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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Read this morning that there was a thunderstorm nearby so a microburst could be involved.
In this country you DO NOT take off or land if there is a thunderstorm nearby. Nearby is a
variable but most US carriers have strict guidelines that came about after a rash of microburst
crashes in the 70’s and early 80’s. I can’t think of one since the Delta DFW crash in early 80’s
although that was also due to the flight crew playing grab ass with a flight attendant so they
didn’t set their flaps correctly.
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2018 - 11:45pm PT
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Glad to see that folks are still keeping this thread alive, even though I haven't been around in a long time.
Here's a shot of me in a 737 sim - haven't flown anything in almost 10 years now, and nothing this big. Didn't do too badly, hand flew from Vegas to LA, only utilizing the autothrottle. The sim tech was rather impressed, and I had a blast.
Had some extra time in Portland recently, and ran down to McMinville to check this off my aircraft bucket list. Just as incredible as I thought it would be.
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2018 - 11:54pm PT
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Another couple just for fun, these were taken at the Revolution Museum in Havana during our Cuba trip a year or so ago.
An absolutely stunning Sea Fury and a trainer. There are also remnants of a Bay of Pigs bomber, and the engine of the U-2 that was shot down there.
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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The Spruce Goose is well worth seeing. Amazing work with plywood (not your Home Depot type).
Reilly, here's a video from inside the plane of the takeoff (well, sort of....) of the Mexican plane.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Vegas, cool stuff! Good to ‘see’ you!
Wino, looks like they ran off the end of the runway! WTF?
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 4, 2018 - 03:04am PT
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Took this last year, was up in Tonopah looking at a B-24 crash site from the war. This is one of three hangars still standing at what was Tonopah Army Air Field - they started with P-39s but had a horrendous crash rate due to the high altitude, and it transferred to a B-24 training base. Chuck Yeager transitioned into fighters here.
And, a photo of me playing around in the tunnel at Perris Valley.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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They had these along the hiway for miles either side of the Saab aircraft plant!
Way cool but hard to keep yer eyes on the road!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Pity about the 20 souls lost with the JU-52 today in Suisse.
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GuapoVino
climber
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F117 Stealth Fighter. I can't remember the exact date but it had to be between 1988 and 1994, when I was in the AF.
I was told by the maintenance crews that most of the plane was built out of existing parts already in use on other aircraft. Only the shape, coating and some of the other "stealthy" features were unique. They were always experimenting with the coating (fancy term for paint) on the exterior. Some coatings were more stealthy than others but the more stealthy coatings created more heat from friction during flight and had a shorter lifespan before needing to be re-painted. Another interesting thing I saw was that the access panels on the underside of the plan, that the ground crews had to access, had some kind of caulk or putty that was used to cover the fitting holes so that no divit of screw head was exposed, which increased it's radar signature. The crews would also only touch it with cotton gloves on so that their sweat and body oils didn't reduce the radar absorbing ability of the coating. I had read that they destroyed one or two of them, to test how hard they were to destroy, but the others are semi-mothballed in a protected environment in case they need to the re-commissioned.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I was told by the maintenance crews that most of the plane was built out of existing parts already in use on other aircraft.
And you believed that? A good friend was senior engineer on the F-117 and B-2.
There might be some commonality in the screws. 😉
BITD I was in a GE F-16 engine plant for a while. You don’t need to know why. I strolled i to a QC room and started chatting up the two nice ladies in there. There was a wall of shelving with small carbon fiber parts on it. I picked up one about a foot square and asked what it was worth. They both started laughing and one said,
“Nothing now that your skin oil is on it!”
Oops!
“Don’t worry, it happens all the time - we have a good solvent.”
BTW, corrected for inflation that little part was worth about $2500 in today’s dollar!
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GuapoVino
climber
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And you believed that? A good friend was senior engineer on the F-117 and B-2. There might be some commonality in the screws. 😉
I know its true. The avionics, electronics and fly-by-wire systems were borrowed from what was used on the F-16, F-15 and F-18. The engine was a GE F404 which was used in other existing aircraft. The landing gear for the first version came from the A-10. There were so many off the shelf parts and systems used that they were able to keep it secret by hiding a lot of the cost under the category of spare parts. There were generals in the Air Force that were totally unaware of it even after it became operational.
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John M
climber
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He said B-2, not B52.
There were generals in the Air Force that were totally unaware of it even after it became operational.
thats not that rare. Plenty of Generals don't know diddly squat unless it directly involves them. And even then, they don't know until it does directly involve them.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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the goody is from 8-12 minutes in ...
[Click to View YouTube Video]
tight canyon & coolee flying captured with state of the art gear from the helo
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2018 - 09:21pm PT
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Reilly, thanks for sharing the planes on a stick! That would distract the hell outta me as well. I am well known for suddenly pulling off a highway or freeway because I spotted a plane in a park somewhere. Drives the wife nuts.
The 117 was actually up and flying in the Test Range as recently as 2 years ago - they apparently had to keep a couple in "near flyable" condition. The rest were kept in a couple hangars with the wings and tailplanes pulled off.
Sadly they are now off to the shredder - there was a recent photo taken on the highway of one going out on a lowbed. Nothing else has that planform and it was easy to see under the tarp. Wish they could take them to the museums instead.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Surely the AF Museum will get one where there is better security than the Smithsonian.
I’m sure the ‘paint’ is still highly classified.
So, Vegas, nice job hand flying that 737! You musta had an in there or did you win the Lottery? 🙂
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2018 - 09:40pm PT
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Actually, it's open to the public. Flightdeck in Annaheim CA - they also have some F-16 style sims that you can go head to head in dogfights with. I was pretty happy with myself that I didn't dump the damn thing haha.
I would go for the 737 sim, the 60 minute package was enough time for me to get a full flight in including ground work. The others are tourist style. I DID have an in many years ago and got to spend some time in a real F-16 sim and it was a kick in the ass for sure.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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from Seafair in Seattle
And 'cause I snuck a Blue Angels photo in the birds thread once,
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