Say Nothing posted:

World's biggest Harley.

blunt for century posted:

Needs to have a radial engine.

The Repo Man posted:

You aren't thinking big enough.





It uses an engine from a T55.

AKA Pseudonym posted:

Chilean volcano that erupted early Tuesday morning

blunt for century posted:

Get back to me when there is a motorcycle with a cruise ship engine

Gorilla Salad posted:

Get back to me when there is a motorcycle with a supertanker engine

The Repo Man posted:

In the meantime, here is the 30 mm Gau Avenger on an A-10 Warthog, the only airplane I know of where you could just blow off most of a wing and it would shrug it off.

lenoon posted:

That sounds like bullshit tbh. I work with stone tools, specifically stone axes and adzes, and I've never heard of a properly documented example of that practice. It's actually a lovely way to do it anyway, why bother when wood is usually readily available?

It could well be true, of course, it might just be out of my period.

Edit: the sources above are relating to the "ancient art" of doing this. But waiting 6-8 years for a marginally better axe, when you're making them in a matter of hours and keep having to remove them from their handle to sharpen them up? Pointless!

It is tough to make stone tools quietly but it's not impossible at all. Soft hammers (antler and wood specifically) make a dull thud with a light ring when the stone flakes off. After a few of those you can pressure flake a good sharp edge, totally silently. I used to knapp flint in the garden when I couldn't sleep, you get good at closing down at least some of the noise. A wrap around the body of the stone will do well.

The Repo Man posted:

Well goons, I think it's time to build us a motorcycle. I'm sure that our combined knowledge will only get most of us killed.

In the meantime, here is the 30 mm Gau Avenger on an A-10 Warthog, the only airplane I know of where you could just blow off most of a wing and it would shrug it off. The jet was designed around the gun.

quote:

On the Mikoyan MiG-27 the Gsh-6-30 had to be mounted obliquely to absorb recoil. The gun was noted for its high (often uncomfortable) vibration and extreme noise. The airframe vibration led to fatigue cracks in fuel tanks, numerous radio and avionics failures, the necessity of using runways with floodlights for night flights (as the landing lights would often be destroyed), tearing or jamming of the forward landing gear doors (leading to at least three crash landings), cracking of the reflector gunsight, an accidental jettisoning of the cockpit canopy and at least one case of the instrument panel falling off in flight. The weapons also dealt extensive collateral damage, as the sheer numbers of fragments from detonating shells was sufficient to damage aircraft flying within a 200 meter radius from the impact center, including the aircraft firing.

The Repo Man posted:

Well goons, I think it's time to build us a motorcycle. I'm sure that our combined knowledge will only get most of us killed.

In the meantime, here is the 30 mm Gau Avenger on an A-10 Warthog, the only airplane I know of where you could just blow off most of a wing and it would shrug it off. The jet was designed around the gun.

TheBigAristotle posted:

Here's a really good read on the A-10, with explanations as to why Congress keeps trying to kill the plane, and how it keeps coming back.

Qwezz posted:

The A-10 has nothing on the SR-71.

blunt for century posted:

Ozz81 posted:

gently caress retiring the A-10 - keep it around, make more of them, and scrap the useless million-dollar shitpiles that the military has been cranking out over the last 2 decades. When a vehicle or equipment lasts that long and has such a badass service record, you do NOT retire it, let alone stop making it, unless you're 100% helmet-wearing, sub-40 IQ retarded.

Stoatbringer posted:

Haven't you guys heard of the English Electric Lightning? Sounds like a volcano and takes off like a missile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CDLbokf9sg

TheBigAristotle posted:

Here's a really good read on the A-10, with explanations as to why Congress keeps trying to kill the plane, and how it keeps coming back.

CommanderApaul posted:

Pictures do not do this thing justice.

The gun is mounted off-center, both horizontally and vertically, so that the firing barrel lies directly along the centerline of the plane and recoils directly through both the horizontal and vertical center of gravity, since the recoil would be enough to alter the pitch and yaw of the plane.

The recoil force is higher than the thrust that one of the engines puts out as well.

blunt for century posted:

The P-38 Lighting is one of the prettiest aircraft ever used in any military.

thespaceinvader posted:

SR71s are badass as gently caress. At full speed they can outrun many missiles. At 0 speed, they shrink so much that they constantly leak fuel.

quote:

There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn’t match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury.

Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: “November Charlie 175, I’m showing you at ninety knots on the ground.”

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the ” Houston Center voice.” I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country’s space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that, and that they basically did. And it didn’t matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna’s inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.” Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check”. Before Center could reply, I’m thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol’ Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He’s the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done – in mere seconds we’ll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.

Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.”

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we’re showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.”

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, “Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.”

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day’s work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.

For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

blunt for century posted:

Performance-wise, I don't know a whole lot about it, except that it was much quieter than other aircraft, and it was brilliant to maneuver, and almost impossible to crash, even in evasive maneuvers, however it wasn't particularly fast.

Polaron posted:

It's not a photo, but my favorite SR-71 story comes from the book Sled Driver by former Blackbird pilot Brian Shul. Good luck finding a copy for less than $700 these days.

Apologies for the long quote, but it's completely worth it.





The Lightning was interesting because all of its considerable armament was in the nose, which caused it to "saw" enemy planes to pieces.



Both the American ace of aces and our number 2 ace flew Lightnings, and it was the plane that killed Yamamoto.

ReidRansom posted:

The absolute prettiest of course being the PBY Catalina.

blunt for century posted:

Also, badass airplanes are the best, keep posting those!

Centripetal Horse posted:

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I never pass up an opportunity to post one of my all-time favorite aircraft:




The first time I saw one in flight, I was stunned. I don't want to be melodramatic, but it was so striking. I've never seen an aircraft that was so pretty in flight, and so graceful, and looked more like a creature of the air than this one. The plane looked like it was pasted onto the sky, like a giant sticker; inconceivable that it could ever come down.

Useless posted:

I must have run across this story a dozen times in various places on there 'ol internets, but every time I stop to read it again. Such a great story...

VendaGoat posted:

You're not the only one.

Snowy posted:

I always think of the aliens overhead in their superior spacecraft, also listening in and wishing they could upstage the blackbird and blow the controller's mind.

Polaron posted:

The Repo Man posted:

A-10 Warthog, the only airplane I know of where you could just blow off most of a wing and it would shrug it off.

Wikipeida posted:

On 1 May 1983, an Israeli Air Force F-15D collided with a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk during training. Unknown to pilot Zivi Nedivi and his copilot, the right wing was sheared off roughly two feet (60 cm) from the fuselage. The A-4 disintegrated and its pilot safely ejected, while the F-15 nosed down and entered a violent roll. Zivi decided to attempt recovery and engaged afterburner to increase speed. He was able to prevent stalling and maintain control due to the lift generated by the large horizontal surface area of the fuselage, the stabilators, and remaining wing areas. The F-15 landed at twice the normal speed to maintain the necessary descent and its tailhook was torn off during the landing. Zivi managed to bring his F-15 to a stop approximately 20 ft (6 m) from the end of the runway. He was later quoted as saying "It's highly likely that if I would have seen it clearly, I would have ejected..."; leaking fuel along the wing had obstructed visibility of the wing itself. The aircraft was repaired and saw further combat service.

TheBigAristotle posted:

Here's a really good read on the A-10, with explanations as to why Congress keeps trying to kill the plane, and how it keeps coming back.

Beardless posted:

F-15 and Hurricane Stuff