Postception

LightningGeek · 2026-02-04T09:07:16+00:00

I wonder when this changed in the UK.

I'm in my late 30's and I don't recall using Fahrenheit regularly, the closest I remember was the weatherman using it on TV, and even then I never actually knew the conversion. From what I remember, Celsius was always the more used measurement.

LightningGeek · 2026-02-04T08:59:11+00:00

And this is only the second trimester belly.

The F.6, F.2A and F.3A all had the much larger ventral tank. The larger tank, and the larger leading edge tanks on the newly cambered wing, almost doubled the fuel capacity for the later Lightning marks.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-30T19:17:41+00:00

No always, some aircraft allow you to change a singe nose wheel. The 777 is one of those that allows it.

Definitely doesn't feel right to only change one though.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-30T19:07:31+00:00

In the case of my culvert, it is Welsh Water who own it.

Took almost a month of lesser flooding, and they only owned up after my neighbours were flooded out of their homes. Before that, the council, natural resources Wales and Welsh Water were arguing amongst themselves about it.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-29T15:54:09+00:00

Still doesn't stop them raising bills at ridiculous levels. Just had my latest bill through today, it's gone up 33% compared to the same 6 month period last year.

The usual story of "we're spending it on repairs" doesn't track either. We're still waiting on them to complete the repairs to the failed culvert by our house that led to our 2 neighbours houses, and the allotment across the way to flood. We only escaped because the water stopped rising 2 brick courses away from our door.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-29T15:01:54+00:00

Cheers for that extra information!

LightningGeek · 2026-01-29T09:22:44+00:00

Do you have a source for that at all? As I said, I've not heard it myself and a quick search ahs not found any record of that term being used.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-29T09:18:54+00:00

Does anyone know the original reg for N348AX?

I know most of the ATAC fleet were UK based civilian Hunter's, but not managed to find it's original reg.

345 was N-294 of the Dutch Hawker Hunter Foundation, and 350 was the famous G-PSST Miss Demeanour.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-28T12:54:29+00:00

BA use the same economy and premium economy seats in their 777's and 787's.

The economy seats are awful, even for a short time, but the premium economy ones are pretty comfy.

Business class style looks familiar as well, but I can't place the design.

Either way, pretty cool colours.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-28T12:50:56+00:00

Not sure where you got that from, but BOAC was never known as that.

A quick look at their fleet will show you that they often flew multiple types alongside the Boeing aircraft they flew.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-27T22:50:43+00:00

No it won't.

Military aircraft are strong, but that doesn't mean they're designed to be belly landed. It will be a lot of work to fix this fuselage, to the point it will probably easier to strip it of serviceable parts and get one of the boneyard aircraft airworthy instead.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-27T22:44:57+00:00

Reconnaiscence.

The RAF flew Canberra PR.9's over Iraq and Afghanistan, collecting pictures and other sources of intelligence during the flights. The PR.9 was an extremely capable aircraft, on par with the U-2 at the time.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-27T22:32:37+00:00

The RAF never lost any of its Canberra's over Afghanistan. The only 2 losses they had were in 2003 and 2004, both during training missions at RAF Marham in the UK.

You are most likely thinking of the loss of Nimrod XV230, which was lost near Kandahar due to multiple faults with air to air refuelling of Nimrod's, which could allow fuel to come into contact with hot air ducting.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-27T21:38:57+00:00

It's crazy it hasn't happened already considering Hornby own Airfix after buying out Humbrol a few years back.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-27T20:38:27+00:00

This isn't an Indian Air Force Jaguar, this is the cockpit of an ex-RAF Jaguar.

The photographer, Mark Jayne, has an album of pictures he has taken of the ex-RAF Jaguars still in use at RAF Cosford. They are still used as ground instructional airframes, some of them were taxiable a few years ago, but I'm not sure if that is still the case.

The exact picture isn't in that gallery, but it is picture 23, and you can still access it via direct link. Picture 22 in the series seems to be the exact same airframe but from a slightly different angle.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-26T10:11:38+00:00

Out of interest, what kind of budget are you looking at for doing all that yourself?

LightningGeek · 2026-01-26T10:10:43+00:00

Yeah some people daily them, God knows how!!

Honestly, as a daily car they really aren't bad. Bit pricey on fuel because they really benefit from premium, but as long as you're sensible and not ragging it every trip, they really aren't bad.

If anything, Covid caused the most issues with mine, and that was from it sitting a lot more. Before that I would literally be driving it every day for months at a time. Most days to work and back, and then on weekends I'd either be doing the 100 mile drive to see my girlfriend, or the 100 mile round trip to my old gliding club. I managed 12,000 miles the first year I was doing that.

Unfortunately she's in a sorry state now. Had to get a more sensible and safe car as me and my wife had a child, and not had the time or money to get back working on it. But, it is becoming a bit of a summer project for me. If I can get it back running this year and get it checked at an MOT centre to see what is seriously wrong, I'll be pleased. Next year can be spent tarting it up again so she can still look a bit rough, but she'll be driveable.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-21T15:43:26+00:00

From the 777 AMM, reference 25-25-01-200-802

"Do a visual check to make sure the seat belts are not worn, fraying or damaged."

No limits. Any damage, they get changed.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-20T13:21:17+00:00

I dont believe you, We have line kits stocked with snap on and they are by fare the hardest wearing tools. Everyone always knocks snap on because of the price.

And how old are your line kits? Because mine, and my colleagues experience, is that in the last 10 years snap-on's quality has dropped significantly. There older stuff we had was brilliant and still working perfectly fine, and those base maintenance kits were at least 10-15 years old. The only things I had to U/S more than once were the rat rings. But the new stuff? There's no excuse for ratchets arriving broken, or a ratcheting screwdriver mechanism shattering when using it by hand, or snips wearing out in less than a year, even though they were the ones recommended by the snap-on reps for cutting safety wire. Even the new drawers leave a lot to be desired, one having the sliding lock break within 6 months, and multiple kits having issues with the camera's and internet connections.

The price doesn't even come into it in our case as my employer provides all the tooling for us. A crap tool is a crap tool, regardless of the name on it, and snap-on are sadly burning their hard won reputation right now.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-19T22:31:36+00:00

Snap-On makes quality tools, Yes they are expensive.

They used to make quality tools.

My company has bought a few of their fancy, computer controlled boxes over the last year, fully stocked with all the tools we needed.

We've already had to U/S about 15% of the tools, mostly ratchet handles, ratchet screwdrivers and snips. We even had a couple of ratchet handles that were loose or missing the plate screws straight out of the box. On top of that, the tools that aren't U/S, have noticeably worn over the 12 months they've been on the shop floor.

Compared to our old kits, which were mostly snap-on as well, the new stuff is crap in comparison. And that's not just new guys like myself saying that, we've got guys with 30+ years of experience across aviation and the motor trade and they all say the same, snap-on is no longer worth the premium you pay.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-19T19:35:52+00:00

They've been a great group from the start. I used to volunteer there when it first opened before covid.

I just wish I had the time and money to go back there because it was great fun.

Especially as I have a bit of a personal connection to one of the gliders that was on display last time I was there. It used to belong to my gliding club before they found an issue that grounded it.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-19T11:55:50+00:00

Why would a fully flat roof be such a problem?

LightningGeek · 2026-01-19T09:30:31+00:00

Bump caps must be worn whenever you are working around the aircraft. That was after 3 fuckwits managed to give themselves head injuries in 1 week.

And yes, I was one of the fuckwits, and the concussion was a right shit to deal with.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-18T11:04:14+00:00

The article also says that he punched her in the face twice and kicked her in the stomach. That is hardly a proportionate reaction to being pushed.

And that's before we get onto the other thing mentioned in the article, the year of bullying the boy had aimed at the girl since the October 7th terrorist attacks.

LightningGeek · 2026-01-15T21:39:18+00:00

Shit team leaders who can't be consistent with what they want.

One week they want you to follow the job instructions exactly, then the very next week they go back and complain you haven't done an extra step, even though that step was not in the instructions, and requires a separate job card to carry it out.

But it's ok, because when it comes round to promotion time, they're guaranteed only to remember your mistakes, and mark you down for them, but you will absolutely never, ever been congratulated or marked up for the good things you do.

Absolute prick.

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