Er….me next. As a rule I can see the value of maintaining aircraft in the colours they served in BUT many airframes that have survived didn’t have very interesting careers or are composites, for example there are so few “real” Blenheims about I have no problem with Bolingbrokes being painted in representative schemes – would anyone prefer to see a sea of RCAF target tugs or trainers? (That’s not to say there isn’t room for one or two.) I guess its all relative – Just Jane as a WU Frenchie? No, the RAF museum’s Tempest V as a Target tug? Maybe, various bits of Halifax, Noratlas and Hastings combined into the long extinct ‘Friday the 13th? Yes please.

Oh bu@@er, beaten to it……

Wasn’t said gentleman shot down over Arnheim?

The Australians decided against the TSR-2 becouse of the utter lack of faith put in it by elements of the British establishment.

Mountbottom again, well documented

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/tsr2/history.php

A BAC delegation had visited Australia and left with high expectations of an export order for the TSR.2; the Australians were very interested in the new wonder-plane. By this time Lord Louis Mountbatten had became famous within the industry for slapping ten photographs of a Buccaneer on a desk followed by a single picture of a TSR.2, and then stating that he could buy that many Buccaneers for the price of a single TSR.2. Then when an Australian delegation visited the UK, Mountbatten joined them to discuss the TSR.2. Afterwards the Australians had lost interest in the TSR.2; we shall never know what Mountbatten actually said, but it had obviously had a big effect, and the TSR.2’s export prospects had suddenly disappeared. The Australians chose to buy the F-111 shortly afterward. That this would cost 10 times more than they had been told and would be 10 years late into service was not something they expected.

If the TSR2 had entered service in the RAF how would that have changed things?

IMO any government prepared to fund the TSR2 would be unlikely to cancel the Navy’s follow-on carriers so the Argentine government would probably have been unwilling to even consider going anywhere near the Falklands faced with the possibility of two well armed and equipped carrier groups bobbing around in the area with AEW/ASW support.

A efficient and forceful sales team unhindered by the likes of Mountbottom and politicians with dubious agendas might have been able to flog a fair few to our NATO allies (in place of Tornado) and the Colonials (F1-11s) so the whole thing could have potentially paid for its self (as the Canberra did I believe)

Thirty years of fine tuning and the subsequent development of a replacement could have kept the British aircraft industry at the forefront of loud noisy pointy jet production rather than ‘makes a few bits of Airbus’ or ‘has to cobble together a consortium of loud and troublesome foreigners who want to keep changing the rules’ 🙂

AAMs that do “U” turns

I’ve seem footage of Python 4 trial where the missile does a 180 off the launch rail! (it was working as advertised)

Just to back-up the point that directors sometimes ignore expert advice to make something out of nothing I was involved as an extra in a film shot at Gatow back in the early 1990s – so memorable I can’t think of the name or who was in it, I suspect it was straight to video. Anyway there is a scene where the hero steps off a USAF VC-10 (yes, VC-10) to an honour guard and flag-waving reception only to be fired upon by a sniper hidden on the hangar roof.

Anyway the man shouts ‘action’ the sniper fires and the honour guard scatter – cut, he’s not happy, why arn’t they trying to take aim? The commander of the guard of honour which is made up of real servicemen is an ex-Swinderby drill instructor and points out that honour guards aren’t live armed and therefore would be too busy running away to play Rambo – director is not happy and in take two the honour guard point 20 empty carbines at the stunt man – utter rubbish but ‘it looks good’

Also remember the same strutting director being told to ‘*******off out of it by the owners of the VC-10 when he decided to light his cigar under the wings, he got very shouty but backed down when they said they’d take the bloody thing away if he didn’t stop being an ass…..

Just in case any one wants a bit of Brigand memorabilia…

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RAF-1950-Brigand-Aircraft-Propellor-Blade-Cover_W0QQitemZ320184545025QQihZ011QQcategoryZ112473QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem