Space shuttle

[Graham]

That's neat. I can't imagine trying to land on a carrier let alone land at night in a fighter with enough speed up to take off if needed.

And these are kids.

Graham

 

[Mr. P ~]

That's neat. I can't imagine trying to land on a carrier let alone land at night in a fighter with enough speed up to take off if needed.

And these are kids.

Graham

...Yeah, but they are sharp kids!! I assume the ship board pilot spots are somewhat difficult to get too.

....that B-2 is pretty spooky lookin'!

 

[Mr. P ~]

I'll hit this once again with a Shuttle story. Some of my friends at The Cape told me about a spot a lot of them went when an Orbiter was about to land. It was off the end of the runway the Orbiter always comes in on. It is very close to the end of the runwayand they would lay out blankets, have their shots of Jagermeister (doseage varies), and laid down on their backs for the show.

Then the Orbiter came over them at 160 feet or so at what we aready decided was a very fast landing speed.

I guess they proped their eyes open with toothpicks so they wouldn't blink!?!?!

 

[Graham]

Here's a clip of yesterdays landing through the heads up display of the co pilot.
http://anon.nasa-global.edgesuite.net/a ... anding.asx

It's touching down at around 240 kts and you can see the altitude is the reading on the right that at 160' there's some nice grassy area out there to watch.

It would be quick, but it would be spectacular.

Graham

 

[yettoblaster]

Helluva skill set to land that thing.
For those guys, driving a car -even a fast one- must be boring!

 

[Jeff]

A-6's were the gawdawful loudest, whiniest aircraft ever made.

That's a fact Jack !!! I had one if those A 6 buggers scare the stuffing right out of me.

We were cruising in the Columbia River Gorge in a boat doing about 35,m just upstream from a place called Vantage in Eastern Washington. I looked back & had just enough time to say to my buddies, look, someone's flying a radio controlled model airplane back there. The thing kept getting bigger & bigger makin no noise, till it flew right over our heads about a 100 ft off the water. No time to think, it was on us before we had time to figure out what it was. probably doing 300 kts or better. Freaking roar as it passed over caused my testicles to withdraw into my body. Pilot & crew grinning their faces off. "Pure Shock and Awe" Jet Jocks were headed North & no one but us knew they were coming.

Darned things aren't even supersonic but they are not far behind the noise, maybe 4 or 5 seconds, not even enough time to properly wet yourself, by the time you figure out what they are it's too late, you're already dead.

 

[West R Lee]

Yeah,

Last spring we were playing this golf course out in the middle of nowhere. 20 miles to the nearest town. I was addressing my ball to tee off on the 10th, when out of my peripheral vision, I saw this image.......2 F18 Hornets at about 100 feet, these babies were gone before I heard the roar. Proceded to hit this great shot :roll: , then I teed up a Muligan!

West

 

[Guildmark]

Back when they were still the Anaheim Angels, in the first home game of the 2002 World Series, two F-18s approached Anaheim Stadium from the northeast so they could pass over from the open end of the stadium (center field) as part of the opening ceremony. Since that's only nine miles from our driveway, we stepped out the front door about 15 seconds before they began their run. They passed directly over our house at about 100 feet. Lower than the regular police chopper. Jeff's right - things shrivel.

 

[West R Lee]

I'm sure ya'll have seen the 2 seater F18, would you like to go for a ride? And do you think you could hold your stomach on a mild ride?

West

 

[Graham]

Is the A-6 louder than the A-10?

I saw a couple of those here in Hamilton, 1 static, 1 flying. That was a loud bugger. And neat looking too.

Like the fat kid at school that always got picked on until one day when he said, "keep laughing guys, 'cause I'm taking your hits but I'm still coming at 'ya"

After seeing a few of the various craft at one of the shows here, and it was after the initial Gulf conflict, I remember thinking it's no wonder the Iraqis threw up there hands in droves. They must have been sleep deprived from the noise that just didn't stop. I cannot imagine trying to live through something like that.

Graham

 

[Mr. P ~]

Picture this, '79, me and my girl friend spending the fall weekend camping in a very secluded spot in a bottom 15 miles from the nearest house in Arkansas. We are walking up through the bottom when my perifrial vision catches something above me. I look up just long enough to recognize the tail of a F-4 Phantom under full afterburners when the sound caught up. The physical impact of the sound pressure level was astounding to a young audio engineer. It just sledgehammered your insides. It happened too quick to notice if anything importand drew up!!

I was just glad I had recently made a pit stop!!

 

[sfIII]

I've been dealing with Jets practicing attacks for quite some time now. Back in the 80's I was doing gold exploration in Nevada.. I'd be alone on some rim collecting rock chip samples when a jet would make a supersonic run up the canyon near (and below me). You have no warning and don't hear anything until the sonic boom. One of the pilots spoted me once and made repeted attacks.

I also wandered onto an active bombing rage in California when investigating the Landers earthquake. We got the hell out of there when the bombs started falling.

A few years later I was working at a gold mine in South Carolina. The A-10 from a nearby air base made attack runs on our drill rig daily. The Ingersol Rand drill was very loud but could not compare to the noise of the jets. These guys never attacked at the same time so we knew they were coming we just didn't know when. They loved us as targets because we changed positions daily and gave them some challege to find. The drill was also build on a rocket launcher chasis (so we could advance an angle hole) so we were a very realistic target. We put up an American flag, a confererate flag and a white flag.. nothing worked.

Well I'm headed to Madagascar next week... No planes, or phone or internet.. Merry X-mas and Happy new years to All.[/img]

 

[Graham]

All the best sf, safe trip.

Graham

 

[West R Lee]

SF,

When you wandered onto the range in California, were you bombed? :shock: :wink:

West

 

[Mr. P ~]

They loved us as targets because we changed positions daily and gave them some challege to find. The drill was also build on a rocket launcher chasis (so we could advance an angle hole) so we were a very realistic target. We put up an American flag, a confererate flag and a white flag.. nothing worked.

Aren't you glad you weren't a real target!!

Be safe SF, and see if you can bring home a few guitars worth of that Madagascar Ebony!! :wink:

 

[sfIII]

When you wandered onto the range in California, were you bombed?[quote:25da7]

The bombs were landing a mile or so away.



[quote:25da7]Aren't you glad you weren't a real target!!

Be safe SF, and see if you can bring home a few guitars worth of that Madagascar Ebony!!
_________________

[/quote:25da7][/quote:25da7]

Yep.. and these were the guy that fought in Irag the first time. Hope I helped their training.

This Madagascar thing could become a very interesting project. If the intake, tunnel and hydro plant become a reality, We will increase the electricity supply in Madagascar about 50%. This may well take the next few years. I'll keep a look out for tone wood. I may be able to check out Hans shop on one of the trips.

Anyone ever see a kabosy? Strange open tuned 6 string Madagascar guitar with frets that don't all go all the way across the fretboard. (why have a fret for a note that doesn't appear in your music?)

 

[california]

We're in the flight path for the Tournamnet of Roses Parade and Rosebowl, which is about 3 miles away as the crow flies, except on New Years morning when at precisely 8AM everyone on our block is outside waiting for the B-2 Stealth Bomber to fly by to start the parade. So gracefull, and it sounds like nothing else in the air!

Our annual New Years morning wakeup call, taken in our front yard at 8AM this morning just before the start of the Rose parade. What you hear more than anything are the chase planes that accompany the B2. [IMG:480:344]http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r147/california91207/LTG/IMG_0396.jpg[/img]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

[Mr. P ~]

Fantastic shot....B-2 framed by a Palm Tree!!

Very nice!

 

[Graham]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I saw that this morning on TV and thought of you. Looks nice in real life.

Looked like the chase planes were F18s. Loud buggers they are.

Graham

 

[Siwash]

I was in high school when the first shuttle came down and landed. They pulled a big TV into the cafeteria, and boy was everyone quietly tense. Yeah, a lot of steel coming right down fast!