Took my kids to the families open day at RAF Coningsby today to show them where I used to work and watch the flying.
The weather was overcast but dry and warm. The girls enjoyed watching the flying, charity stalls and fairground and I enjoyed the currywurst. Pity there was no beer tent.
Apologies for the quality of the photos. My kids got in the better ones which I prefer not to share online.
This years display team Typhoon “Black Jack”
A Spitfire, one of the later marks
A pair of Strikemasters
A RAF F35 Lightening, new and ugly
And purely for my own nostalgic purposes, my old 29 Squadron hangar.
@WintaTheAnglemodern aircraft are no different. They fatigue and need more repairs over time. with modern materials and manufacturing techniques, old airframes could be built stronger. they wouldn't be imune to fatigue but they would last longer than the originals did. modern weapons technology also allows for many differently capable aircraft to take on very different roles. The idea that a plane can only do what it's airframe was designed for is an outdated one.
And older airframe designs aren't quite obsolete if they have better performance metrics than current aircraft with stronger engines. I know how military procurement works and it's largely business. more money to be made if making a new plane from scratch than revisiting old designs.
@WintaTheAngle that's french for "you are wrong and i'll let you know it by walking away." not meant as a comeback, just me being silly ;)
seriously though. a lot of what makes aircraft today good is the computer tech that is installed in them. old designs can be modified and built new for far less then what it takes to develop a new airframe these days.
i don't really like arguments but i do enjoy conversation. you can hit me up whenever 🙂👍
@OldBrit That’s cool. I used to watch them on my lunch breaks. Doing engine runs or upkeep flights. Every now and then I’d get lucky and catch them doing practice displays. There was one sunny day there was a single hurricane doing a crazy high speed figure of 8 over and over for 5 minutes, seeming just for the fun of it.
@WintaTheAngle the guy that showed us around was ex bomber command. He'd been top turret gunner on Lancs in the war. Honestly such a privilege to be shown around by him.
@Heartlander Yes my girls both got to sit in the cockpit with of Typhoon. My eldest is only 9 but she’s already says she wants to join the RAF after school. I hope it’s the adventure for her that it was for me.
@WintaTheAngle I'm an old, once-upon-a-time USAF pilot and I loved doing those static displays. Did a few months temporary duty at RAF Mildenhall, really loved it.
I was fortunate to fly with some of the old WW2 crew members before they retired, and got to hear their first person accounts of the war. Truly the greatest generation.
@questionWeaver I’m pleased you liked them. It certainly brought back happy memories for me of my days as a rigger on one of my Squadrons - nice to be back on an active fighter station.
And the kids are game for anything following home schooling and being trapped in the house for a year. They are growing fast and are harder to keep entertained locked up. So mock WW2 dog fights and fast jets screaming past put smiles on their faces.
@questionWeaver Yeah I hear you there. The sound of the Merlin engine is awesome too. The guy dove from 2000ft to 500ft and did a mock strafing run parallel to the crowd line and the Merlin absolutely roared. He threw it back into a sharpe climb to bleed off speed and zig zagged as if he was avoiding Nazi flak. I got goosebumps.
