F-15 and Sentinel R1 in near collision over Lincoln

A Sentinel spy plane was on a “collision course” with two F15 jets in the skies over Lincoln, a report has revealed.

The Sentinel R1, based at RAF Waddington and used for covert surveillance, was on a training flight from the base when it found itself on a collision course with the two jets. The report said all three aircraft were forced to take action to avoid each other. It also suggested in the report that air traffic controllers’ high workload meant they were perhaps not as alert to the danger as they should have been as it unfolded over 30 seconds.

The report added that “Given the time gap, best controlling practice suggests that the opportunity existed for a more timely warning to be given. It is possible that this missed opportunity may be grounded in reduced levels of psycho-physiological alertness caused by workload history, however, it is not possible to sustain this hypothesis.”

The F15s eventually passed 1,600ft overhead after the Sentinel pilot dropped his altitude and both jets began to climb.

The report told how the lead F15 pilot first spotted the risk.

“He realised that they were on a collision course and saw that the traffic was continuing to climb up towards their formation,” the report said. “He saw that the Sentinel was not stopping its climb and he directed the pair to climb to avoid it.”

“Class G airspace is effectively ‘free’ airspace where anyone, civilian or military, can operate and where ‘see and avoid’ is the primary means of collision avoidance with or without a radar service”, said MoD spokesman.

Source: Lincolnshire

Final Flight For Hickam’s Eagles

The Hawaii Air National Guard flew its last F-15 Eagle mission on Wednesday with Lt. Col Mark “Odie” Ladtkow and Lt. Col. James “Saw” Sage were the last pilots for the flight.

F-15s were first introduced in the mid 1970s. The two pilots who flew the last sorties Wednesday were in grade school when the planes were brand-new.

On Wednesday, the pilots had a sense of history.

“For the last 18 years I’ve been flying this bird almost 3,000 hours worth, and she has never ever treated me wrong, always brought me home safe,” said Lt. Col Mark “Odie” Ladtkow, as he climbed down from his last flight in an F-15.

“I’m just so proud to be part of the team and be on the last flight. It really means a lot to me. I’m honored to be given that opportunity,” said Lt. Col. James “Saw” Sage.

Two new F-22 Raptors are already in Hawaii. The Air National Guard will eventually get 20 of the new jets, which cost $361 million each.

“Just like saying goodbye to a good friend. I’m really eager to meet the new friend. I’m ready fly the F-22 and I can’t wait to get started on that airframe,” said Sage.

The retiring F-15s will either be sent to an airplane “boneyard” in Arizona, or some will be sent to training units at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

The Hawaii Air National Guard pilots will begin training next month to fly the new F-22. That flight training takes four months.

-         KITV.com

Aircraft experience through gameplay

Let’s face it. Only a small number of people in the world get a chance to fly an aircraft especially fighter planes like the F-15 Eagle, F-22 Raptor, or F/A-18 Super Hornet. What more with legendary planes like the P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, or P-26 Peashooter?

People who get the chance to see them up-close are already considered as lucky. The coolness these aircraft emit make people crave for more and so, game developers try to satiate a tiny bit of aviation enthusiasts’ and gamers’ appetite for aircraft experience with video games such as Heroes of the Pacific and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. These two games are both from Ubisoft Entertainment, a video game developer and publisher, which also brought popular games such as Rayman, Prince of Persia, Assassin’s
Creed and Splinter Cell.

Heroes of the Pacific Sony PlayStation 2 game cover

Heroes of the Pacific lets one relive World War II by playing through the historical campaigns of the said war in the Pacific by assuming the role of a combat pilot named William Crowe. Released in October 2005, 1-2 persons can play through gaming platforms such as Playstation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows PC.

Up to 8 players can join in on the fun through Network play. Players are given the chance to pilot famous planes like the B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder, F6F Hellcat, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair and a number of foreign aircraft like the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien “Tony”, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger. The game garnered a lot of good reviews but isn’t it better to try it and review it yourself?

H.A.W.X Microsoft Xbox 360 game cover

Then, there’s the 2009 release of H.A.W.X bringing a bit of the cockpit feel to the players with first person view. Third person view is also available. Enhance Reality System is used to give radars, anti-crash system, tactical map, information relay, weapons trajectory control and many more to players. H.A.W.X is available for solo-gaming or multiple-player-gaming in the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Microsoft Windows PC platforms. Players assume the role of David Crenshaw, a pilot/part of the elite unit High Altitude Warfare Experimental Squadron or H.A.W.X, in year 2014-2021 war setting.  The futuristic setting features fictional aircraft, but aircraft like the B-52 Stratofortress and F-22 Raptor are also featured.

The game is given a mixed review of praises and criticisms in different aspects. Some are contented with the game play while some think otherwise. Others criticized the storyline, and others criticized its graphics like how the poor visual details of the F-15C and F-15E make it hard to tell them apart. A sequel is being developed and is set to be released by fall this year.

-wikipedia.org

-youtube.com

-gamespot.com