chinooks are back ?

[bigrich]

dunno if this will interest many of you , but as i was posting on here , south of brisbane , i heard a familiar sound and thump i hadn't heard in a long time . i rushed outside, and low over my house were two chinook heavy lift choppers heading towards the gold coast ! i thought these old beauties had been scrapped or mothballed , but there they were , thumping along

as another mention, i saw a spitfire go overhead last saturday , it's kept at archerfield airport and up for sale by it's millionaire owner apparently . nothing , but nothing, sounds like a spitfire flying past

i'm down to three days a week at work , on jobkeeper , thanks to recession/covid situation . might have to go to my local GS for a chat and a browse to cheer myself up

[JimTom]

No mate they haven’t been mothballed at all. The old D models have gone and now some shiny new F models flying about.
By far the most capable battlefield helicopter in the world bar none. Amazing machine.

[bigrich]

No mate they haven’t been mothballed at all. The old D models have gone and now some shiny new F models flying about.
By far the most capable battlefield helicopter in the world bar none. Amazing machine.

i remember years ago news stories about them being mothballed , their last reported journey was lifting a 25 ton train engine over to one of the bay islands . it would be 20 years since i've seen a chinook in the air . their heavy lift ability is what makes them so valuable , not just on the battlefeild , but during past floods when i was a kid they were used to great effect at delivering supplies and man power . they must've brought them back and i missed it . i think the spitfire was definately mothballed , fantastic to see and hear one fly past but

[No1Mk3]

G'day bigrich,
The not allowed to post nickname-hook was supposed to be replaced after Vietnam but no chopper could be found that could do what it could. Just kept the variants coming and sending news releases about how they were out of date after being 1st adopted in 1961 (US). Haven't seen the new one but have seen inside a "B". What else does anyone make that can roll drums of tear gas on protesters (maybe try that again here?) or napalm onto VC bunkers? (maybe treat a few protesters with that one too!) Lucky you with the Spitfire too, I live near Pt Cook so get to see the RAAF Museum planes fairly regularly keeping their hours up, Winjeels, Mustang, etc and when the Avalon Airshow is on being a bit of an aircraft geek can hurt the neck!! Cheers.

[RoginaJack]

Yeah, I've had a few fly over. Looks like heading to Coolie airport; might be bringing in - flying out boarder guards...

[Blr243]

5 conventional choppers flew over my place in a tight group this morning. Must be something goin on

[Blr243]

As long as there not flying low with an m60 pointed at me I don’t really care what they got goin on

[bigrich]

5 conventional choppers flew over my place in a tight group this morning. Must be something goin on

might be right there . i was at work when prince charlie and camilla visited brisbane . i work not far from the M1 and saw six black hawks following the royal motorcade while i was on smoko . close enough to make out the choppers were full of troops . probably SAS i'd guess

[Oldbloke]

Yep, there is a Spitfire flying at Pt Cook. Just have to check which days and times to see it. I just missed out on its first flight since restoration by an hour. Must put that on the after lockdown bucket list.

[bigrich]

Yep, there is a Spitfire flying at Pt Cook. Just have to check which days and times to see it. I just missed out on its first flight since restoration by an hour. Must put that on the after lockdown bucket list.

when i get finacial again , i've thought about doing a old warbird flight , not cheap, but up here in brisbane i can be a passenger in a P51D mustang from $1350 - $2880 depending on the flight . i don't think i'd get in the russian YAK plane, just wouldn't cut it . one other option is going up in a cessna and flying next to, and getting buzzed by a spitfire. that's probably the one i saw last weekend . google it OB , warbird adventure flights

[Oldbloke]

Yep, there is a Spitfire flying at Pt Cook. Just have to check which days and times to see it. I just missed out on its first flight since restoration by an hour. Must put that on the after lockdown bucket list.

when i get finacial again , i've thought about doing a old warbird flight , not cheap, but up here in brisbane i can be a passenger in a P51D mustang from $1350 - $2880 depending on the flight . i don't think i'd get in the russian YAK plane, just wouldn't cut it . one other option is going up in a cessna and flying next to, and getting buzzed by a spitfire. that's probably the one i saw last weekend . google it OB , warbird adventure flights

Lol. I don't think my stomach would take it. But then....mmmm my wallet,,,,,,,,lol

Edit: this is interedting. $500 To $900

http://www.melbournesgooneybird.com.au/warbirds

[eddievic]

If you have a phone, install an app called flight radar (fight radar24), pretty sure it's on Android as well as Apple.

All planes have transponders and this gives their type (including plane or helo) Even altitude, speed, destination and flight path. Quite cool

[JimTom]

If you have a phone, install an app called flight radar (fight radar24), pretty sure it's on Android as well as Apple.

All planes have transponders and this gives their type (including plane or helo) Even altitude, speed, destination and flight path. Quite cool

Will work for civilian aircraft however military not always transmitting ADSB so they won’t always show up.
Also not mandatory for some aircraft outside of control zones. Most will have though.

[JimTom]

I have seen a photograph of the locomotive lift that the chinook did. Ripples up the side of the aircraft. Not sure exactly what it weighed however I doubt it would’ve been 25t as the max all up weight of the chinook is 50,000lbs.

[bigrich]

i remember years ago news stories about them being mothballed , their last reported journey was lifting a 25 ton train engine over to one of the bay islands . it would be 20 years since i've seen a chinook in the air . their heavy lift ability is what makes them so valuable , not just on the battlefeild , but during past floods when i was a kid they were used to great effect at delivering supplies and man power . they must've brought them back and i missed it . i think the spitfire was definately mothballed , fantastic to see and hear one fly past but

I have seen a photograph of the locomotive lift that the chinook did. Ripples up the side of the aircraft. Not sure exactly what it weighed however I doubt it would’ve been 25t as the max all up weight of the chinook is 50,000lbs.[/quote]

yeah, with the weight of the train i'm trying to remember from a loooong time ago . 50,000 lbs is 22,679 metric tons but . close

i've seen photos of chinooks carrying APC's and feild artillery with ease . the combat weight of a APC is listed by wiki as 27,180 lb , not even close to the chinook's maximum capabilities . that's some chopper

[JimTom]

Yes a mighty machine mate either way. Impressive.

[RoginaJack]

A M60? are they still around and in service, BLE243..??

[Blr243]

I don’t think so. But I’m sure they are still stocked as back up in case anything goes wrong .....I would not make sense to sell them to another country ...a long time ago I was unofficially watching a gun being set up prior to a bunch of soldiers haveing an instructional session ....at the time there were no diggers there just 2 or 3 senior officers , the m60 facing a hill and a stack of man sized targets ...I’m 100 per cent certain that I was not really allowed but there was no one around so they let me have a go. I later heard one of the instructors say “ he didn’t hit anything but he made a bloody big hole in the ground” ....at 14 years of age I had no idea where the bullets were going I was just lapping it up and it made me very aware that it’s not the sort of weapon to be around if you are on the receiving end of it

[JimTom]

A M60? are they still around and in service, BLE243..??

MAG58 (FN Herstal) was the M60 replacement.

[JimTom]

In addition, I do believe this is the 25th year that the Chinooks have been operated by the Army. Prior to that they were in mothballs when the RAAF had finished with them. Army took over the rotary wing assets from the RAAF in 1987 and the chinooks reappeared in 1995.

[RoginaJack]

My 1st intro to the M60 was in camp and the instructor had to have an Armourer present during the demo. No live rounds were fired. Later we were allowed to use live rounds at the 25yd range and targets were empty ration cans. About 6 diggers were on the firing line with "loader".....Exciting stuff!!