RNAS Culdrose 60th Anniversary Air Day : DIAL-UP CAUTION

[DaveB]

Tks Andy ;-) After reading DG's reply, I went straight to your site and read that any paints not there could be found on either Simviation or Allnodes so I got it off Allnodes The only problem is.. you can't do much in the way of aero's in the Alpha Lynx :roll: Looks nice anyway ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[AndyG]

Lovely shots DB, thanks for sharing.

I'm glad you did add on the shots of '601, a lovely aircraft and nice to see she was 'saved for the nation' after all the hard work she did over the years - I also noticed what appeared to be a replacement u/c door, might have to tweak the repaint of Dave G's Hunter accordingly.

AndyG

[DanKH]

Hi Dave

Kirk Olsson has made (as you probably know) a very good F16 for FS9.

It has also been "converted" so it can be used in FSX.

On top of that at least all the liveries for the RDAF F16's is covered. (viperden.zip incl. good sounds and panel)

You should allow your self to take a look at them, there is some great paints in there.

I especially like the "Holger Danske", which I saw 'live' at Roskilde (EKRK) Airshow a couple of years ago. It gives quite a kick when he opens up the afterburner at a low pass flyby.

He was just visiting enroute for something else, and thought he'd drop by given the occasion. I think every pilot would turn into a boy again at such a opportunity.

Somewhat the same urge you get in the finger to press the siren button every time you sit in a firetruck ;-)

[Nigel H-J]

Lovely shots Dave, not often you get to see the vintage and modern together at airshows two aircraft that were nice to see in your shots were the Anson and Hunter.

Regards Nigel

[sketchy]

A bit of background to the Falcon and Hawk setup. The lot are used to simulate air attack on the fleet (among other things) and the way they do this is the Falcons line up in an attack profile (close formation) with 2 Hawks on each side (also in tight formation). When the Falcon simulates a missile release, one of the Hawks will accelerate to 400kts, simulating the missile and with each release.. a further Hawk will bang the throttle open and hurtle toward the target!! Very impressive :o A bit labour intensive but this is really only one aspect of the work they do. All are ex-military pilots.. what a lovely job before retirement ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

The lesser known fact about the the FRADU Hawks simulating the Exocet's Dave is that when they were first used the PWO's on the ships struggled to spot them, it turns out that the years old Hawk is infact quite naturally Stealthy! So the engineers at Culdrose had to fit tiny blocks to the leading edges of the wings to give them a larger Radar Signature!!

I have spend quite a bit of time with the FRADU guys as my Old man works there, I designed their Unit badge for them a few years ago, although still waiting to cash in the much promised back seat ride! They really are as you say a lucky bunch of guys keeping their hand in before retirement, but a great bunch at that. I have some nice publicity shots of theirs, I shall have to dig them out and scan them in.

On another note.....I always remember as a child hiding from the elements in the Chief's Mess enclosure tent from the Cornish Drizzle yearly on Culdrose Airdays, you had some great weather there!! Lovely shots, the one of the Merlin is great.

Excellent stuff.

Sketchy

[DaveB]

Hi Sketchy

Tks for that further insight There's not much to a Hawk whichever way you look at it and I can imagine it having a rather small signature. You keep pushing for that ride in the back mate ;-) Love the Merlin. Pity the Alpha sounds for the model are absolutely nothing like the real thing :roll:

Dan..
I've spent all morning downloading and digging files out since looking at the shots I posted including the Viper and it's lovely display paint. I noticed it's been made FSX compatible so I'll pull those files in the fullness of time

One for UKMIL if he looks in..
Couldn't find the XE601 paint on my system so pulled it off Allnodes. Underwing reg's read XS106 :o Tried the file off UKMIL in case it was different but it's not :roll:

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Trev Clark]

Hi Dave, now I can see why you went to cornwall for your hols, glad it was not just for the pasties!! Those shots are superb, (even though they struggle on my narrow B-band). Thanks for the rotary shots, you have managed to make the Lynx look impressive, no easy thing :prayer: ! Oddly enough, the Anson pic really caught my eye, I think it must be the lighting......now I thought we might have one of these in MSFS a few years ago? Another still born, or a back burner? Still live in hope though :dance:

[DaveB]

Glad you liked em Trev ;-) The Merlin now adorns my desktop!! No more than a happy coincidence our break and the Air Day falling at the same time and I don't do pasties I'm afraid Not a great fan of pastry and a pastie tends to have more than I can handle. Alison and Helen bought one in Falmouth though

I hope the Anson see's the light of day at some point in the future but with a certain 'Wooden Wonder' taking up hangar space.. it won't be for some time yet ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[VEGAS]

Great shots Dave. I was there myself only a couple of months ago. Tks for posting!

[andrew]

Fabulous shots, Dave! Can you tell us which camera you use, and the lens/es?

Andrew.