Official Aviation Thread...

[george graves]

Cool video of an a380 heavy on SFO approach.

@6:40 why does it have three separate ailerons that all seem to move independently?

That and the computer saying "retard, retard, retard" once it gets below 100 feet is priceless....

[tttoon]

Really nice vid! The ailerons at 6:40 and a little before are flaperons, that means that they extend slightly down with the flaps to increase lift and still continue to function as ailerons. They move independently because of the fly by wire system of the Airbus. That takes the stick input (roll or pitch rate command) and computes the required control deflections from that. So if you do not touch the stick the airplane will constantly adjust control surfaces to remain straight and level (if that was the position you were in). You can then roll the A/C into a bank angle, it will automatically pitch up to maintain level and once the stick is released will maintain that bank angle until you roll out. It's a great system but definitely takes a big part of the stick and rudder out of flying. That said, everybody who flies these airliners (Boeing or Airbus) has maybe 2 minutes total of hand flying, rest is auto pilot. So the argument that you can do barrel rolls better in a Boeing is BS.

That some move up and some move down at the same time is due to the adverse yaw an aileron creates. If you move an aileron down, it will increase the drag on that wing and yaw the airplane opposite to the intended direction of turn. The airplane combines inputs to minimize this adverse yaw effect.

The retard retard is a cue to put the engines to idle.

[george graves]

Ah - makes sense.

http://www.joeldevlin.com/

[spyde25]

Took this last week. Sorry about the vid quality still working out the go pro.


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/63890689@N04/8980310392/

[BlackbirdM3]

For the first time since about '95 I went back to the town I was born in, and where I gained my love of flying for the annual "Airport day"
Much to my surprise, I found an old friend sitting on the ramp. Our old Cessna 175 that was out for an unknown reason, there was no one in sight. I was really hoping I could catch a ride in it but it didn't happen.


Parked next to me at the motel I found this in the windshield of a van.

The owner was looking my M3 over and sort of got the reference of my licence plate (HABU M3) and saw the Skunkworks logo in the rear window. He asked if I worked at Plant 42, I said no, but I was a HUGE fan of the SR-71 and U2/TR-1. It turned out that he worked on the a/c systems of the SR-71, TR-1s and F117 at Palmdale. We had a good conversation.

Here are some shots of the fly in. As a kid I used to help set this event up every year. I only recognized two people.

















It was sad in a few ways, I remember this being a much bigger event with more people flying in (the ramp was literally full with people parking in the weeds) and so many spectators coming for the pancake breakfast that there was no room to park in any of the fields around the airport. Now pretty much everyone in attendance was parked along the edge of the single road into the airport. :( Perhaps it was just the perception of a wide eyed little kid who loved to fly.

Will

[gkurey]

Finally got my platform assigned to me! C-2's! I am super excited!

[SGT4677]

Congrats gkurey! I have 1 cat and trap as a passenger in the C-2 way back in 1985.
Thanks for your service!

[BlackbirdM3]

A few pics I took a couple weeks ago. The first is a Grumman F2M Goshawk, the second is a Lockheed PV2 Harpoon, and the last could have been taken 70 years ago. Its an SNJ, Stearman and Aeronca Grasshopper.

Will

[gkurey]

Did some flying today in a friends Grumman American Tiger! Awesome little plane, pretty quick and can slang some G's!

[totheredline]

Glad to see there's some fellow aviation enthusiasts here!

[gkurey]

Indeed...looks like you are in my area as well. Do you fly?

[flyboyx]

A few pics I took a couple weeks ago. The first is a Grumman F2M Goshawk, the second is a Lockheed PV2 Harpoon, and the last could have been taken 70 years ago. Its an SNJ, Stearman and Aeronca Grasshopper.

Will

this is the same type of airplane emelia erheart was flying when she went missing. there used to be one sitting in little rock. probably the same condition as this one. flat tires and bird's nests in the nacelles.

Did some flying today in a friends Grumman American Tiger! Awesome little plane, pretty quick and can slang some G's!

i always loved these. your friend's plane looks like a cream puff. i remember when i was in college, you could buy a somewhat crapped out aa5 for about 5-7 grand. i doubt you could find one anywhere near that today.

i never flew one, but i heard this is a plane you never want to stall.

[gkurey]

i always loved these. your friend's plane looks like a cream puff. i remember when i was in college, you could buy a somewhat crapped out aa5 for about 5-7 grand. i doubt you could find one anywhere near that today.

i never flew one, but i heard this is a plane you never want to stall.

My friend said he paid around 50k for his....it is pretty nice; IFR capable and devoid of any major issues. It could use some paint here and there, but for a plane from the 70s, its great. A quick search shows this price to be in line with other Tigers for sale out there.

As far as the handling qualities go, the stalls were pretty docile just like any other small plane...we did the whole series and I can't say any of them were exciting.

[BlackbirdM3]

this is the same type of airplane emelia erheart was flying when she went missing. there used to be one sitting in little rock. probably the same condition as this one. flat tires and bird's nests in the nacelles.

Actually, no its not. Amelia Earhart was in a Lockheed Electra, like this.


The plane in the black and white pic is a Lockheed PV2 Harpoon, essentially a bigger, faster Lockheed PV1 Ventura. Word on the street is that this one is going to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater. It was a former air tanker, and has been sitting at Schellville forever. There are only 3 flying PV2s in the world, with another two or three that might be flyable, but haven't flown in years.

Will

[Eric]

There is something like that parked up at a local airport near me. I'll have to snap a pic and post it here but from 300 yards (closest road) it looks like the PV2 posted above.

I read an article on "environmentalgrafitti.com" about airplane bone yards. There were a few shots of the B36 & SR71 at the Castle museum. They were labeling these static displays as bone yards... I hate hippies.