Posted on 08/26/2010 4:42:34 PM PDT by nuconvert
Britain will be forced to borrow U.S. warplanes to fly from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers because of defence cuts, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The Navy's Harrier Jump Jets - the aircraft that won renown in the Falklands conflict - are to be retired early leaving the two new carriers with no aircraft when they come into service.
Under the plans, the U.S. Marines would be invited to fly from the British carriers in joint operations and the Navy is also examining the prospect of leasing aircraft from the Americans
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Unfortunately, this is another example of Dail Mail yellow journalism. They have forgotten facts in their unending search for sensationalism. There was never any intention to use Harriers on the new carriers. The plane has a formidable reputation (justifiably) but the simple fact is they are very old now and functionally obsolete. The intention was always to use F-35’s (which arent ready yet) on the new carriers (which arent built yet). None of this is going to happen for another 2-3 years.
...No.
What they really mean is the decision to extend their service life beyond what was originally planned (which was already pushing it) has been rescinded. That, of course, doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as "retiring early".
One bit of math later...curiously the proportions spent on Pensions and Defence are roughly the same (46%). Education is doing slightly better (60%) which is not a wholly bad thing. Healthcare is doing the best of all - 81%.
Now, ok the population has grown slightly and it has certainly aged, and the proportion spent is still way behiind what the US spends, but that's a significant change in emphasis.
I was watching a Chezck documentary a bit ago, and the guy put forward the theory that one of the reasons why the Spitfire has such a place in hearts and minds is that the 12 cylinder merlin engine was harmonized to a major key (I suspect not deliberately, just a happy coincidence) and that just ...touches... people on some subconscious level. He said hearing it gave the same kind of feeling as attending a mass.
PDS?
Yep,....nothing like the sound of a Merlin purring, in a Spit OR a P-51!
like emptying their ammo trays and filling them with lobster to fly back to their mess halls.
****
lol
Pilots will be pilots.
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As a practical matter, where else are you going to put any cargo you would like to carry on your fighter? If it is bigger than a spare handkerchief, it is not going to fit in most combat cockpits.
I was watching a Chezck documentary a bit ago, and the guy put forward the theory that one of the reasons why the Spitfire has such a place in hearts and minds is that the 12 cylinder merlin engine was harmonized to a major key (I suspect not deliberately, just a happy coincidence) and that just ...touches... people on some subconscious level. He said hearing it gave the same kind of feeling as attending a mass.
(((((((((
I wish they could make car engines with perfect pitch. :)
There also was a space in the spitfire behind the pilots seat , underneath the radio housing, about ths size of a small suitcase.This was often used to carry a pilots dunnage bag of duffle,or a case of wine or whiskey when ferrying A/C back from having maintenance in Britain.Also valued were chocolate, cosmetics and nylon stockings, which some ladies of France, Italy and Germany were prepared to give a lot for.Some sitfire models had a small access hatch to that space on the port side of the fuselage.Others had ways to stuff the space from inside the cockpit by adjusting the pilots seat full down.
I wish I had a spitfire. The closest I could come was a 1971 Norton 850 Interstate motorcycle.The smells are very similar to a spitfire.Mass producing them again at 200 k per model would be a viable economic exercise IMHO.But them maybe I am blinded by love! LOL.
Will the Brit pilots have to be retrained to taxi on the RIGHT hand side of our carriers?
I was speaking specifically of the A-7A Corsair II which I had some familiarity with. The A-7E model which I later worked on had totally different system that didn’t use removable ammo boxes. For that we modified a drop tank with interior straps and an access panel to allow the pilots to carry things with them.
The Corsair is a beautiful A/C. Gorgeous.Few people realize how huge and strong they are in size compared to a Spitfire.
A different style of aircraft altogether.
A dozen men could stand on the wings of a corsair, an impossible thing for a spitfire.
Intersting solution on the carry pod.But a Corsair could stay in the air a lot longer than a Spitfre, and fly much greater distances.
Not as pretty as a Corsair or Spitfire, but it has a decided advantage in speed, range, distance and ordnance payload.
Work horses of the USN fo so many years. I guess they had the rep of being a good carrier landing AC.Not much room inside these puppies...cramped or what?
I never saw one get in trouble on recovery. I did see a couple have problems taking off. With the first, it was strictly a catapult malfunction. The ejection seat didn't operate the way the salesman said it would, either. The other was a shore takeoff and the air brake deployed as soon as he got the weight off the wheels. The seat didn't function quite right either, but the pilot limped away from that one.
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