Who here is into planes?

[Coventrysucks]

Not that interested in flying to be honest, that doesn't stop me from appreciating a good bit of engineering/design though.

How about a good solid bit of British ingenuity - mach 5 air travel anyone?

Just a shame that, being British, there will be no investment and the project will remain a dream until someone from another country builds their own version...

http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/

If I were to own a plane myself, it would probably have to be an F22/24 Spitfire. Teardrop canopy & 5 bladed prop - the finest expression of one of the best looking planes of all time.

[LotusLocost]

Yes. I have oodles of pics of it. I dont think any are high res though.

doesn't matter with the high res..
I'm grateful for the pics you posted
Feel free to post more if you'd like

That propeller is sure one fine piece of art

[SIMPLETON]

some more

[LotusLocost]

some more

When I see all these internal parts, I want to know how a "star"(?) engines really work.. I understand parts of it.. the crank is standing up there in pic 4, and the con rods are connected but I want to know everything Can't find any on how stuff works...
Any good pages you know about that explains it?

[SIMPLETON]

mores

[adrenaline]

The only flying I do is in Flight simulator I recently got FSX which is good fun - especially with saitek flight controllers.

[SIMPLETON]

When I see all these internal parts, I want to know how a "star"(?) engines really work.. I understand parts of it.. the crank is standing up there in pic 4, and the con rods are connected but I want to know everything Can't find any on how stuff works...
Any good pages you know about that explains it?

here is some stuff about them. They have a good animation on page three. An interesting thing about the DC-3's radial engines is that they were basically two 9 cylinder radials stuck together so you had a huge 18 cylinder engine. And theres two them for that plane!

[jcp123]

I don't have a licence but I paid a bunch of cash to realise a childhood dream to fly a fast jet fighter. The instructor takes off and lands and does most of the aerobatics, but I got plenty of stick time for the most intense hour of my life. The plane is an ex-RAF Hawker Hunter owned by Thunder City in Cape Town South Africa.

Mach 0.95 low over the beaches of the west coast, now THAT'S motoring!

Lucky! How much does something like that cost roughly? And those Hawker Hunters are some of the best looking of the jets IMHO, too. Sir Sidney Camm did a great job on packaging and efficient design on those.

[jcp123]

When I see all these internal parts, I want to know how a "star"(?) engines really work.. I understand parts of it.. the crank is standing up there in pic 4, and the con rods are connected but I want to know everything Can't find any on how stuff works...
Any good pages you know about that explains it?

I'll look some more, I saw a good one somewhere. If you want to look, the Pratt + Whitney Hornet, Wasp, Wasp Jr., and Double Wasp engines, along with the Wright Whirlwind and Cyclone engines were the most popular radial engines, and there's quite a bit of info out there for them.


SIMPLETON: if you want a truly awesome radial engine, look up the Pratt + Whitney Wasp Major. Puts those pesky Double Wasps and Cyclones to shame!

[Viper007]

My Grandfather flew a spitfire, he loved and tells me stories all the time. I would have loved to fly for the air force but do not have 20/20 vision. I will in the future look into getting a pilot's license and if I could fly anything I would want to fly a FA/18 Hornet as I think it is sophisticated but not too state of the art as the F22 what the hell I want to fly it all.

[kigango123]

does everybody have to wear those Gay firesuits

[El Toro Furioso]

i am but more so with r/c ones.

[aNOBLEman]

does everybody have to wear those Gay firesuits

First of all, don't refer to something as "gay" as it offends certain members. Second, those "Gay firesuits" will keep you from getting badly burned in case of a fire or any other accident.