The sky-high aircraft and aviation thread

Oh ok, typo. And I had to look closely to see it.

I'm surprised the guy didn't hear the thing coming (or at least check behind him to see what exactly the source of the sound was).

Locking you up on radar since '09

He was either oblivious, which is usual for a journo that does telly work, or that was more staged than the RSC's last production of "The Merchant of Venice".

A++, would grimace again.

Needs more dakka, though.

Locking you up on radar since '09

That prop-turning afterburning thing may have been horrible, but boy, does that look cool or what?

And Deff Skwadron was a real thing?

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Deff_Skwadron_%28Graphic_Novel%29#.T7_xOsV67U0

Wow.

edited 25th May '12 1:54:18 PM by TamH70

Ah yes, the Thunderscreech. Filed in World's Worst Aircraft under "Power Problems", apparently described at the time as emitting an "unholy shriek" and vibrating enough to cause severe nausea in any and all bystanders.

A different shape every step I take A different mind every step of the line

Might have helped a bit, but not much. The Tu-95 for one has eight-blade contra-rotating props, but since the tips are still supersonic, it's still massively loud.

A different blade design could have at least reduced vibration though, which seems to have been quite a problem.

A different shape every step I take A different mind every step of the line

That's practically my family motto. We just have to choose between that and "Well, that was unexpected".

edited 25th May '12 3:53:09 PM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Heh, reminds me of how one guy commented to a friend of mine that "your whole life is one big coincidence, isn't it?*

". But that's neither here nor there.

I'm kind of curious how you could make the prop tips subsonic without impacting performance... or if you even can.

Locking you up on radar since '09

You can't really, not by, say, the shaping of the tip anyway.

It's inevitably going to be moving faster than the rest of the prop and with a certain number of RPMs, it's going to go past the speed of sound. The only solution to keep blade-tip speed down is either shortening the blades or using less RPMs.

edited 25th May '12 4:09:13 PM by Catfish42

A different shape every step I take A different mind every step of the line

headdesk

They specifically warn us not to pull that shit now. Causes severe vibrations, and will actually shake the plane apart if it's not built well enough. Gah.

Fight smart, not fair.

That secret USAF Space Plane is back ground side

Who watches the watchmen?

That program is way too out in the open to be what I thought it may be, back in the day.

Aurora.

Which probably means that particular bird is still out there, or less likely, never existed at all.

I personally think Aurora got cancelled before operational service. I suspect a prototype may have been built and tested, though.

A brighter future for a darker age.

I dunno. There has been a lot of renewed and still funded interest in Hypersonic flight and projectiles lately. It is feasible the project was ressurected to continue research now that tech has caught up.

Who watches the watchmen?

That would actually make a lot of sense. Aurora may have died but they started up research under new hyper sonic vehicle frames. Bet you money it would be a UAV craft though.

Who watches the watchmen?

I bet it'd be a lot easier to create a mach 10+ UAV than a manned aircraft. Shame, but there it is.

A brighter future for a darker age.

Not really. The Shuttle went at a fair old whack, and that was basically a cabriolet truck with wings and a few big engines.

Lie the pilot in the aircraft almost horizontally with a fully enclosed solid, non-transparent cockpit and sensors giving him an all-round view through the fuselage and bobs yer uncle.

And manned aircraft have other safeguards if you want to be morally aware of the role of such high speed aircraft. Because no one says that they have to be just used for recce purposes.

I'll avoid commenting on Aurora.

As for the possibility of a manned hypersonic aircraft, I'd say it'll be possible in the future, but not now. There's way too many concerns with a manned vehicle that you just don't have with a UAV. And, well... you're not putting someone's life on the line, either. I'd still be thrilled if it happened, though.

Locking you up on radar since '09

Pilots like putting their lives on the line. That's what earn them their wages, particularly in the military. I saw that in the eyes of the Army Air Corps and Royal Navy pilots who flew me in Gazelles and Sea Kings at heights that would on any other day terrify the hell out of me.

I trusted those men with my life. Unthinkingly. And it paid off. I know that doesn't always happen, but it did for me.

Damn straight. UA Vs can kiss my arse.

Besides, taking the guy doing the killing out of the line of fire is not a good thing, in my opinion. That makes war too clean, too cheap and too easy. That will only encourage certain individuals to go around ordering the shit to be blown out of people who don't particularly deserve it because our their side risks nothing more than a toy 'plane.

Slippery slope.

edited 2nd Jun '12 4:18:47 PM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

A bit late for that then. Pilots fire missiles and drop bombs 1000's of feet to miles up and miles away. You don't get more personal then ground pounders in urban combat.

Who watches the watchmen?