QuoteOMG Conkers....those instruments look like a WW2 bomber!
Didn't know they still had stuff like that flying around! Where did you find it....Davis Monahan a/c cemetery?
Now here's a real post-WWII bomber cockpit. Care to guess what it is? Not too hard.
No it's not TSR2. ;D
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/Gort_08/CanbCockpit240.jpg) (http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Gort_08/media/CanbCockpit240.jpg.html)
Ah, memories (sigh)
Not too up on anything post war.....using my powers of deduction with your history and origin; could it be a Canberra?
Must be my eyes but I can't see the 'I' or 'Ctrl E' buttons anywhere.
Aaaah....a real piece of machinery....without cheating I'll go along with BalDaddy.....are we right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm2RTbal-_c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm2RTbal-_c)
Bounder :-\
Having the registration on display helped!
http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=580374 (http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=580374)
I cheated and put external views on. It is this Canberra in particular I believe....
See, i told you it wasn't all that hard!
Elephant stamps all round, and a gold star for Fitz. Who'd have thought that googling the rego would come up with the answer. ;D ;D ;D
And Gizmo, there are a couple of "I"s around somewhere, and there's even a "CTL E".
Thought I'd give my impressions of this fine English lady if people are interested. 8)
Quote from: =CfC=BlueDog on May 27, 2014, 01:02:24 AM
Thought I'd give my impressions of this fine English lady if people are interested. 8)
Yes, Please. Hero stories by the dozen are approved and needed. Give it your best shot, Bluey.
Oh yes please Bluers....would love to hear about flying a real aircraft.
Here is another fine English lady....have sent her CV to Fifi. I think she is absolutely spiffing and a cracker. Have not flown her though! If she stood at the end of Fifi's airstrips on a bandstand with a couple of red flags to make us stop, I'm sure the chaps would land really short!
http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/19/meet-sheila-vogel-coupe-britains-granny-prostitute-whos-still-busy-with-clients-at-85-4732651/ (http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/19/meet-sheila-vogel-coupe-britains-granny-prostitute-whos-still-busy-with-clients-at-85-4732651/)
Bounder ;D
:o :o Only in Britain..... :o :o :o :D :D
Nowwww you know why I always take a full bomb load to Fifis....
Forty five years on, and still at about the same fighting weight, I slip into a Vampire trainer at the Caloundra aircraft museum. I'm in the company of the attendees at the 45th anniversary of the graduation of No 58 Pilots Course, several of whom are shown here.
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/Gort_08/086.jpg) (http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Gort_08/media/086.jpg.html)
The BlueDog looks around and thinks "how on earth did I even fit in here let alone fly one of these dinosaurs" - thinks back to doing such things known only to Woof, or maybe Bounder: aural null let-downs. My god (note the small 'g'), this cockpit layout is unbelievably cramped, poor and archaic - who could cope with this shambles?
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/Gort_08/TemoraVampireTrainerFrontForum.jpg) (http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Gort_08/media/TemoraVampireTrainerFrontForum.jpg.html)
So how did this come about? We graduated as a course back in late '66, having lost one third or so of the starters through inadequate performance; with almost all of us remaining showing a preference for posting to fighters (F86 Sabre and the all-new Mirage III). How we dreamed of soaring in our fast jets to the very gates of heaven (small 'h'). Well, if we couldn't 'get' fighters, the beautiful Canberra bomber was next on the list. Some few were posted to fly fighters, none went to bombers, the rest posted to trash-hauling on C130A, Caribou, and Dakotas or Huey helicopters. The BlueDog, despite his (to his mind) flying brilliance went to C130s.
To be fair, this was probably a good thing - close supervision by surly, no-nonsense '99' potential captains was really what was required. So I found myself in a large cockpit, sitting in the right-hand seat, noting the (then) modern instrument panel layout, making the occasionally correct radio call, and even more occasionally being allowed to touch the controls - under strict constraints from the ogre in the left-hand seat, of course.
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/Gort_08/C130A.jpg) (http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Gort_08/media/C130A.jpg.html)
But time changes all, and a couple of years down track I graduated to the LHS, becoming green and growing Shrek-esque ears in the process; and even becoming an actual asset to the squadron as a flight simulator instructor and check captain.
But, like all dogs, the Blue one got restless for a change. Australia was embroiled in the Vietnam war and BD thought it would be a good idea to be part of it (the term "dumbass" immediately springs to mind}. We had Caribou, Hueys and Canberras over there, so the obvious preference was for the mighty bomber. I applied, and possibly because the RAAF was somewhat desperate at the time, I was posted to fly Canberras at No1 Operational Conversion Unit (1OCU) at RAAF Base Amberley, just outside Brisbane. Successful conversion to type would result in posting to No 2 Squadron, Phan Rang Vietnam.
So I duly packed my bags, tootled off in my red MGB and reported to the 1OCU execs at the squadron facilities at Amberley.
More to follow........
Great pic and story Bluey.....can't wait for the next release.....?
My flying course was in 1965.....OMG where have the years gone?
Bounder ;D
Let's hear your 'parallel' story, Bounder. I'm sure there are similarities!
Excellent and interesting anecdote Bluey, can't wait for the next instalment.
Bounder, please tell..
Still waiting for some of your naval yarns Axiom
QuoteGreat pic and story Bluey.
And who would have thought that almost 50 years ago, this group of fine young lads was the only thing preventing invasion of Australia by the Communist hoards from the north!
Well, they missed their opportunity, didn't they! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: =CfC=BlueDog on June 01, 2014, 11:16:52 AM
QuoteGreat pic and story Bluey.
And who would have thought that almost 50 years ago, this group of fine young lads was the only thing preventing invasion of Australia by the Communist hoards from the north!
Well, they missed their opportunity, didn't they! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Only way to get into Australia because it's full eh Bluey? :D
Excellent stories mate (pronounced
mite ;))!
Whilst we are talking of old cockpits.....my first commercial machine was the Bristol 170! (Silver City)
3 cars and 14 passengers 5 times a day Lydd-Le Touquet!
This is what the office (some 25ft above ground level) looked like:-
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn134/Nicholaiovitch/Memories/CockpitB170_zps82e91272.jpg)
The coloured rotary knobs behind the throttle and pitch levers were friction knobs. When we did our training (I was 19!) the Training Captain used to tighten one of the knobs on the throttle up really tight whilst you were just about to do a go-around from an instrument approach so that you only got one engine kicking in (Bristol Hercules.....as Beaufighter and Blenheim) and one throttle able to move! provided entertainment for all watching from our offices at Lydd!
Like most chaps straight out of flying school, I managed to get a landing bounce to register on the altimeter! (around 20-30ft!). They were big bouncers (a bit like Fifi really) especially when empty and we were only allowed to do wheeler landings when online for the first year.
Additional horizon and gyro compass in the middle of the panel was the infamous wartime Sperry wing leveller course holder (not a true autopilot by any means)
The cockpits leaked terribly in winter! We wore raincoats and gloves even at our normal cruising heights of 1000ft to France and 2000ft back!
Carried horses, cows and sheep in winter to keep the business going....the smell was just awful!
However, we all had a great time (1966) and happy memories of all the wartime chaps I flew with who told such marvellous stories of skill and daring!
Bounder ;D
Great cockpit shot, Bounder..........and here am I being critical of the Canberra instrument panel. ;D ;D
A lot of those instruments, switches and stuff look familiar - MOD must have had a fire sale back then.
As for sheep; I suppose you didn't have air hosties on the Bristol Frighteners. ;D :D ;D
That's a real MAN's cockpit! None of yer gurlyweed digital bollocks! :)
Your comment about thumping the tailwheel last night Bounder put me in mind of my parents' experience on an internal flight in Russia in the mid '70's. Somewhat disquieted to see a number of broken seats tied down with rope, they were further alarmed when one of the engines wouldn't turn over to see a bloke with a fag dangling from his mouth amble over with a step ladder and a lump hammer, with which he beat said engine into submission until the prop reluctantly whirled.
I thought that sort of thing you described was 'only in Russia' :)
The thing that struck me about OCU was the more relaxed atmosphere, compared to that of the by-the-book outlook of the C130 squadron. The word 'cowboy' springs to mind but it was far from that - I would call it more 'free-wheeling'.
"Initiative" was the big thing. The CO gave us a huge 'required' reading list which included a short book: A Message to Garcia. Apparently this was about some American dude way back when; who was given the task of delivering some message to another dude called Garcia. So this guy salutes the Colonel, dives overboard and swims ashore somewhere, message firmly gripped between his teeth; then spends a couple of weeks looking for Mr Garcia to deliver the message. (Yes, I know it wasn't really quite like that) - the aim of the story being to demonstrate INITIATIVE. Having been given the quick overview in class, BD turned to his companion and whispered "well, he probably would have shown more initiative had he asked a couple of questions - like who the hell is Garcia, and where might he be found". Unfortunately, the comment was made just as the CO passed by within earshot......................... :-[ :'( :'(
Enough of the BlueDog trivia, WHAT ABOUT THE CANBERRA? I can hear the bored sighs from here!
Well, there were, of course, a few weeks of ground school before flying the jet. We learned about such things as half-ball valves in the fuel control unit, blowback rods, control rods, generators, inverters etc. And a familiarisation look-see at the cockpit thrust us back to aircraft Jurassic Park times. The whole package simply reeked of being British-esque. Unsurprisingly, everything appeared to have the notation MK 1 (mark one) after it. Eg, the MK1 artificial horizon (which was easily 'toppled' and had a rather large propensity for acceleration error - more of that later).
The T4 trainer had side-by-side dual controls for the pilot and instructor and the navigator was in a little nook behind the pilots - no ejection seats for the pilots; but there was one for the nav. The MK20 bomber had Martin Baker MK1 bang (ejection) seats (for both the pilot and nav) which were rated at 1000 ft (yes, that's one thousand ft) MINIMUM altitude - which assumed everything worked perfectly - and 2000 ft minimum SAFE altitude; giving a bit of margin in case one had to do some fiddling. There were no auto functions - you had to manually push yourself out of your seat once you were outside the aircraft and then manually pull the ripcord. But even before you got out of the jet there were things to do: the nav had to activate a switch to jettison the hatch above his head and the pilot (although ejection was through the canopy - ouch!) had to operate the "snatch" unit which severed the control lines somewhere along their runs and a big spring pulled the control column forwards against the instrument panel. This was done so that the pilot's knees were given clearance during ejection - nice!. We were told (unnecessarily) not to operate the snatch unit unless we were planning to eject.
Couple this with the complete lack of electronic warfare sensors or countermeasures and one could question the sensibility of putting an aircraft like this into a hostile and electronically 'hot' environment like that of Vietnam.
The fact remains, though, that the jet performed admirably in V. Operating as part of the USAF's 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 2 Squadron's Canberras flew just six per cent of the Wing's sorties but inflicted 16 per cent of the damage. Overall, 11,963 sorties were flown in Vietnam, 76,389 bombs dropped and two aircraft lost. More on that later.
To be continued if not too boring.......
Interesting reading as usual BD(Aus), thanks for posting.
'Message to Garcia' brings back 30-odd years ago memories of the highly dangerous world (irony) of Retail Management I was involved in at the time.
'Message to Garcia' in corporatespeak meant do the task asked immediately with no questions asked. Which usually meant that someone higher up the chain had dropped a bollock and wanted their arse covered.
I was 'New Stores Visual Marketing Manager' which meant i had a team of 20 odd girl window dressers to control. It was hell I tell you.
Redundancy was a great relief.
Blimey, it sounds like this could be a preffered route out of a Canberra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0
Great stuff gents, love hearing these tales of yesteryear. ;)
BTW Bluey, the current issue of PC Pilot has an article / review of Just Flight's Canberra PR9 aircraft for FSX / Prepar3D. Pretty impressive addon from what I've read. Not sure how modern these are in comparison to the ones you experienced though?
Keep it coming chaps!
So.......what was it like to fly?
There's an old saying: if an aircraft looks good, it will fly good. Well, that's not necessarily so; but in the case of the Canberra, I my view it's a beautiful looking bird and it flies beautifully as well. That's not to say it didn't have problems. When you consider the aircraft was built primarily for level bombing and therefore had to have strong static and dynamic stability in all three axes, and when you consider it had an airspeed range of from 0 to 500 knots, and had no hydraulic fight controls you would be right in assuming the control forces would be high-ish. But not massively so. One got used to getting a good physical workout fairly quickly! And also, mounting engines mid-wing pretty well guarantees there are going to be engine-out asymmetric problems.
So, I get aboard the trainer with John my allocated nav, and Des the instructor. John first, strapping into his bang seat then Des straps into his non-bang seat next to John, then I strap in 'up front'. Des's seat is on rails and he struggles to pull himself forward and lock his seat abreast of mine. I note there is not much shoulder room and, with my seat raised so I can see forward, my bone-dome restricts how high I can sit because it comes into contact with the canopy. I have to cant my head slightly to the right, and Des has to cock his head to the left to get a good view of the outside world. We look like a pair of co-joined twins!
I can reach and see most switches and dials, unlike John who's switches for the electrics are mounted on a panel to his right, conveniently just out of reach. So he has a 'swizzle stick'; a sort of a prod with a couple of 'fingers' on the end with which to extend his reach and, with some degree of difficulty allows him to turn on the electrics.
With all the appropriate switches arranged in a neat and pleasing manner it's time to make some noise. Engine start is initiated by firing a huge firecracker mounted at the front of the engine. The groundcrew chappie disappears momentarily in a cloud of carcinogenic black smoke. Then when it clears we make funny hand-signals, checking out the flaps and speedbrake extension/retraction and checking closure of the bomb doors. A courtesy call to the tower for taxy clearance, chocks away, and we move off.
The brakes are interesting - none of your fancy toe-brake stuff - the brake handle is on the control column; sort of a sqeeze thingo (you can see it on the cockpit photo). To turn whilst taxying, one merely has to swing the rudder in the required direction and squeeze the handle. And it works very well. You can even use differential power to tighten the turn if you so desire. But wait - what are these half loops of leather on the rudder pedals, bit like stirrups? Well, I'm informed that the rudder forces with an engine failure on take-off are so high that you need to push the appropriate pedal with the appropriate foot, and pull against the leather strap with the other. And don't get it wrong! The mantra is: "dead leg, dead engine".
And so we line up on the runway. Applying power whilst rolling, unless done carefully, is avoided as it can result in a dreaded ACU hang-up; so we apply full power against the brakes and then roll.
The acceleration control unit (ACU) is interesting. It's a fuel controller which meters the fuel to the engines and allows the throttles to be slammed without overspeeding the donks. Unfortunately, sometimes the ACU works part way, then stops, then maybe starts again or just gets stuck part way. So, if you were to slam the throttles during take-off and were to get an ACH hang-up you might well depart the smooth black stuff and move onto the rough green stuff - with an attendant red face to boot!
We roll smoothly down the runway, rudder effective about 60 KIAS (knots, indicated airspeed); nosewheel off about 90 KIAS and lift off about 100 KIAS. Then accelerate fairly quickly through our safety speed of about 140 KIAS (more about this later). Gear up (flaps already up for takeoff) and we are humming. Smooth, practically silent, and I'm loving it! Controls are responsive and not too heavy, the jet is stable and easy to trim and obtaining the required speeds and heights is a snap! It's a joy to fly.
So, after an hour or so, and after a few circuits it's time to put this beast back on the ground. I should mention that touch and go landings are a procedural no-no - again because of the ACU business. Gear down on downwind leg and for final approach to full stop, flaps are extended, speed about 90 KIAS. Flare and land smoothly - easy peasey. I'm wrapped.
RAAF has ordered F111 to replace the Canberra but their delivery is delayed. So as a stop-gap, RAAF has leased some F4E jets from the USAF. I see them flying around, bullying the air around Amberley air base. But I don't care - ATM I'm happy to fly the good ol' Canberra!
Several instructional sorties later and John and I get to go solo in the trainer. Here we are post-flight. John on left, BD in centre, Des on the right. A job well done.
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/Gort_08/6d25330d-d983-4393-91b0-96b17cfc7e15.jpg) (http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Gort_08/media/6d25330d-d983-4393-91b0-96b17cfc7e15.jpg.html)
More?
Fascinating Bluey......never knew the thing flew so slowly! Must have had a dirty stall around 70Kts?
Bounder ;D
Fantastic stories Bluey, an enviable career to be sure!
Pip, pip,
Conky
QuoteMust have had a dirty stall around 70Kts?
Been 30 years or so since I last flew the Canberra, Bounder, so i don't recall precisely. Depending one weight of course. I think for the light jet, it was in the order of 75 KIAS dirty and 85 KIAS clean (T4 trainer version). I do recall the stall was innocuous, characterised by a slight snatching of aileron control followed by gentle wing drop.
Naturally, BlueDog made a small 'fox pass' on the first solo. :o
Having spent the previous four years flying the multi-crewed C130, BD(Aust) was conditioned to addressing crewmembers over the intercom as follows "pilot/nav..." or "pilot/engineer..." or "pilot/copilot..." etc before launching on some very important message, such as "pilot/loadie, any banana sandwiches left?" 8)
So there we were, John and I cruising the skies in the mighty jet. Having something important to say, I forgot myself and reverted to a previous life: "Pilot/nav....."
There was a deathly hush for a few seconds, then I heard in a rather sarcastic tone "there's no-one else back here but me!" :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
Right riveting read Bluey, please more. ;D
Did they call the Navigators "Talking Baggage" as in the RAF?
Bounder ;D ;D
And so, after a couple more trips in the trainer (formation, night flying, instrument flying and instrument rating) we transition to the B20 bomber version (like the RAF's B2). Hey, there's more room up here without the cantankerous instructor, a bit more headroom so I can sit without my bone-dome hitting the canopy, the control yoke is a better size (the trainer's yoke was scaled down to allow dual control) and I'm sitting in an ejection seat - for that slightly better peace of mind. John's down the back doing whatever navs do. This is so cool!
Airborne it's a delight. Now I don't want to fly the trainer anymore - this will do me fine. Although.......they promise, if I'm a good little boy they'll let me fly the bomber with the upgraded Avon 109 engines later on.
The larger yoke makes a big difference (improvement) to lateral control.
We can now get on with the operational business: down the coast at the Evans Head bombing range. Usually we fly as a pairs formation to and from the range, then operate individually for the bombing runs. In Vietnam the boys are carrying six 750 lb bombs, but for training we use 25 pounders with a flash charge. On our last bombing exercise we drop a couple of live 500 lb bombs - now that's fun!
Unlike some Canberra operators, we don't have a dedicated bomb aimer; the work is done by the nav. At the appropriate time approaching the target John unstraps from his ejection seat (putting in the safety pins first), muscles past me and crawls down the front tunnel to the bombsight. He's provided with a full length cushion for a tad of comfort - I tell him I'd prefer it if he doesn't have a bit of a snooze down there.
It's 1971 and the world of airborne ordnance delivery has moved forward from the late '40s era. Aircraft are equipped with bombsights which provide a continuously computed impact point (CCIP) so that all you really need to do is to track the aircraft over the target and when the pipper is on the target you press the bomb release button. Within reason, you can ignore airspeed, altitude, dive angle etc. Not so with the good old Canberra: the nav had to peer through the sight in the nose and call heading changes to the pilot to direct the jet over the target. You had to be close to the required track some distance out, and the nav would then refine headings with calls "left left....steady" "right...steady"; until eventually "steady, steady, bomb gone" (the nav had the bomb release button). The pilot had to maintain altitude and airspeed accurately (+/- 20 ft, +/- 2 knots), no slip/skid using minimum control input. Despite these limitations Canberra crews could achieve quite accurate results.
So the bomb's gone, we get a score from the range controller and relax a bit heading downwind in the bombing pattern, preparing for the next run. I notice if I raise the nose a bit, then do a bit of a bunt to less than + 1 'g', John rises from his cushion. If at the same time I pop the speedbrakes the aircraft slows, but John does not! He is propelled forwards into the bombsight. I am reminded of Newton's three laws of motion. My reverie is interrupted by expletives emanating from John.
Apparently I am the only one aboard amused by this activity.
Exercise complete and it's time to head back to base. John has strapped in again and doing whatever navs do back there. Suddenly, something hits me hard on the shoulder and bangs me several times on my bonedome. It's John wielding his 'swizzlestick'! He can reach me with it and there's nothing I can do! "THAT'S FOR THE BUNT ..... THAT"S FOR THE SPEDBRAKE" he shouts, hitting me again and again.
Once again I am reminded of Newton's three laws of motion: particularly "for very action there is an equal and opposite reaction"....................
QuoteDid they call the Navigators "Talking Baggage" as in the RAF?
Either that or "200 lb ballast"
Is that you second from left, Bluey? The really good looking young fella? :-*
QuoteIs that you second from left, Bluey? The really good looking young fella?
Negative, Woof. Bluey is the extremely 8) good looking one third from left (in the photo of ancient aviators).
Anyway, where's your F86 contribution?
On a more sobering note regards bombing in Vietnam (as distinct from the somewhat frivolous tone in my last epistle), just consider the navigator's plight during a bombing run:
The bad guys had lots of nasty anti-aircraft weapons (including SAMs) and here was a Canberra aircraft flying low level (1000 to 3000 ft), virtually non manoeuvring, bombing runs, by night and by day. The nav was out of his seat and down the tunnel towards the nose of the aircraft. Had the jet taken a hit, he would have had to back out of the tunnel, struggle back to his ejection seat, strap in and then blow the hatch before ejecting. All this would have to be done with (perhaps) the aircraft out of control with large 'g' forces and roll/pitch yaw motions etc to contend with. His chances of success would have been low.
The aircraft operated up to the Demilitarized Zone and south to the Mekong delta, so the really 'hot' areas of North Vietnam were avoided (fortunately).
Nonetheless we lost two aircraft during the four years the Canberras operated in-country - both to SAMs. More on that later...........
My apologies, Bluey. My tiny brain was still in vacating mode yesterday and I missed the two previous pages. Of course you're the gorgeous hunk with the man purse. Blush, brush and lipstick?
And how on earth do you remember all this stuff? I can barely recall which had steam engines and which were piston driven.
A delight to read and a real privilege, thankyou Bluey.
Yes Woof, you also must have had some rather marvellous and non forgettable experiences?
To clear up any misconceptions, Bluey never got to exercise his extensive skills ::) in a war environment.
We finished our operational conversion in late September 1970 and were then put on the waiting list for our posting to 2SQN at Phan Rang. However, the decision was made shortly afterwards to withdraw the Canberra fleet from Vietnam by mid-1971. None of we four pilots went, however all four navs did abbreviated tours.
Still have a couple of yawnful tales to tell re the operational conversion and what followed. So stay tuned to this station.................
Quote from: Axion on June 20, 2014, 05:42:23 PM
Yes Woof, you also must have had some rather marvellous and non forgettable experiences?
Well, I had some fairly idiotic times. Grab a bag of popcorn and settle down with Officers Club/Bush Pilot Tales/Ah, Memories (sigh). Ten pages of much deering do from several Chuffyites.
So, back to the operational conversion:
Instrument flying was rather interesting. As I mentioned before, the Mk1 artificial horizon suffered several errors; the most evident being an acceleration error. Going from 0 to 90 to 100+ knots during takeoff resulted in a significant pitch and roll error on the ball, so you paid a lot of attention to your secondary instruments just after takeoff - sort of flying what was known as 'limited panel' as if the AH had failed. You checked that you had the required rate of climb on the VSI, and that the T&S showed no turn or slip. All a bit disconcerting on a dark night or if disappearing into cloud/mist during or shortly after takeoff. Still, like the many other deficiencies with the jet, one got used to it and simply compensated when necessary.
Doing a TACAN (tactical air navigation) approach was also a bit of a challenge in IMC (cloud). The TACAN system consisted of a rotating compass with a needle to give the bearing and a separate readout of distance in nm from the station (Bounder and Conky probably flew a similar arrangement with VOR/DME; Woof would have loved his TACAN). No problem with the needle readout (although an offcourse/steering bar arrangement would have been nice); but the distance readout was on an instrument mounted close to the door - well remote from the bearing indicator and well out of the normal viewpoint of the pilot. So, in nasty bumpy cloudy rainy weather whilst wrestling the beast and trying to fly and accurate instrument approach, the pilot had to unglue his eyes (figuratively) from his primary instruments and regularly check distance to station by looking across the cockpit towards the door. Nicely thought out, guys.
Close formation flying was fun but had its moments. In echelon, the position was just right if you felt the presence of the other aircraft was just sucking you in towards him. In line astern, you approached the leader until his jet filled your cockpit view. You prayed he didn't accidently pop his speedbrakes. In the correct position you could just feel a slight buffet on the top of the cockpit from the lead aircraft's engines. However, get up just a bit higher (not much) and #1's jetwash would disrupt airflow to your engines, resulting in a short duration compressor stall in one or both engines - and it then took a bloody long time to catch up to #1. It was fun, but the heaviness of the controls made it hard work.
But the thing could move! Fitted with the Mk109 engines, and considering it was a 1940s vintage bomber it accelerated fairly well up to max speed. Also you could get up to a staggering 48,000 ft where the thick wing would let you swan around without fuss. I recall having a duel with a Mirage III up over 40,000 ft - all I did was to keep lazily turning towards him, well within his turning circle and he just couldn't get anywhere near me. Realistically though, cowardly fighters operate in pairs, and I would have been no match against two of the buggers.
The operational conversion finished with the obligatory final handling test - not that they were going to scrub any of us at that stage. Joy of joys, I had to do mine with the CO! Over 40 years on I can't remember how it went - can't have been all that bad, can't have been all that good. But at least the CO didn't bring along "A Message to Garcia" as in-flight reading matter.
With us all given the tick as qualified Canberra operational pilots us course pukes were off on a celebratory journey - to New Zealand. Panniers (cargo boxes) were fitted inside the bomb-bay to carry our bags and equipment/spares and because we were bound for RNZAF Base Whenuapi; we needed to bring along a suit/shirt/tie to wear in the Officers Mess. Rather than put our best clothing with the other baggage we could put it in a separate bay at the back of the jet - an inspection access bay for control rods, electrical looms, fuel lines etc. There was space and hooks available for us to hang them up there.
So off we went. And the NZ weather was only foul, with low clouds, wind and rain. A Ground Controlled Approaches GCA to minima (400 ft for us embryonic Canberra jocks) became a necessity; and I recall doing several before squeezing the limits just a tad and picking up the runway lights at the last moment, plonking the beast on the ground and using aerodynamic braking as much as possible to avoid aquaplaning. We were there.
Taxy in to the lines, shutdown, put control locks and various bungs in, and get our bags and suits. I open the access panel door and lo and behold, a small amount of fuel drops from the door. Ooops, one of the fuel lines has sprung a bit of a leak and deposited AVTUR around the panel - and over my suit carrier! So for the next few days I have to front up to meals/bar/mess functions smelling of AVTUR. Our NZ hosts probably thought this Aussie had done a cheap drycleaning job on my suit; and my RAAF 'mates' thought it was hilarious - and showed no sympathy. At least no-one was game to light up a cigarette around me - small mercy.
And it never stopped raining!
Great write up Bluey......
I seem to remember doing VDF approaches in the 60's. The ATC controller just giving you a bearing (QDM or QDR) and with the use of a stopwatch from the overhead, you could usually find the country you were in!
I have a story about liquid spilling into my flight bag (Scotch) which I will tell sometime. Very tied up with house sale at the moment.
Bounder ;D
Quote from: =CfC=BlueDog on July 25, 2014, 06:56:30 AM
So, back to the operational conversion:
Woof would have loved his TACAN)
No dirty TACANS for us. Strictly radio range and gca for many years resulting in my favorite position for carnal congress being the lost orientation on the aural null, :-*
QuoteI have a story about liquid spilling into my flight bag (Scotch) which I will tell sometime.
Thanks for that, Bounder ............ In my mind's eye I now have the disconcerting image of Bounder, in his hotel room, sucking on his underpants. I have not slept for two nights!
Quotemy favorite position for carnal congress being the lost orientation on the aural null
I know just how you feel, Woof: that uncertain sense of not knowing whether you should be going in or out!
Quote from: =CfC=BlueDog on July 26, 2014, 10:41:40 AM
Quote
Quotemy favorite position for carnal congress being the lost orientation on the aural null
I know just how you feel, Woof: that uncertain sense of not knowing whether you should be going in or out!
You're a beaut, Bluey. :-* :-* :-*