Plane / Planes / Aircraft / Aeroplane / Airplane appreciation

Reckon I'd rely on trim, just to be on the safe side.

That's a big no. I get told off for adjusting attitude with the trim tab.

Yeah, but you're not in any danger of an uncontrolled pitch-up manoeuvre*.

*obvious euphemism is obvious.

I always pitch up when I'm in control.

There's no trim on the SR71. Like mentioned earlier, it has various settings for the joystick that either shake it when near the maximum AOA as a warning and another that does the same but counters the movement to correct it.

I expect at Mach 3.x at 80,000 ft, it would either be on autopilot or on the setting that limits input to 7-8 degrees.

There is a difference between absolute pitch angle and angle of attack. You can fly vertically upwards with 0° AOA, so there is no constraint on the zoom climb potential imposed by the limiting AOA.

As I understand it, the Lightning was basically out of control at the top of those 87,000' zoom climbs, but that wasn't a problem in something as docile as a Lightning, whereas it might be fatal in an SR-71 as they don't seem to be recoverable the way proper fighter planes are.

There is a difference between absolute pitch angle and angle of attack. You can fly vertically upwards with 0° AOA, so there is no constraint on the zoom climb potential imposed by the limiting AOA.

I'm perfectly aware of what angle of attack is, and that it's fundamentally impossible to pitch the nose of an aircraft up (at a constant speed) without increasing AOA. You certainly can't perform anything that might be regarded as a zoom climb (rapidly exchanging airspeed for altitude) without a considerable increase in AOA, and if the AOA limits are as low as the SR-71's appear to be during supersonic flight, it's not going to happen.

There's no trim on the SR71. Like mentioned earlier, it has various settings for the joystick that either shake it when near the maximum AOA as a warning and another that does the same but counters the movement to correct it.

I expect at Mach 3.x at 80,000 ft, it would either be on autopilot or on the setting that limits input to 7-8 degrees.

SR-71 trim mentioned here. Also, I'm happy to be corrected, but a 'setting' that limits AOA on an plane of that era sounds unlikely. As far as I'm aware such things didn't (couldn't, even) exist until they put a computer between the stick and the control surfaces.

if the AOA limits are as low as the SR-71's appear to be during supersonic flight, it's not going to happen.

Yeah, that could have been put better - obviously there is some limit on the zoom climb potential, but you can still swap enough speed for altitude to comfortable top the Lightning acheivement. It's moot anyway, as other sources mentioned since have place the SR-71 in level flight at higher altitude at the end of the cruise-climb phase.

but a 'setting' that limits AOA on an plane of that era sounds unlikely. As far as I'm aware such things didn't (couldn't, even) exist until they put a computer between the stick and the control surfaces.

There was a computer, and it did push the stick forward if the pilot tried to exceed the AOA limit; it was all described in one of the earlier references. Two settings, one which was just a stick shaker and one which did the shaker thing and then forced the pilot's hand at the next stage. Not fly-by-wire as we now know it, as my reading of it suggests that the pilot could get into a tug of war with the system and still fuck it up if he wanted to.

No effing way!

Probably the worst situation to get an itch.

Naughty!

You think that's low?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgkZSpJ0vFQ

THIS is low (ignore the music).

I'm waiting for tester, Brun, or NurseHolliday to call potato on Spotter's photo, and that last video. I'm finding them both very hard to believe. Especially the photo. That's close to the ground, and no shadow? Very dubious.

Have a low-flying Airbus while you wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26H-WzIe858

Keep an eye on the left wingtip. That would have yer arse twitching like a rabbit's nose.

The video is obviously CGI.

The low Tornado looks worse than it is (although it's pretty low) due to deceptive perspective. Tip clearance looks to be about 5'
http://www.wallchan.com/images/sandbox/68531-wingtipgraze.jpg

It seems the Italian pilot got a proper bollocking for it
http://theaviationist.com/2009/03/25/low-level-tornado-ecr/

So here's the IA63 vid from the pilot's perspective. Skip to 00:50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiqQLTK3xaA

Not fake, just mental.

This is low:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-12

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Don't you just hate it when you have to queue for the petrol pumps?
http://www.defense.gov/dodcmsshare/homepagephoto/2009-12/hires_091208-F-8733W-205.jpg

An-12 pilot has to be crazy to land on snow anyway so might as well get more crazy.

Imagine how many warning alarms must be going off in the cockpit at that point...
Must be really distracting.

Antonov's have warning alarms?

:-)

From Airbus's Twitter:

CN235

Another fucking AN30 down.

Dropping like flies

Date: 23-MAY-2012
Time: 11:50 LT
Type: Antonov An-30B
Operator: Russian Air Force
Registration: 04 Black
C/n / msn: 0704
Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 23
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Čáslav Airport - LKCV - Czech Republic
Phase: Landing
Nature: Military
Departure airport: LKCV
Destination airport: LKCV

Narrative:

When landing at Čáslav Airport - LKCV, the cre of a Russian Air Force Antonov An-30B lost control of the aircraft, which skidded off the paved surface, where it broke in two pieces and caught fire. At the moment there are 19people on board injured, mostly fire injuries. The aircraft was returning from a military training "Open skies", on board were 14 russians and 9 czechs.