Impressive full size aircraft displays

[Chris Walby]

This is one of my all time favorites, what's not to like about a twin being given a good a work out.....could be topped by a pair of Merlins

 

 

 

Unless of course you know better? 😉

[SIMON CRAGG]

Thx for sharing Chris.

 

It never ceases to amaze me, how clever / brave full size pilots are!.

 

Number one, I would never be able to master such a beast as this.

 

Number two, I would be petrified that one of those wing tips would fold in flight.

 

I have had a couple of "goes on the sticks" of full size aircraft, (AT6 Texan / Icarus Microlight / glider), and on both occasions it was flying me, not the other way round.

 

Apart from suffering violent motion sickness (I can feel it now, just writing this), thats probably why I have stuck with RC models for  50 years +!.

[Nigel R]

"Deadstick!"

 

at 5:50 (ish)

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Nigel R

[Andy Stephenson]

It looked like something came off the plane during the Lomcovák manoeuvre at about 3:20, I'm surprised the pilot didn't realise there was something wrong at that point.

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Andy Stephenson

[Gary Manuel]

I hope he bought a lottery ticket on his way home.

[J D 8]

The last display by the Vulcan at RAF Brawdy when still in RAF service. Crew just pulled out all the stops, wish I had a video of it.  Low level full power turns looked within the field boundary. Body shaking noise that left every car that had an alarm in the car park going.

[Cuban8]

4 hours ago, J D 8 said:

The last display by the Vulcan at RAF Brawdy when still in RAF service. Crew just pulled out all the stops, wish I had a video of it.  Low level full power turns looked within the field boundary. Body shaking noise that left every car that had an alarm in the car park going.

My dad used to take me to the Battle of Britain displays at RAF Coltishall during the. 1960s. Half a dozen Vulcans and Victors all demontrating a QRA.......earth shattering racket that really did shake your innards. The unearthly howl from the Victors' Conways at full chat was unforgettable and cannot be reproduced by recordings to anything like the real thing, sadly.

All much closer to the crowd than the flying is today of course.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Cuban8

[leccyflyer]

Yak-52 at Sleap air show - after his full aerobatic routine the pilot made a full length very low downwind pass down the runway, pulled up into a 45 degree climb, half rolled, lowered his gear into a split-S and landed in one smooth manoeuvre. Gobsmacked.

 

I only have the very low resolution tiny video clip that I posted of it in the early noughties, years before You Tube was a thing, and where only the smallest of video clips could be put online but you'll get the idea.

[Kim Taylor]

5 hours ago, J D 8 said:

The last display by the Vulcan at RAF Brawdy when still in RAF service. Crew just pulled out all the stops, wish I had a video of it.  Low level full power turns looked within the field boundary. Body shaking noise that left every car that had an alarm in the car park going.

I was working at RAF Odiham, probably on the same day as above, when the Vulcan was doing a 'farewell tour' of all of its operational bases. As said, incredible noise / spectacle.

Kim

[Nigel R]

 

 

[Wookman]

He must have ended up on a charge. I can't imagine that maneuver is even listed in the manual.

[Nigel R]

Regular airshow display by the pilot.

 

Health and safety isn't what it once was.

[Wookman]

I suppose you get away with it with an AR of 2.45:1!

[Peter Jenkins]

Mind you, the Starfighter had more wheel area than wing area!🤣

 

One diverted into Coltishall when I was serving there.  It was so low to the ground that I could stand on the pan and look over the cockpit sill into the cockpit!  Landing at 200 mph+ that close to the ground must have been impressive!

[Wookman]

Not sure I would aspire to fly anything that had gained the nickname of "Widowmaker".

[Peter Jenkins]

I believe the problem was identified as the fact that Luftwaffe pilots who converted to the F104 in the US in excellent weather.  On returning to Germany they had to deal with a lot more cloud and inclement weather while handling an aircraft with a very high landing speed.   So the epithet widow maker was really a combination of 2 factors.

[MattyB]

Famous joke form the 80s in RAF messes around the country… 

 

Q. What’s the quickest way to get hold of a Starfighter?

 

A. Buy a field in Germany and wait….!

[Peter Jenkins]

Quite so, I remember it well.  What I've stated is probably a major cause of the problem.

[john davidson 1]

I recall there was a problem with the engines for a time, the German in charge was dismissed and the new man grounded all 104s until they had a solution.Must have saved a few lives.

[Peter Jenkins]

I heard an F104 pilot say that if you lost the engine at 18,000 ft over the runway threshold, you had sufficient height to do an immediate 360 deg turn before having to flare for landing!  

[Jon H]

turn the volume up to 11

 

 

[Robin Colbourne]

The Sukhoi 26 was flown at the Farnborough Airshow by a female pilot, probably late 1980s or early 1990s.  She took it up into a prop hang over the runway, then, still in a prop hang, took it down the length of the runway slowly revolving on its longitudinal axis.  The commentator simply said, "Aeroplanes aren't meant to be able to do that". 
I wish I could find a video of it.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Svetlana+Kapanina+Death&&view=detail&mid=B9F6AD8BDF5807483A20B9F6AD8BDF5807483A20&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DSvetlana%2BKapanina%2BDeath%26FORM%3DRESTAB

[Christopher Wolfe]

On 03/01/2023 at 22:38, J D 8 said:

The last display by the Vulcan at RAF Brawdy when still in RAF service. Crew just pulled out all the stops, wish I had a video of it.  Low level full power turns looked within the field boundary. Body shaking noise that left every car that had an alarm in the car park going.

I was once snorkeling with a mate in the Mediterranean close to the end of the  runway at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

 

As we swum along the bottom the sky went dark and we could feel vibrations and I thought it was an earthquake.

 

We surfaced to be looking up the tailpipes of a RAF Vulcan that had just departed right over us.

Bags of black smoke and a deafening roar - unforgettable.

 

Chris

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

The best 'sound' I ever witnessed was at Duxford around 20 years ago around 12 P51's flying head to tail and the singing of the props in the dive with the RR engines thundering away.