Paphos People

Does the greater presence of these air beasts signal a greater involvement by Cyprus in the growing conflict with our near neighbours, and if so what repercussions will be felt.

Looks like our stateside friend want a battle on someone elses territory yet again to keep their machine oiled!

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Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

Fret not. Like it or not, the USA is an ally of the West. Pilots need to fly and to train regularly, and to be in a state of combat-readiness. When an a/c carrier nears land, especially near a fragile combat zone, pilots need to practice their skills.

With so many bad actors in the Middle East, northern Europe and elsewhere, I'm more comforted by having the US military around than by not having them. Tends to make the bad actors sit up and take note. Looks like a resident American carrier explained how things work to a certain tribe of trouble-makers a few weeks ago.

I see your point but wouldnt trust the USA one inch, after all they are responsible for the majority of the current situation.

_________________
Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

Know what you're saying, but Israel is 100% reliant on the top notch arms it needs and buys from the USA. No-one else can back it as well militarily as the USA. Think of the consequences if Israel was defeated. Who would over-run the country? Iran and its proxies. How would that be good for global stability, let alone stability in the ME.

Would probably result in a very stable long term trading zone that Cyprus could benefit from. In locations with no western/USA interference there is almost no war or strife. People and countries trade between themselves.

_________________
Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

I am 64 now, my memory of news stories go back to the mid to late 60s and key words which stick in my mind over the decades is , Gaza strip, Lebanese forces, Golam Heights , Israel, etc! Our holiday to see the Pyramids was cancelled due to yet another war in 73 . Cyprus is almost in the middle East so the never ending slaughter could easily reach our shores ! This is not new , I would assume most people that move here would realise that . It just goes to show what an intollerent lot humans are and how dangerous religions are !

True mouse. But I love the fact that the USA has a deliberately intimidatory presence in the Middle East. There are some nations whose avowed intention is to blow Israel to smithereens. Who then to fill the void? You don't have to be that smart to guess. So while the USA is an arms-supplying ally to Israel we have stability of sorts, and a hold on the ambitions of those who delight in proxy wars to create destruction and mayhem for their own ends.

Interesting thought: are you aware that when a couple of months ago Israeli jets travelled very significant distances to bomb the Houthi oil refinery/distrubtion depot, they did so by passing through Saudi airspace? Now who'd have thought that? Saudis permitting Israel to use their airspace to attack an Islamic foe. Admittedly a long-term foe of Saudi too.

Ayers ago I knew a guy from Tehran, he saw himself as Persian. His once united people had been divided by governments drawing lines on a map. He also said , if all the oil were potatoes then there would be no trouble in Persia !
Maybe an over simplication but I get where he was coming from .
Back to thread , I was swimming at St George's and was an impressive sight to see the 2 ospreys come overhead

Two flew over in formation, quite low, as I went for my excercise walk earlier. The two props on each a/c are visibly massive, as they can be used for lift (helicopter style) in one configuration, or horizontal for forward flight in another.

Pilots flying twins are of course trained to cope with an engine out, one side or the other. Chopper pilots are also trained to cope with engine failure and walk away from it. But Osprey props are so massive and heavy I couldn't help but wonder how disabled and out of control an Osprey would be if an engine failed.

So, just searched YouTube and found more than one video which confirms my suspicion; if you have engine failure in an Osprey, you have very little chance of survival. If this was a civil design as opposed to military, I suspect the a/c would have been scrapped soon after birth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=chWBaI5WYlo

Flying low again over Paphos and regions, no need to guess what terrain they are practicing for!!

Even at night they had the propellers lit with bright colours as if to make sure everyone knows they are here.......

_________________
Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

Seem to have a pair of osprays flying over chloraka twice a day , obviously having a fly around akamas and coming back 20mins later. Clearly this what is meant by 100% readiness to extract people from Lebanon.