Everything you always wanted to ask...

[Allan]

Thanks Jon,
That's cleared that up. Who would have imagined it-an automatic lathe to make a rifle stock. I had visions of lots of people painstakingly cutting them out of wood, planing them and then slapping on a coat of varnish.
Allan in Canberra

[Leigh]

Could the Mirage IV have been a viable alternative to the F-111K's that never showed up as the TSR.2 replacement?
Ie: an R.A.F. with no Phantoms but Mirages and Crusaders instead?

[Geoff_B]

Could the Mirage IV have been a viable alternative to the F-111K's that never showed up as the TSR.2 replacement?
Ie: an R.A.F. with no Phantoms but Mirages and Crusaders instead?

Dassault & BAC offered upto 300 Spey Powered Mirage IVK as an alternative to the F-111K when it was expected that they would be bought on a 1-1 basis. Unfortunately although the pilots loved test flying the Mirage the top brass wanted the next best thing after the TSR2 so only the F-111K was selected. (See Sentinel Chickens post on RAF Mirage IVK).

The Mirage IVK would have had a lengthened fuselage forward of the wing to allow for the longer intakes and the depth of the fuselage was slightly increased. The Spey option offered a better cruise & range capability and would have likely incorporated some of the avionics developed for TSR2.

G

[gooberliberation]

How do de-icing boots work?

[Big Chris]

Put them on stamp up and down till ice breaks up  

[Radish]

               
You can tell he's from Yorkshire  

[John Howling Mouse]

How do de-icing boots work?

I believe they are essentially inflatable rubber bellows which, when inflated, expand just enough to force encrusted ice to fall away from their area.

As opposed to di-electric strips which heat up using electric current to de-ice their area.

[Dork the kit slayer]

Hi fellows,
You know the AK-47? It has some wooden parts in it, notably the stock and some bits near the muzzle. Now, isn't that inefficient from the manuacturing point of view, because it means someone has to carve/plane the wood into shape and then sand it and give it a coat of varnish?
If it was all metal or plastic then it would be much easier to make.
Allan in Canberra

Wood was so much better for bashing someones head in  rather than plastic (M-16) that used to break.    Well thats what I was told by a Kiwi  infantyry sargent circa 1970  

[dragon]

AK-102 and AK-103.  No longer ye olde fashioned AK-47 nor AK-74.

[P1127]

Are there any real  visible differences between an R.A.F. F-4 Phantom and an F-4S?

In a word, yes!

The new engines made the engine bays wider and , and the intakes were also wider to take account of the larger air flow of the Speys.

If you look at a Spey phantom the whole angle of the lower rear fuselage/engines is different.

Both RAF and FAA Phantoms were fitted with the RWR 'box' on top of the fin in the mid/late 70s, but this was done over a number of years, so you can see RN Phantoms with in in 1977, but RAF Phantoms without it as late as 1982.

You COULD make an RAF F-4J(UK) from an F-4S, but you'd need to remove/amend the l/e slat extensions on the outer wings as the RAF dind't use them.

Or you can remember this is What If and imagine the RAF had bought J79 engined Phantoms

[Son of Damian]

Why are the hulls of ships always painted red???  

[Big Chris]

I think its got somthing to do with it being a red oxide paint which inhibits rust.
Im probably wrong and someone will put me right.

[Dork the kit slayer]

Why are the hulls of ships always painted red???

Its not the hulls that are always painted red,but what they call the boot topping. In betwen the boot topping and the hull is usually a strip of "anti fowling".

Depending on the marine paint manufacturer "boot topping is either  dark red or black,the anti fowling comes in many forms and depends usually on the "house" colours of the shipping company.

Both finishes tend to be gloss so as not to restrict speed. Red oxide,tends to be used on upper surfaces ( it has a flat finish)and apart from a few ore carriers  is usually painted over in the " house" colours.

THe hull colour usually finishes just below the plimsol line,so in general you could say that the anti fowling and boot topping are the paints below the water line when the ship is loaded to her marks. :ar:  :ar:

[Big Chris]

There you go I knew I would be wrong  

[Dork the kit slayer]

Yer not wrong Big Chriss......just....nearly right