So, what's your favourite plane/helicopter? Post civilian or military categories if you wish.
For me, it's these:
Civilian planes:
Concorde - British Aircraft Corporation/Aerospatiale
Helicopters:
Aerospatiale Gazelle
In fact, I wouldn't mind owning a Gazelle, seeing that you can get ex-RAF or British Navy Gazelles and have them refurbished for civilian use. A beautiful and very fast helicopter (one of the fastest ever made).
For planes, Concorde is my favourite. Shame it was snuffed out by scare campaigns and petty politics at the start, for it was a very thoroughly designed plane and flew very well.That it was flown only by Air France, British Airways and Braniff International doesn't really do it justice.
I personally never saw Concorde as an object in a class-war, I saw it as a magnificent technical marvel, and engineering masterpiece showing what we can achieve if we try. Britain and France gave us a plane that would take us from one destination to the next in record times.
It is certainly the only civilian plane to catch my attention.
I see hundreds of 7x7's, A3whatevers and so on each year, and I don't blink an eye at any of them. Concorde though, she is the Mclaren F1 of aircraft. :)
Venom800tt
11-26-2004, 12:12 PM
Here are some of my favorites :D
Fighter:
Northrop Grumman (Grumman) F-14D Super Tomcat
Lockheed Martin/Boeing F/A-22A Raptor
North American P-51D Mustang
Lockheed P-38J Lightning
McDonnall Douglas F-4 Phantom II series
Northrop Grumman YF-23 Black Widow II
Boeing (McDonnall Douglas) F-15 Eagle series
Attack:
Northrop Grumman (Republic) A-10A Thunderbolt II
Lockheed Martin AC-130 Spectre
Recon:
Lockheed Martin SR-71A Blackbird
Bomber:
Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
Boeing (Rockwell) B-1B Lancer
Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Convair B-58 Hustler
Lockheed Martin (General Dynamics) FB-111 Aardvark
Military Helicopter:
Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion
Bell AH-1Z Super Cobra
Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche
Boeing Vertol AH-64 Apache
Boeing Vertol CH-47 Chinook
Transport:
Boeing C-17 Gobemaster III
Lockheed Martin C-5B Galaxy
Douglas C-47 Dakota
Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules series
Civillian Passnger:
Boeing B747-400
BAE Concord
Beech Craft Starship
Civillian Helicopter:
Bell 222
Sikorsky S-76
I think that is all :p
chris
11-26-2004, 04:15 PM
I should also mention the F111C Aardvark, I like that plane as well (we fly them here in a much updated and modernised form). That is one very mean looking plane, and highly effective. It is something our neighbouring countries are scared of.
The F111C is the one in the top of the photo. The other fast one in the photo is one of the old Dassault-Mirage fighter bombers we had (since replaced with F/A-18 Hornet). The main distinguishing feature of our air-force now seems to be that we choose only planes that can perform multiple roles.
I also like the F/A-18. I've seen quite a few of those, and it always surprises me how relatively quiet they are, even with me standing in line with the start of the runway (not too far away) as a couple of them are taking off.
Frank N. O.
11-26-2004, 04:18 PM
Hehe, that was actually a bigger list of flying machines than I'd thought from you Venom :D
Mine is a bit more simple, allthough actually I like many planes generally these are my special ones:
Small general aviation:
Late model Cessna C177RG Cardinal II Turbo
Military (strictly appraised from looks and flying, not the killing-potential):
Gruman F14 Tomcat
Lockheed "Skun Works" SR-71 Blackbird
Northtrop YF-23 Black Widow II
and now I gotta cut the post short since there was just a small explosion out here (at 01:17 (AM))
Frank
Venom800tt
11-26-2004, 04:23 PM
Woah, I forgot about the F-111 and the Starship. I love both of those too :p
chris
11-26-2004, 04:37 PM
More of our F111C's:
http://www.f-111.net/images/C0227616.jpg
These are all photographed in Nevada, where we participated in a training/combat exercise with the Americans (hence the F15 in the background). We were the only ones to boast a 100% success rate. ;)
Here is a good one for a desktop wallpaper:
http://files.chatnfiles.com/Software%20Vault%20Ruby/CDR16/F111C.GIF
Hmm, wonder if there is an F111C available for Flight-Sim 2004?? I haven't seen one yet.. Maybe I should model one if there isn't. :) Who knows, maybe the RAAF might even be able to help me out with specifics??? :)
monaro
11-26-2004, 08:16 PM
I love the F111's too chris, and living near an air force base means that i hear (and feel) their amazing power. air shows are great at my house, i just sit on top of the grain silo and watch them all scream over the top of my head.
their are heaps of F/A-18's also at the air base near me so its fun to see them doing basic training operations.
gotta love those blue angels though:
http://www.runway.cz/img/ba/v002.jpg
chris
11-26-2004, 08:38 PM
The fact we have those F111C's is a major deterrent to a few other countries in our region who have at various times had hostile intentions.
Our neighbours don't have aircraft with enough range to bomb targets in other countries, while our F111 does. :) It is one reason why we should keep the F111C's in the air, and always modernise them with the latest technologies, just as America is doing with its veteran of the skies, the B52.
A JSF (joint-strike-fighter) with stealth technologies, based on what we know so far won't be adequate to fill the F111C's role.
All you could get now to do the same thing is perhaps Tupolev's TU-160 Blackjack, and that is absolutely overkill (and very costly), and also probably not suitable for low-altitude/high speed attacks with its huge size (something the F111C is designed for).
VQ
11-27-2004, 02:32 AM
I don't have a favourite plane or helicopter, but my Favourite Hovercraft would be the Rocket, It's light weight, small, good handling, and reletivly mass produced, so it's not a one off, which can be good in some respects, but bad in others. The motors in them are similar to our rotax 532 65hp motor, but lighter and usually smaller capacity and even faster.
Here's some pics of one of the guys Rocket's from the hovercraft club.
http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/rocket.jpg
http://v8shakes.racerplanet.com/vq/rocket1.jpg
I would prefer to create my own one which is ultra light and a one seater with a ex works 500cc 2 stroke motorbike engine, but that would cost a lot.
chris
11-27-2004, 05:36 AM
This is mainly for Venom800tt, but if you like F111's, you might like this collection of photos (some of them very good):
http://www.defence.gov.au/gallery/
Search for F111. That's the image gallery of our defence department. Particularly look for an image titled 000160514_2.jpg. That is a photo of Sydney Harbour taken with the recon camera of an F111, with 2 other F111's trailing it.
And here is a nice video they created:
http://www.f-111.net/downloads/AustDODF-111.mpg from http://www.f-111.net
blackice111288
11-27-2004, 09:04 PM
i like the EA 6B Prowlers, mainly cause my dad flies them. their old planes but they get the job done. Hornets are cool too, i've been to alot of the Blue Angels shows.
VQ- tell your friend hes got a tight 180sx.
Frank N. O.
11-27-2004, 10:59 PM
Ok it must've been a heavy backfire from the car that drove by the second I looked out the window.
Nice hoovercraft indeed, but isn't that car a 300ZX one that looks like a US version but then again maybe it's privately imported.
Frank
chris
11-27-2004, 11:04 PM
Yeah, it's a 300ZX.
It's likely the Japanese version, called Fairlady Z Twinturbo. Looks like it has some non-standard body-parts.. The Fairlady Z in 959 look. :rolleyes:
VQ
11-27-2004, 11:06 PM
Yeah, its a 300zx, modified of course, it has new bumpers and stuff, but he bought it like that, it's the 2 seater model, the lightest model you can get, he's the one that has hit 260km/h in that thing.
The link to his site about his car is here (http://www.geocities.com/roddz240/Index.html) It is a Salt lake 959 style bodykit like Chris said.
He's had a bit of problems with it, but he has a laptop he hooks up to it whnever there is somethign wrong and has a large array of gauges inside for it, when it hit 100k on the speedo, he went to have the cam belt changed and it was already replaced and said it had been replaced at 100k km's, so it's a bit dodgy. oh well, it still hasn't blown up with the 15psi he puts through it when going really fast in it.
more (http://www.geocities.com/roddz240/MyRocket.html) pics of the rocket.
Cheyenne
11-28-2004, 02:15 AM
Favourite plane....
Not really sure, I just know I would drool over this one...
http://www.viper-aircraft.com/images/5.jpg
The Viper Jet (http://www.viper-aircraft.com). I know kit plane makers do sometimes "puff" their performance specs a bit, but taking that into consideration this one still sounds sweet. It's an almost "square" plane (25' long, 27' wingspan), compact, lightweight and high performance.
There's just something about the idea of a personal high-performance jet that I like... and this one is a beauty.
Maybe I'll find it under the Christmas tree this December? Okay, maybe not ^_^
Oh, and if anyone gets the "History Channel", you can watch a bit of the Viper Jet on December 10th during "Boys' Toy's Week (http://www.historychannel.com/global/listings/upcomingepisodes.jsp?ACatId=12180312&CaseId=12180310&EGrpId=12170009)" (Hey! I wanna play with them too!), episode "Private Jets #2".
chris
11-28-2004, 02:18 AM
I nearly forgot the Cessna Citation Jet, it is another worthy one. While I'm not really a fan of Cessnas smaller offerings, such as the Skylanes and so on, and the workhorse Caravans, the Citation jet with its Mach 0.93 performance is something to behold.
Not only fast, it is impressively fitted out inside, and all up it is a very desirable business jet.
Cheyenne
11-28-2004, 02:38 AM
Another plane I've always loved is the Consolidated, PBY Catalina.
I know to some it's an ugly duckling, but I think it's beautiful. From a utility standpoint it is a great flying boat, a little slow, but very stable and an excellent platform. The later models with the dual waist bubbles especially. Jacques Cousteau found the plane very useful as an island hopper and a diving platform. If I ever get my own island in the Carribean, I'll definitely get one of these! ;)
Another favourite is the Republic SeaBee, also acquatic.
A friend of my grandfather had (has?) one of these he and his wife used for lake hopping in Minnesota. Utterly beautiful little plane. The one in the last pic can be downloaded at Margarita Air Club (http://www.margaritaair.com/fleet.html).
chris
11-28-2004, 02:59 AM
Russia continued the idea of the big "flying-boats" with its giant ekranoplans. Those monsters of the sea/air could weigh up to 400 tonnes. They were equally capable of skimming across the top of the water at high speed as well.
Russia used them as an anti-submarine, anti-shipping warfare platform, or for transportation, or search and rescue tasks. Some could be powered by up to 8 jet engines.
Pictured is the rather scary looking "Lun". In the last picture, it is firing one of its Moskit weapons.
There was also a non attack version "Spasatel".
http://www.samolet.co.uk/jpegs/km_1.jpg
Largest of all is this "Korabl' Maket", weighing 500 tonnes, and more widely known as the "Kaspian Sea Monster". It was capable of 500km/hr, and could go for 3000km.
Cheyenne
11-28-2004, 03:14 AM
Gosh, that's one scary aeroplane!
Ha! I typed that having missed the last line of your post!
Seeing the people on the wing and the person atop the cockpit for scale... that is definitely a "monster" plane. :eek: I bet it was "loud" too!
chris
11-28-2004, 03:31 AM
They also did this monster turboprop powered version "Orlyonok":
http://www.samolet.co.uk/jpegs/orlenok_2.jpg
The engine was a Kuznetsov NK-12MK engine, which if I'm not mistaken is the same as the ones used on the Tupolev TU-95 strategic bomber/recon aircraft.
Frank N. O.
11-28-2004, 04:48 AM
:eek: Wow! Your taste in vehicles continues to impress me :cool: -^
Frank wonders if women like Chey only exist in California
Greetings
Frank
Cheyenne
11-28-2004, 05:58 AM
:eek: Wow! Your taste in vehicles continues to impress me :cool: -^
Frank wonders if women like Chey only exist in California
Greetings
Frank
You are most kind, good sir *curtsies*
What can I say? I love vehicles that are a bit offbeat with a great deal of "personality" :love:
It's one of the reasons I love California so much as well ;)
Greetings and wishes for much happiness to you as well, Frank :wave: :Peace:
Venom800tt
11-28-2004, 12:13 PM
I like the idea of ekranoplans. Even Boeing wants to make something similar, except bigger. It is called the Pelican concpet. It would be a 300 foot long, 500 foot wingspan gaint with 4 massive turboprops turing 4 bladed counter rotating blades. It will have a amazing capacity of 1.4 million pounds and will be able to haul a impressive load of 17 M1A2 Abrams MBT's. It wold skim accross the water at 300 mph like the ekranoplans and will also be able to go as high as 20,000 ft when over land. It will have over 70 wheels in it's main landing gear :eek:
http://foxxaero.homestead.com/indrad_043.html
I really hope they are smart enough to build this massive beast. It would be like a flying cargo ship :D
And the little Viper jet kinda reminds me of the BAe Hawk trainer/light fighter plane.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/9483/raf/hawk1.jpg
The Hawk is also the US Navy's newest carrier trainer aircraft. It is called the T-45 Goshawk.
ANd I just had to post these pics :D
http://faq.bigip.mine.nu:8008/militaire/murduson/F14%20Tomcat%20066.jpg
http://www.voodoo.cz/tomcat/new/f14471.jpg
http://www.cloud9photography.us/ab/AB158_Grumman_F-14_Tomcat_PeterMancus.jpg
chris
11-28-2004, 04:19 PM
Only problem of the ekranoplans is I believe they work best when travelling across calm waters.
Unfortunately, not all of the worlds waters are like that.
The other problem is one of putting all your eggs in one basket.. What happens if something happens to the basket. :eek:
It's why for instance some companies prefer to hire two AN-124/100s rather than one AN-225 Myria to transport their cargo.
Wazza
11-28-2004, 08:37 PM
Airliner:
http://wazza.nfscity.com/temp/p_3.jpg
777-300 Of course...
Emirates on board entertainment would be great as well. So probably a perfect combination!
Stealth:
SR71A.. Always loved the blackbird.. There's some great documentaries out there also about this aircraft.
Mickk
11-28-2004, 08:38 PM
Lets see, fav military aircraft, F-111, any model.
Fav civilian aircraft...... anything designed by Burt Rutan (sp?) :p
Mickk
11-28-2004, 08:45 PM
Russia continued the idea of the big "flying-boats" with its giant ekranoplans. Those monsters of the sea/air could weigh up to 400 tonnes. They were equally capable of skimming across the top of the water at high speed as well.
Russia used them as an anti-submarine, anti-shipping warfare platform, or for transportation, or search and rescue tasks. Some could be powered by up to 8 jet engines.
The funny thing about these 'aircraft' are that they only fit into that category by the fact that they actually leave the surface for an extended period of time.
They actually use the effect of air being forced under the stubby wing to lift themselves from the surface allowing them to skim over it at high speeds.
I'm not sure exactly how it works, but the words 'Wing in (on?) Ground Effect' come to mind for some odd reason. Perhaps a bit a bit of 'gooooogling' will come up with something. :rolleyes:
EDIT: Did a bit of 'goooogling' and did indeed find something relating the Ekranoplane and 'Wing In Ground'.
To find out more follow the link --> http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/recavi/Brochures/wingeffect.htm
KyzrSoze
12-06-2004, 04:18 PM
Give me one of these piston powered monsters any day. The Vought F4U Corsair. I feel the same way about these as many feel about 1960's muscle cars. It may not match the speed of the newer models of war machine, but with 12 cylinders and 2100 HP, it has muscle and personality to match. :D
Now that's a monster, Kyzr! Didn't they have 18 or 28 cylinders, though... using the P&W R2800 or R4360 (respectively)?
I think I saw one at the Chino "Planes of Fame (http://www.planesoffame.org/index.php)" museum with the 28 cylinder "wasp major/cyclone". It may have been from later or post-war though, dunno. Still, 3,500 horsepower is nice! I'd hate to pay the fuel bills though :eek:
Frank N. O.
12-06-2004, 04:52 PM
Now that's a monster, Kyzr! Didn't they have 18 or 28 cylinders, though... using the P&W R2800 or R4360 (respectively)?
I think I saw one at the Chino "Planes of Fame (http://www.planesoffame.org/index.php)" museum with the 28 cylinder "wasp major/cyclone". It may have been from later or post-war though, dunno. Still, 3,500 horsepower is nice! I had to pay the fuel bills though :eek::jawdrop:
You know about veteran airplanes too!?
Frank writes down to himself: Got to move to California to find soul-mate/wife!
Frank
P.S. Please don't take that the wrong way, it was purely a compliment, I'm not comming up to your door with roses and a wedding-ring based on internet-chat.
Cheyenne
12-06-2004, 05:09 PM
:jawdrop:
You know about veteran airplanes too!?
Frank writes down to himself: Got to move to California to find soul-mate/wife!
Frank
P.S. Please don't take that the wrong way, it was purely a compliment, I'm not comming up to your door with roses and a wedding-ring based on internet-chat.
^_^ My dad has always (well, since I've known him, anyway) been a big historian. WWII, and especially the pacific campaign is one of his greatest areas of interest. It wasn't possible to grow up in my household without some of it rubbing off. From both sides of my family there's a long history of working with machines as well, trains, cars, motorcycles, planes.
KyzrSoze
12-06-2004, 05:51 PM
Absolutely right Chey, an 18 cylinder radial beast. :blush: Typo on my part - I was trying to decide between this one and the V12 powered P51 Mustang.
:D Tuff choice
The sheer power and unique look of the Corsair wins for me, though. :)
chris
12-06-2004, 06:07 PM
I also liked the Spitfire, with its big 37 litre twin-supercharged V12 Rolls Royce engine, good enough to power it to 450mph!
VQ
12-06-2004, 09:06 PM
There's a Merlin V12 engined 55 chev in Castlemaine, it took a lot of work, but it happened, a 3000hp, 3 tonne beast it is. It's very well done but.
Ayce
12-06-2004, 09:07 PM
I'm not big on aircraft like you are, but I have always liked the Concord just for the sheer style of it, with the nose dipped down, I just thought it was freakycool.
As far as Military craft go, there are many that I like from all over the world, but my fav still has to be the F4 Phantom. Just something about them sends chills up my spine. ( Maybe because when I was in Germany in the '70's, the German, Canadian & U.S. were all using them. And I got to shoot 3 of them down at once in an exercise, in theory, at least. (Long story short....I had a LAWS Rocket, and they were landing too close together))
Of course where I live now is a short way from YYZ so I see them come and go all the time. Gotta love those "Planetrains" :D -> -> -> ->
chris
12-06-2004, 09:46 PM
There's a Merlin V12 engined 55 chev in Castlemaine, it took a lot of work, but it happened, a 3000hp, 3 tonne beast it is. It's very well done but.
I was thinking of the Griffon engine, the 36.7 litre thing with 2 superchargers. It was designed to allow the Spitfire to go up to 40,500ft altitude. A very impressive performance for an aircraft of that age.
The Americans sent 6 F4 Phantoms to Australia for us to use for a while as we waited for the F111 problems to be sorted out (it was a way to try and hush the AU government which was screaming at high C's over the F111 problems). After a while, they wanted us to buy the Phantoms. A prompt NO was punctuated back, and within the month, all 6 F4's had been sent back. ^_^
They also tried to offer us the B47's as well. :rolleyes: You can imagine the government response to that. ;) Short and blunt, anyhow. Still, despite the delays and problems, we did finally get a very good plane out of it, and it probably worked out to be a better deal than the Avro Arrow that was also being considered at the time.
Especially since we got F111's at a very good price - doubtful that the manufacturer made a profit on them. ;)
The Avro Arrow significantly doesn't have variable geometry wings like the F111, and that is I believe a drawback, even though it makes the plane more simple. It is more a Mirage-esque thing (in reference to the French delta wing fighter/bomber).
chris
12-07-2004, 02:44 AM
Ayce']I'm not big on aircraft like you are, but I have always liked the Concorde just for the sheer style of it, with the nose dipped down, I just thought it was freakycool.
Yeah, Concorde was very beautiful. Even the wings had very subtle curves. It is 1960's era, and yet today it still looks as crisp and modern as ever:
1970's Qantas colours:
http://forum.rscnet.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=246283
http://forum.rscnet.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=246284
http://forum.rscnet.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=246285
http://forum.rscnet.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=246286
http://forum.rscnet.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=246287
Above: That was how the 6 Qantas Airways Concordes would have looked, if the order had not been abandoned after fears that it would be banned from flying into the USA.
Although look inside the flight deck and its age is quickly obvious, since it doesn't have the now fashionable glass-cockpit and fancy "tape" metres for speed and altitude, and the engine status is displayed by many analogue gauges, just like everything else.
But it does have auto-throttle functions, auto-land functions, along with full auto-pilot functions.
By far the coolest thing is looking at it on take off with the afterburners on, especially at night. It looks very awesome.
I have to wonder if car designers like Chris Bangle should take a look at Concorde and realise that simplicity and graceful elegance are better than bustle boots and strange shaped headlights. Concorde is all simple, elegant lines and it still looks breathtaking.
All of Britain and France should be very proud of Concorde, because you proved to the world that a supersonic airliner could indeed work, and work very well. You built a plane that was well ahead of its time in what it could do. It wasn't too long before that everyone was getting started with subsonic jet airliners, and your two countries were already setting out to render that to inferiority.
VQ
12-07-2004, 02:55 AM
I'd prefer analog gauges, because then you aren't blind when something happens to the electricals.
Still, very nice.
chris
12-07-2004, 03:01 AM
They also look very spectacular when landing, like some giant eagle ready to swoop on unsuspecting prey. They come in to land with a very nose up attitude, the nose must be pitched up past 25° or more - it is very distinctive and eye-catching. It is a necessary thing with that plane because of the way it is designed.
Delta wing planes don't tend to produce a lot of lift, although they are great for high speed flight because they are very slippery. The old Dassault Mirage fighter plane was an example of that - it was very fast. Like Concorde, it was also a very elegant and sleek machine.
Venom800tt
12-08-2004, 12:41 AM
I also find a unique beauty in the F-117 Nighthawk. Especially if it is painted two tone grey :p
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/f-117_031209-f-0000s-001.jpg
chris
12-09-2004, 04:33 AM
Amazing that it flies, since it flies in the face of aerodynamic conventions.
It's like a brick, all faceted and hard-edged. Definately a fascinating and amazing design.
VQ
12-09-2004, 04:46 AM
doesn't really look like a brick, but like the old muscle cars or hot rods, to go fast it uses A LOT of power doesn't it?
chris
12-09-2004, 05:14 AM
You look at one, and they are all hard-edged, and faceted. I think there is hardly a curved surface on them, and that is very much in contrast to traditional aircraft design.
The idea behind the facets is to reflect radar off in all strange directions, and away from the radar which transmitted them. And further to that, it is painted with a special paint that doesn't reflect radar signals very well.
All very handy in places like Desert Storm campaign, where they had to take out a very good air defense system. Until desert storm arrived, Saddam was very much in the good books of the west, he'd tried to beat up on an extremist Iran with the US backing and help (satellite imaging for instance), so France of course supplied not only the Mirage fighter plane (along with pilot training), but a very good radar/air defense system - thinking that this was the right thing to do at the time.
The international air-forces were only able to attack it so well because of the stealth bombers, and because the French explained how best to attack their own system.
The Mirage however wasn't entirely effective. Indeed, one went after an EF111 Raven, only to crash while attempting to pursue the quickly turning Raven. The old Iraqi MiG-25's were rather a greater irritation, even despite the MiG-25 not being known as a proper fighter plane in the normal sense of the term.
But it can arrive quickly, dump its missiles, and the run away equally fast at high altitude should things not go in its favour.
Bo0
12-09-2004, 05:59 AM
There's a Merlin V12 engined 55 chev in Castlemaine, it took a lot of work, but it happened, a 3000hp, 3 tonne beast it is. It's very well done but.
Saw that in a magazine VQ, an awesome piece of work to say the least :D
A fave plane argh too many to choose!
The Concorde in particular i like, its a shame they went out of service to fly in one of those would be fanstastic.
Spitfire is one of my favoutites too and the P-51D Mustang, also the P-38 Lightning, for a WWII aircraft it was quite good in design, i quite like it.
The SR-71 Blackbird is also another great aircraft, definitive in design also.
And also i'd have to say the ol' Cessna 152, i've flown one of these around quite a few times and hopefully one day when i can afford it i'll get my Pilot License and have a fly around :cool:
Blitz
12-09-2004, 04:20 PM
Well, for civilian commerical planes, I'd say the Concorde or the new Airbus A380, man, those things are huge. For a private plane, then I'd go with the sheer opulence of a Gulfstream V, or a Cessna. Miliatry planes, then I'd have to say my favourite is the Eurofighter, the new FA22 Raptor, and the venerable old F-18s, and MiG 29's.
chris
12-09-2004, 05:16 PM
The A380F might even pose a threat to the current king of very-heavy transport planes, the versatile Antonov AN124-100 (if you disregard the rare, but bigger AN225). At the moment, the Antonov planes seem to have a monopoly on the transport of too-heavy/too-bulky/too-awkward for anything else cargo, and it can take about 135 tonnes of cargo.
But the A380F (the freight version), if what I read is right can take 150 tonnes. :eek:
The Antonovs have proven themselves to be a very useful plane - on more than a few occasions saving the day, especially on a previous Paris-Dakar rally when terrorism threatened to interrupt the event. The Antonovs were called in, and all competitors (including big Kamaz trucks and similar) were airlifted to the next safe location.
A mammoth task, when the amount of competitors in that rally are considered.
The A380, despite its massive size will place no greater demands on its pilots that any other modern Airbus. Not least from the terms of knowing what everything does, for its flight-deck adheres to current Airbus design principles, and everything has a strong resemblance to the A340, and other members of the Airbus family.
Venom800tt
12-09-2004, 05:51 PM
I just wanna see Boeing make the massive Pelican turboprop WIG concept thatke to the sky. The Pelican will make even the AN-225 seem somewhat small. The Pelican will have a maximum capacity of 1.4 million lbs. That will allow it to carry 17 M1A2 Abrams tanks compared to the single Abrams the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III or Lockheed Martin C-5B Galaxy can carry.
Also one of my most disliked planes is the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. Because of that all future F-14 Tomcat upgrades were killed. The F-14 had a significant amount more potential than the F/A-18 for upgrades. It would have also been cheaper. If the F-14 program wasn't cancelled the USN would have F-14's that would make the F-15 Eagle seem kinda weak. Some of the upgrades for the F-14 included putting the same engines found in the F/A-22 Raptor in it, 3d thust vectoring exhaust nozzles, modified wing gloves, strengthend air intakes capable of holding bombs instead of only fuel tanks, modified weapons stations under the fusalage with integrated IR and other sensors, and a single peice windsheild to replace the current 3 peice.
*Venom slaps the Vice President of the USA with a F-14 Tomcat
VQ
12-09-2004, 05:52 PM
then once it gets to it's destination it takes another 5 b doubles to take the load to it's final destination.
chris
12-09-2004, 06:17 PM
I just wanna see Boeing make the massive Pelican turboprop WIG concept thatke to the sky. The Pelican will make even the AN-225 seem somewhat small. The Pelican will have a maximum capacity of 1.4 million lbs. That will allow it to carry 17 M1A2 Abrams tanks compared to the single Abrams the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III or Lockheed Martin C-5B Galaxy can carry.
Also one of my most disliked planes is the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. Because of that all future F-14 Tomcat upgrades were killed. The F-14 had a significant amount more potential than the F/A-18 for upgrades. It would have also been cheaper. If the F-14 program wasn't cancelled the USN would have F-14's that would make the F-15 Eagle seem kinda weak. Some of the upgrades for the F-14 included putting the same engines found in the F/A-22 Raptor in it, 3d thust vectoring exhaust nozzles, modified wing gloves, strengthend air intakes capable of holding bombs instead of only fuel tanks, modified weapons stations under the fusalage with integrated IR and other sensors, and a single peice windsheild to replace the current 3 peice.
*Venom slaps the Vice President of the USA with a F-14 Tomcat
It almost seems like they are doing everything possible to remove planes with variable geometry wings from service. First the capable F111, now F14, what next, the Lancer?
I just don't see how an F18 can make good sense as an F14 replacement, except for the economic benefits of having only one type of fighter/bomber aircraft on the same aircraft carrier. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hornets, but they aren't going to be a proper replacement for the F14.
Venom800tt
12-09-2004, 06:34 PM
It almost seems like they are doing everything possible to remove planes with variable geometry wings from service. First the capable F111, now F14, what next, the Lancer?
I just don't see how an F18 can make good sense as an F14 replacement, except for the economic benefits of having only one type of fighter/bomber aircraft on the same aircraft carrier. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hornets, but they aren't going to be a proper replacement for the F14.
Actually the B-1 nearly died in the 1980s. It was cancelled for a couple years. Then it was remade as the B-1B. The B-1B should last till about 2030, depending on if they do upgrades. The F-111 and F-14 will be missed :(