Barracuda in RN service?

[John_fi_Skye]

I love a lot of those aircraft too. I remember one time, age 10, being outside my primary school at morning playtime, and a Vulcan came over so low you could nearly see up the pilot's nose, and it was enormous and it filled the sky. But now that one is adult, one can see the silliness about a lot of the names, and how very British-Empire a lot of it was.

[klr]

I love a lot of those aircraft too. I remember one time, age 10, being outside my primary school at morning playtime, and a Vulcan came over so low you could nearly see up the pilot's nose, and it was enormous and it filled the sky. But now that one is adult, one can see the silliness about a lot of the names, and how very British-Empire a lot of it was.

That it was, but they were impressive aircraft nonetheless. And lost empire or no, it's a pity the UK can't produce it's own aircraft any more, even though the way the French still can.

I've seen a Nimrod, just a year or two before they were retired. That was a "sensible" name at least, in that it replaced the Shackleton, and Nimrod was one of his ships.

[John_fi_Skye]

And what a durable design the Comet was. And I've recently seen a Shackleton close up, in Manchester, and it's an amazing beast.

[klr]

And what a durable design the Comet was. And I've recently seen a Shackleton close up, in Manchester, and it's an amazing beast.

<= Industrial-scale envy

The Shackleton has a brutish, built-for-a-purpose, brick-shithouse solid look to it.

[John_fi_Skye]

And what a durable design the Comet was. And I've recently seen a Shackleton close up, in Manchester, and it's an amazing beast.

<= Industrial-scale envy

The Shackleton has a brutish, built-for-a-purpose, brick-shithouse solid look to it.

Yep. And again, when you see it close-up, it's so small, that it makes you aware of its power, to patrol for so many hours over the ocean in all weathers. Humbling.

[klr]

Probably a bit noisy for the crew though.

"Although the joke has been applied to several aircraft, the Shackleton has been described as "a hundred thousand rivets vibrating in close formation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Shack ... al_history

IIRC, the DC-3/C-47 (still flying !!!) has also been called that.

[John_fi_Skye]

The Dakota. Some aircraft!

[klr]

The Dakota. Some aircraft!

It is very likely that some will still be flying operationally (not just as preserved "warbirds") in 2036, a full 100 years after it first entered service. If not the original piston-engined version, then the modified turbo-prop versions such as the Basler BT-67.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Simple and brilliant.

[Clinton Huxley]

And what a durable design the Comet was. And I've recently seen a Shackleton close up, in Manchester, and it's an amazing beast.

<= Industrial-scale envy

The Shackleton has a brutish, built-for-a-purpose, brick-shithouse solid look to it.

It's a bruiser. An aircraft that would piss on your chips without a second thought.

[JimC]

Speaking of torpedo dropping aircraft, what about the Swordfish?

It was nicknamed the "Stringbag"; in fact I have a marvellous book called "War in a Stringbag" by Charles Lamb, one of the RN pilots who made the audacious and successful night-time torpedo attacks on the Italian fleet in Taranto harbour. Obsolete perhaps, but it struck some telling blows early in the war...

[klr]

Speaking of torpedo dropping aircraft, what about the Swordfish?

It was nicknamed the "Stringbag"; in fact I have a marvellous book called "War in a Stringbag" by Charles Lamb, one of the RN pilots who made the audacious and successful night-time torpedo attacks on the Italian fleet in Taranto harbour. Obsolete perhaps, but it struck some telling blows early in the war...

That, and crippling the Bismarck. Just taking off and landing in atrocious sea conditions was amazing enough. The carrier deck was pitching up and down by as much as 50-60 feet IIRC.

[Clinton Huxley]

Hey, the Barracudas crippled the Tirpitz for a bit.

[klr]

Hey, the Barracudas crippled the Tirpitz for a bit.

16 direct hits from dive-bombing, but she was still only out of service for two months. "We're going to need a bigger bomb ..."

[Clinton Huxley]

Hey, the Barracudas crippled the Tirpitz for a bit.

16 direct hits from dive-bombing, but she was still only out of action for two months. "We're going to need a bigger bomb ..."

Better than not being out of action for 2 months...I quite like the look of the Barracuda - it's impressively ugly.