maybe he forgot to retract his invisible tail hook.

Load 'em up, shoot 'em out. Rinse and repeat.

Every time I think about .50s on a plane I think of Bud Peterson:



Life Lesson #39,736: Don't piss off Bud Peterson.

Drumwings...

I don't think any were saved...

You don't suppose they just painted 'em flat black and put jet engines on 'em?

No, for some reason everytime they tried to fly somewhere the plane would circle around to where it started. ;)

I used to know the scientific name for that effect, but, I've forgotten it.

Maybe it'll come back to me.

Boomerang. ;)

Supposedly the only recorded carrier landing during a sandstorm.

Persian Gulf, 2003:

♪ ♫Next thing you know♪ ♫
♪ ♫Sukhoi got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low♪ ♫

Attachment 60616

...like one meter low.:eek:

Douglas Sleepers

According to Boeing's site:
14 paying customers on an overnight flight.

According to Wikipedia the range was 1,500 miles and the cruise speed was just over 200mph. So a flight of maximum range, say NYC to Dallas, would take 7.5 hours. I can see why they would want a sleeper.

But I bet those tickets were expensive, adjusted for inflation. Only 14 customers to split the cost of the 7.5 hour flight.

The president of American Airlines talked Douglas into building the DC-3 because the DC-2 was too narrow to have berths on both sides. He promised to buy 20 planes. That's why the sleepers were built before the regular DC-3s and why the DC-3s were created in the first place. I'll bet the private cabin for two was really expensive, probably reserved for celebrities...

or honeymooners.:blush:

From the vid description:

There's a new biggest-plane-in-the-world.

The Stratolaunch has a 385-foot wingspan, is 238 feet long, weighs 500,000 lbs, has 28 wheels, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 1.3 million lbs.

Attachment 60755

It will be used to launch rockets into low-earth orbit.

Stratolaunch Systems Corporation is owned by Microsoft founder Paul Allen.

Link

I wonder how wide a runway that needs?

good question. if the wingspan is 385 feet, a solid third of that is between the fuselages, so, 260 feet track width say. plus however much shoulder they think is prudent.

I'm guessing it's designed to land and take off from ONE airfield, over and over. the airfield next to the railroad spur that's bringing the 800,000 pound rocket.

I'd assume fairly long, as well.



ETA:

From their websiteA quick GoogleEarth search tells us that one of the MA&SP's runways is ~2.5 miles long, and something like 233, or so, feet wide.

From their websiteA quick GoogleEarth search tells us that one of the MA&SP's runways is ~2.5 miles long, and something like 233, or so, feet wide.

Meanwhile, 20 miles away, is Edwards AFB.

With their ~18,000+ feet x ~300 feet runway with a dry lake for run-off

The Stratolaunch is supposed to carry a rocket to launch altitude. If they put a little extra fuel in the rocket and ignite it on the ground for a 30 second burn, that Stratolaunch will take off like a STOL aircraft. They'll just have to add some drogue chutes for the return landing.

I went through desert survival training in the Mojave at Edwards. The course the Air Force runs there is primarily for pilots and astronauts; but, they squeezed us SFers in when business was slow. Nice showroom dedicated to experimental aircraft and test pilots that flew there. Interesting experience.

There was an airshow in PA near Harrisburg, apparently. I got to watch an F4U Corsair going through it's routine right above me. Pretty cool.

I recognized the plane by the sound of the engine. Am I a nerd for that? :)

Yes, a plane old nerd. :lol:

Wee Willie's demise...

Man, I hate when that happens. That could ruin your day if ya let it.

Reminds me of this amazing pilot's skills.

^P.S. That's a fake video^

Whoops... The F-104 pilot and XB-70 co-pilot died. The XB-70 pilot survived but was really fucked up.

Much better bigger.

Maybe that's smoke from burning Lithium batteries. ;)

I could watch that all day.

Remember when America kicked ass? Remember when America was awesome?

Attachment 61239

No, but I remember when most Americans people thought so.

I was at an Air Force base in Texas waiting on a C-130 to arrive for an airborne training operation. NASA's 747 with the piggybacked Space Shuttle was just sitting there on the tarmac, about a hundred yards away, apparently there for refueling. I walked right up to it and took a good look around it. Granted, I was in field uniform wearing jungle fatigues and a green beret; but, I don't think something like that could be done today without some armed security force intervening.

Unbeknownst to you, they were watching and had the sterilization ray trained on you the whole time. Have you fathered any kids since then? :headshake

Oh. Shit.

I think they got to me, too!:eek:

Cockpit view of a Stinson 108-3 Attachment 61320 (<---not that one) airplane crash, with an esplanation of why it happened:

Nonsense, anybody can see the prop was all wonky and kept throwing blades off during the flight, dozens of them. :lol:

Awesome Brit pilot...

B-1 Lancer

Watch at about the 2:05 mark, something goes floating across the screen on a parachute. Is this in the air (real?), or, is it superimposed on the vid? And wtf is it?



Better bigger, of course.

Perhaps the Paradigm Acrobatic Team was airborne at the time, getting ready for; or, returning from a performance.

Attachment 61408

Up until the 90's, my southern KC suburb town of Grandview, MO, was home to an air force base, Richards Gebaur. Their annual free airshow drew upwards of 350 to 400 thousand souls each year over the course of the weekend. I saw some amazing stuff there over the years, not to mention the stuff I saw flying in and out of there during the decades I lived there. However, bar none, the coolest thing was the Monday morning I went out to the patio surrounding the airport tower (no security in those days) and watched the planes departing for their home bases.

The star of *this* show was the B1-B. It made a maximum effort takeoff, quickly climbed to about 3000', then flew South a bit, making a wide turn, and returning to the North end of the base. At that point, wings now swung fully back, it headed back toward the flightline, descended to about 250' off the runway, and just as it was aligned with the tower (where about 100 people were now gathered and being informed by the ATC over the PA what each plane was and what they were doing as they left), the pilot kicked in the afterburners, stood this aircraft on its ass, and disappeared into a dot into the sky faster than you can say "holy shit!". It was impressive on every possible level, and something I'll never forget. The noise was unbelievable, and seeing this rather large aircraft performing more like a nimble fighter than a lumbering bomber was quite the eye opener.

Here's its mate, installed at the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio 'lo these many years.

Airbus A400 performing a 'combat take-off':



:3_eyes::devil:

Better bigger.

Man, don't ya hate it when...

Attachment 61484

On take off, with a full fuel load, lucky it didn't catch fire.
It going to take a lot of duct tape.

WTF?:eyebrow:

Attachment 61486

File was called "condensation vapor".

Yeah, I'm off that plane with a quickness.

Don't care.

That happened on one of my flights. Stopped after a minute. Was in a humid southern city while pushing away from the gate.

"Oh, thank God! The helicopter's here. We'll be fine now."

"Shit."

Dont know if this has been here befor but it cool nun the less
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...enschel-hs129/

Wow, Panzerknackers. :eek: I hadn't seen them before.

Attachment 61601

Link

That's surprising that batteries have gotten light enough that it has a range to make it worthwhile.

Off to read article...

Four hours of flying time per charge. That is amazing.

Aircraft, unlike cars, usually don't have flight plans changed by traffic jams. They are however at the mercy of weather and airport "events". I'd feel much better with a fossil fuel generator on board. :unsure:

War is Hell...

Ouch.

Does that count as a prop strike?