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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 08/19/2005 :  08:44:10  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message
The USAF Thunderbirds are practicing right now. It is sooooo cool.

And since I work in a building near the show site, I got to watch them for a while.

Just north of North Pier in Chicago.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion

Paulos23
Skeptic Friend

USA
446 Posts

Posted - 08/19/2005 :  15:04:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Paulos23's Homepage Send Paulos23 a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer

The USAF Thunderbirds are practicing right now. It is sooooo cool.

And since I work in a building near the show site, I got to watch them for a while.

Just north of North Pier in Chicago.



Two weekends ago the Blue Angles where flying over Seattle and Lake Washington. They are very cool to watch.

You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley
Edited by - Paulos23 on 08/19/2005 15:05:43
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 08/21/2005 :  11:52:54   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
Paulos23, you are in Seattle?

When the Blue Angels fly over my house every year with the incredible loud noise that precedes their arrival right overhead, the thought that goes through my mind is, "What must it be like if such jets are dropping bombs on you?"
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 08/21/2005 :  13:19:43   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
Air-to-surface missiles bangs quite a lot when they are fired from a plane. Or perhaps it was Sidewinders, I didn't have time to recognize them.
Two Saab AJ-37 Viggen fired two each right above my head (at 100-200m altitude) at a practice-target in a lake a km away. A bang when the rockets fired that I thought would burst my ears.

But when they fly low, it's close to impossible to hear them until it's too late, if they are about to deliver their payload on you.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular

USA
1191 Posts

Posted - 08/21/2005 :  14:05:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send R.Wreck a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer:

The USAF Thunderbirds are practicing right now. It is sooooo cool.

And since I work in a building near the show site, I got to watch them for a while.

Just north of North Pier in Chicago.


OOPS!

quote:
People at the Chicago Air and Water Show saw a little more and a little less than expected Saturday when an object broke free from an Air Force Thunderbird jet, prompting an abrupt end to the performance.

The object fell from one of six jets and splashed into Lake Michigan in an area closed off to civilian boat traffic far from the shore, Air Force officials said.


The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley

The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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Chippewa
SFN Regular

USA
1496 Posts

Posted - 08/21/2005 :  18:57:38   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Chippewa's Homepage Send Chippewa a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

...Two Saab AJ-37 Viggen fired two each right above my head (at 100-200m altitude) at a practice-target in a lake a km away...


The Viggen is a very cool flying machine. In terms of design aesthetics I also like the older Drakken. What a wild SciFi looking plane it is too.

When I was a kid living in Hawaii in the late 1950s, the local TV station had several unusual movies in their library, which they would show periodically. One was a Swedish film about pilots who flew in a squadron of
Saab Tunnan fighters! It was in Swedish with English subtitles. (In Hawaii I saw this! I kid you not.) I don't remember the name of the film or the plot, but there was a love story of course, and many scenes of these planes in flight. The station had American and British movies, Japanese monster movies, a Russian fantasy film and this one Swedish flying movie. (I didn't discover Ingmar Bergman films until I moved to the mainland.)

Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.

"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.)
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 08/22/2005 :  03:46:26   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Chippewa
One was a Swedish film about pilots who flew in a squadron of
Saab Tunnan fighters! It was in Swedish with English subtitles. (In Hawaii I saw this! I kid you not.) I don't remember the name of the film or the plot, but there was a love story of course, and many scenes of these planes in flight.

Could it have been Gula divisionen?

It's unusual design gave it the name: the nose-cone is replaced by the air-intake for the jet-engine. "Tunnan" translates to English as "barrel" (as in large container, not gun-barrel). Nicknamned "The flying barrel".
The plane J-35 you called Drakken is spelled with one 'k' only, and means Dragon. Viggen means thunderbolt.

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Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 08/22/2005 :  11:14:19   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by R.Wreck

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Valiant Dancer:

The USAF Thunderbirds are practicing right now. It is sooooo cool.

And since I work in a building near the show site, I got to watch them for a while.

Just north of North Pier in Chicago.


OOPS!

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">People at the Chicago Air and Water Show saw a little more and a little less than expected Saturday when an object broke free from an Air Force Thunderbird jet, prompting an abrupt end to the performance.

The object fell from one of six jets and splashed into Lake Michigan in an area closed off to civilian boat traffic far from the shore, Air Force officials said.
[/quote]
[/quote]

The #3 and #4 positions touched midflight in the diamond formation. #3's weapons pylon was snapped off and fell into the lake. It has not been recovered.

An investigation is pending.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion
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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend

USA
446 Posts

Posted - 08/22/2005 :  11:49:35   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Paulos23's Homepage Send Paulos23 a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

Paulos23, you are in Seattle?

When the Blue Angels fly over my house every year with the incredible loud noise that precedes their arrival right overhead, the thought that goes through my mind is, "What must it be like if such jets are dropping bombs on you?"



Yup, I am in Seattle. Of course by the time you hear the jets, the bomb is already on its way, if it was coming.

You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley
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sts60
Skeptic Friend

141 Posts

Posted - 08/22/2005 :  13:42:14   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send sts60 a Private Message
I've always been lucky at seeing cool flying things.

I got to tour (active!) Titan missile silos, a drone squadron, the aircraft "boneyard", etc. at Davis-Monathan AFB in Arizona courtesy of a teacher who was AF reserve. I worked in Houston near Ellington Field, home of the NASA "vomit comet" and shuttle simulator aircraft, a Super Guppy, and landing site for Concordes, Air Force One, and at least one Shuttle-on-747 combination (see http://photos.yahoo.com/sts060). Then my job took me out to the Cape and KSC, and into three different Orbiters - all on the ground, alas ;) - plus some good launch views. At another job, I happened to look out a glass wall as the last Concorde to land at Dulles Airport came in. And living in the D.C. suburbs, I've been able to visit both Smithsonian Air & Space museum facilities. Plus I've volunteered at air shows and a balloon lift. So I'm pretty happy with my "bag" for a non-pilot civilian.

[Homer]Mmmmm.... Flyyying thiiinnngsss.. (drools) [/Homer]
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 08/22/2005 :  23:28:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by sts60
I worked in Houston near Ellington Field, home of the NASA "vomit comet" and shuttle simulator aircraft, a Super Guppy, and landing site for Concordes, Air Force One, and at least one Shuttle-on-747 combination (see http://photos.yahoo.com/sts060).
Awesome photos! I only have a few poor pics from Kennedy Space Center, when I was there in -82 (with a Konica compact-camera). I got to see one of the transporter-platforms for the shuttle up close, but I never got closer than a km from the shuttle, as it was standing on the platform for a take-off (some three days after my visit, and I SO MUCH wanted to see a launch).

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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Chippewa
SFN Regular

USA
1496 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2005 :  00:39:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Chippewa's Homepage Send Chippewa a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

Could it have been Gula divisionen?

Yes, that was probably it. Its on DVD now. If I want to see it again, I might have to order it from Sweden. Ironically, I watched another excellent flying movie last night: The Dam Busters.
Thanks for the Draken spelling. I looked into it and found that the forerunner of the Draken was a half-size version called the "Lill-Draken" built to test the design.

Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.

"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.)
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2005 :  06:59:53   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
I checked out one of the Swedish online sites, and it seems that the DVD-movie version available here in Sweden doesn't have any subtitles at all. Not even Swedish for the hearing-impaired.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 08/23/2005 :  07:08:30   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
The Draken suffer from sight-problems while landing due to the attack-angle. In order to keep the right air-speed while at the same time following the flight-path, the nose needs to be kept raied so high that the pilot will never see the end of the runway, nor the standard landing lights. Even more so when landing down-wind, when you risk grinding the rear fusilage against the ground before the rear-wheel suspension reach equilibrium. Flying and especially landing the Draken is not for the faint-of-heart.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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skepticality
Skeptic Friend

USA
105 Posts

Posted - 08/24/2005 :  00:43:56   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit skepticality's Homepage Send skepticality a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer

The USAF Thunderbirds are practicing right now. It is sooooo cool.

And since I work in a building near the show site, I got to watch them for a while.

Just north of North Pier in Chicago.



I am from Las Vegas, where the TB's were based. Damn, it was always fun to watch them practice. I remember when the big crash happened. It was a very bad day.

Derek Colanduno
host - skepticality
http://www.skepticality.com/
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