chrisp65 Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 11 minutes ago, bickster said: The Ka-52 didn't properly enter service until 2011, it's their most recently designed attack helicopter and obviously their most sophisticated too It's no AK-47 I’ll bet you £1 that somewhere on the Ka-52 there is pop riveted aluminium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted October 23, 2023 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2023 24 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: I’ll bet you £1 that somewhere on the Ka-52 there is pop riveted aluminium. I bet there's not. . I'm not an airframe bod, but I've never seen them use pop rivets, (nor plain aluminium). They have all kinds of different fasteners - solid rivets, threaded fasteners I don't know the name of, some kind of fancy fasteners for blind installation spots and then crappy Dzus fasteners and annoying camlock fasteners for removable panels and stuff. And the metal used for panels and wotnot is afaik an alloy, but not basic aluminium - again for strength and lightness. If you look at a picture of the fuselage or wings of an aircraft you can often see the rivet heads, little domes every few inches apart, rather than pop rivets which tend to have a centre hole where the steel bit is pulled through and snapped off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 And now I’ve had enough of experts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted October 23, 2023 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2023 8 minutes ago, chrisp65 said: And now I’ve had enough of experts. Good! Because you've set my brain off on one - a sort of eye worm, where it's churning over my memory of bits of aircraft I've worked on, all Fed-Std 595 Aircraft Grey panels - thinking "did that panel have a pop rivet in the corners... well, what about that one?"... Anyways, I wouldn't fancy being a Russian or Ukrainian, for that matter, helicopter rigger trying to fettle creaking old Soviet era aircraft while lacking the necessary materials and parts. And I definitely wouldn't want to fly in one of them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 1 minute ago, blandy said: Good! Because you've set my brain off on one - a sort of eye worm, where it's churning over my memory of bits of aircraft I've worked on, all Fed-Std 595 Aircraft Grey panels - thinking "did that panel have a pop rivet in the corners... well, what about that one?"... Anyways, I wouldn't fancy being a Russian or Ukrainian, for that matter, helicopter rigger trying to fettle creaking old Soviet era aircraft while lacking the necessary materials and parts. And I definitely wouldn't want to fly in one of them. When I was jobbing over in Malta, they had two whopping big choppers. They were used to just ferry people back n fore big island and Gozo. They were ex soviet stock and I always wondered about the merits of buying helicopters the Russians felt had passed their best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 23, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 23, 2023 23 minutes ago, blandy said: Good! Because you've set my brain off on one - a sort of eye worm, where it's churning over my memory of bits of aircraft I've worked on, all Fed-Std 595 Aircraft Grey panels - thinking "did that panel have a pop rivet in the corners... well, what about that one?"... Anyways, I wouldn't fancy being a Russian or Ukrainian, for that matter, helicopter rigger trying to fettle creaking old Soviet era aircraft while lacking the necessary materials and parts. And I definitely wouldn't want to fly in one of them. I used to insure the Vulcan Bomber at Wellesbourne Aerodrome which is able to taxi. Obviously another was flying till only recently. There are a couple more around I believe probably in worse condition. If money was no option and we were in a do or die situation as a nation, would it be feasible to get some of them back in the air do you think? As I say, would have to be a Government throw every resource possible at it situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted October 23, 2023 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2023 35 minutes ago, sidcow said: I used to insure the Vulcan Bomber at Wellesbourne Aerodrome which is able to taxi. Obviously another was flying till only recently. There are a couple more around I believe probably in worse condition. If money was no option and we were in a do or die situation as a nation, would it be feasible to get some of them back in the air do you think? As I say, would have to be a Government throw every resource possible at it situation. There’s a book I’ve read about what they did for the Falklands in resurrecting Vulcans to Bomb Port Stanley runway. Also covers the missions. But no, not now. To stay on topic, Russia and to a lesser extent Ukraine will be doing what was done back then, and looking to retrieve parts and material from all over the place to keep planes flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyeddie Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 2 hours ago, sidcow said: I used to insure the Vulcan Bomber at Wellesbourne Aerodrome which is able to taxi. Obviously another was flying till only recently. There are a couple more around I believe probably in worse condition. If money was no option and we were in a do or die situation as a nation, would it be feasible to get some of them back in the air do you think? As I say, would have to be a Government throw every resource possible at it situation. I remember being at Wellesbourne airfield watching the Vulcan bomber land, it must have been early 80's. The main aspect I remember was the noise of the engines, it was deafening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 23, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 23, 2023 1 minute ago, luckyeddie said: I remember being at Wellesbourne airfield watching the Vulcan bomber land, it must have been early 80's. The main aspect I remember was the noise of the engines, it was deafening. Yeah, it was a one way trip that. If they were ever to get it flying again some of that unlimited budget would have to go on extending the runway a few hundred feet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyeddie Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 1 minute ago, sidcow said: Yeah, it was a one way trip that. If they were ever to get it flying again some of that unlimited budget would have to go on extending the runway a few hundred feet Jesus, that's 40 years ago. Making me feel old. I'm surprised it can still taxi, let alone fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 23, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 23, 2023 1 minute ago, luckyeddie said: Jesus, that's 40 years ago. Making me feel old. I'm surprised it can still taxi, let alone fly. It's only a few years ago I saw the last one flying. We were on a beach in Dorset and it came flying down the coast. Unbelievable sight. Actually it retired in 2015 by the looks of it, still not THAT long ago though. Was a real privilege to see it in the air. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyeddie Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 4 minutes ago, sidcow said: It's only a few years ago I saw the last one flying. We were on a beach in Dorset and it came flying down the coast. Unbelievable sight. Actually it retired in 2015 by the looks of it, still not THAT long ago though. Was a real privilege to see it in the air. It was an impressive site. Wouldn't want to see it overhead dropping it's payload. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 1 minute ago, luckyeddie said: It was an impressive site. Wouldn't want to see it overhead dropping it's payload. Voinjama would have paid good money to see that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 I wonder what these will be used for, Russia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Russia piling into Avdiivka again, trying to turn their defeat around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted October 25, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 25, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, Xann said: Russia piling into Avdiivka again, trying to turn their defeat around. Edited October 25, 2023 by sidcow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 11 hours ago, Xann said: Russia piling into Avdiivka again, trying to turn their defeat around. I thought they were trying to bomb it from the air now? No doubt the commanders in charge will be fired if they give any bad news back to HQ. Solution keep throwing men to their death until you can blame someone else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Hopefully the mutated future rulers of Earth will be smarter than we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Pongo Waring said: I don’t think if you were seriously preparing to drop a nuke you would announce it on Twitter. Edited October 25, 2023 by Genie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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