The Aircraft Thread

[Owain Taggart]

Hah, yeah, in fact that had a monitor with that playing in a loop.

And yeah, about the 307, I realize that it couldn't be a DC-3 now after looking at it. It was the first impressions that I got that made me think of a DC-3. The noses are quite different, with the 307 being more bullet-shaped. Either way, it was chrome and it was beautiful.

Glad you like the pictures, Malakai. Here's another SR-71 picture for you:

 

[Canadave]

Since we're on the subject of great old propliners, here's a favourite of mine.

Lockheed Constellation\Super Constellation

 

[sojourner]

Nice, there is one of those about an hour drive from me, though without the lovely wing tanks!

 

[judge alba]

was wondering what you guys thought about this. Any chance of it making it into production?.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/07/x-47b-unmanned-stealth-bomber-completes-its-first-flight-video/

my take on this is why go for the unmanned route? manned planes seem to be the better choice as I can see as the guidance signals/system seem less likely to be jammed.
Mind you I'm a bit fuzzy on that sort of thing.

just one more thing if they do a remote controled bomber why not just use a missile?.

 

[Lindley]

my take on this is why go for the unmanned route? manned planes seem to be the better choice as I can see as the guidance signals/system seem less likely to be jammed.

For the majority of the flight, the plane would be using a military-grade system similar to civilian GPS. In the event of a GPS-denied environment, there are no doubt backup navigation options.

During the approach and landing phase, the navigation signal would probably be generated by the friendly runway or carrier and should be able to overcome most jamming.

just one more thing if they do a remote controled bomber why not just use a missile?.

The heat plume from a missile makes it rather difficult to conceal from sensors.

 

[sojourner]

^I think more what he is trying to say is: why not just make stealth missiles? If it's going to be remote controlled, why worry about bringing it back at all? make the craft itself the payload.

 

[Lindley]

Simply a question of whether it's more expensive to rebuild it each time or pay the extra R&D for the return capability I guess....

 

[sojourner]

And all the things you can eliminate from it if it doesn't have to return.

 

[scotpens]

The sleekest warbird of the piston era, the classic Supermarine Spitfire . . .

. . . and its immediate ancestor, the S.6B racing seaplane.
(The second picture is a model.)

 

[TheSeeker]

I've always loved the Spitfire, especially the way it sounds.

 

[judge alba]

was thinking about some sort of stealth missile or something though thinking about it that would be apretty exspensive one way trip I guess.

have to agree with the spitfire. We live near to duxford and quite often I'll hear the spitfire flying overhead and with out looking up I'll say 'that's a spitfire'

 

[sojourner]

^They have a lot of old Spitfire's in that area? is there a museum there?

 

[judge alba]

yes duxford airfield is where the imperial war museum has most of it's aircraft, mainly static with quite a few spits. they have a fair few airshows thruogh out the year.
got a few photos of the aircraft from a trip me and the other half took last year on a drive somewhere might dig a few out.

 

[Switch]

Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk

Global Hawk is a long range, high altitude UAV intended for broad area surveillance. It is fitted with a variety of sensors, including radar, and more esoteric packages can be swapped in as required. Powered by a single Rolls Royce turbofan providing 31kN thrust, Global Hawk is able to remain aloft for up to 36 hours. Although at present operated only by the United States and Germany, Global Hawk is currently being considered by a variety of other nations, primarily to augment maritime surveillance capabilities.

 

[ngc7293]

http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/135717-bigthumbnail.jpg

Fairchild A-10 First designed for Anti Tank, but with that 30mm gun it was also handy for anti personnel. What also made it unique was its survivability. It was built to take a lot of damage. With a Titanium "bathtub", the pilot was relatively safe.

http://cdn.globalaircraft.org/media/img/planes/lowres/f-104_1.jpg

I don't know much about the F-104. All I know is that I like its short rocket like design. I think it was another one of those jets that filled a role for for the time period it was in.

http://news.cnet.com/i/ne/p/2007/stealth-17-550x361.jpg

Tacit Blue was one of those strange things that I saw in a Technology magazine and I didn't really believe it was real until I actually saw it up close. I have seen pictures of it in flight and that surprises me because I would never think that such a thing could fly.

 

[Marc]

http://cdn.globalaircraft.org/media/img/planes/lowres/f-104_1.jpg

I don't know much about the F-104. All I know is that I like its short rocket like design. I think it was another one of those jets that filled a role for for the time period it was in.

http://news.cnet.com/i/ne/p/2007/stealth-17-550x361.jpg

It was never a particulary forgiving aircraft to fly and that resulted in more than a fair share of crashes.

When they were on the ground the leading edges of wings had to be covered to protect the ground crew because they were quite sharp. A couple of years back I was able see one up close at the air museum in Trenton Ontario and yes indeed they were sharp.

 

[scotpens]

I don't know much about the F-104. All I know is that I like its short rocket like design. I think it was another one of those jets that filled a role for for the time period it was in.

The F-104 is another sleek beauty that I’d put on my list of best-looking aircraft. It had a reputation as a widow-maker, though.

Tacit Blue was one of those strange things that I saw in a Technology magazine and I didn't really believe it was real until I actually saw it up close. I have seen pictures of it in flight and that surprises me because I would never think that such a thing could fly.

Man, that’s an ugly thing. And the name Tacit Blue sounds like a toilet bowl cleaner.

 

[scotpens]

Two more elegant piston twins — the Cessna 421 Golden Eagle and the Beech Duke.