The Aviation Thread [Contains Lots of Awesome Pictures]

@Viper007Bond's pic: PPPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Occasionally mind boggling when you know the F15 accelerates on the Y axis rather well.
 
Lately I've been watching Dirty Jobs beginning from the very first episode and yesterday I watched S02E15 - Tank Rat / Fuel Tank Cleaner (first aired in July 2006). I'm not that much of an airplane fanboy myself, but I must admit that Mike had one helluva reward in the end.

Looks like Youtube has a shorter edited version of the clip, but it's worth the watch anyway:


ps. the refuelling boom operator is cuuuuuuute <3
 
Question.

Are the 747s that carried the Shuttle these days the same ones that carried it way back when?

Like is the 747 that carried the most recent shuttle the same one that carried the Enterprise from a few pages ago?
 
iirc both are the original -100s and one is a -100SR from JAL they got in the late 80s
 
N905NA is the orginal that carried Enterprise. It was orginally an AA plane. N911NA is the newer one from JAL. It's first mission was to carry brand new Endeavour to KSC.

/space nerd
 
NSX23 posted some modern "pushing propeller" planes .
Here are some of their ancestors:

The Saab J21 1943:
Saab_J_21A-3.jpg


and even more advanced the Kyushu J7W Shinden in 1945 with canards wings:
6035.jpg
 
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And some more of the failed V/STOL aircraft...

XV-4_1.jpg


xv-4-1.jpg
 
That would of been an awesome plane if it managed to do something beyond one test hover before it was scrapped.

It just looks funky. You're right, its not really "awesome" in the traditional sense. Testing seemed to show the shape was fine for conventional supersonic flight, but all that ducting wasn't exactly useful in obtaining enough thrust to take off vertically.

Posting failed aircrafts helps us learn from our mistakes though :lol:
 
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NSX23 posted some modern "pushing propeller" planes .
Here are some of their ancestors:

The Saab J21 1943:
Saab_J_21A-3.jpg


and even more advanced the Kyushu J7W Shinden in 1945 with canards wings:
6035.jpg

In a similar vein, the Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ass-Ender Ascender:
6NWYB.jpg


The Ascender was doomed from the get-go; not only was its performance measurably worse than all of its piston contemporaries like the P-47 and P-51, it was equally doomed by early jet fighters then on the drawing board.

Now, here are some aircraft with funny proportions, starting with the Fairchild Metro:
xyHeS.jpg


And its equally strange predecessor, the Merlin:
lrQgI.jpg


But in aviation, nothing can beat this aircraft family:

Regular...
jhhIj.jpg

Large...
rtSTP.jpg

Larger...
55wSb.jpg

err, Largerer...
kDF9E.jpg

Largerest!
akvkB.jpg


Hard to believe that the 19-seat (max) Canadair Challenger business jet has evolved over time into that...thing. Fun fact about the Challenger - it was originally designed by Learjet (as the LearStar 600) and was intended to offer a stand-up cabin in an aircraft smaller and cheaper than a Gulfstream, which was about the only other business jet at the time to offer a stand-up cabin. Learjet, perpetually cash-strapped until the 1990s, was forced to sell the design to fund the development of the Learjet 55 and the later Learjet 31.
 
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But in aviation, nothing can beat this aircraft family:
...
Regular...
...
Large...
...
Larger...
...
err, Largerer...
...
Largerest!

Looks like it's been staring at too many pictures of sexy lady planes for too long. :wicked: :lol:
 
Continuing on the same theme, Cessna 337 Skymaster:

3586061891_d1eaec1855.jpg


Cessna_Skymaster_O-2_3.jpg


Cessna_Skymaster_O-2_5.jpg


Adams aircraft A500:

adam-a500-inflight.jpg


300.jpg


0961539.jpg


Adam500-N504AX-051111-03.jpg


Rutan defiant:

Defiantinflight%20large.jpg


1298801.jpg


RutanDefiant.jpg


Rutan-Defiant-N57KS.jpg


Defiant_Taxi.jpg


Rutan Voyager:

rutan_voyager-3.jpg


EC87-0029-02.jpg
 
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