Aviation Thread - News, facts, questions, photos, videos, etc.

[Swishypants]

ALLAH SNACKBAR!!! God damn!

[Taaroa]

Interesting to see that they've blurred out the engines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dafw9bFOr1I

[Swishypants]

Interesting to see that they've blurred out the engines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dafw9bFOr1I

Tilt-rotor, V-tail, High Wing; how many more horrible, failed, old ideas can we put into this thing Bubba?

[Uncle Duke]

Interesting to see that they've blurred out the engines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dafw9bFOr1I

The engines or the inlets?  Why do you think they blurred whatever they might have blurred?  I know the LO guys were always skittish about showing inlets on stealthy a/c, but is this a/c supposed to be stealthy?  Hard to hide those big props, especially in horizontal flight?

[Taaroa]

The engines or the inlets?  Why do you think they blurred whatever they might have blurred?  I know the LO guys were always skittish about showing inlets on stealthy a/c, but is this a/c supposed to be stealthy?  Hard to hide those big props, especially in horizontal flight?

I don't think it's the inlet - to me it looks like they might be trying to hide whatever mechanical wizardry is going on to have only part of the engine or rotors + drive shaft rotate like that and still function.

[Uncle Duke]

I don't think it's the inlet - to me it looks like they might be trying to hide whatever mechanical wizardry is going on to have only part of the engine or rotors + drive shaft rotate like that and still function.

That makes sense I suppose, but not sure what they are afraid of relative to their technology being compromised.  No country friendly to the US has the fiscal and/or technological wherewithal to develop an a/c with the capabilities of the Valor.  Those who do have the fiscal/technological abilities, like the Russians and Chinese, would get the tech data they need through the same nefarious means they have for decades.  Doubt they have to rely on a handful of photos/videos taken during a test.

[GravitySucks]

Not good.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/354449-computer-virus-infects-us-military-drone-fleet-report

[Uncle Duke]

https://goo.gl/images/MNybWt

Notice a similarity between the Valor and the Whale?  How do you make the RCS of those engines/inlets/blades drop by orders of magnitude? 

[Taaroa]

Incident: Canada B789 near Hyderabad on Sep 19th 2017, ATC tries to divert aircraft despite several Mayday calls following two diversions

An Air Canada 787 flight from Toronto was on approach to Mumbai when it had it's clearance cancelled due to a previous aircraft's runway excursion.
After being in a hold for an hour the crew decided to divert to their planned alternate airport and set course, however, shortly afterwards ATC told the crew that the alternate was unable to accommodate them due to being at maximum capacity. The crew consulted with dispatch and decided to divert to Hyderabad (India). The aircraft climbed to FL250 and was enroute to Hyderabad when ATC told them, that Hyderabad also was unable to accommodate them due to being at maximum capacity. The flight crew declared Mayday due to being low on fuel, however, ATC instructed them to enter a hold and tried to divert them several times before giving them a direct route to Hyderabad following the fourth (!) Mayday declaration. The aircraft landed in Hyderabad 118 minutes after aborting the approach to Mumbai.

The Canadian TSB reported: "The operator reported that ATC continued trying to divert the flight or attempted to place it in another hold. The flight crew had to declare MAYDAY four times before ATC cleared them for the approach into VOHS.

https://avherald.com/h?article=4af4dc97&opt=0

For those who don't understand why this is serious, when you declare 'mayday' it means that there is an imminent danger to life or the continuation of flight (as opposed to 'pan pan' which is a state of urgency without imminent danger) such as an engine fire or running out of fuel.
When it is declared everyone else on the radio frequency is meant to shut up and ATC is to provide assistance and priority to the crew in trouble - whether that be getting any conflicting traffic out of the way, providing information, or alerting emergency services to be ready.
So it's quite extraordinary to see ATC actually attempt to divert or place an aircraft in an emergency situation simply because their chosen landing place has no parking available. At that point the crew probably could've told ATC to shove it and keep the runway clear because they're going to land anyway, and still be legally in the clear.

It'd be interesting to hear the audio of this, actually...

https://goo.gl/images/MNybWt

Notice a similarity between the Valor and the Whale?  How do you make the RCS of those engines/inlets/blades drop by orders of magnitude?

Probably the same way they did for that stealth Blackhawk - ie it's classified. I was thinking that if they are trying to incorporate some kind of stealth technologies in it then maybe it's not meant to be proper stealth like the B2 or F117, but rather uses materials which might reduce return, make it lighter, and make it less audible (note the video has no sound).

All rampant speculation of course. 

[Hog]

https://goo.gl/images/MNybWt

Notice a similarity between the Valor and the Whale? 

That was the first thought that came into my mind upon seeing that video.

peace
Hog

[Uncle Duke]

Probably the same way they did for that stealth Blackhawk - ie it's classified. I was thinking that if they are trying to incorporate some kind of stealth technologies in it then maybe it's not meant to be proper stealth like the B2 or F117, but rather uses materials which might reduce return, make it lighter, and make it less audible (note the video has no sound).

All rampant speculation of course. 

The idea of a stealth helo without serious noise reduction of some kind seems almost pointless.  Choppers avoid radar fairly effectively by nap of the earth flying, but you can hear them for miles.  And while I did notice no sound in the Valor video, the thought did not occur to me that might to be to not advertise some noise reduction/suppression system. In hindsight, the blurred engine areas might have been done to conceal some muffling gear. Good catch.

I'm surprised the SOF guys don't have large combat gliders like the Wacos and Horsas of WWII.  They are obviously quiet and have the advantage of significant load carrying capability.  The WWII models had almost no RCS since they were constructed primarily of wood and fabric, and they can landed be landed in surprisingly small areas.  The military is showing renewed interest in blimps, maybe gliders aren't far behind.

[Swishypants]

https://youtu.be/dXvz5un5Yn4

Still better than the F-35!

[Uncle Duke]

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/187470/airbus-corruption-scandal-may-lead-straight-to-the-top.html

I spent an evening with a group of UK aerospace contractors/subcontractors/suppliers in a pub listening to their amusing stories of palm greasing "wogs".  The discussion started when I declined to allow them to buy my drinks due to DoD regulations against such things.  Their stories were nothing on the scale as discussed in the article, but much smaller potatoes meeting the "expectations" of (primarily) Middle Eastern and Asian types visiting them in the UK.  The standard stuff you'd expect, wine, women and song for the most part, but some of the visitors had very unique requirements.  The funniest was a senior military officer from an unnamed Middle Eastern nation who wanted to drive a classic Aston Martin.  They made it happen, but the VIP was very disappointed the car lacked all the high tech gizmos and systems on James Bonds' car.

[Jackstar]

I declined to allow them to buy my drinks due to DoD regulations against such things.

Would you mind linking to these regulations? I'm curious what it says about email.

[Uncle Duke]

Would you mind linking to these regulations? I'm curious what it says about email.

The regs I'm talking about were standards of personal conduct. It used to be AFR 30-30, but that was replaced by DoD Joint Ethics Standard or something similar to that.  Email would not have been covered under either of those, there were a series of regs that dealt with use of electronic media and computer security.  We had to take that training annually as I recall.

[Jackstar]

The regs I'm talking about were standards of personal conduct.

Yes. They were.

[Taaroa]

Scaled Composites has a new plane:

Scaled Composites announced on Oct. 11 that it is building two experimental aircraft “to demonstrate advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques” and one of the aircraft has flown. The powerplant is a single Pratt & Whitney JTD-15D-5D engine that pushes the aircraft to Mach 0.6 and operate at an altitude of 30,000 ft.

[Swishypants]

The age of the piloted airplane is just, for the most part, over. Where are the electromagnetically driven temporal sleds and laser guns? We've had them for decades. Come on already!

[Dr. MD MD]

The age of the piloted airplane is just, for the most part, over. Where are the electromagnetically driven temporal sleds and laser guns? We've had them for decades. Come on already!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8E_zMLCRNg

[Taaroa]

Scaled Composites has a new plane:

https://youtu.be/DdLtcSUQmL4

[Spookingtons]

https://youtu.be/M6a6WPr0Bp8

[Jackstar]

Where are the electromagnetically driven temporal sleds and laser guns? We've had them for decades. Come on already!

Hillary deleted them.

[Swishypants]

Hillary deleted them.

Time Cop was a documentary.

[Jackstar]

Why isn't this thread filled with memorials for Eric Schultz? I am disappointed in each and every one of you.

Time Cop

Amateur.

[Taaroa]

I wonder what possesses someone to paint a Soviet era Czech trainer in the colour scheme of the USAF aerobatics team...

[Jackstar]

Oh yeah, that reminds me--how long ago was it, that you noticed that the U.S. and Russian flags use the same colours?


surely the work of another lone seamstress

[Taaroa]

Oh yeah, that reminds me--how long ago was it, that you noticed that the U.S. and Russian flags use the same colours?


surely the work of another lone seamstress

The United States is obviously a slavic nation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Slavic_colors

[Hog]

Canadian C/F-18 in 2017 150th anniversary livery



peace
Hog

[Walks_At_Night]

Was working in the back yard today, digging out some tree roots and heard a deep rumble.   Looked up and Glory Be it was a B-24.
Turns out there are some War Birds in town this weekend over at RDU.   Way cool............

[GravitySucks]

Was working in the back yard today, digging out some tree roots and heard a deep rumble.   Looked up and Glory Be it was a B-24.
Turns out there are some War Birds in town this weekend over at RDU.   Way cool............

Airshow is here at Ellington this weekend. Haven’t seen many planes flying around. Thunderbirds are supposed to be here.

https://wingsoverhouston.com/