Biggles81

Hi, I am after the decal sheet from Isracast Conversion 32009 which provided markings for a 1/32 Singapore Air Force F-16D as part of their F-16 Conversion. If you have this sheet and don't plan to use I would like to take it off your hands for a fair price. PM me if you are interested in making a deal. Thanks, Ken

Whilst not strictly necessary, especially when in transit or a benign environment, not wearing the mask does not always end well. We lost an F/A-18 in the 90's due to what was suspected as hypoxia due to the pilot removing his mask in flight. It could never be proven but the guy in question had a history of doing it. As a consequence unless eating and drinking its masks on all round.

The gallery you refer to was of A21-55 (a Falconer Veteran) being refuelled south of Darwin on return from Exercise Bersama Shield 2004. I know as I took the photos. As for the Afterburner sheets, it covers a range of Hornets over time including at least three jets during Op Falconer, again because I assisted in the preparation of the sheet and wanted some Falconer Jets on it. As to why that gallery and links to other articles no longer appear, that is a whole other story.

Hi Jake, Loved the photos, but only two of the F-111s are ex USAF (112 and 113) the others are all original build F-111Cs purchased direclty by the RAAF and arriving in Oz in 1973. Keep up the good work.

Andrew, 3-5 weeks is the final phase of the course only. The full F-111 course is 6 months long, with an additional six months of operational upgrade training if that concept is still being followed. So a C Cat pilot only graduates after 12 months. The 6 flights reference for Super Hornets relates to conversion from a legacy Hornet. A full conversion will probably in all likelihood take 6 months as per the current Hornet, broken down into a general handling phase, air to air application phase and then an air to ground application phase.

When considering the 80s and 90s then some other factors come into play, the Hornet program had effectively doubled in cost and the country was rapidly heading into recession so there was no money. More importantly there was no staff requirement, the F-111 had just received Pave Tack in the 80s and was coming into its own as a mature strike aircraft which peaked during Desert Storm. The capability requirement (if there had been one) would have been for a Strike Aircraft and the F-15E had a long way to go back then. It was still only dropping iron bombs in Desert Storm whilst the F-111 did the

That is easy, we wanted a multi-role aircraft at that time (early 1970s) and the Beagle had not yet been proposed to my knowledge at that time (ie not a pound for air to ground).

Not to mention Asian Aerospace and a deployment to Australia. (Photo RAAF Official)

A few more to maintain the interest: Enjoy, and buy the Afterburner sheet!

77 Squadron's tribute to former commanding officer WGCDR Richard Cresswell at his funeral in December 2006. WGCDR Cresswell commanded the squadron twice, firstly in World War Two on Kittyhawks and then in the Korean War on Meteor F Mk 8s.

Simmo at his best:

There are several photos in the Thomas book showing British Pattern GP bombs on various Thunderbolts in SEAC. I plan to use British 500lb bombs on my jug. HTH Biggles

More Aussie Hornets, clearly there is an interest!

And when oh when are we going to see the photographs? Come on, stop holding out on us please!

I'd actually be pretty happy with the accuracy. For example the one inside the Nellis Petting Zoo is also a Guards Regiment aircraft (exact unit escapes me). It was painted this way as when they removed the Moldavian paintwork they found the original Russian unit markings underneatth (the Moldavian unit descended from the Soviet Guards Regiment which was stationed there at the breakup of the Soviet Union). Next to the aircraft is a detailed history of the unit going back to WWII and the airframe. They appear to have taken a lot of trouble over researching it. The one outside the Zoo is a diff

2.5? Not sure where you get that from. Better check the facts with the AIR 5276 guys: AIR 5276 Official Website for Hornet Upgrade 2.4 is as high as Phase 2 goes, with 2.3 still underway.

Hey JMEL, You have to spill the beans on this one! Also some of those RAAF Hornet photos you shot at RF Alaska would be nice to see. Cheers, Biggles

Yes Andrew it is 25, but unfortunately nothing I had taken shows it with 118s flaps. Cheers, Biggles

Time to include a few more Aussie Hornets I think.

The colour is 34201 according to the placard at the Tyndall Airshow.

This should help you understand what they do: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luneberg_lens

Wondered when that would get mentioned. Was a somewhat eye watering brief though.

If you search Airliners.net under Royal Australian Air Force you will find plenty of good photos of the A330MRTT. Designated KC-30B by the RAAF. Cheers.

Time for one more then: