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Anybody else 'obsessed' with one particular aircraft ??


Mancunian airman

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For me the true passion is the Tomcat. It's a love affair that goes back to when I was 8 or 9: one day I was browsing some magazines that mum was packing to throw in the bin, all general news magazines- In one of them was an article on a visit to USS Nimitz, then assigned to the US 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. That was, as I later discovered, the first deployment of VF-41 and VF-84 with Tomcats and I was immediately captured by that aircraft, with that wide fuselage and the colourful twin tails.  I wasn't into plastic modelling yet, but since that day I started looking for pictures and information on that aircraft, cutting articles from newspapers and so on. The irony is that in the end I never managed to see a Tomcat fly, I saw them on the carriers anchored in Naples harbour while serving in the Army but the first time I "met" a Tomcat at close distance was many years later, when the mighty cat was being withdrawn.

 

I do have other lesser favourites and being from Italy one is of course the Starfighter, that I love reproducing in plastic. Still neither the Tomcat nor the Starfighter are the subjects most present in my stash as the honour goes to the Spitfire. No particular reason for this, guess the Spitfire is simply the Spitfire, it's one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built, it's a legend and I like it. The large number of Spitfire kits is also due to the many variants built and I'd like one day to build at least one model per variant.

When it comes to books on the shelves however the Tomcat is back to number 1, with around 30 books on the subject, and more if we include those that deal with USN history and units that I only bought for the chapters on the F-14. I would probably not buy a Japanese language book on the Spitfire but I have several on the Tomcat.. ah, if only I could read Japanese 😁

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Life's too short to get obsessed about much, that includes specific types of aircraft.

 

I can say, however, that I've had a soft spot for the C-130 Hercules for as long as I can remember. I grew up with them flying frequently over my hometown in Canada as there was a squadron of them at the local air base and a company with locations at our interantional airport and (now sadly gone) municipal airport that had contracts to do servicing and upgrades on Canadian and international Hercules fleets.

 

The Hercules was also the first military aircraft I ever got a ride in.

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36 minutes ago, upnorth said:

Life's too short to get obsessed about much, that includes specific types of aircraft.

 

I can say, however, that I've had a soft spot for the C-130 Hercules,

 

The Hercules was also the first military aircraft I ever got a ride in.

Have your ears recovered yet?😊

 

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Mrs Z would probably tell you I'm obsessed with all aircraft!

 

She wouldn't be far from the truth. I find them all interesting in one way or another. But a few that stand out are:

 

The Viscount - up until I was 7 the only type I'd flown in, and I flew in them a few times a year for visits to the grandparents in the Isle of Man, up until BA stopped the service and was replaced by Heralds and then F-27s of Air UK. A few years later I got one last Viscount flight in G-BFZL with Manx Airlines. Always loved them, I can remember the sound of the engines like it was yesterday. 

 

For pretty much the same reasons, I have a soft spot for the Herald and F-27. I loved the view from a window seat with the high wing, and loved seeing the undercarriage retracting.

 

The Hercules - always had a soft spot for the Herk - during my brief stay in the air cadets I got a flight in one - an hour or so out of Woodford, up over the Lake District, on a beautifully clear day. We got to look out of the open cargo ramp at the mountains. Blooming noisy though!

 

And the Vulcan. Shouldn't need any explanation! It's just about all I remember of the Woodford airshow when I was small - we knew people who lived close to the airfield and used to go and watch it from their back garden. I have vivid memories of the Vulcan showing off its underside with the bomb bay open.

 

I could add way more to the list. Any of the cold war aircraft that I'd have seen at my first IAT (Fairford, 1985). I'm fascinated by post-war Soviet aircraft. Classic propliners. I could go on forever!

 

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There's a couple from me, having got up close and personal with them for the best part of 8 years working on the flight deck of Ark Royal in the 1970s it's...…..the mighty F-4K Phantom (but I like any Toom).

My other choice again through working with them at Portland back in the 70s is the good-old Wessex 1, I  use to fly on a regular bases with 772 NAS SARs as a fire-suit-man with a fireball extinguisher underslung .

Memories...

All the best RR.

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For me it’s the EE Lightning. As a kid i’d Spend the 6 week school holiday at Boscombe Down and watching the Lightning doing vertical take offs. I was fortunate enough that my first job was at BD and I used to strap the pilots in on all the fast jet fleet and do the starts. Stood in front of the Lightning with the engines running looking at the intimidating radar cone gets your attention. I loved all the ETPS fleet but if I had to pick one.......

 

Steve.

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Sydney Camm's masterpiece, the Hawker Hunter.

 

To my eye, the most beautiful aircraft ever built, with a grace that is almost spiritual. Often called the ultimate pilot's aeroplane, with a simplicity that belies its humble beginnings. Whether a clean-wing F.1, dog toothed FGA.9 or two-seater, it looks right in any configuration. No startled looking nose intake here, no tailplanes at odd angles, but clean and smooth with curves in all the right places and -with the right aircraft- that blue note that makes this fully grown man go weak at the knees.

 

Obsessed? For sure.

 

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6 hours ago, Matt White said:

Have your ears recovered yet?😊

 

The Herk ride wasn't too bad to be honest, they had it pretty well insulated against sound in the hold. They kept the big back door closed, but popped in the clear panels on either side door of the rear fuselage and we could all get a look out on the snowy Canadian prairie that way.

 

The noisiest beast at the base I ever got a ride on was the Chinook helicopter. Of the five types of aircraft based there while I was growing up, it was the only one they handed out ear plugs for when my Air Cedet unit went for a ride on it.

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  • Mike changed the title to Anybody else 'obsessed' with one particular aircraft ??
On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 5:49 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I think my screen name explains that. ⬆️ I was influenced by its looks first, eventually that led to its history. To me the F4U Corsair is the Penultimate Radial engined aircraft bar none. The finest of Steeds in a huge gallery of warhorses if you will ? 

Thanks Cousin !!

Agreed 200%, and there's no surprise if I say that I totally share the same addiction !!

I waited a good 30 years before actually seeing a Corsair, The shock for me was its size !!

Then seeing her flying in airshow…. :yahoo::yahoo:

My favourite for ever is the F4U, all the F4U !!

The second one is another F4, the Phantom is for me the spiritual son of the Corsair !!

And the 3rd is undoubtely the A-6 Intruder

I remember in an Airshow, I was chatting with USN jockey, and one of them asked me if I wanted to sit in the F-14...

His face turned white when I say that I would prefer to sit in the A-6 :whistle:

And so I did !! The mudmovers were delighted !!

Then I step on the F-14, it has been a really great day !! Celebrated with some rocket fuel too !!

Sincerely.

CC

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Boeing B-17 for me.

It was probably as a result of seeing the 1943 "Memphis Belle" colour documentary as a child in the 1970's. I've made Forts in 1/700 ( spanning a little over 1.75inches ), 1/350, 1/144, 1/72, 1/10 ( R/C ) and 1/6 scale ( R/C, spanning a little over 17 feet ).

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Firstly I just want to say what a great thread to start from the Mancunian Airman - good call.

 

There are countless aircraft that I can choose from but the one that sticks in my mind the most is from watching The Final Countdown as a kid, the one and only Tomcat. 

 

The scene in the movie when they intercept the Zeros, combined with that livery sends me weak at the knees...…!

 

Anything Hi Viz from the US Navy/USMC circa '65-'75 is in with a good shout too.

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After the Lancaster, my second and only other aircraft I get excited about from WWII is the Mosquito.

 

Its graceful lines and flying characteristics earns my admiration  but it wasn't until a family funeral in recent years that I discovered that a relation of mine, W/Cdr. Roy Ralston, flew this aircraft . I have a three 48th builds of the 'Mossie' 🙂

 

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As a youngster, I'd hoped to join the RAF as a pilot, fly Phantoms then move over to the BBMF, but my inability to read the optician's wall chart at age 9 meant that wouldn't happen.

 

So it would appear that I've lived the dream vicariously by buying Phantoms and Spitfires to build and books about them....

 

IanJ

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Phantoms for me too. Over 200 in 1/72 and 30 in 1/48 (and about 60 still unmade in the stash AND enough decals to do the lot) allied to far,far too many books for research. Just a shame I'll never get to Japan to see them before they go.

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Maybe ‘obsesed’ Is a little stronge a description, but having been an Air Cadet gliding instructor and now spending too much retirement time  at the museum at Middle Wallop I can happily ‘Bore for England’ about the Airspeed Horsa

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So many aircraft, so it's very hard to choose.  I'm very fond of the Lockheed P-38 as my grandfather served with a F-5 equipped reconnaissance squadron in the Pacific during WW2.  I'm also fond of the BP Defiant, not really sure where that comes from.  There are the aircraft I've been flown in with the ATC: Nimrods, Hercules, and the Puma.  Then there are those I've flown with my own hands, the Bulldog, the Tutor, the Vigilant and currently the Cessna 172 & 182.  

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On 12/9/2018 at 6:55 PM, Bonhoff said:

As a youngster, I'd hoped to join the RAF as a pilot, fly Phantoms then move over to the BBMF, but my inability to read the optician's wall chart at age 9 meant that wouldn't happen.

 

So it would appear that I've lived the dream vicariously by buying Phantoms and Spitfires to build and books about them....

 

IanJ

Me too I was in utopia when the BBC Fighter Pilot series in the early 80’s. I was going to join, fly the new Tornado. However not enough O levels being interpreted as “thick” ended that dream😜

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