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Tizer
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21/12/2007
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11:56
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I have uploaded my first picture to the Barlick site I hope to be able to add it in this thread if/when it gets approval from Doc. It is a postcard from the 1940s entitled Winged Heroes and showing Hawker Hurricanes. (The picture is in the next post if you are on page 1 of the thread; if you are on another page you need to go back tp page 1 to see it.)
Please feel free to add your own stories, pictures or comments regarding everything to do with aeroplanes and their pilots, both past and present.
Edited by - Tizer on 11/11/2010 15:11:42
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Tizer
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Posted - 23/10/2011 : 11:05
Thanks Thomo. As I view the photo in OG at the moment with the sun shining through the window the pic looks very dark but the helicopter is in a two-tone camouflage. Weston isn't far from here. In fact we visited the helicopter museum for the first time at Weston recently and I can recommend it, they have a great collection of many aircraft and you can walk among them all and see what they are like close up. Not just British but from other nations - Russian ones too. They are mostly older models but that's not surprising, they wouldn't be allowed to have the latest military ones!
The museum web site is here: http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/
Edited by - Tizer on 23/10/2011 11:42:52
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GAK
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Posted - 24/10/2011 : 22:32
Hi all
There is a very interesting CD out now, showing the rebuilding of a Hurricane which was salvaged(?) from a marsh in Russia, and rebuilt to flying standard in NZ. The title being : "The return of the Hurricane"
GAK
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panbiker
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Posted - 08/11/2011 : 20:36
A very sad day again for the Red Arrows with the death of another pilot today.
From what is known at the moment the pilot was ejected from the aircraft while it was still on the ground.
Red Arrows flight and all other Hawk aircraft flown by the RAF grounded for safety checks and an independent inquiry into the incident.
BBC News Channel
Ian |
thomo
Barlick Born Old Salt
2021 Posts
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Posted - 08/11/2011 : 23:03
I am not sure how much has changed in respect of ejector seats, but as I understand, the safety pin is not removed until the pilot is ready for take off, this does not arm the gear but prepares it for use. The actual firing is not something that could easily be done accidentally. But whatever did happen it is a sad loss of life, and I feel deeply for the pilots family.
thomo |
panbiker
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Posted - 09/11/2011 : 00:12
My thoughts also go to the pilots family. I heard in one report that there have been concerns raised in the past about the possible safety of the ejector seat mechanism used in the Hawk. No doubt the inquiry should shed some light on a terrible tragedy. Somehow it does not seem right for a very experienced pilot, in essence at the very top of his game to be in the display team, to loose his life in this manner.
Ian |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 09/11/2011 : 06:33
I saw the report and am no expert. Is it just my suspicious nature or could cut-backs be having an effect on safety?
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 09/11/2011 : 10:26
I'm sure cutbacks are affecting safety in some quarters but I would have expected the Red Arrows to be the last to succumb to that problem, Perhaps more likely just statistical probability at work - the system was going to suffer an unavoidable failure in a Hawk one day and it's just coincidence that its a Red Arrows plane.
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thomo
Barlick Born Old Salt
2021 Posts
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Posted - 09/11/2011 : 11:25
The Bae Hawks are fitted with a Martin Baker Mk10L Explosive cord ejection system. Martin Baker are the worlds leading manufacturers of such equipment and have an excellent record, better still it is British. As part of my training I was taught how to deal with a downed aircraft where the crew was still on board, upon gaining access the first thing is always the replacing of the safety key from its in flight stowage into the seat itself, this is for the safety of all concerned. It would be extremely difficult to trigger the mechanisms accidentaly but not impossible. Pilots have survived zero altitude ejections and there have been very few accidents. The seats have saved many lives although some have experienced back broblems later in life, hardly surprising as the force imparted on the pilot can be up to 14G. I understand that the servicing of these items is carried out by specially trained personel, and although defence is suffering cuts like many others, I do not think they would have called in the local plumber.
thomo |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 16/11/2011 : 04:55
The US AF have announced that the 'Massive Ordnance Penetrator' bomb is now in service after years of development. Weighing in at 14 tons it is a direct descendant of Barnes Walliss' Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs of WW2. It's always struck me that the US kept very quiet about the Grand Slam because at almost 10 tons it was too heavy for their bombers. The first Grand Slam was dropped in 1945 on the railway viaduct at Bielefeld and destroyed it. 66 years later the US have their own. Something tells me they will be latting us know shortly how efficient it is. Could the fact that Iran has buried it's biggest nuclear weapon plant under a mountain have anything to do with it?
See this LINK.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Winged Heroes
