WWII bombers

[old-timer]

so who won the debate

 

Regretably my wife: I thought the Lancaster was bigger.

 

Is your wife interested in WWII airplanes ?

That's exceptional...

[skyrider]

I saw a Vulcan flying over the iom on our last day a few years ago we were on the ferry waiting to leave douglas for heysham and it was a noisy old bird

[Tango]

I'm that old that I remember seeing the Vulcan and the EE Lightning at Biggin Hill airshows, when they were still on active duty......Both were bl**dy loud!.....

And, if you're interested in a bike night culminating in a Lancaster taxi run.......https://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/events/Special-Events/lincolnshire-bike-night.htm

[Bender]

I saw one of the last flights of the Vulcan over Elvington a couple of years ago. What a machine! One of the things that surprised me was how close it got before you could hear it - pretty much right over head, at which point it was deafening.

There was something very unsettling about seeing something that big coming towards you with its bomb doors open: if you'd been on the Falkland Islands in the early 1980s you'd have had the distinct impression that nothing good was about to happen.

 

We were happily dozing in our small portable prison affectionately known as a tourer on a campsite at the end of Loch Ness when we thought the world had come to an end, a Vulcan with 2 escorts at 7am did a bombing run straight down the middle of Loch Ness and proceeded to go as near vertical as possible right over us, all we saw were three trails heading off over the mountains but apparently they managed to upset the entire village of Fort Augustus. The noise was amazing and terrifying in equal measures.

[fastbob]

As a child I was on holiday in Holsworthy in Devon playing in the local park when a Vulcan roared over at very low level followed by another and another . I can see them now in my mind's eye. I don't remember how many there were but it could have been eight or ten . I do remember they were white in colour and belching black smoke . They must have been heading for Dartmoor . My Gran's house must have been on a military flying corridor because every day there were Meteors, Hunters and Canberras ( with black and yellow stripes on the underside ) screaming past the back garden . Happy days .

[Martyn850]

Love a Vulcan too!!! Not as close unfortunately.

[JRH]

Vulcans.

Saw this at Wellesbourne on the farewell fly by.

[Bender]

The auxiliary small turbine engine in the b2 was made by rover.

[MarkW]

Some very cool stuff on this thread!

I think the most famous (or infamous) plane I've seen is the Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. It's in the Udvar-Hazy Centre in Virginia, which is one of my favourite places to visit when I'm in Washington DC.

[Smithers]

I'm that old that I remember seeing the Vulcan and the EE Lightning at Biggin Hill airshows, when they were still on active duty......Both were bl**dy loud!.....

And, if you're interested in a bike night culminating in a Lancaster taxi run.......https://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/events/Special-Events/lincolnshire-bike-night.htm

 

What a machine the EE Lightning was. A colleague I used to work with was an RAF techie who used to work on and maintain them.

[Smithers]

[mention]MarkW[/mention]

Is it true that when Harriers were flying in the Falklands, flocks of Penguins were so shocked by them, that they would stand and stare at them going overhead and then falling on their backs when the aircraft had passed?

Edited April 17, 2019 by Smithers

[Six30]

@MarkW

Is true that when Harriers were flying in the Falklands, flocks of Penguins were so shocked by them, that they would stand and stare at them going overhead and then falling on their backs when the aircraft had passed?

 

Yup true ...my uncle was a penguin erector.

[TimR]

@MarkW

Is true that when Harriers were flying in the Falklands, flocks of Penguins were so shocked by them, that they would stand and stare at them going overhead and then falling on their backs when the aircraft had passed?

 

Yup true ...my uncle was a penguin erector.

how many did he p-p-pick up ?

[Bender]

Fooking biscuits again.

[Tiggie]

With it being a thread about planes surely we should be talking about air-biscuits?

[Joeman]

My grandmother was a draftswoman for Hawker Siddeley. During the war and for a period afterwards.

I often wondered which planes she helped draw the plans for.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley

[Smithers]

@MarkW

Is true that when Harriers were flying in the Falklands, flocks of Penguins were so shocked by them, that they would stand and stare at them going overhead and then falling on their backs when the aircraft had passed?

 

Yup true ...my uncle was a penguin erector.

 

Was he pppp paid by the penguin or by the ppp pound? (in weight)

[Bianco2564]

A Halifax crashed not far from here in 1944 trying to make an emergency landing at Church Lawford airfield. Sadly they were only about 2 miles from the runway when the plane came down.

They hold a remembrance service at the memorial each November.

http://aircrewremembered.com/wood-donald-zachary-taylor.html

[Bender]

Let's not forget the Vulcan has the record for the longest bombing run in history.

[Joeman]

Let's not forget the Vulcan has the record for the longest bombing run in history.

 

And it's a great story how they landed for fuel afterwards and were expecting to get arrested but instead got refueled and released.

[MarkW]

Actually, now I come to think about it my paternal grandfather worked for Westland in Yeovil during the war. He died when I was a baby and my old man kicked the bucket when I was a kid, so it's not something I ever got to find out much about. Perhaps a little research is called for...

[Bender]

It's was an amazing endeavour.

[fastbob]

Here's another pic of what I think was the Vulcan's last flight. Oh , sorry about the interference effect it's a pic of a pic .

[MarkW]

I saw a Vulcan at the side of the road yesterday as I was driving into Norwich, together with a Lightning and a few other odds and ends. I might pop in tomorrow for a quick look around.

[Martyn850]

I saw a Vulcan at the side of the road yesterday as I was driving into Norwich, together with a Lightning and a few other odds and ends. I might pop in tomorrow for a quick look around.

 

Norwich Aviation Museum. It flew into Norwich airport and a friend remembers it going overhead and rattling all the house windows!