The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

I looked at the list a bit more and came up with the top ten fighters of all time. Fighters seem to be the glamour aircraft of the military -- witness movies like "Top Gun" -- so what were the top ten?
1) German Bf 109 34,852
2) British Spitfire 22,685
3) German Fw 190 20,051
4) Soviet bloc MiG-15 18,000+ (#1 jet fighter)
5) Soviet Yak-9 16,769
6) U.S. P-47 15,660
7) U.S. P-51 15,586
8) British Hurricane 14,487
9) Soviet MiG-21 13,996 (China produced modified MiG-21s as the F-7 long after production ceased in the USSR; I think this number is a bit doubtful.)
10) U.S. P-40 13,738

[///M Ryder]

I haven't logged into the site in forever but, I pop in from time to time to see what's new. This thread is a new favorite of mine so let me add a work-horse to the mix. I spent lots of time with this airplane and had to get it in the conversation....Phil

[chassis]

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

[3.0L]

The F-100's supported us at times in Vietnam, hosing down enemy positions with their very impressive Gatling guns. 20mm, I believe. I'll never forget the sounds. They were close enough at times that I could see the shell casings falling away from the airplane.

[Lady Jane]

Northrop XP-79 Flying Ram.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_XP-79

[chassis]

Almost time for the bus to leave.

A330

[ASAP]

where you headed? that doesn't look like atl

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by ///M Ryder

I haven't logged into the site in forever but, I pop in from time to time to see what's new. This thread is a new favorite of mine so let me add a work-horse to the mix. I spent lots of time with this airplane and had to get it in the conversation....Phil

OV-10 Bronco. I've seen those in action as well. Great airplane. I still see them around these parts on occasion, being used as fire spotters.

[Lady Jane]

VSTOL DuPont Aerospace DP-1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont_Aerospace_DP-1

[///M Ryder]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

OV-10 Bronco. I've seen those in action as well. Great airplane. I still see them around these parts on occasion, being used as fire spotters.

You are correct sir....the pictured model is a OV-10D+ or SLEP. This was an experimental version with the hopes of updated the fleet. The tail markings tell the story.....Phil

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by chassis

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

I always found it interesting to watch the wings "lift" when they take the load on takeoff.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

The F-100's supported us at times in Vietnam, hosing down enemy positions with their very impressive Gatling guns. 20mm, I believe. I'll never forget the sounds. They were close enough at times that I could see the shell casings falling away from the airplane.

Actually the F-100 was one of the last USAF fighters to have the "old-fashioned" four 20mm cannon rather than the Vulcan rotating-barrels 20mm. But I remember hearing Navy F-8s with the same four 20s firing (during a firepower demonstration) and it certainly sounds like a continuous roar.

[Lady Jane]

Myasishchev VM-T Atlant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myasishchev_VM-T

[ASAP]

I have a few more questions-

Why has airline travel in the US gotten so horribly bad? I thought it was absolutely awful pre covid, then after covid it was an absolute downward spiral. Consistently on the news you see shit shows with airline staffing, overbooked flights, faa outages, old systems not being able to keep up and the whole experience has just gotten horrid?

Does anyone believe we should have an airline that is partially state owned to shake things up?

Should we have better passenger protection laws? i.e. airplane flight delays and you get your money back? This is already in place in Europe.

Should there be far more govt regulation? Current dot and faa are massively outdated and appear to be doing nothing.

[Alfisti]

It's even worse in Canada and now I am hearing issues in Australia. There's no labour, everyone is short staffed.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I have a few more questions-

Why has airline travel in the US gotten so horribly bad? I thought it was absolutely awful pre covid, then after covid it was an absolute downward spiral. Consistently on the news you see shit shows with airline staffing, overbooked flights, faa outages, old systems not being able to keep up and the whole experience has just gotten horrid?

Does anyone believe we should have an airline that is partially state owned to shake things up?

Should we have better passenger protection laws? i.e. airplane flight delays and you get your money back? This is already in place in Europe.

Should there be far more govt regulation? Current dot and faa are massively outdated and appear to be doing nothing.

FAA + TSA + oligopolistic airline market structure = no bueno. An aircraft manufacturer (Boeing) that can’t execute its way out of a paper bag doesn’t help.

[Lady Jane]

Fouga C.M.88 Gémeaux.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouga_...R_G%C3%A9meaux

[Lady Jane]

The Morane-Saulnier MS760 Paris four seat trainer and liaison aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane...r_MS.760_Paris

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I have a few more questions-

Why has airline travel in the US gotten so horribly bad? I thought it was absolutely awful pre covid, then after covid it was an absolute downward spiral. Consistently on the news you see shit shows with airline staffing, overbooked flights, faa outages, old systems not being able to keep up and the whole experience has just gotten horrid?

Does anyone believe we should have an airline that is partially state owned to shake things up?

Should we have better passenger protection laws? i.e. airplane flight delays and you get your money back? This is already in place in Europe.

Should there be far more govt regulation? Current dot and faa are massively outdated and appear to be doing nothing.

This is the sometimes dark side of the profit motive and you can thank Jimmy Carter for that. Things changed big-time when he deregulated the
airline industry.

Here's the last paragraph of the above article:

Since deregulation, travelers have benefited from low fares and more frequent service on heavily traveled routes; on other routes, fares have risen. But in exchange for low fares, passengers have had to sacrifice convenience and amenities. What would you be willing to sacrifice for a cheaper fare?

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

This is the sometimes dark side of the profit motive and you can thank Jimmy Carter for that. Things changed big-time when he deregulated the
airline industry.

Here's the last paragraph of the above article:

Since deregulation, travelers have benefited from low fares and more frequent service on heavily traveled routes; on other routes, fares have risen. But in exchange for low fares, passengers have had to sacrifice convenience and amenities. What would you be willing to sacrifice for a cheaper fare?

My personal opinion is that I don't want to feel like I am in a cattle car, would prefer the airplane is less filled and would be willing to pay a premium for that. Ultimately that would necessitate less people on board which means that prices need to continue to go up... again this is fine as long as fewer and fewer people fly but service goes up.

Now however, it appears we are paying more and flying sucks more... don't know what the answer is? More competition, nationalization of 1 airline to shake things up or something else like a mandatory minimum plane size for +2 hr flights?

Deregulation is NOTHING new and has been around for over 40 years... never in my life has it been as bad to travel as say 2014-2015 or so.... I am secretly thinking that the mergers of the big 3 in 2013 caused a huge part of this mayhem... again, more failed govt regulation which should have blocked all of those mergers. Now I am 99% sure Jetblue purchasing spirit will pass... so it will be even shittier lol?

[ezaircon4jc]

A lot has to do with airport capacity. When I worked LAX's busiest arrival hour ever (or ever will), we gridlocked the airport. They were holding airplanes all over the place. There's this myth that there is unused airspace that can be utilized, that isn't. That's like unlimited roads to a stadium, but only 200 parking spots. What happens to the cars that don't make it when the parking lot is full?
Not so much anymore (thanks union & the philosophy that if it ain't easy, it ain't right), but in my era controllers, went out of their way to take the extra airplane or 10. Like in the movie Pushing Tin, there used to be competition between controllers on who could pack them in the tightest. My favorite was when I was told there wasn't a hole for someone. Challenge accepted!

[zx10guy]

Sorry....another RC post from me. But thought this one was worth posting up. A drone chasing a F16 RC. The guy operating the drone has some great skills and appears to be using a VR headset.