Flying the Tornado F3. "Bones" Ledsham (Part 2) 

Thanks very much @5eyesisntWatching Ep 3 drops this weekend - 12 Dec 23. “Hot war” stories - dropping LGB’s in Serbia/Kosovo 😱

@@tonyledsham2810 can't wait especially since I'm starting CF-104 and CF-18 models this weekend

@@5EyesIsntWatching great CF-104 at the museum at St Andrews airport, north of Winnipeg. I had 2 rides in the 104. It’s a dragster, rather than a sports car. Straight lines at high speed, but “turns like a train” 😉

@@tonyledsham2810 I got to sit in one at CFB Trenton when I was a kid and experienced the engine run up. Lol for some reason they wouldn't clear a 8yr old for flight

That’s very kind! Next ep this weekend.

😂 (I’m still hungover…) “work hard, play hard”? 😉

I'd second that!

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qL2LI8JZa1w.html

One of the first ones was about one of Steve’s air to air photoshoots which was excellent!

Hosted by Starbaby dressed as well as or better than Bones!

@@SamFarrowwait for ep 4!

My heart goes out to the Netherlands Army at Srebenica. Canada had similar traumatic experiences in Croatia (Medak Pocket) and Rwanda genocide.

You will indeed - Sat 9 Dec 1700 UTC.

Steve is a great host! He knows how to “steer” the interview, without interrupting the “war stories”. The series with MOG on the Sea Harrier is particularly harrowing…

@@tonyledsham2810 The series with Mog was my introduction to Steve's interviews and it was incredible listening to what they endured and the stories he told. I've been hooked ever since. I look forward to your next installment and a massive thank you from me for giving up your time to do the interviews and my genuine appreciation for your service to the UK.

@@TarkaChopsthat’s very kind of you! I hope you found the war stories interesting.

@@tonyledsham2810 Your series of interviews have been fantastic and having just finished the final episode today I can say they have all been utterly compelling. I can only speak for myself but it has been a pleasure listening to you talk about your time in the RCAF/RAF and getting to know a little bit about you and your life as a fighter pilot. Thank you.

Guy Gibson! I did not know he was on 29(F)

“The squadron started to convert to the Bristol Beaufighter I and Widdows personally supervised his pilots during their conversion.[37] Gibson's first flight in a Beaufighter was on 1 December 1940. He then undertook some intensive training on AI procedure. He found the night-fighter culture very different from bombers as the two-man crew had to work as a team with the pilot relying on the guidance of the AI operator to find their targets. Gibson made his first operational flight in a Beaufighter on 10 December with Sergeant Taylor as his AI operator.” en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Gibson

Guy went on to 617 Dambusters. Their mess was at the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa, just north of RAF Coningsby. It’s been beautifully-preserved, with lots of memorabilia. Well worth a visit!

Yes, he did a tour as a night fighter pilot on Beaufighters. I think it was at West Malling in Kent.

They usually are.

12 years of *undetected* crime 😎

You’re right about the wing loading

Yes, I misspoke. High wing loading = smoother ride (if that’s really important…) That being said, I got knocked around in the Norwegian fjords in the high-wing load F-5.

@@tonyledsham2810 thanks. Did you fly norwegian f-5s? If so was there any difference between ours and the ones you had in canada. Sounds like it was a good call replacing them with f16s.

@@audunskilbrei8279no, but I flew against them. They didn’t have the load (weight and drag) that we were carrying, so they kicked our butts. They did amazing things with their F-16’s, including flying into 2600’ rwys. They installed a dragchute, one of the only countries which had that on the F-16.

@@audunskilbrei8279 The Canadian F-5s were closer to the F-5A launched in the early 1960s but had more powerful engines than the F-5A. For that matter, a lot of license-built Canadian fighters had more powerful engines than their American counterparts. The most-powerful F-86 Sabres were CF-86 models outfitted with British-design engines. You can think of the Canadian CF-5s as interim F-5 models but like all F-5s they were not suitable for fighting World War III! Not enough range and payload capability; they were classic point defense planes but by the early 1970s were outclassed by upcoming designs like the American Teen Fighters (F-14, F-15, F-16, F-18) and the later arriving Mirage 2000, MiG-29 and Su-27 in the 1980s. The Norwegian F-5s were basic F-5A models. Considerably less powerful than the later F-5Es which had the most powerful GE J85 engines built (around 1000-1500 more thrust per engine than the F-5A engines) and lacked the aerodynamics modifications the F-5Es received. F-5E wings had enlarged leading edge root extensions (still much smaller than the F-18 "cobra hoods) and auto-maneuvering flaps. The F-5E can still be defeated by any of the fighter planes that arrived from early 1970s onward. Its primary defense is its small size. Sure, a well-trained F-5 instructor pilot can beat any green student pilot in an F-5 but if you put two equally-trained men in an F-5 versus a later generation fighter, the F-5 is going to have a very hard time of it. Every decent 1970s+ fighter can outturn, outrun, outclimb, and outrange an F-5.