A shot of the cockpit of ex Saudi AF Lightning F.53 ZF578, marked as 'XR753', at Tangmere. A chum of mine who flew these, called the rubber tube for looking at the Radar, 'The Donkeys' Cock', but what would I know?
He also used to say that 'One peep is worth a thousand sweeps'.
I got an unexpected day off in London, due to the Volcanic Ash crisis of 2010 and used it to visit Tangmere. It was all caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and worries about those tiny volcanic ash particles getting inside the hollow turbine blades and blocking the cooling passages from the inside. I must learn Icelandic some day...... Those blades routinely operate at temperatures above the melting point of the Nickel Steel from which they are made. Only the mass flow of cool air, ducted through them from inside to out, stops them melting. Block the holes: they will get a bit too hot.
The NA X-15 rocket plane is made out of the same materiel as turbine blades- Inconel-X. Holder of the World Aviation Speed Record at Mach 6.73, she's a steel dart.
A shot of the cockpit of ex Saudi AF Lightning F.53 ZF578, marked as 'XR753', at Tangmere. A chum of mine who flew these, called the rubber tube for looking at the Radar, 'The Donkeys' Cock', but what would I know?
He also used to say that 'One peep is worth a thousand sweeps'.
I got an unexpected day off in London, due to the Volcanic Ash crisis of 2010 and used it to visit Tangmere. It was all caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and worries about those tiny volcanic ash particles getting inside the hollow turbine blades and blocking the cooling passages from the inside. I must learn Icelandic some day...... Those blades routinely operate at temperatures above the melting point of the Nickel Steel from which they are made. Only the mass flow of cool air, ducted through them from inside to out, stops them melting. Block the holes: they will get a bit too hot.
The NA X-15 rocket plane is made out of the same materiel as turbine blades- Inconel-X. Holder of the World Aviation Speed Record at Mach 6.73, she's a steel dart.