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Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys
- Thread starter Downeaster
- Start date
Ed Nash is another YouTuber I really like.
In his post of today, Nash has come up with an Italian aircraft that is somewhat similar in concept to the Bell P39/P63 mid-engine fighters - but with a big difference. The Piaggio P119 used an aircooled radial engine mounted behind the cockpit.
Quite remarkable really as this layout hadn’t been tried since the British FE2 of World War 1 and that airplane used a large truss structure built off the upper and lower wings to bridge around the whirling propellor. The Piaggio P119 used a driveshaft arrangement just like the Bell fighters - and a large under-fuselage scoop to get cooling air to the engine.
In his post of today, Nash has come up with an Italian aircraft that is somewhat similar in concept to the Bell P39/P63 mid-engine fighters - but with a big difference. The Piaggio P119 used an aircooled radial engine mounted behind the cockpit.
Quite remarkable really as this layout hadn’t been tried since the British FE2 of World War 1 and that airplane used a large truss structure built off the upper and lower wings to bridge around the whirling propellor. The Piaggio P119 used a driveshaft arrangement just like the Bell fighters - and a large under-fuselage scoop to get cooling air to the engine.
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Here’s a fascinating story of a US Navy aviator - Capt. Bob Elder (1918-2008). He flew top cover for the Doolittle Raid in 1942 as the B25s took off, did carrier suitability trials on a P51 Mustang “Seahorse” at the end of WW-2 and finished his career as a test pilot on the F18 Hornet.
Wow…..just WOW!
Wow…..just WOW!
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I love P51's they look so cool; as good as our Spitfire variants in my opinion.
Quite a transition from designing and building cutting edge fighter planes to building Scooters!
But if you saw the way my wife handles her Vespa she might be right at home in a fighter air plane!
I ride with a guy who has a Vespa - and it is a pretty gutsy little ride. The only concern I have are those teeny little tires and the wimpy looking brakes.
Pete
A few flyers may be able to relate...
A Mirage F1 fighter jet just crashed in the Arizona desert, just North of a housing development.
Authorities are investigating after a jet from Luke Air Force Base crashed near Buckeye north of the White Tank Mountains on Thursday morning, according to Sean Clements, a spokesperson for Luke Air Force Base in Glendale .
The aircraft was a contracted Mirage F1 fighter that operated out of the base. The aircraft crashed around 11 a.m. in an unpopulated area 15 miles northwest of the base, according to Clements.
The pilot managed to eject safely, Clements said.
The Buckeye Police Department, the 56th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department, 56th CES explosive ordinance disposal unit, and 56th Security Forces Squadron were on the scene assisting, Clements said.
Luke Air Force Base, located near Glendale Avenue and Litchfield Road in west Glendale, is a training base for F-35 pilots. It has been transitioning from F-16 Fighting Falcon in the past decade.
The F1’s belong to a private contractor and are under contract to the Air Force to act as an aggressor for tactical training. Here’s an article about that,
https://www.airway1.com/old-mirage-...being-used-as-aggressor-aircraft-in-the-usaf/
F1 cockpit,
Authorities are investigating after a jet from Luke Air Force Base crashed near Buckeye north of the White Tank Mountains on Thursday morning, according to Sean Clements, a spokesperson for Luke Air Force Base in Glendale .
The aircraft was a contracted Mirage F1 fighter that operated out of the base. The aircraft crashed around 11 a.m. in an unpopulated area 15 miles northwest of the base, according to Clements.
The pilot managed to eject safely, Clements said.
The Buckeye Police Department, the 56th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department, 56th CES explosive ordinance disposal unit, and 56th Security Forces Squadron were on the scene assisting, Clements said.
Luke Air Force Base, located near Glendale Avenue and Litchfield Road in west Glendale, is a training base for F-35 pilots. It has been transitioning from F-16 Fighting Falcon in the past decade.
The F1’s belong to a private contractor and are under contract to the Air Force to act as an aggressor for tactical training. Here’s an article about that,
https://www.airway1.com/old-mirage-...being-used-as-aggressor-aircraft-in-the-usaf/
F1 cockpit,
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.....I'd imagine there were a few young USAF pilots who landed their airplanes and had a "difficult" conversation with @Jim or perhaps some US Marine Corp. helo pilots who had similar chats with @jetmechmarty - after flights that didn't quite go as planned.
Thankfully, I missed having to experience combat.
Only time I recall chewin' a pilot out was when he was hot doggin' and rolled the nose tires off their beads trying the turn too fast. Knew he was wrong and took it like a man. After debrief, he hoofed it back out to the jet and helped me change 'em. That's how you do it.
Had a few F-111's come back with holes in 'em during the first gulf war. We didn't bitch... we were just glad they made it back. Although the cartoon is quiet humorous, I suspect that was more the norm even in WWII.
I used to know a WWII B17 mechanic. I have his mechanic handbook. He said he cried when the airplanes returned. They rarely returned with all the crew members.
Slow and steady wins the race. My thoughts exactly.
Alex Hollings lays out the hypersonic weapons race as it stands today.
Alex Hollings lays out the hypersonic weapons race as it stands today.
I watched that video and it is very good - but - there is an important detail which may mislead some folks.
The speed of sound (Mach = 1.0) varies a lot from about 761 mph at sea level to less than 660 mph at say....50-65,000 ft and then it increases up to about 155,0000 ft. The actual relationship between Mach number and speed depends on air temperature and density - both of which generally fall the higher you go - but then the radiation of the sun begins to heat the air molecules even as air density continues to drop.
So, the actual speed variation with Mach number is not at all simple but rather, it strongly depends on the local atmospheric conditions (see the table below).
Thus, translating a Mach number to a speed in mph or km/hr is not simple and may be rather misleading.
For those reasons, the speed of aircraft or missiles travelling at supersonic speeds are seldom quoted in knots, mph etc. but rather, they use the local Mach number as a measure of speed because it is the effects of compressibility (i.e. the Mach effect) and not the airspeed - that affect how they fly, manoeuver and their stability, and so-on.
That is why early research into supersonic flight was carried out at high altitude - ground speeds were lower to get a certain Mach number - but then if the aircraft became uncontrollable (as many did), the pilot could recover if he could hang-in there until the aircraft was at a lower altitude and the Mach number had decreased.
Anyhow - as with so much these days, it appears that there is a lot of Chinese and Russian propaganda associated with this whole topic and it may even involve a certain...shall we say, economy with the truth....(can you say....Olympics?).
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Ban me if this is political
Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
This wouldn't be the first time we've been led down an expensive path to counter a non existent (or trumped up) threat.
Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
This wouldn't be the first time we've been led down an expensive path to counter a non existent (or trumped up) threat.
