New answers tagged fighter
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Not sure about the hard core aerodynamics/physics you're trying to explain, but simply put, the curved wingtip doesn't "bleed" as much energy/airspeed in high AOA flight/turning fight, like the pure sharp Delta tip. Explained to me by F-15 test pilot.
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It is all part of the camouflage.
The blue parts on the bottom make the aircraft hard to identify from below against a blue-background (sky). The dark parts on the top make it difficult to identify from above against a dark background (ground).
The white parts make the aircraft's size/shape difficult to determine. This helps to confuse the enemy by ...
0
Same principle in small aircraft as all aircraft control column locks hold them in place
All explained above by other posts it is not a fashion or pilot habit it is part of post flight check list ensure control lock is in place
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The pylons are not just for weapons; the term used for the Typhoon aircraft is the Wing Pylon Station Unit (WPSU) and some of those are designed to be able to carry external fuel tanks.
Some aircraft (such as the vernerable F-4 Phantom II) had 4 wing pylons which were more or less permanently attached (unless they were defective in which case they could be ...
10
This is a safety feature. You don't want the airplane to blow over in a strong wind. With the elevators down (as you see them in the pictures), a gust from the front will push the plane's nose down and keep the main wing from generating lift. A gust from behind will push the nose up, but in this case, the main wing will present its top surface to the gust,...
18
@John K's answer is perfect. However, in other mechanical systems such as elevators, fork-lifts, factory machines, etc and also NON hydraulic systems (and also possibly Jets) it is designed to be so so that when the machine is idle/switched-off the system is in a 'non-stressed' state or in a 'safe state'.
The keywords are 'design' and 'requirement'.
As @...
54
It generally means that the hydraulic actuator (power control unit) driving the surface has an "idle" facility that allows fluid to move internally between the two sides of the actuator piston, or just circulate in the pressure/return lines, and when unpressurized it acts more or less like a hydraulic damper even though the input spool valve is at its "null" ...
0
It is not the gauges that are the problem.
Think of it as something you might be more familiar with, like a car from the 1950's
As long as you are traveling during the day and paying attention to the vehicle, they gauges don't really tell you anything you can't estimate on your own. They just give a bit more detail.
It is the switches that are ...
3
I'm not a pilot or aviation expert but I think one point is missing.
I think the majority of aircraft are designed to operate on ground without actually flying.
That's because to make pre checks. It would be easily fatal if you need to check a critical system mid air to find out it's failing.
Thus you can try out all basic systems to fly on ground in safety ...
11
Just to add: I was at an airshow in Australia once in the 90's and the radio announcer said the MiG-15 which was flying had labels on all the instruments to meet the CASA (Civil Australian Safety Authority) regulations to be allowed to be registered here. Sure enough, all the instruments had sticky-back DYMO labels (the old style, with the white stamped/...
9
Addition: In the cold war era, quite a lot of documentation for Russian equipment seems to have been available (well, existent) in German too (eg you can find training films for setting up antiaircraft batteries on youtube, in German), plus some export versions of Russian-made gear with German labelling. The reason is that the Nationale Volksarmee in East ...
8
In this part of his TED talk, Col. Chris Hadfield recounts his return from the ISS in the Soyuz spacecraft.
His speech is about how the experience could have been scary and overwhelming, but
"instead, twenty years previously, we had started studying Russian. And then once you learn Russian then we learned orbital mechanics in Russian, and then we ...
8
As a non-native speaker for both English and Russian I can confirm that you don't really have to speak (or even read) some language in order to operate a more or less familiar machine labeled in that language.
Most people from smaller nations are used to this, those that were young in 1953 - even more so.
7
That would not be required as an experienced pilot can find their way around the cockpit with relative ease. You can spot the basic flight instruments, navigation instruments and engine instruments with ease. Additional systems can be re-placarded as well by native language speakers. In addition most of these ‘acquisitions’ were turned over by defecting ...
40
You don't need to speak(1) fluent(2) Russian(3):
In fact you don't need to speak at all, just understand.
You don't need to be fluent, just understand enough to not crash the plane.
It's not about Russian, it is about Russian Aviation Jargon. (Think about English: if you walked up to a random person on the street and started talking about laminar flow, ...
8
It's not that hard to learn a language, certainly the technical parts. However it's a bit more than words; for instance Soviet attitude indicators work very differently.
You just need to think in Russian :)
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A couple of things come to mind that enable this:
you don't become a fighter pilot if you are not intelligent and highly motivated
you are not learning a new skill, just doing what you are already trained to do in an environment that just looks different (this would somewhat exclude Russian helicopters)
the list of things to learn is really not that long, ...
1
Prototype only: the YF-12A. This was an A-12 derived fighter plane. The A-12 is better known for its other derivative, the SR-71 Blackbird. Both the A-12 and the SR-71 were intended for reconnaissance tasks, but the YF-12 would have been a fighter.
With a first flight in 1963, it beats the Mig-25 by a year.
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One of the first was probably the unconventional XP-79.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_XP-79
It never entered service of course, but does meet your criteria.
Something that kinda meets your criteria would be the F7U Cutlass. Twin tails and twin rear mounted engines though the tails were in separate tail booms outboard of the engines, a similar ...
1
Probably the MiG-25. Near as I know, it was the first to use the ‘four poster’ layout.
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Possibly might be the WW-2 era Me-262? I believe the prototype had twin tails.
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Some of them are in museums, YF-16 was a technology exploration and didn’t commit to production.
YF-16
72-1567 – Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton, Virginia
72-1568 – Rome ADC
YF-16A (Full-Scale Development)
75-0745 – Used as a traveling exhibit, on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
75-0746 – ...
3
Its for energy-maneuverability reasons. Like everything else in engineering its a trade off. 1st important fact to understand is this: In airliners, and most previous gen combat aircraft, designs are (primarily) made for flying in level (ie cruise) most effectively. At this optimal cruise point/line, the best engine fuel efficiency and aerodynamic efficiency,...
2
Lighting the afterburner will only cause a pitch change and AOA change if the thrust line of the engines does not pass though the Center of Mass of the aircraft. If the thrust line pases above the center mass, increasing thrust will cause a nose-down pitch change, if the thrust line is below the center mass it will cause a nose up pitch change.
But, more ...
-1
Feasible: yes
Practical: no
Fighters without hover capability could not directly refuel from it due to the airspeed, but it could serve as a "carrier depot", semi-permanently camped out mid-Atlantic high above the clouds -- Large tankers could supply it, while small tankers would dock with it (empty), load up with fuel ready to take to an operations theater ...
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TL;DR: Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the particular fighter jet, and how it's loaded, and the effect will, in any case, be very small.
An increase in thrust causes an airplane to pitch up via two mechanisms (more details in this PDF):1
An increase in thrust causes an increase in speed; for airplanes with positive speed stability (which is true for all ...
4
Worth noting that during WW2 bombers would usually ditch all remaining bombs before landing as the risk of one breaking loose and going off by accident was too great. This story mentions the following:
Having reached Belgium, the formation was forced to turn back because
of the weather. They received a message to jettison their bombs over
the Channel, ...
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