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OT - USA F-15's having a little fun in Wales

M

Milland

Diamond
Joined
Jul 6, 2006
Location
Hillsboro, New Hampshire
This how military training should be done - putting on shows for the locals. Some well shot video of five F-15's valley flying, with some nice, tight turns. Beautiful scenery (Wales is lovely), with maybe a little more wing waggle than I'd like to see from top pilots, but whatever, it's fun to watch.

So whatcha' say, Mossy - does this meet your approval? ;)

USAF F-15c Low Level in the Mach Loop - YouTube

Obligatory machining connection: Powered by the USA-made Pratt & Whitney F100 jet engine.

Pratt & Whitney F1 - Wikipedia

What the hell - this one's nice too: Low-level Flying Mach-Loop with some rare aircraft! - YouTube
 
For my money, watch a Vulcan go thru the mach loop at a good clip. Stands me forearm hairs on end...

Lucky7
 
That reminds me somewhat of a day in the late 1970's when I was stationed in Augsburg, Germany. (Still "West" Germany at the time.) I rarely got off base and into the surrounding countryside, but I'd taken my bicycle for a ride through some of the wooded areas just outside town. I was stopped on a forested ridge, looking out and down into the length of a narrow valley, almost a slot canyon, when this rushing sound came up behind me quickly.

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see an F-104 pass practically overhead, probably much less than 50 feet over the trees on the ridgeline, then drop down into the valley, presenting me with a straight-on eye-level look right into his jet exhaust together with a Hellacious screaming noise totally unlike the approach sound, and then drop even further below the rim of the valley and quickly jink around a bend and out of sight.
 
Yeah, the Vulcan's quite an iconic aircraft. I always think of the Bond film "Thunderball" when I see that plane, I'm sure I'm not the only guy "of a certain age" who does.

The "V" bombers of that time were all pretty cool, it makes me regret the shrinkage of the English aerospace industry.
 
I loved the big helicopters with the guys sitting out on the back porch in the second vid.

Next vid in the stack was a neat look at the ground and a little more of an explanation of Mach Loop, Cad East and Cad West. It made clear why people take a hike in the hills with cameras to that spot. The sheep must be nervous and looking forward to the quiet weekends.

Mach Loop Wales (Cad East/West) The Official Guide - 1st TIME? WATCH THIS - YouTube

We have a PM member that I suspect may have played in the air there.

Larry




.
 
Oh dear, the 104 comment reminds me of being a young Air Force brat supposedly helping my dad with the garden near the button of runway 36. Now CF-104 jocks were 'a little' arrogant and thought nothing of taking off in a tight diamond formation. With full afterburner. Magic!

Yet another memory was as a roughly seven year old going to an airshow away from home base in the 70's before separation of planes and crowd was mandated. A two ship CF-104 formation flying from behind the show line just above the hangers then over the crowd had the entire crowd hit the deck. :-)

Lucky7

And to make it machinery related some of the first (very blunt) mill cutters I used came from the base shop...
 
Wow....your tax dollars (actually mine) at work.

Yup, we got to defend....defend...what are we doing these days ?.....:crazy:
The big bad boogy man that is just behind the shadows.

Oh yes, spending my money.
 
Milland said:
Feh, you'd just waste it on food and shelter. Damn hippies... ;)
Click to expand...

I would like the ability to decide where My money get's spent and on WHAT.

...Sumtin about a constitution....Just a moldy old piece of paper....

It don't say nothing about me paying for no jet jockey scaring sheep in foreign lands.
 
I see those coming fresh from the factory a few miles away.... Now maybe more upgrades and so forth. Went to the official show for the employees decades back. One part of the demo the pilot took off, held it flat about 30 feet up, then just pulled it back and disappeared nearly vertically into the sky in two blinks of an eye.

They are very noticeable compared to commercial. Even several miles away they are loud taking off. And going overhead they are louder.

Somewhere I have pics of some A10s flying about 50 feet (maybe) off the deck in Arizona desert. Did not have video then, more's the pity. Wasn't an air show, just practice time.
 
Milland said:
So whatcha' say, Mossy - does this meet your approval? ;)
Click to expand...
The older planes are impessive as hell. My shop was right over the hill from an abandoned air force base and they had a couple of air shows before they flooded it. P-38 was the prettiest in the sky.

But better than the air show was, about the wednesday before, the planes would come in and practice. They would do stuff like come over the top of the shop at 100 feet then go ballistic over the parking lot (we were on the very end of the road) ... It was disappointing when they went to 16's cuz the 15's were a more impressive airplane. Then on Monday of course they had to put the pedal down when they left :)

Nobody got much work done that week :D


Too bad there were none around when five lumbering-whale passenger planes took out New York ... did the dog eat their homework ?
 
EmanuelGoldstein said:
Too bad there were none around when five lumbering-whale passenger planes took out New York ... did the dog eat their homework ?
Click to expand...

No, just a failure of intelligence. Emblematic of the Bush2 years. The image of Shrub just sitting there, locked in his little catatonic seizure by the news (he'd been reading to little kids, the extra strain must have just done him in) is seared into my brain.

But hey, enough about that wasteful USAian military and their desire to take over the world. The real news is the glorious launch of two large, peace-loving cruise ships by the PLA! I understand that each one comes with water slides, an orchestra, and best of all, cruise control! Or was that cruise missiles? I get so confused...

China's new destroyers: 'Power, prestige and majesty' - CNN

How's it go? Paranoia, the Destroyer...

Kinks - Destroyer 1981 - YouTube
 
I saw that ''show'' (and several others in Wales) 1973 & 74, .....I don't know what both the RAF and USAF were flying then, but IMHO it's even more impressive / terrifying up close and personal.


Much the same as the day in the early 80's when and A10 Warthog had me face down on a deserted North Norfolk beach .........the wind was blowing along the beach, and I was facing in to it when the A10 ''crept up behind me'' at VERY low level, .......and yes, Sami thought his number was up :D, .....still, I expect it gave the pilot something to laugh about with his buddies in the mess :rolleyes5:

That said, my greatest respect and kudos to all our military pilots and indeed armed forces who keep us safe.
 
Limy Sami said:
That said, my greatest respect and kudos to all our military pilots and indeed armed forces who keep us safe.
Click to expand...
But that's the point, Sami. They don't keep you safe. They can't keep you safe. This isn't 1939 anymore. The world is totally different now.

The equipment is impressive but in fact, it's mostly useless. Except for burning up dollars at a high rate of speed ...
 
EmanuelGoldstein said:
But that's the point, Sami. They don't keep you safe. They can't keep you safe. This isn't 1939 anymore. The world is totally different now.

The equipment is impressive but in fact, it's mostly useless. Except for burning up dollars at a high rate of speed ...
Click to expand...

Ah, all the systems are useless. Got it. Must explain why China is spending all that money to make multiple warships at once, so the can expand their useless navy, so that they can project useless power around the world. Just like the useless US armed forces.

Clearly. Useless.

Umm, no. If they were useless, China would have continued it's policy of building up it's manufacturing base (and therefore it's entire economy), and leaving Defense at a maintenance level. But now that they've accomplished their infrastructure buildup, they can use those resources to dramatically expand their military capability.

Why is that? Why after a proven record of the lack of military spending allowing them to improving their economy and infrastructure, and having so turned the country into a global leader, are they now pumping funds into useless toys?

Answer: They're not useless. China has ambitions, it's in expansionist mode, and what they can't take by intimidation they will by force. What we see is the smallest tip of the iceberg, I'm confident their spending and research into technological and CBRN weaponry would terrify us if we knew the full extent of it.

[And my apologies to any mods for this forum, I'll take anything further in this vein to a fresh post in the swamp.]
 
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EmanuelGoldstein said:
But that's the point, Sami. They don't keep you safe. They can't keep you safe. This isn't 1939 anymore. The world is totally different now.

The equipment is impressive but in fact, it's mostly useless. Except for burning up dollars at a high rate of speed ...
Click to expand...


Moot point, ...let's just say that having arrived on this mortal coil in 1955, so lived through the cold war etc etc ;- with Berlin only 500 odd miles from my back door, ...... I FEEL safer just knowing they're there.
 
lucky7 said:
Oh dear, the 104 comment reminds me of being a young Air Force brat supposedly helping my dad with the garden near the button of runway 36. Now CF-104 jocks were 'a little' arrogant and thought nothing of taking off in a tight diamond formation. With full afterburner. Magic!

Yet another memory was as a roughly seven year old going to an airshow away from home base in the 70's before separation of planes and crowd was mandated. A two ship CF-104 formation flying from behind the show line just above the hangers then over the crowd had the entire crowd hit the deck. :-)

Lucky7

And to make it machinery related some of the first (very blunt) mill cutters I used came from the base shop...
Click to expand...

The CF 104's were the best iteration of the 104, Canadian Car had all the upgrades incorporated into the airplane, a two place CF104 is about the perfect early jet warbird.

Manny Moss,

You like em P-38's, my dad flew an F5 in the Pacific. No bullets or bombs, just pictures. In 36 years of active and reserve service through 3 wars he never flew an armed airplane.

Steve
 
Limy Sami said:
Moot point, ...let's just say that having arrived on this mortal coil in 1955, so lived through the cold war etc etc ;- with Berlin only 500 odd miles from my back door, ...... I FEEL safer just knowing they're there.
Click to expand...

You're only 63? Somehow I got the idea you went back to the Norman invasion, and had built armor for Duke William...
 
OK, back on (off) topic:Star Wars Canyon-The JEDI Transition v.XII - YouTube

This one is USA mainland, and absolutely freaking amazing for the variety of jets and great camera work. I almost thought it was a flight simulator compilation, but nobody had a commercial package out that could possibly make it look this real. That this video has less than 8K views is crazy.

Here's more information about where the flights occur, and the risk that the public may lose access to the area: The Aviationist >> Is Star Wars Canyon, America’s Plane Spotting Jewel, At Risk Of Overuse?
 
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