SkippyBing

Nice work on the textures Lloyd. If the Baffin isn't already uploaded here could someone who has it add it? I'm not sure I've got the original zip archive as I think it was on the hard drive that died! More than happy for it to also include the updated textures. Hopefully there may be some progress on the Swordfish before Christmas! I've recently received a more recent model than the one I was working with (it was about five years old so a much lower poly count than we can get away with today) which together with the cockpit I already had I should be exporting for FSX and SF as a more modern model than I would have managed carrying on with my original.

Too many robots not enough Megan Fox. Did I go for the wrong reasons?

Oct 22nd from what I've been reading.

I think the Sea Harrier F/A2 got Link 16 at some point so it could talk to the Type 42/CVS and the Sea King ASaC. But probably not until the late '90s.

I've got SF2 on Win 7 and it works fine, I also convinced WoI to run on Win 7 by turning all that UAC stuff off and I get better frame rates than I do under XP on the same machine.

I'm now contractually required to mention that you'll be able to see the Vulcan at RNAS Yeoviltons's air day on the 11th of July, along with a load of other stuff that I'm at least partially responsible for organising. She arrives on the 7th for the press preview if you're in the area!

Au contraire, originally posted at SimHQ by GeckoInf and miraculously saved by me because I never do anything sensible.

Sweet work, this may make a pleasant distraction from flight modelling in FSX!

Strangely the RN's AEW Gannets had a form of data link called Busboy in the '60s. Mind you we didn't regain the capability until the Sea King 7 entered service at the start of this century!

I don't think range is a factor if you just want to block the Straits of Hormuz.

Bit more here on the GR7/9's use in the CAS role and the lack of guns, sounds like the guys doing the job prefer CRV-7 because of the range advantage at least

More info here!

What Derk said, multiply the volume in litres by the specific density of the fuel. There's an entry for it in the tactical system in the Lynx 8, we always use 0.81 for AVCAT/AVTUR/ anything else we're allowed. Pure water has a specific density of 1.0 and salt water is 1.024. Amazing what you learn on a marine engineering degree...

You say that, one of the ones that got captured recently had a private security team on board. After they ran out of ammo they jumped overboard to avoid being captured by the pirates who they'd probably just pissed off.

You'd have to be a pretty poor shot to miss a cargo ship, although I'm guessing they start off with a few warning shots anyway.

I believe nautical tradition involves throwing a hook with a rope attached up to the deck and then scaling that. A second pirate skiff could stand off and cover them but to be honest with the lean manning on these ships there's a good chance that wouldn't be needed. Hell some of the big tankers if they boarded forward the crew probably couldn't get there before a couple of pirates were on-board!

Hinch, Stand by for a PM I've got the flight deck plan and I should have a load of photos of a period deck tractor from the FAA Museum from when I made this. I know what you mean about the hull form, took me months of fiddling to get it half way there, although I think Fujimi do a 1/700 model of her as launched which provides some pointers. And before anyone asks I don't think it'll play nice with Strike Fighters, it's got about 25 big textures which'll drag the frame rates way down.

Have you seen the view out of a Vulcan? They probably couldn't see the F-5s! Sounds like the bit in Phoenix Squadron when the Buccaneers returning from Belize get intercepted by some USAF F-102s (they'd already infringed US and Cuban airspace by this stage) and just deliberately didn't look at them until they'd gone away again. Seems a fairly valid tactic!

Not sure about the losing course bit, suffice to say it was always planned as a one way mission and to leave the helicopter so that it looked as if they hadn't dropped anyone off yet. Always worth remembering this was before GPS so the navigation must have been challenging to say the least.

The Black Buck raids never targeted the mainland, the aircraft that landed in Brazil as I remember had to abort an AAR forcing it to divert to Brazil. I think it still had a missile on board because it had failed to launch it over the islands. Of course it might have been diplomatically more sensible to jettison the missile in international waters. Operation Mikado was pretty much a no go from the planning stage not just due to the lack of a decent OP to give intel on the presence of the Super Es. Getting C-130s in undetected was pretty much unfeasible which made the whole thing suicidal. My old base commander was the pilot of the Sea King incidentally.

For some reason I was volunteered to stand in the middle of the runway to make sure the aircraft were all lined up nicely. I have a feeling I may be more expendable than I'd like! Anyway I edited a few bits together and removed my voice from the soundtrack! It should look better in high quality if your connection supports it.

Just read the book on holiday, the inventing Top Gun bit is certainly a bit press release hyperbole, but it's fair to say the RN's AWI course had a significant part in the structure of the NFWS when it was established. The book itself is a fairly informative run through of the state of RN aviation through the '60s and the tragic run down in the '70s, using the mission to overfly Belize as a focal point and definitely worth a read. Also slightly disconcerting to be sat by a pool in Turkey reading a book and find your Dad's name mentioned!

To be fair, fixed wing RN had apparently actually gone to sea for the first time in aeons!

No, we're serious you can have Gordon Brown, if you want we could probably throw in a few others as well. Fancy Jacqui Smith? Obviously her husband doesn't.....

Toom on the Ark.