Glen

I've heard that the the A1M, particularly southbound, is a prime location. Deceptively spacious with great transport links!

I did my AAR course from 8 - 21 Jan 92 on XR806, 808, XV102, 108. The C1s were flying to the Falklands with AAR in the late 80s http://www.vc10.net/Memories/Recordsetting.html Still betting the house??

The C1s virtually all had probes back on in 1990. I think only 2 were missing. They were a very useful crosswind indicator although on a flapless approach with the nose high they could hide the runway so a bit of guesswork was needed! We had about 3 crews receiver qualified so used to chase a tanker around the North Sea every so often to keep current. The first C1K conversion (XV103?) was back at Brize in about Sept 1992 but I think there were a few problems so it was a long time before it was ready to use. I was supposed to be on the first crew to be trained on it but as my posting date approached 6 months later another crew trained first. Although the aircraft stayed in their traditional scheme the pods were in hemp and grey as per 101s jets. Cheers Glen

That's really nice!

That's just stunning Kev. A fantastic model of a fantastic aeroplane. Cheers Glen

As others have mentioned, the flaps and slats are controlled from one lever and sequenced depending on the aircraft type. The 747-400 only gets inboard and mid span leading edge flaps at the first setting (flap 1). At flap 5 the trailing edges move and the outboard LE flaps extend. The A300 only extends the slats at the first position (this could be used for take off - long runway with no obstacles on climb out eg Bahrain). The A320 family only extend the slats at Flap 1 in the air but on the ground the same setting will give you flaps as well! On the VC10 there were separate levers for the flaps and slats but they were pinned together so used as one. In the event of a double engine failure on take off (with 2 engines close together it was considered highly likely that one failing would take out the other) the pin was removed so that the flaps could be retracted first. The slats are lower drag and increase stalling angle of attack so would be retracted later once the aircraft had accelerated. 'Double engine failure drill' was called so that everyone knew that a non standard procedure was to be completed. Cheers Glen

Thanks Stephane, that's really useful. I've got a couple of these to build sometime and had never heard of the undercarriage problem so will store your post away! Cheers Glen

They're just waiting for Radleigh to finish his!

Patrick Stevens Ltd as far as I remember. They did a series of books many moons ago on the Spitfire, Me109 etc, mainly tied in with the Airfix 1/24 models http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/psl-classic-aircraft-spitfire-426108398 cheers Glen

Hi Richard Contrails Models do them but they are about $40 a set so not cheap. http://www.contrailsmodels.com/Engines.html DB used to do them - I've seen them on second hand traders' stands at shows but it's pot luck finding them. I presume the Flightpath set are the old DB ones https://www.djparkins.com/product.php?productid=17944&cat=248&page=2 again not cheap and probably takes the total price above just buying an R! Maybe someone has not used the engines from an E-3 or KC-135R and has them spare? Cheers Glen

Shame it's ELUAS and YUAS markings. Surely their research would have told them that XX617 of MASUAS was the only way to go! Cheers Glen

A Contrail kit has just sold on ebay for £107. Unbelievable!

Very sad news for all involved. Seems they have started finding debris if the news is to be believed. Glad to see that the RAF is involved. A Hercules with radar, high powered binoculars and night vision according to a spokesman. So basically a bog standard Albert with people looking out the windows. Every time an incident like this occurs it makes the loss of the Kipper fleet look even more mad.

It's only a matter of time. ATC were warning of drone activity on the approach to Rwy 28 at Dublin yesterday. We then just missed the remains of a balloon at about 4000 ft on the way into Heathrow.

Hi Gary Colin @ Freightdog imports High Planes so he might be worth a try. Cheers Glen