All Things Aviation Related

[pmax]

[john70t]

My layman engineer brain is buzzing with that 777 folding wingtip.
Does a wider wing always create more torque, or is that eventually cancelled by rotational drag along the z-axis toward the empennage (tail)?



Why not a lateral rotating wingtip to decrease cross section at cruising speed, like the F-14?

[Heel n Toe]

The venerable A-1 Skyraider...

[pavulon]

Those 777 engines sound like air-raid sirens.

[greglepore]

Spent a nice couple idle hours yesterday poking around the Dulles annex of the National Air and Space museum. Time well spent.

[450knotOffice]

Originally Posted by dlockhart

(...that F4 Phantom video!)

Thanks for posting that!! I had no idea there were any Phantoms still airworthy. When I was a young kid in the early 70's, that was my absolute favorite fighter. I'll turn to look at that plane over any WWII plane.

[oldE]

Wasn't the Skyraider also referred to as the "Spad" by some navy fighter jocks?

Best
Les

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by 450knotOffice

Thanks for posting that!! I had no idea there were any Phantoms still airworthy. I'll turn to look at that plane over any WWII plane.

I was "stashed" at VA-42, the A-6 RAG in NAS Oceana before flight school, 1983 time frame. I got a seat qual and a ride (back seat) in a Phantom. I have two aviation truisms:

The Phantom is proof that with enough power, bricks fly, and fly well.

A CH-53E is like flying your house from the bathroom.

Originally Posted by oldE

Wasn't the Skyraider also referred to as the "Spad" by some navy fighter jocks?

Indeed. But the Spad was more ground attack, an amazing aircraft with the aerodynamic properties of a Volkswagen Bus.

Great, great aircraft.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by john70t

The Icon A5 doesn't have power, speed, acrobatics, or range. But it's got everything else.

She is really good. Watch her hands...the hallmark of a good pilot.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by john70t

My layman engineer brain is buzzing with that 777 folding wingtip.

Why not a lateral rotating wingtip to decrease cross section at cruising speed, like the F-14?

1 Impossibly heavy and expensive to manufacture..
the F14 had a massive Titanium Wingbox to keep them wings in check
Wing would need to be much thicker to house the tech to rotate it.

Ti wing spars on commercial jets doesn't add up in the costs department.
a rotating mechanism is complicated
Wing sweep had a lot more function then space saving on deck.
It was a crucial aerodynamic device to give that big bird good performance over a huge range of speeds ,sub and supersonic.

Airliners only need lift and cruise. No supersonic speeds required.

2 flipping up the wing tips is cheap and known tech, navy planes have had that kind of stuff for ages. They had it during WW2 !

Wing just needs to lock in place and jobs done.
It's just a bolt that locks.... simple, safe.

3 folding back half the wing at cruising speed would not work
either swing the entire wing
or don't.

Wing simply would not work right.

Also keep in mind that wing sweep on a plane like the F14 meant a big change of Center of Gravity
You can manage that on a Tomcat being a Fighter jet

But you don't really need that kind of complicated systems on an airliners.
You don't even want that kind of complicated systems considering how some airlines in some countries train their pilots.. look at the MCAS debacle

[James Brown]

the folding wingtips are to aid in parking at "normal" gates. A lesson learned the hard way with the airbus 380

[James Brown]

This is what i'm working on now, any guesses what engine it is?
That's me in the aircraft (center seat hint, hint).

[edgemar]

Allison T-56-A-14 turboprop engine

[oldE]

P 3 ?

Best
Les

[James Brown]

all correct yes, good job

[James Brown]

now what is this one!

[greglepore]

Miss the orions out of Willow Grove nas...

[James Brown]

been there many times, great times

[dar636]

Had a day off in Toulouse, here for a UPS A300 flight deck upgrade - so what do you do as an airplane geek in a great classical city? Go to the airplane/space museums of course. The new Airbus museum Aeroscopia features several prototypes (ATR-42, A320, A340, A380, Concorde #3, M400) indoors and out.
Found a helo I thought looked pretty normal until studying... Turbine powered, no transmission but ducted bleed air to rotor tip nozzles, no tail rotor (rudder), single piston put-put to start er up. Pics are kind of dark -




French fighters on display are beautiful in their simplicity, the F1-F111 Mirages all look like strap on hotrods. The Naval Jaguar looks the same, point and shoot. Interesting Squadron logo too.

[dar636]

My take home airplane would be the pristine bf-109, arguably one of the best fighters of WWII.


The Super Guppy (modified Boeing) had the nose swung open for inspection. They used three aircraft to haul production fuselages and wings until the A300 Beluga came online. I thought it cool that the museum left this decal in place, good humor.


Across the road is the soon to be empty A380 Final Assembly complex

This is a very nice museum if you find yourself in town