Rule Britannia!

[DB]

Reminds me of a probably apocryphal quote attributed to an American airmen during the Second World War, which went something like this:

 

"We could always find our way back home. We'd fly around until we found the biggest, dirtiest cloud in Europe, because under it was England."

[Mr King]

[Leo Niehorster]

[mnm]

Can't imagine the UK buying any Mirages.

 

How do you spell Jaguar?

 

Kris, I'm going to hack into the Grate Sight and ban you for a while. Your photos are distracting and provoke heartburn, and besides they poison the wells when it's not the Jooz doing it.

[wendist]

Well, the lifetime of the Vigilante was rather longer than it deserved to be considering that the problems with the bomb bay were never properly resolved. Whilst it is likely that all of the other issues with the complex systems on the Vigilante could easily have shown up in the TSR-2, we'll never actually know because it wasn't given the chance to fail.

 

Which begs the question as to what happens to Tornado. I think that if we're looking at TSR-2 being successful, then it fills the role taken by GR.1 Tornado, and without UK participation in that I don't think Tornado happens at all. And without that, what do we do to replace the F.2 and F.3 aircraft?

 

I can't see UK PLC developing an F-15 equivalent fighter (various mockups and paper aeroplanes notwithstanding), and I don't see a European collaborative project for that either - the lack of take-up of the ADV strongly suggests that there was no demand. It's F-15A I think, at best. Can't imagine the UK buying any Mirages.

What about the JA-37? It carried the Skyflash missile just like the Tornado.

 

 

Let Rolls-Royce make the engines, Marconi make the radar and electronics (the Skyflash missile was Marconi to I believe) and you have basically a British project. Just dump a bag of money in SAAB´s lap for the right to use the blueprints and you are good to go.

[Olof Larsson]

 

Well, the lifetime of the Vigilante was rather longer than it deserved to be considering that the problems with the bomb bay were never properly resolved. Whilst it is likely that all of the other issues with the complex systems on the Vigilante could easily have shown up in the TSR-2, we'll never actually know because it wasn't given the chance to fail.

 

Which begs the question as to what happens to Tornado. I think that if we're looking at TSR-2 being successful, then it fills the role taken by GR.1 Tornado, and without UK participation in that I don't think Tornado happens at all. And without that, what do we do to replace the F.2 and F.3 aircraft?

 

I can't see UK PLC developing an F-15 equivalent fighter (various mockups and paper aeroplanes notwithstanding), and I don't see a European collaborative project for that either - the lack of take-up of the ADV strongly suggests that there was no demand. It's F-15A I think, at best. Can't imagine the UK buying any Mirages.

What about the JA-37? It carried the Skyflash missile just like the Tornado.

 

 

Let Rolls-Royce make the engines, Marconi make the radar and electronics (the Skyflash missile was Marconi to I believe) and you have basically a British project. Just dump a bag of money in SAAB´s lap for the right to use the blueprints and you are good to go.

 

 

Further more the Viggen (and A36 strike aircraft) was originally intended to use the Bristol/RR Olympus,

and later (after the A36 was cancelled) RR Spey or our own home-brewed JT8D with afterburner reheat.

 

SAAB had a very good experience of working with Rolls-Royce on the A/J/S 32 Lansen and J/S/Sk 35 Draken.

[Mr King]

 

Can't imagine the UK buying any Mirages.

How do you spell Jaguar?

 

Kris, I'm going to hack into the Grate Sight and ban you for a while. Your photos are distracting and provoke heartburn, and besides they poison the wells when it's not the Jooz doing it.

 

 

[Mr King]

I have the strangest tingling in my pants right now

 

[Mr King]

[shep854]

I can taste Cheerios...The first time I saw the EE Lightning was when I was a kid. It was a picture on the back of a Cheerios box, advertising a toy plane. Those squared off wingtips and tailplanes looked weird then--still do.

Edited April 23, 2015 by shep854

[Mr King]

[shep854]

Now THAT's pretty!

[Ivanhoe]

 

Kind of like an ugly girl in sexy lingerie. A for Effort, but wishing that Swedish slut in her Bass Pro Shops camo lingerie was available...

 

 

[urbanoid]

Shrt Sunderland landing on the river in Berlin during Soviet blockade, unloading its cargo onto the barge:

 

[swerve]

The only relative of mine that died in either world war (AFAIK) was a crewman in a Sunderland. Or so the family story goes. I've not checked it against official records.

 

The story is that they took off from somewhere in SW England on a patrol & never came back, logged as missing in action.

[shep854]

Kind of like an ugly girl in sexy lingerie. A for Effort, but wishing that Swedish slut in her Bass Pro Shops camo lingerie was available...

 

 

With respect, Ivanhoe, they are BOTH hot!!

Edited April 30, 2015 by shep854

[Mr King]

[Mr King]

[DB]

Interestingly, when this came up in the Military Forum of PPRuNe, there was some difficulty in identifying the airfield.

 

The Daily Mail, which posted this and other Cold War era pictures in February 2015 misidentified it as RAF Waddington, which does have the pads but they're on the East side of the runway. (And so are most of the other Class 1 QRA sites)

 

Turns out that the only place that fits is RAF Finningley, and the pads have been removed long enough ago that they don't show as stressed grass. Finningley also has pads set further back on the taxiway leading off to the left at the top of the frame.

 

Finningley now: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4858507,-1.0023176,749m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Finningley, back then: http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/NewPicture_zps8390cd80.jpg

[DougRichards]

I can taste Cheerios...The first time I saw the EE Lightning was when I was a kid. It was a picture on the back of a Cheerios box, advertising a toy plane. Those squared off wingtips and tailplanes looked weird then--still do.

 

The Lightning has been described as a delta with triangles cut out of it.

[DougRichards]

Shrt Sunderland landing on the river in Berlin during Soviet blockade, unloading its cargo onto the barge:

 

 

 

As a kid back in the 1960s there was a regular flying boat service from Sydney Harbour (Rose Bay actually) to Lord Howe Island, as the island was too small for normal commercial aircraft of the day. Early post war, Catalinas were used, but later Sandringhams. They flew over my school on the way from the Harbour outwards, with Lord Howe being about 600k away. Of course us kids were thrilled by the sound of the low flying Sandringhams going over the playground. The flights continued until 1974, when an airstrip was built and suitable STOL aircraft obtained.

[Corinthian]

This might cause a little heartburn.

 

 

OH NOES! The Phantom, Tornado, and Typhoon have all been dumped through the memory hole!

[Mr King]

 

This might cause a little heartburn.

 

 

 

 

OH NOES! The Phantom, Tornado, and Typhoon have all been dumped through the memory hole!

 

 

There is only one princess for me.

 

[shep854]

 

I can taste Cheerios...The first time I saw the EE Lightning was when I was a kid. It was a picture on the back of a Cheerios box, advertising a toy plane. Those squared off wingtips and tailplanes looked weird then--still do.

 

The Lightning has been described as a delta with triangles cut out of it.

 

I never thought of it like that. Fitting!

[Mr King]