Seen Over Your House Today

PR19_Kit · May 20, 2018, 11:18:30 AM

Quote from: The Wooksta! on May 16, 2018, 02:53:56 PM

Some dirty great military transport took off from Newcastle and flew past the hotel. I think it might have been that Airbus thing - the noise it made didn't sound like turbofans, more like turborpops.

That's an A400M, known as the Atlas to the RAF.

I saw, and heard, a short nose Spitfire drone o'head my friend's house nr Wellingborough the other day. Glorious weather, so it was only in silhouette so I have no idea what Mk. it was. Could have been a I, II, V or XI I guess.

Rheged · May 20, 2018, 01:24:39 PM

Late this afternoon, there was an irritating 2-stroke whine above me, that turned out to be a micro-light. It was making extremely slow progress over my house and garden and seemed to exist purely to convert valuable hydrocarbon energy into annoying noise. It was probably 250 feet above me. Had I gone into the garage and found my bow and some arrows, I could probably have nobbled it. If I had hit it and brought it down, what would I have got? An MBE is too much to hope for, but surely at least the heartfelt thanks (recorded on vellum) of everyone it had irritated between here and Shobdon 5 miles away, where I think it is based.

zenrat · May 21, 2018, 02:43:54 AM

You could have had it stuffed and mounted.

NARSES2 · May 21, 2018, 06:23:23 AM

Quote from: zenrat on May 21, 2018, 02:43:54 AM
You could have had it stuffed and mounted.

I've seen a film or a t.v. comedy (can't remember which) where one of the protagonists had a startled micro-light pilot's head stuffed and mounted together with part of the airframe

Steel Penguin · May 21, 2018, 01:05:14 PM

a single hawk over Monmouth today, wile I was down there. Very odd in the fact I could get out of the house, and into the back garden and still see it, I am used to things being much faster from the RAF flight path I grew up under.

Rheged · May 22, 2018, 10:36:43 AM

Proceeding north on the M5 at about 45 mph on a low loader, a yellow Wessex labelled ROYAL AIR FORCE RESCUE. No more data available, as I was going south at 55mph at the time.

Nick · May 22, 2018, 11:07:49 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on May 21, 2018, 06:23:23 AM
Quote from: zenrat on May 21, 2018, 02:43:54 AM
You could have had it stuffed and mounted.

I've seen a film or a t.v. comedy (can't remember which) where one of the protagonists had a startled micro-light pilot's head stuffed and mounted together with part of the airframe

Wasn't that in Hot Shots? The guy (Ryan Stiles) survives a crash but gets mistaken for a deer and shot? So they mount his head on the wall!

kitnut617 · May 22, 2018, 05:24:09 PM

At YYC today, I spotted a CORSAIR International 747-400 on Apron 2, when I went to look at it a short while later, an A340 had been parked right beside it. This one was all over white with a long green cheatline which turned up at the tail and then formed one arm of a big green 'X'
Belongs to a charter airline called 'Big X' apparently and is being used for trooping flights for the Brit Army.

EDIT: (later and before I forget it again), something else I saw yesterday which is getting very rare these days --- a Canadian North 737-200 arrived a bit later in the day, but not just any 737-200, this one was equipped with a gravel kit ---

zenrat · May 23, 2018, 04:05:28 AM

I had to google "gravel kit".
And found it was exactly what I suspected...

...a hopper system for gritting iced runways prior to landing on them.

PR19_Kit · May 23, 2018, 10:40:49 AM

Quote from: kitnut617 on May 22, 2018, 05:24:09 PM

EDIT: (later and before I forget it again), something else I saw yesterday which is getting very rare these days --- a Canadian North 737-200 arrived a bit later in the day, but not just any 737-200, this one was equipped with a gravel kit ---

Magic, they're as rare as hens teeth! I've got an etch conversion kit for the Airfix kit for one of them, but I've never dared try it out so far. Those 'prods' sticking out of the bottom of the engine nacelles look FAR to fragile to me!

TheChronicOne · May 23, 2018, 10:58:44 AM

Huh!!! New stuff for me! How cool is that?! I went and had a gander at google images. 737's barreling down what looks like old rural dirt roads and such.

I wonder if Saudia ever used a gravel kit on their birds? I'm going to build a Saudia 737-200 at some point.... one of the coolest liveries I've ever seen..... it would be neat to put all this gravel jive on it too.

scooter · May 23, 2018, 11:06:10 AM

Orange things repellent to the ground, but drop like stones when the spinny thingy stops spinning.

kitnut617 · May 23, 2018, 04:34:25 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on May 23, 2018, 10:40:49 AM
Quote from: kitnut617 on May 22, 2018, 05:24:09 PM

EDIT: (later and before I forget it again), something else I saw yesterday which is getting very rare these days --- a Canadian North 737-200 arrived a bit later in the day, but not just any 737-200, this one was equipped with a gravel kit ---

Magic, they're as rare as hens teeth! I've got an etch conversion kit for the Airfix kit for one of them, but I've never dared try it out so far. Those 'prods' sticking out of the bottom of the engine nacelles look FAR to fragile to me!

Big Plane Kits has a 1/72 kit of a Canadian North 737-200 with the gravel kit.

http://bigplaneskits.com/shop/uncategorized/737-200-canadian-north/

kitnut617 · May 23, 2018, 04:39:39 PM

Quote from: TheChronicOne on May 23, 2018, 10:58:44 AM
Huh!!! New stuff for me! How cool is that?! I went and had a gander at google images. 737's barreling down what looks like old rural dirt roads and such.

I wonder if Saudia ever used a gravel kit on their birds? I'm going to build a Saudia 737-200 at some point.... one of the coolest liveries I've ever seen..... it would be neat to put all this gravel jive on it too.

I had a job a few years ago where my customer sent me to a diamond mine in the NWTs. I was to observe their operation so I could design and draft up some equipment for drilling. I had imagined some sort of 'bush' operation but I was completely gob-smacked when I traveled on this 737-200 (which just happened to be a Canadian North one) to the mine and we landed on a gravel airstrip. I had a good look at the set-up of the kit when I got off the plane.

TheChronicOne · May 23, 2018, 05:00:09 PM

Quote from: kitnut617 on May 23, 2018, 04:39:39 PM
Quote from: TheChronicOne on May 23, 2018, 10:58:44 AM
Huh!!! New stuff for me! How cool is that?! I went and had a gander at google images. 737's barreling down what looks like old rural dirt roads and such.

I wonder if Saudia ever used a gravel kit on their birds? I'm going to build a Saudia 737-200 at some point.... one of the coolest liveries I've ever seen..... it would be neat to put all this gravel jive on it too.

I had a job a few years ago where my customer sent me to a diamond mine in the NWTs. I was to observe their operation so I could design and draft up some equipment for drilling. I had imagined some sort of 'bush' operation but I was completely gob-smacked when I traveled on this 737-200 (which just happened to be a Canadian North one) to the mine and we landed on a gravel airstrip. I had a good look at the set-up of the kit when I got off the plane.

Amazing! I would have been blown away myself! Thinking about some high winged, balloon tired jobber with a low stall speed and here's this Boeing! Fantastic story, that whole affair sounds really cool to me.

Sounds like Debeers? I'm vaguely familiar, having seen a bit of Ice Road Truckers.

Work is work, but, man, that sounds like some pretty "fun" work.

This whole "gravel kit" stuff is immensely intriguing and I'm going to have to find this etch stuff and throw it on my build whether the Saudis did it or not.... (I think I saw a picture of one with the vortex dissipator things though so maybe they did after all).