XH558 - was Re: using new technology etc

[Sean Caron]

There were so many neat war plane designs of the 50s and 60s that never
made it to volume production ... the BAC TSR-2, the Avro Canada Arrow ...
we have our share here in the USA as well i.e. the NAA XB-70 Valkyrie and
XF-108 Rapier... It's funny; it's the ones that were never produced in
volume that seem to capture the imagination the most. :O

Best,

Sean


On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 10:58 AM, ANDY HOLT <andy.holt at tesco.net> wrote:

> >>>>
> I was born too late to see the SR-71 fly. I could still see a U-2 fly
> though (those are also neat planes). There's so many cool planes, and
> so little time to experience them all. (SR-71/A-12, U-2, B-52, CF-105,
> Avro Lancaster, Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, Messerschmitt
> Bf 109, Avro Vulcan, Antonov An-225, Concorde, Mitsubishi A6M Zero,
> North American P-51 Mustang, Junkers Ju 52... and that list is
> incomplete.)
> <<<<
>
> At RAF Duxford (less than an hours drive from my home) you can see
> Concorde*, a SR-71, a Lancaster, a Vulcan**, one of the only two remaining
> TSR-2s***, a Bf109**** and many many more.
>
> * This was flown in to the airfield but could never be flown out again
> because the runway was then shortened for the building of the M11.
> ** There's another Vulcan less than 10 miles from my home :)
> *** If you think the SR-71 was killed-off with unseemly haste read the
> history of the TSR-2
> **** I expect that quite a lot of Bf109s are currently being made
> airworthy in time for the75th anniversary of AdlerTag … it quite surprised
> me that there were more flyable than I might have guessed, but none in the
> possession of the RAF or the Confederate Airforce - but I'd bet that the
> Battle-of-Britain flight will have restored at least one from the RAF
> museum soon.
> OK - fun question, when was the last time that Bf109s and Spitfires were
> in genuine aerial combat (and who flew which side)?
> (Last time both were flying in close proximity was probably during the
> making of the film "Battle of Britain" in 1968/9)
>
> Yes, I know this is OT - but does seem a popular thread.
>
> Andy
>
>