added that number may go up.
Two army commandos and three air force personnel also died in the fighting. Eight civilians were wounded, including a cameraman from Sri Lankan national TV.
Gunfire erupted in the airport terminal after a group of rebels attempting to escape government troops became trapped in the arrivals and departure lounges.
A rebel then detonated what officials described as a “suicide jacket” strapped to his chest, killing himself.
Eight other rebels were killed, four of them by detonating suicide jackets, air force officials said.
A curfew was imposed on the airport area and surrounding towns.
The attack at the base, adjacent to the airport about 12 miles outside of the nation’s capital, began about 3:30 a.m. local time Tuesday when the airport was packed with travelers set to depart on international flights.
Government tanks and armored vehicles soon moved into the heavily populated area at the northern entrance to the capital, Colombo. In retaliation for the attack Sri Lankan air force jets have been pounding Tamil Tiger positions in the rebel-dominated northern Wanni region, located south of the government held Jaffna peninsula.
The assault began barely an hour after troops cleared the airport runway littered with debris following the rebel attack.
Israeli-built Kafir interceptor jets and Russian-built MIG27 ground attack aircraft took off on sorties to hit rebel targets.
The air force reported 14 aircraft had been damaged or destroyed in the early morning airfield attack, including military planes and passenger planes.
At least two Air Lanka Airbuses were destroyed, while three other Air Lanka passenger aircraft were damaged. Also damaged were two Kafir jets and some MI24 helicopter gunships.
When British tourist Pippa Hutchings and her husband pulled up to the terminal, shortly after the attack began, a guard greeted them and told them they were in great danger. She said she was escorted into the departure lounge and told to lie on the floor and keep still.
“You could hear lots of explosions, and you could see the pink fire from the explosions and you could see gunfire very close by,” she told CNN.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to come out alive,” she said, adding “I said good-bye to my husband.” In the departure lounge of the airport, an Italian family en route to Rome said they heard shots and saw through the window two explosions on the tarmac.
Airport staff ordered them to leave the lounge as quickly as possible. Panic ensued as passengers rushed out. They escaped through a hole in fencing that surrounded the departure lounge.
The tourists were taken to hotels around the airport.
Monday was the 18th anniversary of race riots against ethnic Tamils who have been fighting for an independent homeland in the island’s northeastern Jaffna peninsula since 1983.
The anti-Tamil riots, in which at least 400 people were killed, broke out after the killing of 13 Sinhalese soldiers by Tamil rebels in the north.
That bloodshed is widely regarded as the start of the war.
About 64,000 people have died since fighting started. A fledgling peace process has been sidelined for several months, with the government refusing a rebel demand to lift a ban on the group before any direct peace talks can start.
The Tigers have not attacked outside the north or east of the country in the past eight months.
CNN Correspondent Kasra Naji and Journalist Iqbal Athas contributed to this report.
The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report

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the bbc article is at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1455000/145525…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1455000/images/_1455258_xairbusap300.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1450000/images/_1454020_sri_lanka_airport…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1450000/images/_1454584_body150ap.jpg

The Sri Lankan authorities are counting the huge economic costs of a devastating raid early on Tuesday by Tamil Tiger guerrillas on the country’s only international airport and an adjacent military base.
The national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, says it suffered losses of $350m when three of its Airbuses were completely destroyed in the raid and three others badly damaged. Eight Sri Lankan air force planes were also destroyed.
And analysts say the raid could deter many foreign visitors at a time when Sri Lanka’s vital tourist industry was showing strong signs of recovery.
At least 18 people, most of them rebels, were killed in the raid which has left some 4,000 foreign tourists – some of whom were caught up in crossfire – stranded in the capital, Colombo.
Fresh peace efforts meant that Sri Lankan hotels and the other parts of the tourist industry were looking forward to their most profitable summer since the beginning of the civil war in 1983.
But images of shaken tourists describing how they fled the shooting at Bandaranaike Airport 30km (18 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, are likely to dampen consumer confidence in the island which receives some 120,000 visitors a year from Britain and Germany alone.
Forty-seven British tourists who landed at Bandaranaike were among those who came under fire as they were waiting for connecting flights. They had to run for their lives out of the terminal building.
Sean Hill, from Welwyn Garden City, said the soldiers and airport staff were too busy saving themselves when the gunfire and explosions broke out.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga ordered an immediate inquiry into how the Tigers managed to penetrate tight security around the air force base and then enter the civilian airport.
“It has got to be viewed in a very serious manner. It is a very serious matter,” military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne told the BBC.
Sri Lanka authorities said the dead included nine guerrillas involved in the attack and five military personnel. Three civilians are also reported to have died.
The rebels are fighting for a homeland for Sri Lanka’s 3.2 million Tamils, saying they face discrimination by the Sinhalese, who make up 14 million of the country’s 18.6 million people.
Norwegian-brokered peace efforts have been stalled for several months, with the government refusing a Tiger demand to lift a ban on the group before any direct peace talks can start.
The attack coincides with the anniversary this week of anti-Tamil race riots in 1983 which triggered the civil war.
It is the first time the military base has been attacked, though the Tigers have targeted the international airport in the past.
The BBC Sri Lanka correspondent says the attack signalled that the Tamil Tigers had lost patience with the stalled peace process.
All flights from the airport have been suspended, while incoming flights have been diverted to the southern Indian city of Madras.
A curfew around the airport has been lifted and staff were allowed to return to their posts at 1200 GMT.
Flights are not expected to resume until Wednesday morning.
In 1986, 16 people were killed in an explosion on a plane owned by Air Lanka, then the national carrier.
Shortly after the Tuesday morning attack, the Sri Lankan air force launched retaliatory strikes on Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the country.
No details of the strikes are available, but our correspondent says it seems they were mainly symbolic, rather than the start of a major offensive.

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rabie :9

RE: 4×4 ON THE BBC

i saw the end with the ba palne on a runway with a dogy door – IN THE 80’S – HOW OUT OF DATE WAS THIS.
also what on earth is t with the name ???
having not got sky but channel hoped on my mate on D wings loks brilliant 🙂
rabie :9

RE: Chinese Aviation Industrie

arthur from afm and aircombat went there recently (beijing i think) – ask him.
rabie :9

RE: heathrow terminal 5

i only look on this forum when i’m bored but the mention of local (to me) manston got me going. its a ready made aorport (well – the runway). it can take concord (i saw it land and take off – i was only like 50 meters from it past a crapy fence – brill) and was an old v-bomber dispersal base. the area is of high unemployment (the most in kent) and they need jobs, a new dual carrigway had been built to the airport, and it next to the see so slightly less noise if the approach / takoff goes over the sea.
rabie :9