Team-BHP - Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeroen (Post 5781075)

I am not sure how forces handle the performance issues. Do they install new software when removing/adding the CFT? Maybe it is different for different fighters. It seems to work really well for the F16. Not so great on the F18.

Jeroen.

From what I read, the CFT project for the Super Hornet Block III was doomed right from the start and which was scrapped eventually. The stress of CFTs on the airframe during catapult launch and arrested Landing opened up maintenance issues that proved to be a headache during the Super Hornet Block 3 flight testing.

CFTs change the aerodynamics of the jet. They create a "bump" on the top of the aircraft which changes the way the air flows over the fuselage which, in turn, changes lift. The jets will fly differently especially at different speeds. The boundaries where the jet will go out of control would change, and how the jet would recover back flying may also change.

While I do not know if it requires software re-installation or a switch when CFTs are mounted or removed, it is reasonable to assume that some sort of software modification is done pre-flight for CFT equipped fighters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline (Post 5756075)

@Jeroen this may be a bit OT, but I am not sure how much " hand flying" is done by civil pilots in course of their transition into modern jetliners.

A hand flown jetliner would normally translate to a more bumpy ride for the passengers than when the aircraft is on auto pilot. Military pilots do, do a lot of hand flying as that is the nature of their job. But military sorties, other than transport ones* are usually short - 20 minutes to 2 hours.

*and B-52 style of the USAF

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 5782041)

A hand flown jetliner would normally translate to a more bumpy ride for the passengers than when the aircraft is on auto pilot.

Thanks, just to add. It is almost impossible to hand fly a commercial plane close to its ceiling. The higher you go, the more tricky its get as you get in the so called coffin corner. An area where even small control movements (or speed fluctuations) can cause the plane to stall. Not sure how this is handled by jet fighters. They certainly have coffin corners too. But perhaps due to design it is less of an issue? I know it is a subsonic phenomenon. And many fighters are capable of supersonic flight of course.

These days with ever decreasing vertical and horizontal separation between commercial planes, there is lots of airspace where autopilot is mandatory. A plot handflying does not have the constant precision that is required to maintain safe precision.

If your autopilot is out of order, you are not allowed to fly those routes!

Jeroen