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| Coolest planes (Page 1/5) |
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2.5
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DEC 16, 01:50 PM
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What planes are cool to you?
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2.5
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DEC 16, 02:09 PM
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This is another fave of mine.
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TheDigitalAlchemist
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DEC 16, 02:40 PM
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LOVE both of those planes. I can see the Blackbird from my desk, (its parked on top of the Intrepid) And we have a Warthog not too far from our home, taking a nap in a hangar.
Crazy how the Blaakbird leaks gas and such
Also like the "Stealthy" planes...
 [This message has been edited by TheDigitalAlchemist (edited 12-16-2021).]
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2.5
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DEC 16, 03:18 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist:
LOVE both of those planes. I can see the Blackbird from my desk, (its parked on top of the Intrepid) ...
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Very cool 
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rinselberg
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DEC 16, 03:40 PM
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cvxjet
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DEC 16, 05:01 PM
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Been into aircraft my whole life- my father worked on aircraft at NAS Alameda. The A-10 is just amazing- Fairchild/Republic always built the toughest warplanes; P-47 Thunderbolt, the F-105 Thunderchief.....An F-105 came back to base missing most of it's vertical, most of it's horizontal tail, and the afterburner....and the rocket motor from the missile that did all of this damage wedged between the engine and the fuselage skin.
An A-10 was hit over Iraq (2003)- one engine died, the other had debris, and a 6 foot diameter hole in the wing! The pilot was about to bail but the one engine spit out the debris so "maybe reach Saudi!".....The plane's systems started working better so "Maybe reach the base"....Finally landed at the base. By the way, the name of the pilot is Kim Campbell. (Yes, a lady!)
The SR-71 engines are ram jets; The INTAKES develop most of the thrust at speed- the shock wave from the cone point hits the inner wall of the intake and begins to decelerate-which causes higher pressure creating thrust...the actual jet engines basically keep the intakes from "Clogging" with air- They have actually measured reverse pressure on the engine mounts at mach 3.
Personal favorite aircraft; Military, the A-5 Vigilante....Civilian, the BD-5J
 [This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 12-16-2021).]
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CoolBlue87GT
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DEC 16, 07:14 PM
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Love the A10, I actually worked on the production line building parts of the A10's from 1977 to 1982
The plant I worked at was located in Germantown MD, we built the pilots weapon control module and pods located under the wings , aircraft test sets. Other lines built F14 weapon control systems.
Later I was promoted to production control expeditor, in charge of monitoring the A10 production and moving the units thru various stages of production, testing, shipping.
Proud that the equipment we built is still in use. The highlighted section shows the weapon control unit, allows pilot to choose from gun or select wing bomb pods. The upper right corner has an mechanical analog counter that keeps track of rounds left, that was the technology used back then.
They have updated the cockpit controls & jammed more technology in the given space. The weapons control unit is all new & is able to broadcast it's status to other planes. That was never even thought of back in the original design.
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williegoat
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DEC 16, 08:10 PM
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This one!
There used to be a beautiful video of this magnificent beast online, shot by one of our local news chopper pilots, but I cannot find it.
There were only 11 Super Corsairs built and as far as I know, this is one of only two still flying.
More video: https://vimeo.com/134226421
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Hudini
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DEC 16, 09:55 PM
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The A-10 was my first choice out of pilot training. I never was lucky enough to find one with my name on it. Still a favorite.
The F-15 has to be my all time favorite that I have actually flown. Absolutely amazing aircraft with amazing capabilities to this day. I can’t imagine how well more modern aircraft like the F-22 perform.
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cvxjet
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DEC 16, 10:11 PM
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My all-time favorite plane/story; The RB-51....It was WW2 fighter (P-51) that was used for racing- Cleveland air races and other locals...finally at Reno and Mojave Air Races. It was modified numerous times during it's racing career. Clipped wings, smaller canopy, etc. Finally bought by Ed Browning (Red Baron Flying service, Idaho Falls).....More mods but the really wild mod was replacing the Merlin V12 with Griffin 57 Bomber engine- including Counter-rotating propellers.
In this setup it won numerous races and even set the world speed record at 499.018......With better conditions they believed they could hit 530 mph.
At Reno in 1979, Steve Hinton was racing when something went wrong with the ignition, which then led to the Supercharger shaft sheering- shutting off the oil pump- which supplied oil pressure to the pitch control for the propellers- they went to FLAT pitch (Rather than Feathered).
Steve was trying to make the emergency runway but the RB-51 was falling...His last words as the plane fell were "Tell Karen I love her" (His fiancé who was in the pits)
The plane dropped below the end of the runway and a huge ball of flame and smoke erupted! Everyone knew he was lost....
His pit crew jumped in their old station wagon and raced down the runway- just below the edge of the runway was a chain-link fence- they cleared that fence by driving off the end of the runway- destroying the car (Lucky they did not get hurt)
They found Steve alive; The engine had dragged the fuselage clear of the fireball (Fuel tanks in the wings)...By the time he stopped the fuselage had disintegrated; They had STRENGTHENED the cockpit area the year before!
He did survive, married Karen, and came back to Reno with a Super Corsair (With a Corncob 4360)...Won the title again in 1985.
And to update the story, his son, Steve, Jr, was the youngest pilot to ever win the Reno Unlimited title in 2009.
Here is a picture of the RB-51....
They should make a movie about this (I think Roger Donaldson (World's Fastest Indian director) should take it on)
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