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Aircraft Super Thread Mk.VII


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I wonder how long that pilot has been riding hornets... certainly knows it inside and out. Very impressive!

 

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Same YouTube Chanel; check out the final approach after this Rafael demo... BALLSY!B))

 

Edited by slide
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Amazing piloting of the Hornet. I’ve never seen one flown so deftly. 

The Rafale is a gorgeous bird, and well flown. Pilot had stones. 

Eurofighter: god damn it. What a terrible waste of man and machine. My deepest sympathies to his family. 

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Additional information here

Now, normally I'm not a fan of Drones, but AR (Aerial Refueling), and ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance) are two roles I'm fine with. Air Refueling for the navy is one thing, but not for the USAF, just because probe and drogue is easier, the boom method the USAF uses would be too difficult (besides, the cost of producing a UAV of that size). 

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6 minutes ago, Dobber said:

Neat...though their cut and past picture can NEVER happen as that is CVN-65 Enterprise in the background. She's not look so great as of late. :(

Chris

Maybe this is Final Countdown 2 where the Enterprise goes into the future?... :p

 

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3 hours ago, Valkyrie Driver said:

Additional information here

Now, normally I'm not a fan of Drones, but AR (Aerial Refueling), and ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance) are two roles I'm fine with. Air Refueling for the navy is one thing, but not for the USAF, just because probe and drogue is easier, the boom method the USAF uses would be too difficult (besides, the cost of producing a UAV of that size). 

Probe and drogue is easier to implement, but also a bigger risk in a lot of ways.  Get the wrong oscillation in the fuel line, and the basket will whip around pretty bad.  Seen a few pictures of planes with shattered canopies from getting smacked around by baskets.

Also, what can happen if the basket jumps too much, it'll snap off the valve "knuckle" at the end of the probe, potentially FOD-ing the aircraft, and effectively ending the mission, depending on where it happens.

It's still a reliable system, just has a decent amount of associated risks that have to be prepared for.

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15 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Probe and drogue is easier to implement, but also a bigger risk in a lot of ways.  Get the wrong oscillation in the fuel line, and the basket will whip around pretty bad.  Seen a few pictures of planes with shattered canopies from getting smacked around by baskets.

Also, what can happen if the basket jumps too much, it'll snap off the valve "knuckle" at the end of the probe, potentially FOD-ing the aircraft, and effectively ending the mission, depending on where it happens.

It's still a reliable system, just has a decent amount of associated risks that have to be prepared for.

Oh, definitely. In terms of risk management though probe and drogue is safer. I say this because, you take that oscillation that can wreck the drogue and trash the probe, or FOD the aircraft, you only lose one aircraft. With the boom, that's a midair collision, and you'll likely lose both aircraft. Either way it's on the Weather Forecaster (Aerographer or Aerographer's Mate in the Navy) to be on point with their turbulence forecasts, and vertical wind shear forecasts. There is a considerable amount of difficulty in doing that over open ocean, since there are no sensors out in international waters (Aside from whatever is on the ship, and even then that's all going to be skewed if the ship is moving). 

If they can make it work that's great, and it will give carriers greater mission capability. I just think it's going to be a bit of a trick to pull off.

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Just now, Valkyrie Driver said:

Oh, definitely. In terms of risk management though probe and drogue is safer. I say this because, you take that oscillation that can wreck the drogue and trash the probe, or FOD the aircraft, you only lose one aircraft. With the boom, that's a midair collision, and you'll likely lose both aircraft. Either way it's on the Weather Forecaster (Aerographer or Aerographer's Mate in the Navy) to be on point with their turbulence forecasts, and vertical wind shear forecasts. There is a considerable amount of difficulty in doing that over open ocean, since there are no sensors out in international waters (Aside from whatever is on the ship, and even then that's all going to be skewed if the ship is moving). 

If they can make it work that's great, and it will give carriers greater mission capability. I just think it's going to be a bit of a trick to pull off.

I'm always afraid of the day I hear of an unfortunate oscillation that resulted in the boom impaling whatever bird was hooked to it...

 

refueling a B-2, B-1 or a BUFF by boom must result in an acute case of "enlarged metallic cojones"

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10 hours ago, slide said:

I'm always afraid of the day I hear of an unfortunate oscillation that resulted in the boom impaling whatever bird was hooked to it...

 

refueling a B-2, B-1 or a BUFF by boom must result in an acute case of "enlarged metallic cojones"

According to my Dad, Air Refueling is a harrowing experience. At night, moreso. Dad was a pilot, not a boomer, so he was going to be the one in real trouble if that boom went somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. 

Drones are kind of a mixed bag for me, on one hand I can really see their potential, but on the other, their flight safety record is abysmal. I know that doesn't seem like it should matter since there's no crew to die when a drone crashes, but the frequency with which drones crash costs the taxpayers millions a copy. With that sort of record, they're not a really solid investment for the taxpayer...

Especially when you consider that the number of drones a controller will crash, will quickly exceed the $14 million or so price tag on his or her training by the DoD. So do with that what you will...

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