Questions tagged [fighter]
A fighter is an aircraft designed primarily for aerial combat.
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what is considered a good pedal performance in a fighter?
What is considered a good performance in designing the directional control law in a fighter? Is it acceptable to have some roll when using a pedal? For example, is it acceptable to have 40 degrees ...
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Why does the hardpoint mechanism on sweep wings produce a contact trace in front of the axis?
The basic structure and photos have already been explained on this site and on Wikipedia:
How does a variable-sweep-wing aircraft keep wing-mounted payloads straight?
Variable-sweep wing, Wikipedia
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Can fighter jets still fly with their radios being jammed?
Imagine a scenario, a squadron flies through an area and suddenly their radio is getting jammed. Even when they try to go back, it's still getting jammed. Would something bad happen if they can't ...
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What is this jutting structure in the tail section called and what is its function?
I was wondering if there is a name for this particular structure on Su-27 and F-22 and if they serve any function?
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Why aren't swarms of cheap consumer-level drones a viable anti-aircraft tactic?
In the Russia/Ukraine war, when it comes to cheap, consumer-level drones, I've only heard of them used for reconnaisance, not for anti-aircraft defence. But given that:
In civil aviation, a single ...
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How does a fighter pilot calculate approach/landing speeds?
Let's say an F/A-18C returns to land after expending some payload. Fuel burned and weapons released made the plane lighter. I guess the aircraft computer can tell the pilot the actual weight of the ...
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Is there a modern-day counterpart to the F-20 Tigershark?
A previous question (Would it be feasible to restart production of the F-20 Tigershark?) has established that restarting production of the F-20 Tigershark is not feasible. Given this, I wonder if ...
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Would it be feasible to restart production of the F-20 Tigershark?
This seems unlikely considering the cancellation of the F-20 program, however, the F-20 has been characterized as "the right fighter at the wrong time". As such, I'm curious if F-20 ...
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What specific features of the Sukhoi 27 make it a rival to the F-15?
I just read an article about the Sukhoi 35 that mentioned as a side note that:
The Soviet SU-27 was designed to kill the American F-15
Of course the political context of the Cold War agrees with ...
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How long does it take to train a commercial pilot to fly a fighter jet?
The question is motivated by the recent events in Ukraine and the Ukrainian parliament on Monday tweeted that Europe was sending 70 fighter planes to Ukraine.
If this were to happen, how much time ...
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Why does this F18 have the rudders pointing towards each other? [duplicate]
I have seen this when they are parked and when taking off from the carriers.
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Novel Research: Best way to sabotage a Hawker Hurricane in 1940/41?
Essentially, one of the central events in my work-in-progress novel is the sabotage of a Hawker Hurricane in Malta by a member of groundcrew. I originally had this as him loosening an aileron so that ...
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What are the basic principles of making fighter jets manoeuvrable [closed]
Disregardimg thrust vectoring and other computer-aided functions, what are all the basic factors of making a fighter jet manoeuvrable? Using basic physics design principles such as high thrust to ...
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Why don’t fighter jets use symmetrical airfoils?
Won’t they be more manoeuvrable in dogfights?
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On fighter jets (e.g. F-16), do the leading edge flaps extend above the retracted position, as well as the more typical down extension?
Do they go both up and down (with respect to a retracted position in the middle) on different fighter jets?
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Why in the past were weather radars not used on fighter jets?
As far as I know, the weather radar is something that has been implemented very recently in fighters jets, from what I understand in modern radars it is possible to switch in various modes including ...
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Do jet nozzles reset after the engine is off for a while?
I have seen jet engines with nozzles being able to dilate to adjust for throttle and things of the sort, but the question I have is, if the engine is turned off, does the nozzle "reset" to a ...
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Why do F15 air intakes move up and down? [duplicate]
I see it during startup. What is the propose of this?
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Do fighter jets experience angles of attack greater than stall when initiating a zoom climb?
I was just wondering that the fighter jets like F-16, F-35 and Rafale when they are doing a steady flight at a certain airspeed, try to rotate 90 degrees and aim to obtain a vertical motion, so does ...
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What is the significance of radar cross section (RCS) for air defense?
From the internet or any other medium of information I came to know that some cutting edge stealth aircraft have radar cross sections of a bird (or something similarly small).
I don't have the in ...
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Where in the cockpit of a fighter such as the F-22 or Su-57 is thrust vectoring controlled? [duplicate]
Does it use the stick? Pedals?
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Why aren't air turborockets used in military fighters?
Why aren't air turborocket engines used in jet fighters?
Few Third World countries have the capability to manufacture high quality turbine blades. Thus, why not use air turborocket engines for the ...
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Why do fighters not use thrust burst from under the wings for improved maneuvering?
This is just a postulation upon a few thoughts.
I think it is intuitive to understand that in fighter jets, in a dog-fight scenario, higher turning speed, as in closing the angle between the chasing ...
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How is radar used to help aiming a gun on fighter jets?
I know gatling gun is fixed mounted to the airframe of the plane, thus cannot be rotated left/ right or up/down. However watching DCS pilots dogfighting with opponents they sometimes mention their ...
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Are Lockheed Martin pilots considered civilian or military?
Came across this job on LM's website
https://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/job/luke-air-force-base/f-35-instructor-pilot/694/10202293008#anchor-responsibilties
Since the organizations hiring you is a ...
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What's this outlet on the wing of Eurofighter Typhoon EF2000 for? [duplicate]
I was seeing this image and saw this outlet.
It's not the outlet of an APU, is it?
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When the F 16 landing the flaperons are used for rolling due to the functionality as ailerons, but after touching the ground it is the same?
In landing gains the flaperons are down 20 degrees. If you have to do corrections of the bank angle on approach then you move upward only one of the flaperons. But after touching the runaway it is ...
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Why does Harrier have split hot exhaust nozzles?
This is a repost after the original questions were deemed too complicated.
Hawker Sea Hawk shot by Smudge 9000 under CC-SA 2.0 licence.
Harriers seem to inherit elements from Sea Hawk, that the ...
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I need some help to understand the rationales behind some STOVL jet designs, especially the Pegasus-Harrier configuration [closed]
In the question:Why do VTOL aircraft (F-35 or Harrier) have only one engine? Aeroailas answered why mature STOVL fighter designs only use one main engine, but did not answer why there are no mature ...
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What is maximum acceleration that can be achieved by afterburner in level flight?
I am wondering how a fighter jet (let's take F-22 for example) would compare to other vehicles in terms of acceleration while in flight.
For cars and motorcycles, achieving 0-100 KPH in 2 seconds is ...
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What are all the composites used in the making of fighter jets? What is the green and yellow material on the aircraft in the pictures below? [closed]
Below given are images of various fighter jet manufacturing.
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Under what circumstances does the F-16 and possibly similar fighters deploy leading edge slats?
What does the F-16 (perhaps other fighters as well) use to decide when to deploy leading edge flaps? I would assume angle of attack, airspeed, stick deflection, or some combination of the three, are ...
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Why are some US fighters' canopies tinted while others are not? [duplicate]
Ok, I'm sure we've all seen how some particular US fighters have tinted glass canopies (I'm not sure what you would refer to the glass as), while others do not. Looking at the currently in-service ...
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Is there a career path to fly fast, military jets without being in the military?
I would like to pilot or fly in fighter jets however as I have mild asthma I cannot join the Royal Air Force. So is it possible to fly in or pilot these kinds of aircraft as a career without being in ...
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Why do thrust vectoring nozzles delay?
I saw a video demonstrating the SU-30's thrust vectoring nozzles and noticed that the horizontal stabilizers begin moving up/down before the nozzles do. It seems that the F-22 also has this delay.
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Why was the F-14 retired 15 years ago while the contemporary F-15 is still operational?
The F-14 and the F-15 were designed in almost the same years and each one was at the top of its own "compartment" (respectively, US Navy and US Air Force).
However, almost 15 years ago, the ...
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of the MiG-29's horizontal stabilizers (not what do they do)?
The MiG-29's tail axes are located fairly close to the leading edge, and rotate along an axis oblique to the chord. What are the possible consequences to this arrangement (e.g. actuator torque, ...
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Can anyone identify what appears to be a crashed WWII German plane?
This photograph is in my family's photo collection. The only information with the photo is, "Cousin Bud Kohl - aircraft wreck." If anyone can identify the make and model it is greatly ...
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What is the disadvantage of twin-engine fighter jets? [duplicate]
Some air forces in the world do not use twin-engine jets at all. For instance, Pakistan. Even though Pakistan could import twin-engine jets from China at a very cheap price, they never did that.
What ...
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How does the F-16 achieve negative stability? [duplicate]
F-16 has negative stability at subsonic conditions. How is this achieved? To me it looks like a very streamligned, very normally shaped aircraft.
Is the Center of Mass actually behind the Center of ...
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I'd like to know the name of this aircraft
I recognize it but can't recall the name, if anyone can tell me that would be great.
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How is it possible for the MIG 21 to have full rudder to the left, but the nose wheel move freely to the right and then straight or to the left?
How is it possible that the MIG 21 has the rudder to the left, but the nose wheel moves freely to the right, and then straight or to the left on the runway?
See timestamp 1 min 11 sec in this video:
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How are missiles attached/detached from a combat jet aircraft?
What is the mechanism holding a missile onto the hard-point of a wing, and how does it smoothly release the missile when it's ready to fire? What about the electric cables that also need to detach ...
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Placing bomb bays on top in order to avoid radar detection [closed]
Considering that opening the bomb bay on a stealth aircraft increases the chances of the plane being detected by radars, why no one is placing the bomb bays on top of the airplane? At least for jet ...
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How much energy does unretracted landing gear consume?
I am interested in finding energy consumption (% kN) of unretracted landing gear (on a jet fighter) per hour. Although the shape and size tell us how much drag is being produced I need a general rule ...
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In general, what are the RPM ranges/differences between the various compression stages on a 2 or 3 spool (LP,IP,HP) turbojet/fan engine?
I have a general interest in jet engines and am pretty new to the topic so I wanted to toss this question into the wind as I don't have any previous experience or knowledge to pull from and haven't ...
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What is the first fighter jet aircraft which carried out a night bombing mission?
Does anyone know in which occasion it was carried out and the date which it was carried out? Night bombing began in World War I and was widespread during World War II. A number of modern aircraft ...
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Has a pilot ever been disciplined for taking a guest for a flight in a single-seat fighter aircraft?
I recall reading of a spitfire pilot who was suspended for taking a member of the WAAF up for a jaunt to impress her. She supposedly sat in the pilot's lap throughout the short flight and they were ...
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What are the reasons for the end of the dogfight era? [duplicate]
A lot of sources mention that a lot of modern era (5.Gen) fighter jet designs such as the F-35 are focussing on qualities and properties such as stealth, long-range attacks, and versatility just to ...
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Can I legally own and fly fighter jets in the UK?
I’ve seen a similar post, but it applied to America. Could I own and fly a BAE Systems Hawk T1 in the UK? What kind of regulations are there? Obviously it would have to be unweaponised but I was just ...
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