The Aviators Thread

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DoctorEvil

·Mar 19, 2025

hen

Since I have spare time today and this tread have been dormant for a wile, I post some pics of the Norwegian Air force`s Heuer chronograph.

First some watch pics :

Some close ups:

And some air planes:

A F 104 Starfighter checking up on a Soviet Tupolev.

A P3B Orion, harrasing a Soviet submarine with training charges.


And lastly the watch that replaced the Heuer:

Those Heuer chronographs are sweet. Wonder what was the time period that they were standard issue?

It's also interesting to note in the photo of the Starfighter intercepting the Soviet turboprop how high the Starfighter's angle of attack is. The pilot must have had to throttle right back just to maintain station.

 

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hen

·Mar 20, 2025

DoctorEvil

Those Heuer chronographs are sweet. Wonder what was the time period that they were standard issue?

It's also interesting to note in the photo of the Starfighter intercepting the Soviet turboprop how high the Starfighter's angle of attack is. The pilot must have had to throttle right back just to maintain station.

The first Heuer 1550 SG were issued in the early 70`s, and were in use untill mid 80`s when the Junghans entered service, mostly because the costly sevicing of the Heuer`s. The Air Force had a technician who serviced these watches, that was expencive. They used a German service maual: https://brown-snout.com/horology/articles/heuer_bundeswehr_chrono/servicing_manual.pdf if anyone is interested.

 

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JimInOz

·Mar 20, 2025·Melbourne Australia

DoctorEvil

The pilot must have had to throttle right back just to maintain station.

Probably wanted to save fuel as well, looks like he's already dropped his centreline tank.
Tip tanks were fixed I guess, an asymmetric jettison could be a bit "WTF!". Especially with the aerodynamics of the 104.

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Mar 20, 2025

@JimInOz F-104 tiptanks were detachable...

 

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JimInOz

·Mar 20, 2025·Melbourne Australia

SpeedyPhill

@JimInOz F-104 tiptanks were detachable...

In flight?

PS: And were the wing leading edges so sharp they had covers when on the ground to protect them.

Edited: Mar 20, 2025

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Mar 21, 2025

JimInOz

In flight?

PS: And were the wing leading edges so sharp they had covers when on the ground to protect them.

Nope, not in flight but the sleek F-104 Starfighter could fly with or without tiptanks...
The "flying pencil" which was flown by astronauts among whom Armstrong, Irwin, Scott, Stafford... to name afew !
.

 

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JimInOz

·Mar 21, 2025·Melbourne Australia

From memory I think Australia was considering the F-104 as a replacement for our Sabres.
I think I would have enjoyed working on them.

Ended up getting the Mirage, under which I spent many hours loading ordnance of all descriptions when I was younger.
Also spent many hours cursing the damn appendages on the underside (most considered necessary by pilots) that had the uncanny ability to gouge our backs and skulls.

I witnessed the departure from the fuselage of the little stainless steel tube thingy just FWD of the gun bay when it was agriculturaly removed with a gun barrel extractor tool after the operator opened his skull when ducking under from one side of the AC to the other.

Wasn't me, and I can't remember Bobster's real name 😉.

 

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MRC

·Mar 28, 2025

 

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DoctorEvil

·Mar 28, 2025

MRC

Beautiful aircraft. The "Wooden Wonder". A WW2 bomber that relied purely on speed for survival is something pretty cool. I didn't know that it was used in carrier landing trials so thanks for sharing. Sounds like one would need very good flying skills in order to do it.

 

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JimInOz

·Mar 29, 2025·Melbourne Australia

Winkle Brown.
A legend.

There are "The Few", the heroic pilots of The Battle of Britain.

Brown could be considered "One of the Few".
Exceptional pilots who, still in the early age of aviation, helped develop aircraft through their skill, intelligence, determination and courage.

DoctorEvil

Beautiful aircraft. The "Wooden Wonder".

Winkle's favourite aircraft was also a wooden wonder. The de Havilland Hornet, a bit like a Mosquito on steroids.

 

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MRC

·Mar 29, 2025

From the jacket blurb on his autobiography
"In 1939 Eric Brown was on a University of Edinburgh exchange course in Germany, and the first he knew of the war was when the Gestapo came to arrest him. They released him, not realising he was a pilot in the RAF volunteer reserve: and the rest is history. Eric Brown joined the Fleet Air Arm and went on to be the greatest test pilot in history, flying more different aircraft types than anyone else.

During his lifetime he made a record-breaking 2,407 aircraft carrier landings and survived eleven plane crashes. One of Britain's few German-speaking airmen, he went to Germany in 1945 to test the Nazi jets, interviewing (among others) Hermann Goering and Hanna Reitsch. He flew the suicidally dangerous Me 163 rocket plane, and tested the first British jets. WINGS ON MY SLEEVE is 'Winkle' Brown's incredible story."

Available new in paperback and on Kindle.

 

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tpatta

·Mar 29, 2025·Happily spending my daughter’s inheritance

SpeedyPhill

Nope, not in flight but the sleek F-104 Starfighter could fly with or without tiptanks...
The "flying pencil" which was flown by astronauts among whom Armstrong, Irwin, Scott, Stafford... to name afew !
.

One of the most beautiful fighters ever built. Love watching them fly at the Edwards AFB air show while growing up.

 

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DoctorEvil

·Mar 30, 2025

Attended the biennial Australian International Airshow today at Avalon Airport near the city of Geelong in Victoria. The line up this year was a bit limited because high winds prevented a lot of the vintage aircraft from taking to the air. Was still a good show though. Some pics taken with my phone camera...

Royal Australian Navy MH-60R Seahawk.

Snoopy at the airshow.

Royal Australian Air Force F-35A

Royal Australian Air Force P-8 Poseidon

F-35 taking off

USAF C-17 Globemaster taking off

RAAF KC-30 MRTT (multi role tanker transport) in formation with two F-35s and two F-18Fs.

Two days ago, an aerobatic aircraft crashed at the show when the pilot failed to pull out of a loop in time. Miraculously, he survived and was airlifted to hospital.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/plane-crashes-at-avalon-airshow-20250328-p5lney.html

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Apr 9, 2025

April 1955 - April 2025 marks 70 years " Groom Lake " ...
By April 6, 1955 after surveying the area from the air, Lockheed engineer Kelly Johnson, testpilot Tony LeVier and Skunk Works logistics boss Dorsey Kammerer had chosed " a base in Nevada " with a promising Lake Bed which was secluded / remote / unfrequented so it could be used for secure testing of their secret prototype high altitude reconnaissance aircraft and train its pilots...
☕
After the US-Mexican war of 1848, the desolate area became US property and in 1864 was prospected by Robert Groom, a geologist who founded the Groom mining company looking for Silver & Copper. At the beginning of WW II, Groom Lake became part of the Las Vegas Bombing & Gunnery Range. By 1949, the US no longer had a monopoly on atomic bombs and in 1951 decided to move nuclear tests from New Mexico (Trinity July 1945) some 900 kilometers NorthWest to the Jackass Flats in Nevada. The Nevada Proving Grounds, nowadays NTS - Nevada Test Site, allowed to conduct nuclear field exercises with live troops present & maneuvering on nearby land (distance of 10 kilometers).
Although the "Groom Lake" site lay in the downwind path of radioactive fall out of NTS above-ground testing, the use of Groom Lake was approved and the Lockheed U-2 became " the Angel of Paradise Ranch "...
(Photo: WSE)
.

 

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Duracuir1

·Apr 9, 2025·Never Used A Kodak

The above patch made me look through my stash. I found this one.

And a couple postcards.

And why the hell not… a World Timer…

 

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MRC

·Apr 9, 2025

Just added to my Christmas list.......

 

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DoctorEvil

·Apr 11, 2025

MRC

Just added to my Christmas list.......

Very nice. Looks like a lot of fun. I do like the idea of an electric motor driving the prop as it requires less maintenance than an ICE.

 

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SpeedyPhill

·Apr 29, 2025

Northrop B-2 Spirit... 25 years since the last was produced, but topical again...
.​

 

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JimInOz

·Apr 29, 2025·Melbourne Australia

SpeedyPhill

Northrop B-2 Spirit... 25 years since the last was produced, but topical again...​

.​

"Would you mind not shooting at the nuclear weapons!".
🤔

 

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DoctorEvil

·Apr 29, 2025

JimInOz

"Would you mind not shooting at the nuclear weapons!".
🤔

Broken Arrow?