very strange aircraft

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
reply to post by LvSLoLo

 

I'm still banking on it being the Avro Vulcan. This schematic is similar to your drawing. Perhaps you didn't get as good of a look as you thought.

The distance from you to Sunderland, 130 miles, could be covered in about thirty minutes at 250 knots. Also, I'm sure flying along the coast would have just been a scenic route for the pilot to take. Or, perhaps it was a part of a photo op.

Another interesting fact: As of March of this year Robin Hood airport is the new home of the Avro Vulcan.

The Vulcan has a NOSE. The OP has already told you that what he saw was a triangle without any protuding nose. And when he goes to the trouble of confirming what he said by uploading a diagram that looks NOTHING like the Avro Vulcan, you still think it is!

That is typical of many posters here. They believe whatever they want to believe despite evidence to the contrary. It's not about denying ignorance. It seems to be all about sticking to what you want to believe despite being told by the witness that the proposed explanation does not fit what he saw.

Originally posted by saucerboy
reply to post by rainyday

 

sorry to be the fact police, Boeing did not design the xb-70 North American Aviation did. and there were only 2 built and 1 was lost in a horrific clash and the other sits at the Wright-Patterson AFB, so unless they took it out of retirement i doubt that was it.
sorry again

Regardless of who built what nowhere did I suggest to the op that these 2 craft I posted were what he saw. I was merely trying to see if either craft had similar characteristics to what the op had seen. As far as triangular shaped crafts go, there have been dozens of them tested in the past and even more being tested today.

I don't think the Avro Vulcan ever had afterburners.

Even if it did, a restored model for an airshow would NEVER have afterburners.

A: insufficient funds to pay for the wasted fuel
B: insufficient funds to repair/fix 4 afterburners for a plane they barely scraped enough money together for to get airborne.

If you saw flames on the engine to think it has an afterburner, it was probably Russia's new bird playing in your air space.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
reply to post by LvSLoLo

 

I'm still banking on it being the Avro Vulcan. This schematic is similar to your drawing. Perhaps you didn't get as good of a look as you thought.

The distance from you to Sunderland, 130 miles, could be covered in about thirty minutes at 250 knots. Also, I'm sure flying along the coast would have just been a scenic route for the pilot to take. Or, perhaps it was a part of a photo op.

Another interesting fact: As of March of this year Robin Hood airport is the new home of the Avro Vulcan.

Its very very simular trust me but do they or did they ever do completely black vulcans that only distinguishing feature is the cockpit and afterburners, after judging the clearer pictures that are on the link you put in the post above i can clearly see the afterburners are not neerly asbig as on the aircraft i witnessed and the vulkan is rounded from what i saw it was squared corners compltely streight ive just found a picture of the aurora and its crazy howmuch it looks like what i was watching other than the obvious lack of jet engines

reply to post by LvSLoLo


I can't help but think you saw the Vulcan. I've sent an email through the Vulcan to the Skies group in hopes that they can send me back the flight profile on the trip to Sunderland.

If the aircraft were between you and the Sun, it very well could have appeared black. The Vulcan has a dark gray/olive drab paint scheme, which will not let much color be seen in shadow. I still feel that you may have not gotten as good as a look at it as you think.

I'm not sure if you're using the term "afterburners" correctly. Nowhere on the schematic that I previously linked to does it mention afterburners or claim that the Vulcan has them (it doesn't). The schematic also only includes a top-down view. The Vulcan has hardly efficient engines, especially at low speeds. They produce a lot of smoke and exhaust. Perhaps that is what you were mistaking for a sign of afterburners in use?

Here is an image of the underside of the Vulcan from 2009's Sunderland show. You can see the nacelles look larger than they do on the top side (this is due to the curvature of the wing) and you can see a dome on the bottom, which is where the radar is located.

As i said in my origional post it circled us a couple of times i had a good look at it from neerly every angle other than a couple of seconds were the sun was becouse of trees up the hill and being blinded if i looked at it going in the suns vacinity so i can say with confidence it was black. I went to 2-3 air shows when i was young with my grandparents and had a close up view of vulcans and they did air shows so i had a chance to see them in action and i can say it wasnt a vulcan im 95% sure it wasnt and the picture you have just shown makes me belive that even stronger as i could plainly see the afterburners they were noware neer as small as the exausts this is exactly why i posted on the website to see if it was american, russian design a british prototype or something ive mistaken

reply to post by LvSLoLo


If you went to see a Vulcan flying, you're either considerably older or significantly younger than I. I'm willing to guess younger based off grammar and a history of video game related threads. The last time Vulcans were flying for the military and going to airshows as a military component was the early 80s. The Vulcan as it is now has been hitting the air show circuit since 2008.

I have no doubt that you have some interest in aviation. Keep it up, as it's a fun hobby. I've been a private pilot for about nine years now. Aside from that, I'm now starting to believe you saw nothing at all. What kid, or adult for that matter, doesn't have a camera phone? My grandma, age 76, texts me pictures all the time. Also, there are too many discrepancies with your story. First you say that it looked like a Vulcan, then a Stealth Bomber, then an F-22 (all within your original post!) Then, the drawing you provided looks nothing like the the Stealth Bomber or F-22. It does look similar to a Vulcan, aside from the nose differences. You also in the original post state that you never see aircraft flying that low, as it is prohibited. Later you go on to state that you see military craft at low altitude quite commonly.

If you did see something, I am still certain it was the Vulcan. I have not yet heard back from the Vulcan to the Skies group about the flight profile. It being Sunday and them off to the airshow, I am not expecting too expedient of a response. I would still bet on it being a Vulcan for a couple reasons:

1.) Your close proximity to Robin Hood airport, which as I pointed out, is now that home base of operations for the only flying Vulcan left.
2.) The Sunderland air show is only an aerial display, The planes fly in, do a demo, and fly back to where they came from. The straight line distance is only 100 miles, which the aircraft could do in about 40 minutes, at a slow speed. It is completely reasonable that they flew a longer, scenic route to the airshow. Also, flying up the coast and over the water would give them the opportunity to practice some of the maneuvers before heading to the show. In fact, flying in the area of either Hull or Grimsby to get to the coast would only add about 50 miles to the flight. This is hardly any appreciable extra distance.

In this video from yesterday's flight you can clearly see several shots where it looks simply like a black triangle.

reply to post by cmdrkeenkid


how can that plane fit is description
next line

reply to post by Pervius


This is about your comment about a restored, privately owned aircraft not utilizing afterburners during an airshow. That is not entirely true. In the past, again at the Thunder Over Michigan air shows, I have seen privately owned aircraft with afterburners used in flight, including a F-4 Phantom, a Mig 17, and a Mig 21.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
reply to post by LvSLoLo

 

If you went to see a Vulcan flying, you're either considerably older or significantly younger than I. I'm willing to guess younger based off grammar and a history of video game related threads. The last time Vulcans were flying for the military and going to airshows as a military component was the early 80s. The Vulcan as it is now has been hitting the air show circuit since 2008.

I have no doubt that you have some interest in aviation. Keep it up, as it's a fun hobby. I've been a private pilot for about nine years now. Aside from that, I'm now starting to believe you saw nothing at all. What kid, or adult for that matter, doesn't have a camera phone? My grandma, age 76, texts me pictures all the time. Also, there are too many discrepancies with your story. First you say that it looked like a Vulcan, then a Stealth Bomber, then an F-22 (all within your original post!) Then, the drawing you provided looks nothing like the the Stealth Bomber or F-22. It does look similar to a Vulcan, aside from the nose differences. You also in the original post state that you never see aircraft flying that low, as it is prohibited. Later you go on to state that you see military craft at low altitude quite commonly.

If you did see something, I am still certain it was the Vulcan. I have not yet heard back from the Vulcan to the Skies group about the flight profile. It being Sunday and them off to the airshow, I am not expecting too expedient of a response. I would still bet on it being a Vulcan for a couple reasons:

1.) Your close proximity to Robin Hood airport, which as I pointed out, is now that home base of operations for the only flying Vulcan left.
2.) The Sunderland air show is only an aerial display, The planes fly in, do a demo, and fly back to where they came from. The straight line distance is only 100 miles, which the aircraft could do in about 40 minutes, at a slow speed. It is completely reasonable that they flew a longer, scenic route to the airshow. Also, flying up the coast and over the water would give them the opportunity to practice some of the maneuvers before heading to the show. In fact, flying in the area of either Hull or Grimsby to get to the coast would only add about 50 miles to the flight. This is hardly any appreciable extra distance.

In this video from yesterday's flight you can clearly see several shots where it looks simply like a black triangle.

edit on 7/31/2011 by cmdrkeenkid because: (no reason given)

Well first off when did i start being a asshole for you to be one back to me? second off the game posts i have is becouse i have aspergers syndrome and third off im 24 i watched the air shows in around 1991 to 1993 at a abandoned airbase neer the coastline with my grandparents you can doubt what i have been saying all you like all the other people replying to my posts have been trying to help when you are fixated on the vulcan when i know damn well what a vulcan looks like and this was nothing like it in the one i was watching being completely triangular, black, 4 big afterburners and most of all vulcans are long range bombers wich means it should be very fast as it was built to get behind enemy lines undetected to drop its payload and the one i was watching was going very very slow....fourth thing is commercial airlines are not allowed to go low around my area becouse of wildlife preserves there are around 5 of them that i know of and yes military aircraft do go through here somtimes high sometimes low at immence speeds and they are here and gone in seconds if there is an emergancy can you blame them? or if they are doing drills and yes i didnt have my camera phone with me and neither did my girlfriend so what? people do forget you know we went for a ride on our bikes to get away from the house we had no reason to take a phone with us unless it was for pictures at wich i would of brought my camera so what else are you going to pick at? i can do this all night...and like i said i am still looking out for it to pass by again so i can take a picture would that make you happy?

Ive just watched the video and NO ITS NOT A VULCAN i could plainly see the colour of the aircraft i was watching it was BLACK and like a TRIANGLE also it had no excess tail hanging over the back of it and AFTERBURNERS.

reply to post by LvSLoLo


Okay. Guess I was wrong. My apologies for getting you so worked up.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
reply to post by LvSLoLo

 

Okay. Guess I was wrong. My apologies for getting you so worked up.

Ok im sorry for being mouthy i just hate when people call me a liar, i honestly did see what i have said i would not of posted on ATS if i knew the aircraft