# Awesome Aircraft



## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)




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## ericp (Feb 23, 2003)

They really are.....

I have seen a couple of them at airshows...

There is an excellent Florence Films DVD available with quite a bit of footage on it.


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Yep,

A YB49 that flies properly, and Jack Northrop's vision come true.


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Northrop heritage:-

http://www.northropgrumman.com/heritage/index.html

Still going and making history.


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Airbus A380










A380 ( formerly A3XX ) is a new family of large aircraft with double-deck for passengers.The initial A3XX-100 aircraft will carry 555 passengers.







The current development schedule plans for a first flight in 2004 and will entry into service at the year 2006 . The first airline delivery are to be singapore airlines. Up till now (Mar. 2001), many companies have acquiring A380 (A3XX) ,they include Air France, Emirates,ILFC, Singapore airlines,Vergin Atlantic, Qatar Airways ,Lufthansa, Australia's Qantas, Malaysian Airlines and Korean Airlines are already among the first buyers of the Airbus A380 jumbo jet and other undisclose companies. The assembly of the A380 (A3XX) will take place at Aeroapatiale-Matra's facility in Toulouse, interior furnishing and customization will be the responsibility of DASA in Hamburg. Both Aerospatiale and DASA will also produce A380 fuselage sections. BAE Systems will produce the wings , while CASA of spain will provide the horizontal stabilizer. Engine manufacturers are progressing with development programs. Rolls-Royce pursuing its alone,using a Trent delivative and Singapore Airlines chose the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 to power the Jets. Pratt / GE partnership is pushing the development of existing GE90 and PW4000 engines with some upgrades. Current plan is a 110 inches fan Pratt / GE model GP7200 for the A380 producing 67,000-80,000 lbs.of thrust and bypass ratio is 8:1 , to match the A380 (A3XX) program schedule (B747X will use GP 7100 which has 101 inches fan and bypass ratio is 7:1 ). The price of this aircraft is approximately 220 million US dollars.

Hydraulic system of A380 (A3XX) will have a 5000 psi capability instead of 3000 psi . This increased the power which is necessary to handle the A380 flying controls and will reduce the components size. This will lower the weight of yhe aircraft by around one tonne.

Airbus has recently announced several suppliers to the A380 program as follows:

Parker Hannifin Corp.'s Electronic Systems Division has been selected to provide the fuel-measurement and management systems .

TRW / Thales joint venture has been selected for the development and supply of variable-frequency electrical power systems.

Goodrich Corp. has been selected to supply the evacuation systems and the main landing gear.

Rolls-Royce has been selected to supply the fuel delivery system for its Trent 900 engine


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Airbus Super Transporter (Beluga) Airbus Industrie















....................one ugly mother!!!!!

Looks like a giant flying dolphin!!!


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Antonov An-225

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is a heavy-lift transport. It was designed to carry piggy-back loads which are too big to fit into its fuselage

It is the world's largest aircraft in the world. It was derived from the An-124. The An-225 uses 6 engines, whereas, the An-124 has 4 engines.


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## namaste (May 8, 2003)

That's an awesome beast too... should be quite a sight when it will start flying. What surprises me is the size of the wings, which shows well on the Singapore airlines livery picture. I just checked and compared the wing area of the 380 wit the 7474 300:

511m2 for the 747, against 830m2 for the airbus!


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

North American X-15

To date the fastest, highest flying aircraft in the world.

The X-15 was launched from under the wing of a B-52. Thrust was obtained from one engine that produced 70,000 lbs. per ft. at maximum altitude.

Three were built and they made a total of 199 flights. The first unpowered test flight was on June 8,1959 with the first powered flight on Sept. 17, 1959. The last flight was on Oct. 24, 1968. Thirteen flights exceeded an altitude of 50 miles of which two were over 62.5 miles high. By U. S. definition pilots who go over 50 miles high are official- ly called "astronauts." The FAI considers space flight as over 100 Km, or 62.5 miles.

In all twelve test pilots flew the X-15. The most famous being Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.

One X-15 was destroyed and it's pilot killed on Nov.15, 1967 when it spun out of control.

Two X-15's survive. One is at the National Air and Space Museum In Washington, DC and the other at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

Specifications

Primary Function: research

Length: 51' 5"

Wingspan: 22' 5"

Speed: 4,520 mph























Ceiling: 354,200 feet

Range: 250 miles

Initial Flight: 1959


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Fastest attack helicopter Mil Mi-24 Hind










Specifications

Primary Function: close air support

Length: 57' 5"

Height: 13' 1"

Speed: 210 mph

Ceiling: 14,750 feet

Range: 625 miles

Year Deployed: 1969


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

One of the fastest propeller driven aircraft, the Tu-95 Bear serves as Russia's primary long range air-to-ground missile carrier.

Specifications

Primary Function: recon./bomber

Length: 162' 5"

Wingspan: 167' 8"

Max. Speed: 575 mph

Ceiling: 39,400 feet

Range: 7,800 miles

Year Deployed:


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Anyone remember these!!? Talk about well armed...........this was a bloody flying gun ship if ever there was one!!


















Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk. X

Britain's most heavily armed fighter of WW II with four 20-mm Hispano Cannon in the nose, six .303" machine guns in the wings, one .303" Vickers "K" gun in the dorsal and one 18" torpedo held under the fuse.

Specifications

Primary Function: fighter bomber

Length: 41' 4"

Wingspan 57'

Speed: 320 mph

Ceiling: 19,000 feet

Range: 1,400 miles

Year Deployed: 1940


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## chrisb (Feb 26, 2003)

Griff said:


> Anyone remember these!!? Talk about well armed...........this was a bloody flying gun ship if ever there was one!!


 Yep, my fav WWII plane









The Japanese called them "Whispering Death"


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)




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## Ron Jr (Sep 10, 2003)

Griff said:


> One of the fastest propeller driven aircraft, the Tu-95 Bear serves as Russia's primary long range air-to-ground missile carrier.
> 
> Specifications
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> ...


We would intercept Bears at least once a week. They flew a route from the USSR to Cuba over the Artic and along the East coast of the US. In international airspace and we made sure they stood there. Most likely crammed with electronic spy gear. We would pass the baton when the next squadron's aircraft showed up. One of the other pilots in my squadron had a picture he took with a Bears tail gunner mooning him. We had it blown up and hung in the OC (the picture not the Bear).


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Dwarfing all previous flying giants, the Pelican, a high-capacity cargo plane concept currently being studied by Boeing Phantom Works, would stretch more than the length of a U.S. football field and have a wingspan of 500 feet and a wing area of more than an acre. It would have almost twice the external dimensions of the world's current largest aircraft, the Russian An225, and could transport five times its payload, up to 1,400 tons of cargo.

Designed primarily for long-range, transoceanic transport, the Pelican would fly as low as 20 feet above the sea, taking advantage of an aerodynamic phenomenon that reduces drag and fuel burn. Over land, it would fly at altitudes of 20,000 feet or higher. Operating only from ordinary paved runways, the Pelican would use 38 fuselage-mounted landing gears with a total of 76 tires to distribute its weight.


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)




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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Boeing..............eat your heart out..............this is from Europe with British wings and engines.....................Bloody fantastic!!!!














































Airbus A380.................something to be proud of!!!!!


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2005)

Griff said:


> Boeing..............eat your heart out..............this is from Europe with British wings and engines.....................Bloody fantastic!!!!
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There is the option of American Pratt and Whitneys if required.









I wonder if these huge aircraft are going to be a good idea for the traveller. Its bad enough sometimes disembarking and getting through customs etc (especially now in the US) with the passenger amount of a normal 747. The extra passengers in an A380 will slow things down even more IMO.

Boeing have said they are concentrating more on smaller aircraft and while that may be a sour grapes attitude I must admit I prefer transatlantic flying in a smaller 767 or the like.

However the new A380 has managed the lowest fuel cost per passenger so far so its obviously all sytems go.


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## LuvWatch (May 14, 2004)

Griff said:


>


Hi Griff

This looks like a computer graphic from a flight sim - must update my graphics card now that games are getting much more sophisticated.

Derek


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## Ron Jr (Sep 10, 2003)

LuvWatch said:


> Griff said:
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> 
> > Â
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 Don't update your video card for this game. It's from Ace Combat 5 for the PS-2.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

I`ve always liked the look of the TU-95 Bear such a distinctive plane another i really like is the Boeing B36 Peacemaker,anyone got a photo?


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)




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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Thanks Griff,really awesome







,I once saw a made up 72nd scale plastic kit of the B36 in a model shop it was HUGE!


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Unusual colour scheme on that Boeing....Trainer? Ron?


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2005)

I remember a film called "Strategic Air Command" where James Stewart was flying B-36's as part of SAC.

He was actually a bomber pilot in WWII.


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## Ron Jr (Sep 10, 2003)

Test aircraft used to have the blaze orange on the wing tips and tail planes. Thats an early model as there are not jets on the outer wings.










B-36


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Wow ...they slapped more engines on it!!!









JET NOISE....THE SOUND OF FREEDOM.....


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Ron Jr get link loved the photo of the B36 next to a B29 dwarfs it


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

Griff said:


> ←
> ​


Bristol Beaufighter

history

Before the advent of the Second World War the multiengined two-seat fighter had received sporadic attention in most countries, but as the fighter was envisaged primarily as a day interceptor, a task which could be fulfilled most effectively by the less expensive single seat single-engined machine, little real effort was placed behind the development of the longer-ranging, heavier combat aircraft, except in Germany where the long-range strategic fighter received close attention from the mid-'thirties, resulting in the Bf 110. Britain's lack of long-range heavy fighters when the war started was a source of acute embarrassment to the RAF single-engined interceptors such as the Hurricane and Spitfire lacked the endurance for effective standing patrols, and it was soon discovered that the heavy long-range fighter would be invaluable to perform a wide variety of tasks. The result was a piece of true British improvisation--the Bristol Beaufighter, which entered service a year after the outbreak of war, at a time when it was most sorely needed.

Built as a company-funded long-range fighter (using major components from the earlier Beaufort torpedo-bomber), the prototype Beaufighter first flew on July 17,1939, with Captain Uwins at the controls. This was little more than eight months after the design had been initiated. Exactly two weeks earlier, before the first flight, a production contract for 300 machines had been placed to specification F. 17/39. This seemingly desperate measure by the Air Ministry was, by 1938 to 1939, not uncommon, as it helped speed up the production of much-needed combat planes.

When No 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force became fully operational with the Beaufighter Mk IF in October 1940, it marked the beginning of operations by a night fighter that was completely capable of performing its task. For although the Bristol Blenheim IF, also equipped with the new A.I. airborne interception radar, was operational, the Beaufighter had two qualities which the other lacked -- speed and firepower. Once a Beaufighter had detected a German Bf 110 night bomber, a single short burst from its four cannon was often sufficient to shoot down the enemy.

The fact that a heavy twin-engined fighter such as the Beaufighter was available as soon as the late autumn of 1940 was largely due to the foresight and enterprise of the Bristol Aeroplane Company in envisaging the probable need for a high-performance long-range fighter capable of undertaking duties of a more aggressive nature than those foreseen by official specifications. At the end of 1938 L. G. Frise and his design team began the design of what was virtually a fighter variant of the Beaufort general reconnaissance and torpedo-bomber. The initial proposal was framed, as far as possible, to meet the requirements of specification F.11/37, and envisaged an aeroplane using a large proportion of Beaufort components, including the wings, tail assembly and undercarriage, a pair of Hercules radial engines and carrying a battery of four 20-mm. Hispano cannon. The economy of the proposal was of obvious appeal to the government, struggling to meet the vast requirements of a major rearmament program, and, as the Type 156, four prototypes were ordered.

The Beaufighter prototype (R2052) had two-speed supercharged Bristol Hercules radials which were mounted well ahead of the wing leading edges to avoid vibration. This necessitated cutting down on other weight forward of the c.g. and resulted in the Beaufighter's characteristic abbreviated fuselage nose. The main fuselage and the engine mountings were, in fact, the only entirely new components. The outer wings, including the ailerons, flaps and tanks; the whole of the retractable landing gear and hydraulic systems; and the aft section of the fuselage, complete with tailplane, elevators, fin, rudder and tail wheel, were identical to those of the Beaufort, while the center section, with tanks and flaps, was similar apart from certain fittings. Official trials commenced at an all-up weight of 16,000 lb. after the first prototype's delivery to the RAF on April 2,1940, and a maximum speed of 335 mph was attained at 16,800 feet.

As production continued, additional versions appeared, differing in engines installed and in other ways. Beaufighters were used in many theaters of war and for varied duties, performing particularly well in the Western Desert thanks to their long range. Coastal Command of the RAF received several torpedo-carrying versions which were responsible for sinking a great deal of enemy shipping. The last and most numerous was the superb Mk X, which could carry a large torpedo or bombs and rocket projectiles, and claimed among its victories several German submarines.

The Beaufighter IF was soon bearing the brunt of the action against German night bombers, weighing up to 20,800 lb., it attained a maximum speed of 323 mph at 15,000 feet, had a range of 1,500 miles at 194 mph, an initial climb rate of 1,850 ft./min., and a service ceiling of 28,900 feet. Although the Beaufighter IF handled well it was tricky under certain conditions. There was a strong tendency to swing on takeoff and the danger of flick rolling in the event of an engine cutting suddenly. On landing, the Beaufighter's large flap area pulled the aircraft up rapidly, but there was a tendency to veer from the straight which, if unchecked, resulted in a ground loop, the c.g. being so far aft. The first few Beaufighter Is were delivered without the wing-mounted machine-guns, and initially it was found that when the cannon were fired the recoil caused the nose to dip enough for the pilot to lose his target. The seriousness of this fault was such that thought was given to alternative armament and, with one pair of cannon and the wing-mounted machine-guns supplanted by a Boulton Paul turret containing four 0.303-in. guns and mounted just aft of the pilot's cockpit, the Beaufighter V was produced. Only two examples (R2274 and R2306) were completed, both being converted Merlin engined Mark IIs, and these were used experimentally by No. 29 Squadron during the early months of 1942, but the installation of the turret drastically reduced performance, and the Beaufighter V was abandoned.

The Beaufighter T.F.X was the final major production variant and passed through several important modification stages without any change in its Mark number. These included, in particular, the introduction of A.I.Mk.VIII radar in a "thimble" nose--this radar having been found suitable for ASV use--and a large dorsal fin (after a trial installation on a Beaufighter 11, T3032) to give the required directional stability and linked with an increase in elevator area to improve longitudinal stability. Before deliveries of the Beaufighter X could begin, a batch of sixty Beaufighter VIs with Hercules XVI engines and provision for torpedo-carrying was built. These were designated Beaufighter VI (I.T.F.)--interim torpedo fighter--and were converted to Mark Xs when more Hercules XVII engines became available.

To the Japanese, the Beaufighter became known as "The Whispering Death" (not be confused with "Whistling Death F4U Corsair) which gives some idea of the speed at which one could suddenly appear, strike and turn for home. Beaufighters were also flown by the air forces of Australia, New Zealand and, in small numbers, the US. In Britain they remained flying as target tugs throughout the 1950s.

When the last Beaufighter (SR919) left the Bristol Aeroplane Company's Weston-super-Mare works on September 21, 1945, a total of 5,562 aircraft of this type had been produced in the United Kingdom. Of these some 1,063 were Mark Vls and 2,231 were Mark Xs. During its operational career it had played a prime role in defeating the Luftwaffe's night "blitz" of 1940-1941, and it had operated in every major campaign of the war, carrying out the last operational sortie of the European war, a strike against German shipping in the Skagerrak, and serving with distinction in the Pacific until the capitulation of Japan. The Beaufighter may have been the product of improvisation but it was a remarkably successful one.


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## Garry (Feb 25, 2003)

Griff,

Have a look at " flightlevel350.com ". Very interesting site, loads of aircraft video's updated virtually daily.

It also has a forum. You can become a member and chat to real pilots and others who like aircraft. I joined a while back and post on thier sometimes.


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