ELPDon’t know. I am sure engineers have looked at it a lot. What is scarey is seeing a video of the wing (viewed from a backseater position ) of a release of a 2000lb class weapon like a Mk-84 or GBU. After release the wing flops up and down ( 120 on the tip station and all )… ( not in a “I am strong” type of impression 😀 ) well.. it originally was a light weight figher idea. ( now carrying more than some F-4 Phantom mission load outs :rolleyes: Now a new Block 5x , 6x has so many braces and strengthening components added into the design it is amazing how far it has come. Not counting the newer big/strong landing gear, nose gear mods. Wing mods ( Block 3x and below you have to watch your max T.O. loadout weights, so as not to break the weak landing gear ) . Just the nose area mods for the nose gear when earlier jets started putting on the complete LANTIRN system (both pods) is a story all by itself. Wow. I think if you buy a brand new Block 5x or 6x you are over the hump for these suprises that come up. It only took 25 or more years. 😀 “Buy now and get two free extra sets of wings* with each purchase” 😮
*= Made in Turkey 😉
ELPYou aren’t an air traffic controller on duty, are you? 😀 😮
ELPThe maintenance on the Rafale is certainly on par with the SU-3x based on how Harry described the SU-3x maintenace setup. Rafale claims in their advertising stuff, some interesting ( I would say the wording is “unsafe” ) figures when describing engine life between inspections. Foggy as it doesn’t say what that process is but going 800 hours without at least a scope and visual inspection is asking for trouble. Maybe that is just Rafales wording for ads. Having not seen maintenance manuals and such.
If it was just me I would pick the Rafale because it is based on years of experience of western style flightline maintenance habits. For me, there is a security in that. I am biased and can’t say I would prefer Russian combat jet engines for any reason when it comes to long term sustainment issues. They have a history that I’m not comfortable with, even if the rest of the SU-3x parts of the jet run like a wet dream. Again thats just me.
Sagem which does lots of nav aid / avionics stuff for French aerospace mentions in their annual reports of supporting SU-30 avionics 😮 so there might be some similar tech there, but I haven’t seen a part by part list and am not a avionics techy so I don’t know what all that support involves.
ELPOriginally posted by aditya
The faster you can get it into the jet the better.but then you can refuel three aircraft at a time using the drouge and probe methods.
Yeah but not big jets like an E-4, or C-5. Those jets push a wake in front of them that is felt by the tanker. You can only do one of those at a time.
There is a tanker guy on here that posts once in a while maybe he can give fuel flow figures.
The drouge has other advantages too for small jets like buddy refuel packs.
ELPDon’t worry. That jet has tough gear. Just activate the intake screens to help stop FOD before you go off into the grass ( not a complete help but better than nothing 😀 The nose gear will kick up a lot of dirt near the intake. If its soft grass, DON’T hit the wheel brakes 😀 )
Next time as soon as you touch down, keep the nose wheel up as long as possible, You will slow down better. Cool screenie
ELPThe original idea deepspace said is kinda correct. Putting a 120 on stations 1 & 9 ( the tips ) did reduce some flutter.
Now with the latest anti-flutter fix (software) loaded up (from tests almost two years ago, I don’t know if that is an issue )
Today if you talk to knowledgeable crew chiefs and sustainment types, they will tell you they would now prefer stations 2 & 8 for the 120s.
Starting with Kunsan and their Block 4x jets a real serious problem started cropping up over time from putting the 120s on 1 & 9. The flex in the wings with the weight of the 120s on the tips doing fly time started ruining fittings in the wing fuel tanks causing leaks. Serious enough where you couldn’t fly the jet until it was fixed. This would mean a jet would have to go to the fuel barn for days ( once in a while weeks if you had to wait on parts ) to get the wing tanks refirbed. This started showing up in other jets USAF wide.
They started talking to the ops types ( who thought 120s on the wing tips make the jet look cool :rolleyes: ) and split up the loadout and put 120s on 2 & 8 when possible.
Don’t know if there is a kit fix for this yet as I still see new photos of USAF F-16s with 120s on 1 & 9. LM even agreed that this is now a problem after looking at it.
One would think a brand new Block 5x or 6x has this problem fixed in production now. ( some kind of fitting or brace near the wing tank to allow it to flex without breaking fittings to the wing. Don’t know.
USAF F-16s get a lot of fly time on them over the past few years doing lots of ops. A lot of that time has been with 120s on the tips.
ELPHmm just me. Rather than a 2 Seat Su-30, I would rather have a single seat SU-35. Reason? The extra little bit of gas from no second seat is a “nice to have” when dealing with all that water.
Also the centerline CFT would be nice.
We still don’t have much in the way of public consumption mission up times on the SU-30. Probably won’t hear much from China with theirs, but USAF does have a cozy relationship with the Indian AF. ( they toured our depots recently and other USAF installations ). Plus they are a little more public.
Austrailia has enough aerospace production to cut a deal to license build SU-35 components as part of Flanker family idea. So that would be doable if the political stuff was there. Unfortunately there is a lot of LM and Boeing partnership companies in Austrailia ( example 777 components as one of many examples) there is the potential for up to 30 different companies in Austrailia to build JSF components. So the politics could be tricky just on that alone.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
ELPOriginally posted by SOC
Rumor has it that these guys proposed a replacement to the Crusader artillery piece to the US Army. I wonder what’s going on with that? Imagine, instead of one artillery shell hitting your house, it’s 6000 😀
Typical government contractor. Gets rich off of all the ammo sales. ( Board meeting: ” We need to increase ammo sales…. I know! Make weapons that use more ammo !!! ” ) $300 per round….
ELPBig aircraft like a B-52 or C-5 can spend as much as 20-25 minutes give or take “on the boom” getting fuel. The faster you can get it into the jet the better.
ELPGoing to have an interesting logistical train wreck with the USN C models in a couple years. SW, NW, and the last few years have put lots of hours on them. Might as well add some more SH’s to pick up some of that slack too. Be a while before the JSF gets into the fleet. Yet another 8 or 9 billion for some E models to replace some of the most worn C’s is a cheap investment in USN air.
ELPRe: current status of Iraq
Originally posted by mixtec
In todays conservative news, not much seems to be said about the economic or living conditions in Iraq. We just keep hearing reports about military operations against “rebellious factions”. Ive also heard brief mention that the US is not going to allow Germany, France or Russia to do bussiness in Iraq.No. Germany and France can work as sub contractors. Part of the deal for Russia forgiving debt is they are now going to do some oil equipment installs and other things.
Honestly, it doesnt look as though the US is allowing anyone to do bussiness in Iraq, they seem determined to make Iraq totally subjegated before allowing any meaningful economic recovery to take place.
Lets see, since you mentioned “conservative press” ( over here CNN, NBC, ABC, NPR are NOT conservative and they are the majority here… Now explain to me the defeatist press who are some of those and the BBC and the Guardian, some German media and some French media who almost refuse to mention ANY progress there. I would like to see that explained. Then there are the people like you who want a magic wand waved and/or have a short attention span. This stuff takes time.
I believe if the US allowed nations to go in freely to do bussiness in Iraq, Iraq would quickly become a prosperous and independant nation. I think its about time the Iraqi people stand up for their rights to determine their future. Was in the intention of the US simply to remove Sadam and WMD or is their something more that the US expects with their occupation? I think its about time people stand up and ask these questions.
Interesting opinions. Explain exactly how all this is going to happen “quickly”. I am really curious. Tell me exactly what has France done to earn any place in rebuilding Iraq?
ELPRe: current status of Iraq
Originally posted by mixtec
In todays conservative news, not much seems to be said about the economic or living conditions in Iraq. We just keep hearing reports about military operations against “rebellious factions”. Ive also heard brief mention that the US is not going to allow Germany, France or Russia to do bussiness in Iraq.No. Germany and France can work as sub contractors. Part of the deal for Russia forgiving debt is they are now going to do some oil equipment installs and other things.
Honestly, it doesnt look as though the US is allowing anyone to do bussiness in Iraq, they seem determined to make Iraq totally subjegated before allowing any meaningful economic recovery to take place.
Lets see, since you mentioned “conservative press” ( over here CNN, NBC, ABC, NPR are NOT conservative and they are the majority here… Now explain to me the defeatist press who are some of those and the BBC and the Guardian, some German media and some French media who almost refuse to mention ANY progress there. I would like to see that explained. Then there are the people like you who want a magic wand waved and/or have a short attention span. This stuff takes time.
I believe if the US allowed nations to go in freely to do bussiness in Iraq, Iraq would quickly become a prosperous and independant nation. I think its about time the Iraqi people stand up for their rights to determine their future. Was in the intention of the US simply to remove Sadam and WMD or is their something more that the US expects with their occupation? I think its about time people stand up and ask these questions.
Interesting opinions. Explain exactly how all this is going to happen “quickly”. I am really curious. Tell me exactly what has France done to earn any place in rebuilding Iraq?
ELPbut that isnt an excuse to keep the Iraq economy down.
Explain
ELPbut that isnt an excuse to keep the Iraq economy down.
Explain
ELP1983 in Misawa ( northern Honshu ) Japan. lasted about 30-45 seconds around the middle of the day. Pretty impressive. In the low low 5’s caused a little damage. Killed a couple people about 50 miles away. The building I was in was shaking pretty good. The over head light dropped. I was close to the door and got the heck out of the building. Outside stop signs were wobbling back and forth. Pretty amazing. Wouldn’t want to be in one any stronger thats for sure. Once in a while in Japan you will feel small tremors.
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