DaveB wrote:
The Yakolevs!! Note.. No.61 (rear Yak) pilot has a nice day job. He's one of the Brit JSF pilots and was over on leave :o
...and before that he was a Typhoon test pilot, Shuttleworth pilot (on leave from them due to being in the States I suppose), RAF SHAR exchange, and F3 display pilot...
Great shots though Dave, we have got a families day coming up soon, I'll try and get some shots and get them posted on here. Then you will see a REAL merlin!!
We are the unwilling, led by the unqualified, doing the unnecessary, for the ungrateful
DaveB wrote:Would it have been the gun blast deflectors or the canon holes themselves that caused the distinctive whine??
Dunno Dave
That pic of Echo, as an F6 above, is interesting because it shows the gun pack of four Aden Guns being handled. The pack has had its four barrels unlocked and disconnected...Then the pack itself which contains the four gun mechanisms has been winched down with the attached winches on each side. The "Sabrinas" can be seen lying on the ground waiting to be replaced...Their function is to catch and retain the clips which hold the 30mm shells in a belt. The brass cases themselves are flung out through tubes below and are heavy enough to clear the aircraft without causing damage. Another pack of four Aden Guns will replace that one after it is wheeled away on the trolley
The gunpack fires 80 High Explosive 30mm rounds per second and the devastating destructive effect of that has to be seen to be believed...I have seen a one second burst reduce a Tempest (sitting on a range) from a beautiful undamaged aircraft to a heap of burning ashes and rubble. One moment it was there, and the next, as the smoke cleared, it was gone
Rgr that. So.. with the gun pack removed (and there's no reason to believe 601 would still be carrying one!!) the gun barrels, although visible, would effectively be connected to nothing. I don't know if they'd be loose as I don't know how they're attached to the gun pack but.. with nowt in the space where the gun pack would be.. is it the wind blowing down the barrels into nothingness the cause of the howl/whine.. blowing over the top of a milkbottle being an example of what I'm thinking of.
The gunpack and the four barrels are an integral part of the aircraft...obviously the aircraft could not fly without the pack but I don't think it would be allowed to fly without the barrels either...or some substitute pieces of metal in lieu.
If you wished to fly a Hunter with no weapons then the gunpack would have to be vandalised with substitute lumps of metal welded in to replace the Aden mechanisms and other bits to replace the barrels. Interestingly, the CofG is also out of range with no ammo carried and some weight must also be substituted for that.
I'm begining to bore myself with this now so I'll be brief! I suppose it's the thought of 'civvie' aircraft flying around the place with 'gunpacks' onboard that worries me a little but as you rightly point out.. it's a big bit of kit, integral to the aircraft and it doesn't have to be 'live'. I can't imagine you'd be able to get ammo for it (though 5mins on the internet would probably see you in possession of whatever you required) and I guess that the firing mech has been made inert/disabled/removed.
