And 23 thousand bucks doesn't sound expensive

Ah, no, that's not right. The Hawk does have hard points on the wing
and can carry light bombs/rockets and so on - the RAF used to use them
for lead in-training after basic in the Tactical Weapons Units.


There was also the Hawk T1A - 1980s concept of "point defence" - ie
strapping a couple of sidewinders on a Hawk as a last ditch defence and
hoping for the best. The Red Arrows aircraft were all T1A at one
time. Though I think since the end of the cold war the point defence
concept is no longer operated, but surviving machines are probably
still wired up.

And there are several Hawk versions in foreign service that are much
more aggressive of course - the Indonesian ones for example.

 

Oh, that surprises me, because the Hurricane was supposedly easier to
patch up after battle damage and was easier to build that the
Spitfire. In fact, didn't the (then) new construction techniques for
the Spitfire delay it going into service?

Or is the situation now reversed, ie., the sheet metal bending skills
are common now and the tube 'n' cloth ones rarer?

 

"Why are there only 9 flying Hurricanes in the world ?
The reason is as follows. Whilst there are more that 50 flying
Spitfires in the world the engineering and metallurgy requirement to
restore a Hurricane is considerably more daunting. The Hurricane was an
extension of the famous in-between wars, Hawker Bi-Planes and entailed
complex tube squaring, exceedingly tight engineering tolerances and
relatively exotic materials, heat treatment and metallurgy. Unlike the
Spitfire and it's contemporaries which are simple monocoque
construction. Hawker Restorations had to have specialised steels
manufactured, invest in extensive jigging and tooling and the
acquisition of all the information to enable us to specialise in the
restoration of this historic Mark".

The big problem is the spars on the Hurricane - a 12 sided roll formed
end to the spars. To rebuild *any* they had to re-engineer the roll
forming machine.

This is a great site:
http://www.hawker-restorations-ltd.co.uk/Technical.html

 

I see they're doing a Yak-1 too. Must have a closer look later and see
if it's cruder in construction/easier to build than the Hurri/Spit,
along the lines of the Russian tanks.

 

Wow, ta.

And there was me thinking that the old biplane technology was simple
to restore.

 

Well, I was thinking about airworthy fiers, to be honest.

 

Fascinating: I never knew all that

Certainly is.

 

In message

There *are* times you need a Wegg ;-)

 

Nah, you were there when Edna took charge. I was still an LAC, ergo,
so were you.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..87918../..23274.../..31893.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 00 Pts:0000 Miles:0000

 

You'd wither and die without.

 

True. Must have been hiding somewhere then.

 

Errrr .... no.

 

Fertile, surely?

 

Denial is futile.

 

De Nile is a river in Egypt.

 

De Nile is fertile? And don't call me Surely.

 

To be honest, I never thought I'd agree, unless I needed a cat sitted
(as it were) but I'm forced to concur.

 

Pfft.

 

[Naked Vicar Show]
Announcer: And now... Sir Laurence Olivier in "The Search for the Nile."
<fx: loud splash>
SLO: I found it... It's over here!

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

I was expecting a Goon Show reference from you.