willedoo

Loni Habersetzer having fun.

Sounds like she might have been watching Caribous doing the wheelbarrow.

Nice clip, Darren. I like the helmet, it looks like an old SPH-4.

Cheers,

Willedoo.

and the infamous St. Maartins, Princess Juliana International. Plane spotters mecca.

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HUD footage of an SU-27SM during dogfight training. The 27SM is the Flanker B, mod.1 upgrade of the 27S. The follow on SU-27SM2 is the 4.5 generation block with upgraded engines, avionics & Irbis E radar.

Irish airline Ryanair seem to be considering vodka burners among their options for new 199 seat passenger jets.

http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2011/2/1/161/

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Glenn, it certainly is a Trig point marker, they're rarely used these days with the advent of gps surveying.

There are cases of gps base receivers located on trig points around the world, but I'm not sure how many are like that in Australia. A general rule of thumb would be if it looks like the one in the photo, it's a trig station only, if it's got an antenna set up nearby, it's a gps base station.

The bases are usually set on a predominantly high hill to maximize reception & maintain reliable corrections for ground based gps, so I'm not sure if that's the only reason they would share the same location. I'll quiz the surveyors when I get back to work in a couple of weeks & get the lowdown on it.

I'd assume the swiss cheese holes in the plates are to lessen wind resistance. The plate at the top of the marker consists of two plates welded together at right angles.

Another question would be whether the two plates are aligned north-south/east-west, I'd tend to think they would be. Here's one in NSW, & also a couple of permanent gps bases.

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The Beriev Be-200 Altair is a multipurpose amphibious aircraft designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company and manufactured by Irkut. Marketed as being designed for fire fighting, search & rescue, maritime patrol, cargo, and passenger transportation, it has a capacity of 12 tonnes of water, or up to 72 passengers.

Sukhoi predicted to run second place to Lockheed Martin in fighter sales for the 2010 - 2014 timeframe.

The Moscow-based Center for world arms trade analysis, Russian acronym TsAMTO, has presented its forecast for the global fighter market in 2010-2014 timeframe. According to it, Lockheed Martin will come first with 211 deliveries, to be closely followed by Sukhoi with 206 sales. Chengdu is expected to ship 156 aircraft to foreign countries. Then comes Boeing with 83 sales and MiG with ten units less. Eurofighter with 64 sales and Gripen International with 27 will be at the bottom of the list. Interestingly, Dassault of France is either missed or ignored by TsAMTO forecasters.

http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2011/2/2/162/

I'm assuming they mean foreign export sales only & not domestic sales.

Yes , not sure if it's the same one or another from a different seller. The same seller that has the Buccaneer, had a Harrier at a buy now price & it went away for a while & then re-appeared at open auction & has since been withdrawn before the end time. I'm pretty sure the engines are gone but everything else seems intact. Saw a reference to one on ebay which was dated a couple of years ago, so they must have been de commisioning them for a while.

Regards, willedoo.

Looks like it's been removed from auction a couple of days early, they must have got a good enough offer. Same seller has a Buccaneer front end for sale for $38,000. Bit out of my price range, but would make one hell of a flight sim.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RAF-Buccaneer-Jet-Aircraft-Cockpit-Ejection-seat-x2-WOW-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem20b6822b60QQitemZ140500937568QQptZMotorsQ5fAviationQ5fPartsQ5fGearLooks

Yes, I've got a couple of cousins in the business. I grew up in cotton country & remember my uncle getting me to be a human marker, standing at the end of the paddock waving a bag. Thankfully, they're all permanent markers now, I used to get sprayed a bit, but haven't grown any extra toes or anything, so all's good. Must admit it was a lot of fun standing there & having a plane like that come roaring straight at you a few feet off the ground.

Regards,

Willedoo.

Hello & welcome, Pat.

From your name it sounds like you might do a bit of cropdusting now & then.

Regards,

Willedoo.

It would be interesting to know when the article was written, seems like a combination of an old article with newer additions.

The quote ' The U-2 was built to go higher than any other aircraft. In fact today, more than 50 years since it went into production, the U-2 flies higher than any aircraft in the world with the exception of the space shuttle', puts it at about 2005-2006, roughly 50 years from initial production. The Mig 25 Foxbat RB series (single seat reconnaissance bomber) was capable of an 80,000 foot service ceiling, topping the U2 by about 10,000 feet.The only way they could claim it flies higher than any other aircraft would be if there are no more Mig 25RB's flying. They were replaced with the Mig 31 which has a ceiling about 3,000 feet lower than the U2.

The two planes are not in the same league, as far as fuel range goes, the Mig25 is capable of only about 1,700klm without drop tanks, compared to 10,000+ for the U2. I imagine that range would be one of the big things keeping the U2 in service for so long.

It's possibly the same one I saw on Ebay a week or so ago. I do recall it had a buy now price, & is now up for open auction. Current bidding is about $AUD 130,000 with seven days to go. I bet that kid's disappointed.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WOW-EX-RAF-4-SQN-Harrier-Jump-Jet-Aircraft-XW269-RARE-/140508652633?pt=UK_CPV_Aviation_SM&hash=item20b6f7e459

Video clip of the T50.

Not a lot is known about it, as it only flew last year. So far, compared to the F22 Raptor, it appears faster, more maneuverable, close to twice the fuel range, & less stealthy. Sukhoi's have always, in recent times, had the edge on the West in maneuverability due to aerodynamic design combined with thrust vectoring of their jet nozzles. What seems to be the problem here is that in the interests of stealth, the nozzles need to be shrouded to prevent ground to air detection & this restricts the movement of the jet nozzles. It's still a little bit more maneuverable than the Raptor, but I wonder how long this conventional benchmark will apply. I suppose in the end, it will come down to who has the best avionics combined with a good airframe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8n-as2sooJUVideo clip of the T50

Well, Ken, between you & Mr. Google, I'm learning a lot here. I now know what an erk is and I googled NAAFI Wagon & it said it was British WW2 slang for a mobile catering truck. It's good that you talk a slightly different lingo than us, it encourages people to be a bit inquisitive & look a bit deeper into all our aviation history. The history of military & civilian aviation is so rich, I hope we can all help to preserve it. When they look back on the great achievements of the human race, the fact that we flew will be one of the highest. Hope to hear more from you.

Regards,

Willie.

So Ken, the flotation switch, is it water activated in case of ditching? I can imagine it as something which would float up via liquid to a certain point & then activate. Sounds like a good idea.

Regards,

willedoo.

Hello again, Ken,

I've put a post in the Warbirds forum looking for a bit of information on a MK111A reflector gunsight. I'd assume that they were out of service by the time you were involved with the Lincolns, but was wondering if you knew something about them. Any information at all would be greatly valued.

Regards,

Willedoo.

I was wondering if anyone can help me with a bit of information on an old WW2 gun sight that I'd like to get working again.

It's a Reflector Gunsight MK111A, an RAAF model which appears identical to the RAF version. From what I can find out, they were used in FN-20 tail turrets, FN-20 mid upper turrets, FN-5 nose turrets & FN-21 lower turrets on Lancasters as well as others such as the Wellington.

They appear to have been used early in the war until replaced by the gyro sight, although this one has written on it 'Australian Optical Co., Ltd. 1944 ', so perhaps they were still being used somewhere at that date. The identification no. is E22/1588, RAAF serial no. K353. Any information on how to operate it would be appreciated.

I'm assuming it's 24v, have only hooked it up to 12v & nothing happened, the bulb would probably be blown & I haven't opened it up yet. It has a night/day dimmer switch on the side & a spring loaded push button underneath which I can't find any information on. I was thinking it must project a cross-hair on the lens when everything is working ok. It sat in a box for years & was only when a friend was telling me the story of his grandfather bailing out of a Wellington over Italy & being taken prisoner, that it was decided to try & get it working again.

The photos are not mine & are of a similar British RAF sight.

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Hello Ken,

Your time with the Lincoln's & Canberra's must have been an experience. Hope you can share some stories with us. I was wondering if your local museum is the Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum.

Regards,

Willie.

Video of the Tupolev 160 supersonic swing wing bomber.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icPITkTZ9JY

Hello Mark,

Sounds like your fuel range will give a bit of flexibility, only place I'm not sure of is Moomba as far as the public is concerned with refuelling, but you probably wouldn't need to go there.

As far as sights to see in the region go, the Flinders ranges are nice, Lake Eyre has been a big hit lately due to the water pouring into it from recent flooding. It's only fills every 20 years or so & can dry out very rapidly. Also lots of nice desert sand dune country to fly over, it'll be a carpet of green after all this rain. In the dry times it looks more like Saudi Arabia.

Another nice spot is Innaminka in the north east of South Australia. The country changes from dunes to stony mesa type country, has Cooper's Creek flowing through it & the Coongie Lakes system not far away, a very historic town & district.

East & south east of Birdsville is the Cooper Creek floodplain, it spreads 80-100 klm wide when it floods, has millions of channels which fill with water & surrounding vegetation that contrasts with the rest of the land. It's one of the best sights from the air to see in Australia when it has water. With the amount of flooding about, the channels should still be fairly full in March. Google images will have photos.

The historic Noccundra Hotel is well worth a visit if you're in that area of far SW Queensland. Noccundra has a population that varies from 3-5 people at times. Has a good dirt strip & accomodation, planes often taxi up to the pub. It's on the Wilson River, not bad fishing, a friendly unique place. Also has pics on Google.

The list goes on, but one possible route would be to fly Adelaide, Flinder's Ranges, Lake Eyre to Birdsville. From there east to Windorah, down through the channel country to Noccundra, then due south to Tibooburra, Broken Hill & back to Adelaide. Just one of many alternatives.

Have flown over most of that country for years, but always work related, it would be a lot of fun to do it the way you are, at your own leisure.

Regards,

Willedoo.

Yes, I seem to remember reading about that recently, Scott. Seems a bit funny to have carriers with no planes, a bit like having a stubbie with no beer in it. Saw a Harrier on ebay last week, has since been removed, about 110,000, not sure whether AUD or GBP. Would go well in the pool room if you could afford the postage.

I don't remember that proposed deal to buy the carrier, probably missed that one. I've always wondered whether we would have a use for a carrier seeing how we've got one big airstrip called Australia. Having said that, it's not the same as a US carrier battle group, more in line with the US Marine Harrier/troopships designed on a smaller scale for more individual operations. Maybe we could utilize one on the same scale & role as the Marines, as a mobile marine or commando force with it's own self contained air support.

God knows, we've thrown a lot of money into far less worthy projects over the years. Something like that would be very handy on a regional basis if we could we could convince Uncle Sam to let us keep it in our own backyard. Things like the East Timor intervention would be a good example of it's uses. Just a few thoughts, it's sad to see another icon bite the dust. I don't think I have a dinosaur like attachment to Harriers, F111's & Caribou's, it's just that we're seeing lately the dropping of unique, specific role aircraft well before there is any type of replacement even on the drawing board. Most times it doesn't seem to be the military wanting to retire them, just those other people.

There's really nothing wrong with the airframes that can't be rebuilt for a reasonable price, the rest of the stuff is just lipstick & can be fitted as necessary. They're talking about the Hercules flying for decades yet, which is a good example, it'll last out 2&1/2 to 3 generations of people by the time it retires. I can't figure it out, if it's not broken, why try to fix it. But maybe it's the beancounters, countries have finite defense budgets & a lot of competition for the spoils. I don't know what their thinking is.

Regards,

Willedoo.

Hello Mark,

Just wondering what the fuel range of the 172 is. Hopefully by March it will stop raining & be a bit drier. A trip to Birdsville would be fun, one thing to bear in mind is the unstable weather that time of year & the heat which can still be 40-50+ celsius at that time of year. January is usually the worst, March is starting to cool down a bit. The weather can be unpredictable in the desert regions up there. I've started the morning in January nice & cool & cloudy & within the hour had temperatures at 58-60 celsius & sand blowing horizontally at 40kts. But it's not like that all the time, when it's good, it's good.

Some years it may be a lot cooler & quite pleasant most of the time, it just pays to be prepared for it just in case. Big hats, sunscreen & drink plenty of water & know your heat stress symptoms is the rule of thumb. Another important piece of equipment is a fly veil or net to wear over the head if the flies get bad, which they do, depending on the weather. You can get them at camping stores. I've worked in that country for the last 30 odd years & maybe I'm getting soft, but I always carry one in my pocket during the warmer months.

Have you got a route worked out to get from Adelaide to Birdsville yet, as that would have a bearing on stopovers & sightseeing.

Regards,

Willedoo.