speedbird2639 wrote:The Baron wrote:I wonder why the public are always told at the airshow that the runway is too short for jets?
Presumably so when they are unable to attract any to the show they have a get out of jail free card to play.
Maybe there is some ground handling/ servicing requirements that Cosford is unable to provide easily. I'm sure PeterR could advise the technicalities.
Belgian Viper, Swiss Hornet & Italian Tornado have attended the RAF Cosford Air Show in the recent years, all safely operated from RAF Shawbury, so it's not our "jet out of jail free card" when we're "unable to attract any to the show". RAF Cosford's runway is exceptionally short compared to most modern military aerodromes. The issue for this discussion is the significant distance between what an aircraft physically could achieve, and what the rule book says is an allowable limit. For example, an empty Typhoon could easily blast off in the distance, and also land using a drag-chute. However, once safety parameters are built in (loss of engine, brake failure, drag-chute malfunction) the distance laid down in their operating manuals increases, and thus RAF Cosford's runway is too short. Why take the unnecessary risk? Regulated distances differ for many aircraft/operators, there are many instances where different Air Arms have different operational limits for the same aircraft type. I hope that answers your question.
The Baron wrote:However [the Jaguars] have now been retired fully (May last year?) and are not used at all.
Jaguar aircraft based at RAF Cosford are still used by Number 1 School of Technical Training and the Aerosystems Engineer and Management Training School, both based at RAF Cosford. However, the aircraft no longer perform live engine runs. This was ceased in August 2016. They are however still used on a daily basis for various instructional duties and can be seen out on the airfield regularly.
Anyway, this is the RIAT thread. Let's get back on topic shall we?