Again it`s about the video of an amazing air maneuver, some ill minded person would call that hoax, anything possitive to contribute beside BS talk?

There is a very fine line between amazing and very bad judgment. While it looks great, flying at 1 meter for a short time, does not have any actual military value and is not a "amazing maneuver" either. Just because no one got hurt, does not mean it was not stupid. Fun, sure it would be fun, until that time where you crash.

Originally posted by firepilot

Again it`s about the video of an amazing air maneuver, some ill minded person would call that hoax, anything possitive to contribute beside BS talk?

There is a very fine line between amazing and very bad judgment. While it looks great, flying at 1 meter for a short time, does not have any actual military value and is not a "amazing maneuver" either. Just because no one got hurt, does not mean it was not stupid. Fun, sure it would be fun, until that time where you crash.

I think the only thing stopping that guy from becoming a lawn dart was ground effect.

Op, if you wanted to talk about only the video, and not Argentinas criminal and unprovoked attack on sovereign British territory, why did you mention it in the first post? Besides, several Argentine aircraft went lower than that, shortly after a Sea Harrier had seen them.

To paraphrase Basil Fawlty

"you started it!"

No we didn't.

"yes you did, you invaded the Falkland islands!"

What is this defeat the RAF suffered that you refer to? specifically?

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I seem to remember reading about a number of Harriers during the Falklands who made run ins over the water to Port Stanley. If my memory serves me correct they were virtually transonic at around 5 ft off the water. As one of the pilots commented, they were low enough that had a large wave in a swell come across there path they would have been killed. But there are plenty of stories of this occurring in wartime and some during exercises. I vividly remember reading an account by a US pilot who was flying in an exercise in the 50's in the Netherlands. He and several of his colleagues went head to head with some local Dutch F-86's over a NATO airfield and he said they were around 2ft off the grass, with no sign of the Dutch being prepared to break out of the way!

Waynos you might be able to confirm this but I seem to recall that quite a number of Allied Tornado sorties were conducted in the 5-10ft range during the first Gulf war. I think one may have even been lost due to CFIT.

I dont think I need to comment on the OP's Falklands statements, we all know the facts.

LEE.

The video seems to be genuine. Its not a first in terms of low flight.. Every AirForce has their acrobatic nuts, who get kicks out of doing things like this.And then there is the other kind who end up doing stuff like this in wartime and in combat, and never really realize how low they went until the groundcrew have a look at the aircraft which brings back twigs and branches and tufts of grass on the wings, or until someone looks at the guncam.

I respect the latter, and I do not think much of the former. An unfortunate truth is I've a majority of the former lose their lives when they done something crazy and successfully for 5,10, 15 times but it doesn't quite work the next time, the last time.

As far as the Falklands war goes, both countries fought for a cause they believed in, and interestingly I honestly believe BOTH fought against greater odds, the British from a vulnerability of supply lines point of view and the Argentines from a inferior technology and operational reach point of view.

The war could have gone either way, at multiple stages, right up till the final battle for Stanley. The general consensus is that the British 'won' as the got to keep the Falklands/Malvinas, and there's not much one can do to refute that.

I honestly believe the British were on weak ground at multiple occasions but a little bit of luck and good strategy right uptill the end gave them the edge.

The Argentines, well their premise for the war was flawed, they thought the British would not bother, but they didn't do their homework well enough. The British 'environment' at that time was in the doldrums, and the government there I believe jumped at this as an opportunity to gain support and popular opinion.
While the Argentines where caught in between preparing for a subsequent conflict with Chile.

In the end: bad supply lines, training and morale of Argentine troops holding the islands along with the Argentine Air-force, and a few dozen short in exocets (maybe even a dozen short) is what killed if for the Argentines.

The British pushed through because of the HMS Conqueror, blue fox, sidewinders, the surrender demand bluff at Falklands, and better GI training+weaponry.

A very important war for all military strategists to know about in its entirety.