Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US is the most powerful 3 season military in the world.
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Russia also would probably like the Arctic to unfreeze a bit. (Ports, navigation etc)
F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
131–140 of 440 posts
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#132Switzerland, if they want something they can fly for air policing is forced to buy the F35 at what every price the US feels fit (even though the contract with Lockheed states a fixed price, naive politicians and consultants found out the hard way). Of course the CHF to USD conversion is fix at a shit rate from many years ago and from what I understand there is no way around that because the SNB did the conversion bac…
Israel's attack on Iran using the F-35 proves it is a very effective, if expensive, weapon.
Only if US lets you use it, and given constant instability current government shows, next generation of fighters won't be bought from US.
Better to have something even worse on paper that can actually fly and lock targets than an expensive paperweight.
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#133> But those attempts failed to recenter the nose wheel and resulted in both the left and right main landing gears freezing up and not being able to extend fully to attempt an actual landing. > At that point, the F-35’s sensors indicated it was on the ground and the jet’s computer systems transitioned to “automated ground-operation mode,” the report said. And there wasn't a way to override that? I get that "manual mod…
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Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#134Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#135This is wild. You can't get away from these zoom calls even as an F-35 pilot.
I was told there is so much automation on those planes, the pilot does little flying. I always assumed they were kept busy going through their compliance trainings.
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#136F-35 is a boondoggle. $200M for one fighter plane is insane. If the USA ever had to go to war with this weapon, a huge number of them would be offline at any given time, and every single airframe loss would cause a huge dent in overall combat power. I don’t understand why our military and political leaders keep trying to buy ridiculously overpriced Swiss Army knife weapons (lots of flexibility but great at nothing) i…
Now they've made a lot of them, the cost per unit is actually kinda reasonable as these things go. Still way way more than drones though.
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#137F-35 is a boondoggle. $200M for one fighter plane is insane. If the USA ever had to go to war with this weapon, a huge number of them would be offline at any given time, and every single airframe loss would cause a huge dent in overall combat power. I don’t understand why our military and political leaders keep trying to buy ridiculously overpriced Swiss Army knife weapons (lots of flexibility but great at nothing) i…
You sure about that? You should look at the F-35's performance in Israeli hands in their recent strikes on Iran.
For me, that was a moment when I realized that the received wisdom about military things can be just completely wrong.
I had considered myself to be reasonably informed about the F-35, and how "everyone knows" it's a boondoggle. I think this started with a long-form article I read in 2013, "How the U.S. and Its Allies Got Stuck with the World’s Worst New Warplane": https://medium.com/war-is-boring/fd-how-the-u-s-and-its-alli...
Here is the HN discussion at the time, full of confident assertions that the F-35 is useless: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6211029
Fast forward to this year, when Israel's F-35s operated over Iran with total impunity. Not a single plane lost AFAIK.
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ejecting from an airplane is no joke: 18g of force leaves 20-30% with spinal fractures, and ejection seats have an 8% mortality rate[1] It seems to me that continuing flight with inoperative/damaged landing gear while you discuss alternatives with engineers is the safest option. Burn fuel, make a plan, let people on the ground mobilize to help, and eject when you've tried what you can and it truly becomes the safest…
It makes you wonder if it would be possible for ejection seats to have a safer bailout mode. Sure, the "compress your spine" mode is definitely appropriate during a wartime situation where someone has shot your wings off, but is it really required when a mechanical failure leaves you unable to land yet in a more-or-less stable flight at a reasonably low speed? Perhaps a 6g ejection might be more appropriate in those…
I wonder about that. Maybe the added complexity is a con? I.e. the default would still be full force, but a controlled ejection mode could be gentler, but still capable of clearing the aircraft reliably in straight/level flight.
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#139But why was there water in the hydraulic system in the first place?
Likely contamination of ground handling equipment [1]. Unfortunately can happen. I wonder if the hydraulic fluid is hygroscopic or something? 1. https://www.pacaf.af.mil/Portals/6/documents/3_AIB%20Report....
But 1/3 volume? That’s a LOT of contamination.
Re: F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
This kind of stuff happens all the time. Especially if you ignore a controller instruction. They'll have a number for you. But really there's a ton of small, unmanned airfields (some in peoples backyards!) that have a number you can call to operate things like the runway papi lights. Call to order a burger to go. Or just call to talk to Fred, the owner, to see how his day was. As long as you can safely operate the ai…
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I take it you never flew VFR over Nebraska corn…
Yes, papi lights are operated by radio. However, not everyone has fancy radios and only has handhelds, their Nokia phone, or their right arm wave…
It’s not all class C+ out there.
I will point out that PAPI lights as part of a PCL system are operated using mic clicks on CTAF radio. These systems are expensive and sometimes you’re landing in a grass field and just need the runway lights so you don’t run into the trees. You can click your mic as many times as you want, you’ll still be in the dark. The only way is to call Phil…