Any Battle of Britain enthusiasts?

[RogerS]

I know they were overstated but they were sufficient for the anti-lobby to have its' field day.

 

[Digit]

Which brings us back to an earlier debate Rog about people and their lack of scientific knowledge unfortunately.
Do you remember all the broken windows sonic booms would cause?
But as you say, the damage was done, it helped kill the American SST before it got off the drawing board.

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

Here's an amusing story from Simon King the wildlife cameraman. (Last evening on 'Countryfile' or 'Countrytracks'. Can't recall which.)

He was explaining how ****-pheasants crow, and perform 'wing-beating' to impress the hens. One pheasant does it and they all start.. As they do!

Apparently whenever Concorde produced a sonic-boom, it caused all the ****-pheasants who heard it, to respond with their crowing, and wing-beating. Apparently they thought Concorde was 'Uber-Pheasant'!

I don't know if Simon King was trying to impress the female interviewer, but he isn't usually like that..

Is he?
I found the idea distinctly amusing anyhow!


John :wink:

 

[Digit]

I stand open to correction here but the best of my knowledge Concorde never created a sonic boom over the UK.

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

Roy,

Perhaps they have pheasants in France?
I dunno! :wink:

 

[Digit]

They do, but whether Concorde would have boomed there I don't know, remember to reach operational, ie, economical, height the plane climbed quite steeply, so whether it would have exceeded Mach one in doing so, or whether a boom would be heard under such conditions I wouldn't like to say.
Perhaps somebody on here would know.
The scare stories at the time were often ridiculous, one I recall was that the plane would 'coast' over the Atlantic in a parabolic curve, thus subjecting everyone in it to prolonged negative 'G' and making moving around, serving food or using the toilets impossible.

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

The Victorians believed that travelling in a train at 60mph through a tunnel would suck the air from passengers' lungs and suffocate them.
So they got out of the train, went by coach to the other end of the tunnel and rejoined the train. Presumably, the engine crew were ok as they weren't enclosed.

People don't really change... do we? :lol:
John

 

[bugbear]

The Victorians believed that travelling in a train at 60mph through a tunnel would suck the air from passengers' lungs and suffocate them.
So they got out of the train, went by coach to the other end of the tunnel and rejoined the train. Presumably, the engine crew were ok as they weren't enclosed.

People don't really change... do we? :lol:
John

I think that was one particular Victorian (*****) by the rather splendid name of Dionysius Lardner.

He got rhetorically and scientifically ripped apart during a parliamentary committee meeting by one I K Brunel, I'm happy to say.

If you have any references for the notion that Victorians actually got out for tunnels, I'd be interested, not to say surprised.

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

The one at Lowestoft is the restored Vulcan.

The one I saw was the last RAF vulcan to fly, it did the show at North Weald, returned to its base and I beleive it, the squandron and the base were all retired the next day.

I'm really glad that someone has stuck with the Vulcan restoration, and that it should be flying airshows pretty soon.

Err. "Soon"? At the risk of repeating myself it was at the Lowestoft airshow.

BugBear

 

[Benchwayze]

The Victorians believed that travelling in a train at 60mph through a tunnel would suck the air from passengers' lungs and suffocate them.
So they got out of the train, went by coach to the other end of the tunnel and rejoined the train. Presumably, the engine crew were ok as they weren't enclosed.

People don't really change... do we? :lol:
John

I think that was one particular Victorian (*****) by the rather splendid name of Dionysius Lardner.

He got rhetorically and scientifically ripped apart during a parliamentary committee meeting by one I K Brunel, I'm happy to say.

If you have any references for the notion that Victorians actually got out for tunnels, I'd be interested, not to say surprised.

BugBear

I got that 'nugget' from Michael Portillo's programme about railway journeys, following Bradshaw's Guide.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... anion.html

He recounted the story into camera during a journey through a tunnel. But then Michael Portillo was a Politician remember!

(Reiterated I said? You plonka BW! )

Regards
John :wink:

 

[RogerM]

I stand open to correction here but the best of my knowledge Concorde never created a sonic boom over the UK.

Roy.

It certainly did. Living on the south Devon coast, we used to hear a distant double boom every night at about 9.10pm as Concorde came up the Western Approaches. No broken windows or demonstrating pheasants - but it was a useful time check. Some nights it was much louder than others depending on wind direction and general atmospheric conditions. We quite missed it when it finally stopped.

 

[Digit]

Ta Rog. So at east BOAC ran to time! :lol:
Or was it the French?

Roy.

 

[Vormulac]

I stand open to correction here but the best of my knowledge Concorde never created a sonic boom over the UK.

Roy.

It certainly did. Living on the south Devon coast, we used to hear a distant double boom every night at about 9.10pm as Concorde came up the Western Approaches. No broken windows or demonstrating pheasants - but it was a useful time check. Some nights it was much louder than others depending on wind direction and general atmospheric conditions. We quite missed it when it finally stopped.

I'm pretty sure I used to hear it regularly when I lived in Devon too.

 

[Digit]

Again I, happily, stand open to correction but with hindsight, and memory recall, didn't the powers that be route Concorde south to avoid upsetting the masses further north? Devon and Cornwall being considered less heavily populated?

Roy.

 

[RogerM]

Again I, happily, stand open to correction but with hindsight, and memory recall, didn't the powers that be route Concorde south to avoid upsetting the masses further north? Devon and Cornwall being considered less heavily populated?

Roy.

Quite possibly - we're expendable down here.

Sonic booms at altitude carry a long way depending on wind and atmospheric conditions. In the mid 1970s when I was training on Folland Gnats from RAF Valley on Anglesey we used to do supersonic runs down the Irish Sea. The Gnat was surprisingly easy to get supersonic in a dive, and on at least 2 occasions we were requested to stop as we were dropping our sonic booms on Dublin, 40 miles away.

 

[Digit]

Quite possibly - we're expendable down here.

Same here Rog, low flying practise area, but then, they've got to do it somewhere.

Roy.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

I stand open to correction here but the best of my knowledge Concorde never created a sonic boom over the UK.

Roy.

It certainly did. Living on the south Devon coast, we used to hear a distant double boom every night at about 9.10pm as Concorde came up the Western Approaches. No broken windows or demonstrating pheasants - but it was a useful time check. Some nights it was much louder than others depending on wind direction and general atmospheric conditions. We quite missed it when it finally stopped.

The windows use to rattle here with the double boom.

 

[Benchwayze]

Again I, happily, stand open to correction but with hindsight, and memory recall, didn't the powers that be route Concorde south to avoid upsetting the masses further north? Devon and Cornwall being considered less heavily populated?

Roy.

Quite possibly - we're expendable down here.

Sonic booms at altitude carry a long way depending on wind and atmospheric conditions. In the mid 1970s when I was training on Folland Gnats from RAF Valley on Anglesey we used to do supersonic runs down the Irish Sea. The Gnat was surprisingly easy to get supersonic in a dive, and on at least 2 occasions we were requested to stop as we were dropping our sonic booms on Dublin, 40 miles away.

I can't think of anything that would get my adrenaline rushing more, than flying an aircraft at supersonic speed, about 100 feet above the water!

I suppose that would be dangerous?

John

:wink:

 

[Digit]

I'm not sure what the slipstream/shockwave would do exactly but I suspect I might not like it! :lol:

Roy.

 

[Benchwayze]

I don't suppose anyone else in the vicinity would like it Roy! :lol:

But in itself, would it be more dangerous at low altitude than at extreme altitudes. (Apart from the risk of getting it wrong and crashing that is!)

What I was getting at is that one would have the sensation of speed, from seeing the water surface, whereas at 30,000 feet there is little sensation of speed in level flight.

Whilst walking in Mid Wales, I've seen aircraft flying below me, through the valleys, and I always felt how great it would be to be young and to have such toys at my disposal! Like I feel when I see the Red Arrows!

:lol:

John