Breaker Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Heavy metal loadout? Tanks and Iron 10 x Rocket Pods & Centre line tank - https://www.flickr.com/photos/davids_world_2011/5931478606/in/photostream/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 A few more pix for folkes to reminisce over... From port-stb Tank-pbc-tank-pbc-tank (nothing visible in the bays) http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r268/GeorgeC2006/xv432.jpg Tank-pbc-suu-pbc-tank (shadow in the stb fwd bay - practice sprog?) http://www.thephantomshrine.co.uk/raf17/phantomfgr2800.jpg http://www.vicflintham.co.uk/content/post-war-military-aircraft/phantom/xv498.jpg And something different again - only visible pylon is the stb inner carrying a practice winder. http://sg-etuo.de/media/xdc/etuo/XV480B_2_Zetsche.jpg I think that's enough from me unless I spot something really odd. But as has been shown although UK Phantoms didn't carry the wide variation of loads seen on some countries birds theres certainly enough options to make something a little different to the norm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Heavy metal loadout? Was that for bombing the Torry Canyon? I like this air to air load out; If you want a clean Phantom then those doing Gun Practise in Cyprus just flew with a gun pod. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Is there a 'things under a Phantom' thread...the combinations must run in to the gazillions by now as the design has gone from Falcons of the pre-sidewinder age, Dumb bombs to PGMs, and rockets to what are now virtually mini-cruise missiles. Although my favourites are still the bright orange target darts and Israeli SLAR and camera pods that look to have ground clearances measure in sand grains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) Travel pod - although admittedly I now see it's on an F3 No such thing as an F3, speculated as a follow on to FG1 & FGR2 but they settled on F-4J(UK) finally. Re dummy "ballast" Sparrows, they were filled with cement! Edited October 24, 2015 by Gary West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) No such thing as an F3, speculated as a follow on to FG1 & FGR2 but they settled on F-4J(UK) finally. Re dummy "ballast" Sparrows, they were filled with cement! Bad habits die hard, too many unofficial names around even though I know the proper ones...must run as I'm seeking out a canopy for a Wellesley MkII...oh damn, done it again, no such thing! (despite googles insistence) Theres real sparrows, fake real sparrows and fake fake sparrows - ie the real deal, training round with the electronics but no warhead or motor, and cement pipes. I think the MODs love of cement is what's kept the building trade (and blue paint makers) going through the recessions. Edited October 24, 2015 by dpm1did1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 No such thing as an F3, speculated as a follow on to FG1 & FGR2 but they settled on F-4J(UK) finally. Re dummy "ballast" Sparrows, they were filled with cement! Drill sparrows (correct designation by the way, Not dummy or ballast Sparrows as these do not exist!) were certainly NOT filled with cement! they were ballasted to the correct weight with metal weights. When the sparrow went out of service they became Drill Skyflash by painting them light aircraft grey! Selwyn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Barely visible but that looks like a training Sparrow or Skyflash in the fwd port recess Oxford Blue overall or bands on a store= DRILL Selwyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Wow! Great stuff everyone! Selwyn, I did wonder about the colours of the Sparrow / Skyflash. As far as I know, the Sparrow, under a RAF / RN Phantom was white with a light aircraft grey nose, and black bands plus yellow for live, blue for drill. The Skyflash followed the same scheme. So the grey ones were Sparrows playing 'let's pretend we're Skyflashes.' Is that right? The other load outs look great and the various bomb loads look really interesting. On the larger photo posted by Breaker, are those 1000b bombs on the centreline? And a training Sparrow round, would that be simple to create by lopping off the fins of the kit supplied missiles and painting it Oxford Blue? Was that for bombing the Torry Canyon? Julien, I think (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that the bombing of the Torrey Canyon was initially done by Buccaneers, with Hunters and Sea Vixens joining in as well. I don't think that the F-4s took part as the incident took place in 1967, a bit before the RN and RAF received their first Phantoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) Mark, Live Sparrows were white overall with a off white radome yellow band around the warhead and brown band around the rocket motor. Drill sparrow either same overall colour but with Oxford blue bands or overall Oxford blue. live Skyflash were Light aircraft grey with yellow brown bands and white radomes, and had four longtitudinal antennas 90 Deg apart just behind the radome Drill skyflash gloss LAG overall including radome, Oxford blue bands and oxford blue circles on wings and fins, all oxford blue bands/rings were stencilled Drill in white. You will never see a black band on a AAM.Black bands on a munition indicate "armour piercing" which AAMs arn't! Selwyn Edited October 24, 2015 by Selwyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) This is a quick and dirty guide to the colour indications on your standard RAF weapons. http://www.fast-air.co.uk/raf-nato-weapons-markings/ Note that in general the body colour is incidental as it's mostly the stripes that count, although inert training rounds are often painted overall or mostly blue except if fuses and/or motors are installed in which case only the body is blue (because the rest can still go bang!). This is iaw NATO Standards and applies from individual bullets to long range missile on air, land and sea. They can also be found on boxes and packaging together with the explosive warning symbols that are also used in civilian life. Just rememberer not to kick, spark, or set fire to anything green, yellow or brown. However blue is fine! (equipment not personel, they may also explode if poked or attacked with a lighter!) Edited October 24, 2015 by dpm1did1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Cheers Selwyn, thanks for the info! But what about this: That certainly has etc black bands? dpm1did1, that is a brilliant reference, thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) Black bands on weapons in pics, unless obviously an anti-tank or other AP round, are usually more likely to indicate breaking points in the store and may be as simple as a sealant tape or painted to show if the store is still fully sealed at a break point at where the motor or fuse attaches. It's not always obvious in pix, ans definitely confusing with AAMs where the stripes may appear to be the same width as the explosive indicator markings, however when up close and personal it's much easier to see the differences. Edited October 24, 2015 by dpm1did1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Although the official designation was drill Sparrow rounds, they were more commonly known as ballast Sparrows. They were still Oxford blue in the mid to late 80's even though Skyflash was in service. At that time Phantoms always flew with "ballast Sparrows" on the front stations for CofG reasons. This stemmed from the use of 6 tank in the tail, (if I remember that was its name, its all a bit vague now)for fuel. If this tank was filled without front ballast then the aircraft became tail heavy. 6 tank was later disabled, but the ballast Sparrow use continued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_c67 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) So does this mean that Italeri's instructions to paint the Skyflash's white for my F.3 Tornado are wrong? Course it's also missing the colour bindings as well and the black dots that the Airfix ones would have you add. Edited October 24, 2015 by charlie_c67 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Was that for bombing the Torry Canyon?Julien No. Torry Canyon was 1967, two years before the FG1 entered FAA service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Silly me. Looked at the flat end and not the turbineless nose. Unusual config though as most are very similar to a small drop tank (pretty much how they started!) Have seen refuelling pods on a Phantom although they were usually hanging off other winged things. (wether it was operational or not tho is another matter because very many things get hung off just for show or trials) But then UK Phantoms have never operated as tankers, so wouldn't carry a refuelling pod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Nearly missed this as I was ignoring bomb & rocket loads, til I noticed only 3 sprogs! Strike cameras don't always face backwards, a pointless exercise when firing rockets. Note it's also a different design to the previous AM one posted by Sniper The strike camera is identical in both photo's, and have always faced forward to my knowledge. Do you have any pic's f it facing backwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Anyone ever seen photos of RN Phantoms carrying live Sidewinders? There are plenty with drill rounds but I have never seen an operational aircraft with live AIM9s! Cheers Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 The strike camera is identical in both photo's, and have always faced forward to my knowledge. Do you have any pic's f it facing backwards? None from UK Phantoms, not surprising as any pix of a UK camera equipped bird is a rare thing. However many strike cameras do face down/backwards as shown in numerous bombing vids from Vietnam etc including F-4s. This is simply because bombs are drop that way. This is why I noted the fact rockets fire forwards so the camera will naturally face that way, just as seen in the various WW2 vids from Beaufighters, Typhoons etc. The placement, filling and direction will obviously change according to plane, camera type, fitment and role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm1did1 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) But then UK Phantoms have never operated as tankers, so wouldn't carry a refuelling pod.Fortunately I never said they did, but I've seen plenty of other things hung under, or placed near planes on show that wouldnt be be carried. Some are purely a case of certification 'just in case' whilst others are 'looks good in an airshow park'.Believe me it's not just planes they do this too as I've seen ships 'dressed up' for the public with details rapidly reboxed the next day. Edited October 24, 2015 by dpm1did1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 (edited) Another RAFG exclusive store would be the wing tank modified for photo recce purposes, as in this post. This previous thread has some good stuff as well. Cheers, Andre Edited October 25, 2015 by Hook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Anyone ever seen photos of RN Phantoms carrying live Sidewinders? There are plenty with drill rounds but I have never seen an operational aircraft with live AIM9s!CheersGlen There are plenty of photos about of 892 Sqn Phantoms carrying full A to A load out, even some escorting Russian aircraft. 892 Sqn took their turn at standing QRA when they lived at RAF Leuchars. I have some somewhere, maybe Dennis will be able to post some? Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingdoctor Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 For strike fit the Ferranti Strike Camera pod was usual in the port Sparrow bay , the ballast in the front bays was necessary to keep the CoG correct . The Srtike camera pod is the centre bit here looking like a wedge. What scale is this and who makes these? The Fujimi Recce pod looks a bit emaciated to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 None from UK Phantoms. my mistake. I thought we were discussing RAF/RN Phantoms......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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