Thursday, July 20, 2006

Click any image for a larger version ...

I am a pilot and an aviation enthusiast. Besides the left-hand seat, there’s no better place for an enthusiast than an air show. The EU’s premier airshow alternates between Paris and Farnborough, England. Here are a few of the 550 photos I took while there.

I come from “Boeing Country” and have followed the development of the Airbus A-380, the soon-to-be rival to Boeing’s 747. At Farnborough, it made its public debut in front of an audience of half a million people and it did not disappoint. The specs are impressive:

Here is evidence of a rivalry of a different kind; Russia’s MiG 29 OVT Fulcrum fighter. It looks a lot like an American F/A 18 ... similar twin tail, twin engine, size and performance. But unlike the F/A 18, it uses thrust vectoring (similar to the Harrier) to improve maneuverability. The pilot flew 3 maneuvers which were very impressive: 1) Tail slide (I’ve seen other MiGs do this but still impressive); 2) An aborted loop - where the plane starts into a normal loop - but at the top rolls level (wheel-side down) and stops - then rotates so it faces back the way it came - and dives on a target; and 3) The pancake flip - from near hover, flipping the nose up and over through 270 degrees - diving straight down on a target. If Western forces ever meet this aricraft in anger - it’s not clear to me who will prevail. But it won’t be a fair fight in my opinion.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Planes
(0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink