Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: essex2visuvesi on February 02, 2016, 01:15:23 pm
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Some amazing pilot skills here:-
(https://image-store.slidesharecdn.com/72bd8676-16bf-4d41-8557-e583ebf0093a-original.jpeg)
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Yes! heli pilots are pretty good at this sort of balancing act, many years ago I had to work on an undercarriage that had failed while the pilot balanced the machine on the other two legs, it was very awkward working underneath with the downwash, water and grit flying all over the place. I got the leg fixed and the pilot was able to land securely while I went away and thawed out.
Trevor.
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I like this one. At the farewell flypast at Lossiemouth a wheel retraction on take-off followed by steep bank at wingtip level gave a similar image. It was a fitting tribute to the aeroplane and the crews that flew them.
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That's a great choice Arrow !! Real low level piloting skills there!
Trevor
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Yes Trevor, I got that shot off the web, don't know where it is or who posted it but is identical to the one I didn't expect at Lossie. I wonder if that was a Buccaneer party trick to retract the gear after flying speed and continuing straight and level for bit. Saves having to judge the altitude on a low level beat-up.
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The background scenery shows that this particular shot certainly isn't Lossie and is most probably Honington, I briefly ran a major repair team on a Buc there in the late 70's and they were built like a tank, of course a very necessary quality for a machine that gets slammed down onto a very short heaving landing, those Navy pilots were truly amazing!
Trevor
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Buccaneer, a member on here,
will know a bit about them as he
used to ride in the back seat of
one.
Ned
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That is a 208 Sqdn. Buccaneer, based at RAF Honington until August 2003 when they moved to Lossiemouth and converted to the Maritime Attack Role. I joined them there on loan from the Navy for my final Buccaneer Tour as an Observer (Navigator in the RAF). The earlier Mk 1 Buccaneer had a Deck Take-Off Button which, when selected, automatically retracted the undercarriage as soon as the weight was taken off it, i.e. straight off the catapult. On the Mk 2 we had the more powerful Spey engines and retraction was not so critical immediately after launch, although if my memory serves me correctly it was still fitted but not used. It is quite possible that in this picture the DTO Button had ben selected so that as soon as the weight came off the wheels they would retract. A bit of a chancy manoeuvre on land. At least launching off the catapult you were immediately at 60 ft. when you left the ship.
John
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Thank You Ned! You slipped in whilst I was checking a couple of books and composing my reply. Happy Days!!
John
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I spent a few years as an engineer on the Bucc's at Abingdon towards the end of their life and on test flights and departures back to Lossie they nearly always used the weight on ground switch for take-off. As Buccaneer said a bit chancy as it could have been an epic fail if an engine gave up at the wrong moment but it was an impressive take-off
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Thanks for the info from your personal experience Buccaneer, but never having experienced it, is there anything at all in our landlubber world that compares to a catapult take off from a ship's deck? I would think that perhaps even a powerful sports bike would not match it?
Trevor
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Thanks for the explanations guys and the fun you gave us when you belted down the Spey Valley :-))
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One of, if not the best, aircraft we flew from our aircraft carriers,
Apparently they were so strongly built because low level aircraft suffer from extreme buffeting
from the pressure waves returning from the ground and hitting the aircraft, and lets face it they were
designed to go in LOW and do a standoff drop with a Nuke.
Funny how the RAF didn't want them till they found out they could have them or nothing and suddenly
they realised what fantastic aircraft they were.
My favourite aircraft of all time
Geoff
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Hello Trevor,
Regarding acceleration down the catapult, and I'm working on a pretty old memory here!, it was about a 2-2.5 linear G ride. That is the push was from behind you when you are sitting on the chair. Not to be confused with the G pulled during aircraft manoeuvres which is circular and pushes you into the seat. This is the one that pushes the blood away from the brain and causes you to black out at about 6G unless wearing an anti-G suit.
Comparing it with a Sports Bike, catapult end speed was about 120 knots relative to the ship, or 140 mph. Call it 0-140 mph in 3 seconds and you are pretty close. Could be fun hanging on to a bike doing that!
I meet up with an old mate about every couple of years and we talk about these things but that's as close as I get these days.
John
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That kind of acceleration is top fuel dragster territory :o
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Thanks for the info from your personal experience Buccaneer, but never having experienced it, is there anything at all in our landlubber world that compares to a catapult take off from a ship's deck?
That kind of acceleration is top fuel dragster territory :o
A launched roller-coaster is probably the closest 'public' experience. The most famous is of course Top Thrill Dragster (a name play on the top fuel dragsters it is themed for) at Cedar Point, USA, but the UK has some smaller ones which although not so big/fast still give you a good shove.
Stealth at Thorpe Park is 0-80mph in 1.8 secs (~1.9g), Rita at Alton Towers is 0-61 in 2.5 secs (1.1g).
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Very clever and skilled guys, these aeroplane drivers, no doubt about it but proper pilots only go on ships.
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Theres a nice diorama model of that scen somewhere on the interweb
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That's nothing
I'm sure there's some footage somewhere, probably YouTube, of a RAF Chinnok doing the same trick on a mountain top. I remember watching it on the recruitment videos when I joined up!
Geoff
The Buccaneer was called the Easy Rider in the South African Air Force due to its smooth flying- it pulled 20 1G 'jerks' in a minute, the aircraft the RAF wanted (TSR2) was tested and produced less than 5 1G jerks in a minute at 50ft!
But, I love the Buccaneer too :-))