Re: Ada Success Story II

["Larry J. Elmore" <ljelmore@montana.campus.mci.net>]

Jon S Anthony <jsa@alexandria> wrote in article
<JSA.97Mar5183223@alexandria>...
> In article <97030510245774@psavax.pwfl.com> "Marin David Condic,
561.796.8997, M/S 731-93" <condicma@PWFL.COM> writes:
> 
> >     never designed with the intent of utilizing the nozzle. Ultimately
> >     - if the nozzles do what you'd like - you'd be able to remove all
> >     the control surfaces off the back of the airplane.
> 
> Speaking as an acro pilot, this sounds mighty scary!  Would this sort
> of thing really offer the sort of control capability to get you out of
> spins and such?  Hmmm, OTOH, spinning a jet is pretty much going to
> kill it anyway, so maybe this is simply irrlevant...

There's a number of planes flying now, such as the X-29, that are
inherently unstable in flight and require continuous monitoring and flight
control adjustments by their computer control systems. This is a highly
desirable feature in a fighter plane (makes it very maneuverable as
compared to safe, stable planes), but until now there was a limit on how
far one could take that before the plane was unflyable. As it was, some of
the most successful fighters of the past had horrendously high accident
rates with student pilots. I suppose one could do away with some of the
control surfaces on planes with vectoring nozzles, but I just don't see it
happening in the real world. What happens if your engine flames out? You'd
probably have no chance to attempt to relight it, you'd just have to punch
out immediately. I suspect thrust vectoring would work best in conjunction
with control surfaces on a plane specifically designed for it. 

> >     I'm afraid that I don't know anything about the "F15X" (some
> >     experiment being done by McDonnel Douglas?) at the moment.
> >     Anything you can tell me about it so I could find out who to ask?
> >     There might be some interesting control work being done there.
> 
> Well, I don't know much about it either.  I can't recall where I heard
> about it - Aviation Leak or some related rag.  Supposedly, the idea
> _is_ to retro fit some thrust vectoring version onto some version of
> some set of F15 airframes.  How's that for hedging? ;-) It may be
> these were going to be "new" airframes where the design will have been
> twiddled in some ways to be more accommodating.  But really - I don't
> know.

I think the F-15X has only 2-D vectoring (vertical). Anyone know if Ada was
used for the X-29 avionics?

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------
Larry J. Elmore
Bozeman, Montana

"And they shall beat their swords into plowshares."
--Isaiah 2:4

"History teaches us that those who beat their swords into plowshares
usually end up plowing for those who kept their swords."
--Anon.