[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

It was a guided tour and they took copies of my passport, a retinal scam, ten fingerprints and a short interview to let me in.

Bet you looked suspicious so they had to do a double check

Luckily I wast not carrying my KGB ID card and recommendation letter from Putin

Whaaat!!!. Comrade the NYC air is getting to you.

All aircraft operated are V/STOL so I don't think there are any catapults on the ship. Here are some more pictures:

Yes that's correct - Helicopters, Ospreys, AV-8B Harriers. It is only when you walk on the deck of a carrier with a few aircraft parked on it that it hits home just how small the deck is relative to the space needed to land & take off aircraft. In 1976 I went on the old INS Vikrant for a family day cruise and it was shocking to observe how small the gap was of the wing tip of an aircraft that was landing vs the nose of the aircraft parked on the deck at the aft.

The freeboard {height of the sides to the main deck, in this case the flight deck} of the USS Wasp shows that extra two decks it has to accommodate the troops & tanks. On a lighter note I wonder what happens to that ships boat hanging out on davits in a storm!! There have been instances {in this case with the Canadian Navy} where 76mm gun mountings fitted in the forecastle, the absolute forward section, have been washed away, a few times, in storms in the North Atlantic!!!. This happened with the Canadian 'Protecteur' class fast replenishment ships. I would not be surprised if those boats have been washed away a couple of times in really heavy seas.:-)

[skanchan95]

Great pics, Foxbat. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Experimental F-14 Super Tomcat

I believe that's the prototype of the F-14D Super Tomcat.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

A-6 Intruder

And this was the prototype of the proposed(and later cancelled) A-6F Intruder II that would have given the A-6 multirole capability

Originally Posted by Foxbat

VOUGHT (F8U) F-8K CRUSADER

Sundowners MiG killer!!!


Last kill of the 'Last Gunfighter'. Also, this MiG kill sortie was Lt Nargi's 111th mission with VF-111 and he was flying from Intrepid, CVA-11.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Polish Mig-21 also painted in VPAF colours

Well, atleast it is not as bad or as fictional as the Red Archers/Scorchers "IAF" MiG-21PFM in a German museum.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Great pics, Foxbat. Thanks for sharing.



I believe that's the prototype of the F-14D Super Tomcat.



And this was the prototype of the proposed(and later cancelled) A-6F Intruder II that would have given the A-6 multirole capability


Sundowners MiG killer!!!

Attachment 2465036
Last kill of the 'Last Gunfighter'. Also, this MiG kill sortie was Lt Nargi's 111th mission with VF-111 and he was flying from Intrepid, CVA-11.


Well, atleast it is not as bad or as fictional as the Red Archers/Scorchers "IAF" MiG-21PFM in a German museum.

All correct details, I think all this was mentioned in the display boards in front of the aircraft(which I forgot). I just looked up the Crusader isn't the actual Sundowners aircraft, it's been painted to represent one like many other aircraft on exhibit.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

All correct details, I think all this was mentioned in the display boards in front of the aircraft(which I forgot). I just looked up the Crusader isn't the actual Sundowners aircraft, it's been painted to represent one like many other aircraft on exhibit.

If I were you, I would have gone hunting for the Serial(Bureau) Number of each aircraft and then cam back home and researched about it. But, that's just me, I have this obsession with aircraft serial numbers and looking at an aircraft in detail.

Here's me around the HAL built Type 88 MiG-21M at the Sunnyside - General K S Thimayya's home and now a Museum in Madikeri, Coorg two years ago. The guy in the white T-shirt in yours truly trying to tell my kids were the gunport on the MiG-21 is.

My wife and kiddos and a hard time getting me away from that MiG-21M as I ended up taking 80+ photos of that MiG-21M and a T-55 on display there.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Here's me around the HAL built Type 88 MiG-21M at the Sunnyside - General K S Thimayya's home and now a Museum in Madikeri, Coorg two years ago.

Was curious to know how a General (I'm assuming in the Army) got a Mig-21 in his private backyard ? This doesn't seem good use of Government funds unless he bought it at a scrap auction or something.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Was curious to know how a General (I'm assuming in the Army) got a Mig-21 in his private backyard ? This doesn't seem good use of Government funds unless he bought it at a scrap auction or something.

I think you misread it.

This building called Sunnyside was General Thimayya's ancestral home. He was the Chief of Army Staff in the late 1950s. After retirement, he was appointed the commander of the UN Forces in Cyprus, based on a request from UN. General Thimayya had a reputation for being a soldier's general. He died while on duty in Cyprus.

After his death, the property fell in despair and it was being used by the local RTO. In 2006, permission was granted to convert the property into a museum. It was only in 2021 that the museum opened. The MiG-21 and T-55 came in shortly before the museum was opened. The museum also has a few models on IN ships, submarines, guns and the late General's personal memorabilia.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Was curious to know how a General (I'm assuming in the Army) got a Mig-21 in his private backyard ? This doesn't seem good use of Government funds unless he bought it at a scrap auction or something.

You can just buy almost any bit of military kit these days, including a MIG21.

Have a look:

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviati...2620/5-mig-21/

Decades ago Jeremy Clarkson bought a Lightning and put it in his garden.much to the annoyance of his wife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnGXerN0tlo

Some years ago I had the pleasure of flying in a privately owned Fouga Magister. The guy who owned it, also owned a MIG 15.

Several Hawker Hunters are privately owned and still flown too. You can buy a Northrop F5 freedom fighter privately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSohFCol1GY

The lists goes on and on!

Jeroen

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

The Concorde is a product of Anglo-French cooperation. When the Concorde entered Air France and British Airways transatlantic service in 1976, it was the only operational supersonic passenger transport in the world. With a crew of nine, the Concorde could fly at 1,350 mph (2,150 kph) at an altitude of 60,000 ft (18,181 m), high enough for its 100 passengers to see the curvature of the earth.

This aircraft, serial no. 100-010 (G-BOAD), first flew on August 25, 1976. Concordes crossed the Atlantic Ocean in under three hours, or less than half the time of any other jetliner flying that route even today. Protests from environmentalists prevented its supersonic use over the United States and limited airport operation. A crash upon takeoff in July 2000 grounded the fleet until 2001. The Concorde flew VIP passengers until 2003, when both airlines retired their fleets from service. This airplane is on loan from British Airways.

I am not much of an aviation geek but Concorde has always fascinated me.

So far I have only managed a fleeting glance of G-BOAB on the LHR tarmac from on-board a flight. Wish they open this to the public someday rather than letting it rot on the runway

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

I am not much of an aviation geek but Concorde has always fascinated me.

So far I have only managed a fleeting glance of G-BOAB on the LHR tarmac from on-board a flight. Wish they open this to the public someday rather than letting it rot on the runway

When at Heathrow, The nearest Concorde open to the public is the one at the imperial war museum at Duxford. Open all day.

Jeroen