Aircraft

[xoxoxoBruce]

5 meter wingspan model of this Russian K-7 monster...

[Carruthers]

If you're going to steal something, then steal something big.
You might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.
Back in 1969 a USAF sergeant stole a C130 from RAF Mildenhall in an attempt to fly it back to the US to be with his wife who was under considerable emotional distress.
Under the circumstances one can only have sympathy with the poor chap.
The aircraft eventually crashed in the English Channel about twenty miles north of the Cherbourg peninsula.
Rumours have circulated for years to the effect that it was shot down by either US or RAF aircraft although nothing has ever been proven.
Now a team of divers is hoping to find the aircraft and shed some more light on the affair.

From Stars & Stripes 3rd April 2018:

RAF MILDENHALL, England — Almost 50 years ago Sgt. Paul Adams Meyer, a U.S. Air Force assistant crew chief, got drunk, impersonated an officer and stole a C-130 Hercules from RAF Mildenhall in England so he could fly home to his new wife. Two hours later he crashed into the English Channel.

Now a team of British divers called Deeper Dorset hopes to raise 6,000 pounds ($8,430) on an all-or-nothing Kickstarter to find the plane and uncover the truth behind the crash.

The divers have until April 11 to meet their fund-raising goal or go back to the drawing board.

“We’ve known about the Hercules story for about 10 years, and it’s one of those stories that grabs the imagination,” said Deeper Dorset photographer Simon Brown. “It’s a human tale as much as research of as to where it is.”

What happened to Meyer has been subject to rumor and speculation for nearly half a century.

An Air Force investigation found that at least two U.S. F-100 Super Sabre fighter jets from RAF Lakenheath, a C-130 from Mildenhall and two RAF English Electric Lightning interceptors attempted contact with Meyers before he crashed into the English Channel near Alderney Island.

“Leave me alone for about five minutes, I’ve got trouble,” Meyer said in his final transmission to his wife in a link-up over the sideband radio.

Members of Deeper Dorset believe they can locate the missing Hercules using existing research, sonar and photogrammetry, a technique that builds 3-D models of wreckage.

“We’ve nailed down where we think the aircraft might be within a 10-square-mile box,” Brown said. “Within that box there’s five hot spots. Places where people have reported losing fishing gear or snagging something, and those kinds of snags are usually man-made.”

The diving team’s previous successes include locating La Mahenge, an 8,000-ton cargo ship found 120 meters deep in the English Channel, and a British M1 submarine found 81 meters deep in waters off the port of Plymouth.

The Kickstarter goal covers running costs of 25 days at sea, which is about a year of searching, taking into consideration weather and tides

“I think this project is too interesting to just let it pass, and with the Kickstarter goal it can happen sooner and we’ll be able to share more about what we find,” Brown said.

For more information or to donate, go to kickstarter.com/projects/979818757/finding-meyers-missing-hercules.

Stars & Stripes

USAF Incident Report

[Gravdigr]

♪ ♫Riding on the city of Hazrat Shah Jalal...l♪ ♫

Just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[gtown]

Try the next generation of Guthries:

♪ ♫ Coming in from Bangladesh from over the pole
Flying in a dirty airliner
Chickens flying everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer? l♪ ♫

[xoxoxoBruce]

Holy airplane, Batman...

[Gravdigr]

So...Was there a fly over at Verne Troyer's funeral?

[Gravdigr]

Austrian Airlines hangs their flight attendants by the neck for more efficient service:

[Gravdigr]

Itcanliftwhutnow?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hey it's FOX. Assume it's a lie and expand from there.

[Griff]

It's an entertainment company, are you not entertained?

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'm not amuse at them naming the helicopter after me.

[Carruthers]

The pilot of a light aircraft which had to make an emergency landing on a beach in Devon this evening has spoken out about the incident.

Zac Rockey was flying the vintage plane along the Jurassic Coast when the engine failed.

The nearest area for him to make an emergency landing was Jacob’s Ladder beach at Sidmouth, which he did safely at about 5pm.

The experienced pilot had been asked to take the aircraft, by its owners, down to Bodmin Airfield for an event to mark the 100 anniversary of the end of the First World War; the era the plane is from.

It was on his return that he started to get into difficultly.

He said: “We flying along taking in the it began to lose power, it failed, the options available to me in the cockpit didn’t work. So I had to look somewhere to land.

“You look for somewhere near something or people so that if there are complications you will be able to get help more easily.

“You know what I have had better runways. It was not ideal.”

He added that all his training came into play as he dealt with the situation, which could have been a lot worse.

Zac was showing the aircraft off to a prospective buyer while at Bodmin but it had not been successful.

He also thanked the coastguard crews for their help and support following the incident.

The plane will now need to be dismantled in order to get it off the beach.

Devon Live

An engine out landing, in a tail dragger, on a stony beach alongside cliffs.
It's not exactly the best hand ever dealt.

Landing site from the air (Google).