What crashed at Boscombe Down?

It's important to add that few days after Boscombe Down incident happened, the base was visited by 737 Janet You can read about it on Dreamland Resort website.

If she was a Groom baby then the worried parents would be checking up on her.That and most likely a crew to go over the damage.

a reply to: Blackfinger

You are right!

If it was a nose gear failure it puts a lot of stress on the nose and cockpit area when it hits the ground.

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

The Janet 737-200 could MAYBE go 2500 miles un-refueled, thus if that plane was coming from groom, the only way to get all the way to BD would be multiple refuel stops.

Has anyone ever verfified that it stopped at other airstrips along the way?

If there is no evidence it never stopped elsewhere, id call the Janet flight at BD into serious question.

I dunno about these days but I (sorry for being slightly off topic) live near a small airport called Southend in the east of England it's actually called London Southend just like Heathrow is called London Heathrow. Anyway some flights that go into Southend fly right over my house before turning to line up for final approach. Was sitting there one evening and I tend to get a fair bit of traffic over where I live but this seemed louder that usual so I assumed the aircraft I could hear was going into Southend.

I pulled up my flight radar app which I do a lot when hearing low flying aircraft. Flightradar had show me it was a private rented 737. My curiosity got the better and I selected to view it's route of where it had been and where has it come from. I was shocked that the 737 had actually left LAX and the flight radar had shown its entire journey and not once did it stop for fuel. So I believe this day in age a 737 is quite capable of travelling from the states to the UK quite easily

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

A LAX--->London nonstop in a modern BBJ-spec 737 with high-bypass engines in 2016? Sure.

Groom--->Boscombe Down nonstop in one of the gas-guzzling JT8D powered, stubby-winged 737-200's that Janet was flying in 1994? I DOWT IT!

a reply to: Barnalby

The only way a -200 gets there is if they yank seats and put ferry tanks. It could be hard to find a record of the trip though as any fairly small airport with an FBO can handle a 737 sized aircraft.

a reply to: Zaphod58

And in 1994, all the old USAF/SAC bases in the northeast were still open, so a discreet fuel stop at Loring, Goose Bay, or even Keflavik would have been possible without arousing any suspicions.

a reply to: Barnalby

Exactly. There are far too many ways they could have gone to ever be able to say yes or no.

a reply to: Barnalby
Yeh that's what I assumed .. New engines better efficiency etc. Either way I was shocked to see a 737 flying all the way from LAX landing at a little airport near me

Anyway I'll Leave the pros to continue this thread sorry to distrupt it

You guys are right. It had to make at least one landing for refuel tank.
I have some links

Link 1 - here is something about Janet at Boscombe in 1994.
ATS thread link
interestin g link

originally posted by: gfad
a reply to: Blackfinger

I wish, it's so frustrating that nothing else has leaked out about this crash.

If they are good about, they clean up fast and quietly.

With the English garbage Tabloids its a wonder they didn,t report it as Elvis returning in a UFO...

I have no idea. But at 10500ft long if you need to crash makes sense. If your fu@ked and need time to get it together.

The runs at the other near ish bases are between 8500-9500ft. So I think if your still in control and not needing to punch out then Boscombe makes sense.

RAB

Yep,with something that secret landing at Heathrow would be a big nono...Wonder if anyone has transcripts of the tower comms that day.

A forum discussion at the Dreamland Resort website in September 2022 has concluded that the crash at RAF Boscombe Down in September 1994 actually involved a decoy being towed by a Panavia Tornado. Therefore, the 1994 Boscombe Down incident having nothing to do with a supersonic stealth aircraft accords well with the fact that RBCC engine and scramjet technology in the 1980s and 1990s was immature.

Links:
www.dreamlandresort.com...
www.dreamlandresort.com...
www.dreamlandresort.com...

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: clay2 baraka

I don't think Northrop's Night Stalker II was it either. I believe that patch is for a project that they did for the 160th SOAR "Night Stalkers".

The Night Stalker II program used modified AH-1s to function as trainers for the AH-64. I BELIEVE I have seen the industry news briefs (years ago) dated sometime in early 1984. I’m fairly certain there was a NODS component to the training program, but it was not a strictly 160th SOAR-related program.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: clay2 baraka

I don't think Northrop's Night Stalker II was it either. I believe that patch is for a project that they did for the 160th SOAR "Night Stalkers".

The Night Stalker II program used modified AH-1s to function as trainers for the AH-64. I BELIEVE I have seen the industry news briefs (years ago) dated sometime in early 1984. I’m fairly certain there was a NODS component to the training program, but it was not a strictly 160th SOAR-related program.

a reply to: FloridaManMatty

It’s also worth noting that many of these “black” SAPs that get patches have an interesting habit of hiding things like the shape of the aircraft in question in plain sight. In this case, the second black field from either side and the “spike” on the supposed Indian head dress all have a silhouette that bears a striking resemblance the the platform of several supposed high speed ISR programs that have been floating around for years. It also bears a slight resemblance to the renderings LM have released for NGAD. I’d assume that the math for an ideal shape was more or less sorted out many decades ago, and the real delay has been in materials and avionics.

Or maybe it’s just a shape they slapped on the patch because it fit. Who knows…?