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AFP Since: Mar, 2010
#7002: Feb 4th 2014 at 11:28:51 PM

I'm pretty sure the Catalina used exactly that setup. Floats on struts under each wing which folded up into the wingtips during flight.

Yeah, reading the Wiki article, and it says the prototype had them, and I'm not seeing any indication that they went away.

TairaMai rollin' on dubs from El Paso Tx Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Mu
rollin' on dubs
#7004: Feb 5th 2014 at 6:44:28 PM

Area 51 spy plane and other aviation tales

Three unique things about Tacit Blue

  • Pantyhose made it safer: According to Cynda Thomas' book "Hell of a Ride," an air compressor was blowing tiny flammable aluminum shavings through inlet pipes and into the cockpit, creating a fire hazard. The engineers' unorthodox solution: cover the inlet pipes with filters made of pantyhose, Thomas wrote. "That could be true," Easter acknowledges.

  • They created an artificial wind tunnel with a huge transport aircraft. Developers used a huge C-130 Hercules plane to create artificial winds that hit the side of the plane so they could test Tacit Blue's performance. Dyson described it as a sort of "wind tunnel" that was set up "in the black of the night so no one could see us flying overhead with a satellite."

  • It was very hard to pilot: Tacit Blue at the time was "arguably the most unstable aircraft man had ever flown," ex-Northrop engineer John Cashen told Air Force Magazine.

edited 5th Feb '14 6:44:50 PM by TairaMai

I tried to walk like an Egyptian and now I need to see a Cairo practor....
TairaMai rollin' on dubs from El Paso Tx Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Mu
rollin' on dubs
#7005: Feb 6th 2014 at 3:13:29 PM

3 Ways Red Tape Could Ground Private Space

I tried to walk like an Egyptian and now I need to see a Cairo practor....
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
TairaMai rollin' on dubs from El Paso Tx Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Mu
rollin' on dubs
#7007: Feb 7th 2014 at 3:40:37 AM

[up]Funny thing about that new civvie C-130. Kevlar comes standard. When Lock-Mart took out the old copper wire and hydraulics, it lost so much weight that to balance the aircraft it needs the kevlar armor under the flight deck.

I tried to walk like an Egyptian and now I need to see a Cairo practor....
batter from Singapore Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Hugging my pillow
#7008: Feb 10th 2014 at 2:51:28 AM

Going to the singapore airshow next week. Not sure what to look out for so I will take pictures of everything. tongue

No videos though, it can't convey just how LOUD those air display are.

Flanker66 Dreams of Revenge from 30,000 feet and climbing Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Dreams of Revenge
#7009: Feb 10th 2014 at 3:41:29 AM

Well yeah, air shows in general tend to be really loud. tongue Still, awesome!

Also, we just broke 7,000 posts! Fantastic!

Locking you up on radar since '09
AFP Since: Mar, 2010
#7010: Feb 10th 2014 at 11:30:12 PM

If the issue was weight balancing, wouldn't it make more sense to use lead or some other metal to balance it? Unless Kevlar is actually cheaper than metals would be.

TairaMai rollin' on dubs from El Paso Tx Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Mu
rollin' on dubs
#7011: Feb 11th 2014 at 4:44:09 AM

It's an issue of how the C-130 is made and the safety of the aircraft. For awhile airplanes were used depleted uranium as balast until a 747 crashed and that made the airlines reconsider. The kelvar is mostly around the flight deck, it's not like it makes the plane anything special.

I tried to walk like an Egyptian and now I need to see a Cairo practor....
Catfish42 Bloody Fossil from world´s favourite country. Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Bloody Fossil
#7012: Feb 11th 2014 at 5:15:56 AM

Even if Kevlar itself isn't cheaper than the same weight in lead (or other) ballast, just leaving it this way probably is cheaper than engineering and certifying a completely new solution.

A different shape every step I take A different mind every step of the line
Rosvo1 Since: Aug, 2009
#7013: Feb 11th 2014 at 5:17:17 AM

Just curious, how much will the Kevlar protect it?

TairaMai rollin' on dubs from El Paso Tx Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Mu
rollin' on dubs
#7014: Feb 11th 2014 at 6:13:20 AM

Mostly against small arms fire. Military models have more obviously.

I tried to walk like an Egyptian and now I need to see a Cairo practor....
TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#7015: Feb 11th 2014 at 6:51:40 PM

I suppose you couldn't actually build a whole turbo-prop aircraft like the C-130 out of kevlar?

TairaMai rollin' on dubs from El Paso Tx Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Mu
rollin' on dubs
#7016: Feb 11th 2014 at 7:09:35 PM

No, you could built it out of composites. Armor adds weight so most of the vital parts are armored. Unlike the A-10, which is armored, built rugged with redundant systems and was passed from the Gods to the engineers of Fairchild-Republic Aviation.

I tried to walk like an Egyptian and now I need to see a Cairo practor....
TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#7017: Feb 11th 2014 at 7:29:23 PM

[up]And if the USAF are REALLY stupid enough to get rid of them next year, as has been rumored, can we get them and do this to 'em please?

https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5678&start=440

Twin-seater, Night Adverse Weather capable. Mmmmmgooood.

On an unrelated note, Danny Baker can witter on for England.

TuefelHundenIV Night Clerk of the Apocalypse from Doomsday Facility Corner Store. Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Night Clerk of the Apocalypse
#7018: Feb 12th 2014 at 4:50:56 PM

Hornet Lifting off of Freeway

Who watches the watchmen?
AFP Since: Mar, 2010
#7019: Feb 12th 2014 at 5:08:43 PM

Still not as cool as a C-130 being recovered and launched on an aircraft carrier. [lol]

TuefelHundenIV Night Clerk of the Apocalypse from Doomsday Facility Corner Store. Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Night Clerk of the Apocalypse
#7020: Feb 12th 2014 at 8:10:14 PM

Your right. It's cooler then a cargo plane landing and lifting off of a carrier. :P

Who watches the watchmen?
AFP Since: Mar, 2010
#7021: Feb 12th 2014 at 11:53:41 PM

Nonsense. Fighter jets launch and land on long flat paved surfaces all the time [lol]

TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#7022: Feb 13th 2014 at 7:22:51 PM

Pfft. Show me a jet fighter that can take off of that muddy pitch at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.

[lol]

Achaemenid HGW XX/7 from Ruschestraße 103, Haus 1 Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
HGW XX/7
#7023: Feb 14th 2014 at 12:23:57 AM

Okay-doky

Schild und Schwert der Partei
TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
AFP Since: Mar, 2010
#7025: Feb 14th 2014 at 2:08:34 AM

Ahh, the Harrier, yet another example that with enough Thrust, Aerodynamics become irrelevant.


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