Those are not rivets but access latches. They are treated and are flush to the surface of the skin.
This is what I was referring too.
Look on the upper left panel on the photo i posted (closed panel). Btw, hard to find close up photos of F-35 skin.
I don’t think obligatory has any solid grasp of fluid dynamics. Ideal shape is that of a water drop? What? Oh, and I’ve seen obligatory rave on and on about the Sear-Haack body without even fully understanding what it means. A true supersonic aircraft would not have it’s volume distribution symmetrical, the peak would actually be towards the rear because you calculate area through Mach-plane cuts. Sears-Haack volume is strictly for transsonic.
An F-35’s area ruling isn’t the most ideal or have the greatest fineness ratio, but the question is whether it’s good enough for its intended role and provide reasonably good air combat maneuvering capabilities. Some of this eyeball conclusions is laughable to say the least.
Of course, obligatory is also fond of repeatedly citing a “NASA study” (it’s actually a contract paper done for Boeing for their JAST configuration study) to show that the F-35 is “moderate observable” based on a preliminary configuration chart that doesn’t even detail RCS ranges for its classifications, and then concludes that GaN can then “nullify” it. And then he gets into nonsense like this.
And here’s a hint why that’s a load of crap and why shape is still the most important aspect of LO.
Enjoy your gain of 20+ dBsm. :highly_amused:
I’m sorry but when someone shows so much technical ignorance it’s hard to give him much credence. If he wants credibility, he should first read some books on fluid mechanics and electromagnetic theory.
What your graph shows is that a flat surface will have a larger. reflection depending on aspect angle. Coma.
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