Datahopa

So what do you do with a rare retired warbird that's 70 years young?

Give  it a touch up on the old paintwork, put it in a museum and take it for the occasional airshow maybe?

Or would you rather cut of a few bits of superfluous fuselage and wing tips, tune the engine to near breaking point and race it at low level against other similar aircraft?

Well here are some good ol boys who do just that, welcome to the Reno air races ladies and gentleman

Air races Reno 2007. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPrQgQZLfr4#)

Yup! Some good, old fashioned excitement from my neck of the woods! (though, to be completely honest, I prefer the Reno Balloon Races (http://www.renoballoon.com/).)

GREAT video! Thanks.  :thumbsup:

No problem guys, I think some of these racers are simply nuts and it's kinda surprising that there aren't more fatal accidents considering othe altitude and spedd involved  :o

Quote from: DaveMorton on August 07, 2012, 23:52:27 PM
Yup! Some good, old fashioned excitement from my neck of the woods! (though, to be completely honest, I prefer the Reno Balloon Races (http://www.renoballoon.com/).)

Looks fun Dave but a little sedate, however cionsidering your current predicament I woiuld say that is probably somewhat appealing  :LOL:

Just experience one hour of "Dawn Patrol", and I bet Your opinion changes. :D The Balloon Races have been my favorite for nearly 20 years, now, and I try to attend every year. May not be able to go this year, but it won't be from lack of trying. Once I get home, I'll dig through some of my more memorable pics and post them. :)

Dawn patrol? I fear you need to elucidate that one Dave  :scratch-head:

Look forward to the pictures in the future, can't wait until you get your butt home now  :D

"Dawn Patrol" is an event within the races themselves that occurs each morning of the races, beginning about 2 hours prior to sunrise, where specially trained balloon pilots put on a show as they prepare their craft for flight that launches about 15-30minutes before the sun peeks over the horizon. There's a lot of inspirational music, coupled with the pilots and crew doing what's called "candling", where an un-mixed flame of pure propane is shot, at full power, into the envelope of the balloon, illuminating it from the inside, and lighting up the area for a good distance.

So far, I've been able to "walk the field" during Dawn Patrol (something very few people are allowed to do, anymore) almost every year, and I was able to get some fantastic images. In fact, here are a few from my 2003 trip:

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Now that is cool  8)

I've seen the same over the Sussex Downs, however, normally at Dusk here Dave. Quite a sight to behold your right.

I used to get a good view of balloons going over the downs from my parents place in Brighton Diesel

Now you can see why the Balloon Races re among my favorites, :)

Here are some shots from 2007:

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Same as that DD, although I live in Hove Actually.  ;D

I lived in the fiveways area for 27 years, before I finally got off my arse and moved out, then I spent 4 years in Hove actually and 5 here in Dublin

Stunning photos Dave ;D

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I saw 1 balloon race, Sadly no pictures though. Really nice pictures Dave, thanks for sharing them.

Thanks, Freddy. I've got dozens of images of the Balloon Races, spanning a number of years. Perhaps, someday soon, I'll gather the best of them together and make an "interactive collage", and then put that up for sharing. :)

Found this in a news feed today.




I recall watching this Bomber this summer as it was part of the RAFA show at Shoreham UK. Quite a sight and WHAT a noise.

Boy, someone in the web department there certainly dropped the ball! Nice title div on that page!

My dad was a radar technician on Canberra bombers when he did his national service in the 1950's, the Vulcan was however his utter favorite aircraft and it was his love of aircraft that started me off  :D

Will be a shame to see the Vulcan grounded, she is such a beautiful aircraft and just oozes the impression of effortless power.

Everyone should take the opportunity to read the book Vulcan 607 about the firt of the Black Buck raids during the Falklands war of 1982, a compelling read.

I thought this cool.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-19749231 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-19749231)

Nice idea.  I saw that last flying Vulcan at the Lowestoft air show a couple of years back.  Here she is.

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What was so good about both the Vulcan and the Victor bombers were that they were extremely manouverable, on a par with fighters of the era which for their size was remarkable.

On it first public showing at the Farnborough airshow in the 50's the Vulacn performed a series of low level high speed tight turns followed by a full loop........try that in a B-52!!!!