Cold War Aviation Porn

[DownwardDog]

The Swedish are still leagues ahead when it comes to pilot training. Everyone starts as a non-comm officer and they are recruited from day one to fly a specific type. There is none of the nerve wracking uncertainly and lobbying that's required in the British system; they know from the day they sign up they are going to the Gripen, C-130, etc.

 

[Don Troooomp]

View attachment 179013


15 and 21 I think

Beautiful I think

 

[A380]

 

[DownwardDog]

View attachment 181145

The electron beam welding machines that Boeing developed for the 2707 ended up at Grumman and were used to assemble the titanium centre fuselage structure of the F-14. This manufacturing technique eliminated many bolts and much weight.

 

[A380]

Bristol Concord assembly plant.

 

[smmudge]

If you're ever passing through Gatwick with a few hours to spare, hop on a bus to Charlwood (5-10mins?) and go to the Gatwick Aviation Museum.

Loads of interesting stuff there, planes in the hangar and outside, engines, and lots about the history of the airport. You can go inside a Shackleton and they have ex-crew showing you around.

 

[T & P]

If you're ever passing through Gatwick with a few hours to spare, hop on a bus to Charlwood (5-10mins?) and go to the Gatwick Aviation Museum.

Loads of interesting stuff there, planes in the hangar and outside, engines, and lots about the history of the airport. You can go inside a Shackleton and they have ex-crew showing you around.


View attachment 181956
View attachment 181957

View attachment 181958

View attachment 181959

View attachment 181960

View attachment 181961

Ah so that is what one can see on the right hand side immediately after take-off... Every time I saw those old airplanes on a field I meant to look it up when I landed but always forgot.

 

[DownwardDog]

The interior of that Shackleton looks like a caravan.

 

[smmudge]

Ah so that is one can see on the right hand side immediately after take-off... Every time I saw those old airplanes on a field I meant to look it up when I landed but always forgot.

Yep you can also take a little walk from the museum with an ice cream or a hot drink, and get a good view of the planes taking off and landing. Oh and they have live feed of gatwicks ATC radio! And a flight simulator

They're in the very early stages of building a conference centre and cafe.

The interior of that Shackleton looks like a caravan.

Yes it was, only a bucket for a toilet, a bunk for sleeping, a little kitchen area with electric hob, toastie maker, hot tap & sink. It feels big but then with 10 men in it it was probably quite cramped! And you have to climb over the things that are holding the wings on (can't remember what he called them...)

 

[kebabking]

Didn't Lancman fly in Shacks?

 

[gosub]

 

[Lancman]

I flew the Shackleton marks 1, 2 and 4 but never a mark 3. The Gatwick Shack is a Mk. 3 and so I can't be certain but rather think that the interior fit is largely a lash-up by the hard working museum staff. The pilots' and the flight engineer's panels look familiar though. The Shack was sometimes compared to an elephant, grey and wrinkly on the outside and very dark and smelly inside.
The things that you had to clamber over were the wing spars, which took the entire weight of the aircraft when it was airborne. We once took a Very Senior Officer from Command Headquarters up for an air familiarisation flight "Thought I'd better get to know the chaps and whatever it is that you do". He first said that there should be some sort of gate cut through those "steps" and then moaned that he really should be getting back to his office for the rest of the 8 hour flight.

 

[JuanTwoThree]

I may have started this thread Lancman but you own it. My admiration and respect.

 

[kebabking]

10,000 rivets flying in close formation...

 

[Lancman]

10,000 rivets flying in close formation...

10,000 rivets flying in loose formation. FTFY.

 

[Idris2002]

Further comment is superfluous:

 

[Idris2002]

A Saab Tunnen, on service with the United Nations in the first Congo crisis:

 

[A380]

Ekranoplane: aviation or maritime porn?

 

[A380]

 

[A380]

 

[iamwithnail]

Bloody beautiful plane that'd have been.

 

[A380]

Bloody beautiful plane that'd have been.

Maybe I should have posted it on:

The Planes that never were

 

[iamwithnail]

I mean, it was definitely a plane, just never reached production, right?

 

[A380]

 

[Idris2002]

View attachment 183842

Further comment is superfluous.

 

[kebabking]

View attachment 183842

Errrm.... does anyone know the name of the lady in the picture - I'm asking for a friend...

 

[iamwithnail]

Sharon Tate. She's a wee bit deid.

 

[A380]

Buran.

 

[agricola]

The Swedish are still leagues ahead when it comes to pilot training. Everyone starts as a non-comm officer and they are recruited from day one to fly a specific type. There is none of the nerve wracking uncertainly and lobbying that's required in the British system; they know from the day they sign up they are going to the Gripen, C-130, etc.

Sorry for bumping this post but, at the risk of coming out with some cod-psychological nonsense, one does wonder whether the Swedes recruiting the type of person that would race 500cc motorbikes for a works team might have something to do with it as well. I doubt the RAF does (at least for its officers).

 

[DownwardDog]

Sorry for bumping this post but, at the risk of coming out with some cod-psychological nonsense, one does wonder whether the Swedes recruiting the type of person that would race 500cc motorbikes for a works team might have something to do with it as well. I doubt the RAF does (at least for its officers).

The RAF (and the Swedish I would guess) are recruiting aircrew on more than just raw ability these days. There is a lot more psychological testing and evaluation. In my day (mid 80s) aircrew selection were two laughably crude simulation type video game things (called the Controlled Velocity Test and Sensory Motor Application) and Readers' Digest caliber puzzles. We later discovered that the purpose of the puzzles wasn't to test intelligence to but to see what happened under intense psychological pressure as it was just about impossible to complete them in the allotted 10 minutes. I completed 25 out of 35 and thought I had failed. I expect it's all on an app these days.