Echoes in the Sky

“How The Bomber Developed Man being the predatory animal which he is, naturally as soon as the idea of flying grew, there grew with it the unpleasant idea of dropping things on people..”

The opening sentence of BOMBERS (1942), by Charles Grey Grey - founding editor of THE AEROPLANE magazine

(To his colleagues: “a gentle and kindly man”. Elsewhere: big fascist sympathiser with extreme right-wing views 🤷‍♂️)

“An air-to-air top view [over desert and irrigated green fields] of U.S. and Egyptian aircraft in formation during the joint exercise Bright Star '83. The aircraft (clockwise from bottom right) are an Egyptian F-4 Phantom II, Mirage 2000, MiG-17, American A-6 Intruder, Egyptian MiG-15, American A-7 Corsair II, Egyptian MiG-21, Egyptian F-16B Fighting Falcon, and an American F-14 Tomcat, center”

For no reason whatsoever, I was wondering if a F-15 (RIP) has ever been photographed alongside (or even in the same shot as) a member of the Sukhoi “Fitter” (RIP) family

Maybe during one of the early 80s “Bright Star” exercises between the US and Egypt, but I think the Sukhoi was retired by then(?)

You don’t see “doing a Spurs” used as much recently. perhaps it has become so accepted and ingrained that it is indeed the missing fifth fundamental force of nature

It even had an airship..

bsky.app/profile/exot...

Some big (and not good?) changes seem to be happening with Google Books, which has always been a useful research tool for me..

Searches are producing NO results

BUT, it seems that adding the word "google" does return results, for now(?)

Peewee German

I’ve got the craziest of all coming up at some point..

I think he accidentally fell onto the “open airlock” switch, then accidentally fell into the airlock, then accidentally fell onto the “close airlock” switch, then accidentally fell onto the “jettison into space” switch

Screengrab of Leonard Rossiter on a red couch in a minimalistic white space station lounge. The Hilton office cubicle is behind, the Titov model on the desk

Here’s the Titov in the background, behind Soviet scientist Dr Andrei Smyslov (Leonard Rossiter!!)

It’s likely the Titov was a rejected design for the more well-known Orion spaceplane (the one that docks with the space station with all the music and the spinning and the air hostessing)

2/2

Colour photo of the model mounted on a wooden block. The Titov is tailess, with a very swept diamond wing. painted in a fantastic worn-out white. nice panelling. Aeroflot logo on the front-side fuselage, above the half-dozen passenger windows. CCCO flag on one of the wings, ID number on the other. the cockpit is in a slightly raised blister

a 1/144 model of the "Titov V" spaceplane from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

this appears briefly in the novel, and in the movie script - but made it to screen only as a blurry model on a desk in the space station's Hilton Hotel (Aeroflot cabin crew are visible in the scene)

1/2

Colour photo. Long-distance aerial shot of Challenger on the vehicle. The low fog resembles a dust storm, with a long thin shadow of the shuttle cast across it

“The Space Shuttle Challenger, atop a mobile launch platform, slowly moves through Florida fog to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for its first liftoff, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US, 30th November 1982"

(via www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...)

Brooklyn Beckham, holding a copy of A J Jackson's "Blackburn Aircraft since 1909" (Putnam)

"I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life...I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace and relief"

Unbelievable. Maybe the press conference was delayed because he wanted more laminates 🤷‍♂️

Nobody can go on one because of cozzie livs

Old book illustration. A balloon over a countryside of smoking and exploding buildings. Under the balloon is a smaller sphere - presumably related to the aeolipile steam turbine. Underneath this is a very large bowl-shaped gondola, with two aeronauts busy. A large rudder is attached to the gondola, and it looks like a cannonball is being fired. The caption is “Le ballon à éolipyle d'Emile Gire (1843)”

in 1843, Frenchman Émile Gire patented a steam-powered (aeolipile) balloon, armed with bombs and a cannon

“FR-1843-11213: Means and Methods of Directing Aerostats, Without Using Ballast, and Their Application as a War Machine”

this was one of the first “serious” proposals for an armed aerial craft

black and white photo, the polished metal Spitfire in flight, banking past a race pylon. It has the number "80" and a small Canadian Air Force roundel on the side of the fuselage, on a thin lightning trim

Supermarine Spitfire “TZ138” at the 1949 Cleveland Air Races. It survives, registered as C-GSPT, in Vancouver

This has a heady history, like so many from the era. Owners across North America, accidents and incidents, e.g. "damaged in Florida by Castro supporters"

aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDoss...

Grainy colour photo of a grey RAF Phantom, with its radome open and seemingly hanging from a thread, about to crash. Both canopies are open (there were no fatalities)

A camouflaged USAF F-4D missing a radome (AAA fire over Laos, 1968). The rear canopy is open (the pilot ordered the operator to eject, but managed to crash-land. No fatalities)

At the moment, OnlyPhantoms™ content is too niche and disgusting for public advertising

Art of two Soviet Lavochkin La-15 Fantails taking off, with the OnlyFantails logo next to them

etc

Two old dark green Chinese Fantans, with the OnlyFantans logo next to them

I'd like to exclusively reveal my new OnlyFantans™ content. For just £23.99/month, you'll receive - every minute - the hottest and most exclusive photos of the Nanchang Q-5 Fantan

#OnlyFantans

Colour photo - closeup of F-15E nose art (the aircraft is in flight against a blue sky). John Cena (or John Chena, if you are Santino Marella), with red cap and sweat bands, is saluting next to SpongeBob Squarepants

Metroid > John Cena/Spongebob

Colour photo. Taken from a path with buddleia. mounted Vulcan, Valiant, and Victor nose sections - next to each other - in front of a large corrugated iron shed. the Valiant is looking particularly sad, cockpit shrouded and nose missing

Her Majesty's V-Bomber Force

(taken by ME - of all people, can you Adam and Eve it - at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum back in 2013. these are now all at different locations)

Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band or artist

For years, I’ve had this desire to fly into Vegas and drive to the Area 51 gate to see the “camo dude” private security emerge from over a hill in their pick-up truck.

I was always nervous about their guns, attitude etc, but this now seems like one of the safer things to do in America

It’s been a while since I properly watched it. How’s Mark Blundell doing - any more podium finishes?

Finemolds? Looks like they did both the Savoia and the Curtiss racer in 1/72 AND 1/48 ??

Colour photo. A Porco Rosso “paper theatre” - a small “box” consisting of five layers of scenery - stands next to an olive-green model of a robot soldier from Laputa/Castle in the Sky (minus arm spikes and moss)

For Hayao Miyazaki’s birthday, two creations that I put together over the Xmas break. The Laputa robot model was in a box for over a decade, and it felt like time to build it

“Your bin collection was delayed. We aim to return.

Look to our coming on the first light of the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East (the Sainsbury’s Local)”

I also muted a huge wave of “early power users”, who seemed to spend most of their energy on berating their followers

(HNY, Jim)

Muting more words, for me, seems better than muting more accounts and/or threads

and having a 2nd account with a “calmer” timeline, in terms of pace/frequency of current events means I am still abreast of things

Thank you for your attention to this matter 💩

For the last year or so - I’ve been running a 2nd (volunteer org/palaeontology-related) Bluesky account

I’ve been prioritising that, as the more specialised timeline meant I was less exposed to constant awful, ominous happenings

Lots of new muted words on this acc, I think, has improved things