Mildenhall

[roofman]

I was a defence contractor for twelve years or so, mainly on government work - sometimes commercial (petrochem etc.) I'd do it all again, even the really bad times. Lost a few mates, gained a lot more.

My ex son-in- law was in the logistics regiment out there..brought me home a van full of tool chests and top American tools that were ordered to be buried in the desert

 

[Ubique]

I have various bits of stuff with the crowsfoot on it... I was in Kosovo for a while, we siezed lots of Russian kit and even some WWII era stuff from both sides - EOD were very busy so we (with agreement) used the dems. ranges to dispose of a lot of the siezed ammunition, grenades and rockets by using them as intended, TBH with the grenades it was safer to launch an RPG-7 or whatever the Russian copy of the M72 LAW is, to detonate them as those pesky reds liked to leave boxes of zero delay grenades around as a booby trap.
Armies traditionally leave a lot of stuff for souvenir hunters, here's one of the tank graveyards in Afghan

And some of the last to be cleared areas at KIA - heavily mined.& booby trapped

 

[Farside]

I moved here in 2016, then there was practically no military traffic, now it seems they have an unofficial base here,

Before your time there, then, but there used to be a Military Airlift Command check-in desk in the main passenger concourse, about 40 years ago. I think I saw the shutters rolled up just the once, so even at the height of the Cold War, it was a backwater. Otoh, Prestwick owes its size to being a NATO facility.

 

[AVI_8]

Yeh there’s still a huge village on the outskirts of the village where I live, it’s been abandoned for as long as I know, such a shame so many buildings just left to rot, presumably still owned by the American military, but there’s still a security presence at the entrance.

 

[RWD3M]

... even the GE's!

That was me.

PM inbound!

 

[RWD3M]

What's refreshing is the A400M is an airbus product which has amazingly powerful engines giving it fantastic climb rates out of a hostile field..Saw one at Farnborough once when they were released and on take off it gave an unrestricted climb which was that steep it looked like it defied the laws of physics

Ah, that was was the day it was serviceable then!

 

[RWD3M]

Plenty folk do - it seems pretty good at it ?

It is!

 

[roofman]

Ah, that was was the day it was serviceable then!

Tell me a story, interesting to hear your thoughts

 

[RWD3M]

Tell me a story, interesting to hear your thoughts

Honestly @roofman I could spend all day writing, so instead, I'll suggest a little light reading (actually quite lengthy):

Airbus A400M Atlas - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is actually a very good article and covers it's failings as well as it's acheivements.

On paper it looks like a really good option, but it is beset with reliability issues, maintenance problems (I consulted at Airbus for 10 years and was directly involved in many aspects of these) and capability gaps (low-level, some air-drop roles, and general punchiness). It can certainly out-perform a C130 in terms of lifting capacity, altitude, speed, range etc, but then it bally well should do, it's 50 years newer tech! Similarly, a C17 out-performs an A400M.

I've been in a few situations where the Injuns were coming over the hill and desperate measures were required to get fired up and gone that would have simply not been possible on an A400M (though possibly also not on a C17) because the 'computer says no'!

I'll leave you with two last thoughts, the French and German Air Forces have both just ordered C 130 J's and you won't do this:

(start about 2 mins in)

with an A400M!

 

[roofman]

Honestly @roofman I could spend all day writing, so instead, I'll suggest a little light reading (actually quite lengthy):

Airbus A400M Atlas - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is actually a very good article and covers it's failings as well as it's acheivements.

On paper it looks like a really good option, but it is beset with reliability issues, maintenance problems (I consulted at Airbus for 10 years and was directly involved in many aspects of these) and capability gaps (low-level, some air-drop roles, and general punchiness). It can certainly out-perform a C130 in terms of lifting capacity, altitude, speed, range etc, but then it bally well should do, it's 50 years newer tech! Similarly, a C17 out-performs an A400M.

I've been in a few situations where the Injuns were coming over the hill and desperate measures were required to get fired up and gone that would have simply not been possible on an A400M (though possibly also not on a C17) because the 'computer says no'!

I'll leave you with two last thoughts, the French and German Air Forces have both just ordered C 130 J's and you won't do this:

(start about 2 mins in)

with an A400M!

Every day is a learning day Thankyou for your detailed reply,i shall read further into this as i honestly thought this new aircraft was the 2nd coming of Christ in terms of its role...cheers.

 

[zzr1200]

We live on the top of a hill and since Ukraine has kicked off we often have pairs of fighters chasing each other at low level weaving and turning almost like they're playing at dog fighting......