some questions only for pilots(real,not keyboard pilots)

[F86 Saber]

I want to know if in a war scenario the pilots carry a sidearm while going on a sortie and which one is it? Normally how much ammo do they carry for the sidearm?

 

[Chogy]

Hi Chogy
i have seen various commercial airplanes cockpit videos. during flare I have not noticed that the pilot has "PULLED" the yoke significantly. I wonder why is that. does he pull that so little that it cannot be seen.

It doesn't take much actual movement of the yoke, just an inch or two max. It's not like the bad old DC-3 days where the pilot has to horse the yoke all over the place to get any decent control. Modern controls are nicely refined. It does vary with model, but in general, it's not much movement.

I want to know if in a war scenario the pilots carry a sidearm while going on a sortie and which one is it? Normally how much ammo do they carry for the sidearm?

This varies by country. U.S. pilots carry a Beretta M92 with 3 magazines total, I believe. The reality is that the pistol isn't much use, and is more of a "feel good" thing than anything else. At least it might protect you from angry unarmed civilians.

 

[below_freezing]

Does the aerodynamics of an airplane change significantly after you fire a missile? What if you fire such that one side of the plane has more missiles than the other?

 

[rockstarIN]

^^ What i understand is they ignite the missile and drop it..after one meter or so, it will come down then cruise ahead to the target.

(I'm just a key borad guy, )

 

[nightcrawler]

As far as I know no measurable change will occur. Assuming you are talking about sides that means sidewinder missiles then such missiles relatively have less mass than the aircraft body so it doesnt mean much to aerodynamic profile**. However; there occurs some very bulky missiles which mostly are resided within the fuselage e.g if a Bear Bomber ejects all of its 16 Raduga cruise missile (16*2.5=40ton) it will drastically lighten up the airframe which may positively affect the fuel economy but still strictly nothing be of much variation in aerodynamics ~mostly drag aspects.

** I am not talking about those [now rare] bulky missiles fitted under wings; such as B-52 carrying a HoundDog missile [though it was a missile it can be used as an additional takeoff engine for B-52 & then re-fuelled in air through fuel channels embeded in B-52 wings]

 

[gambit]

Does the aerodynamics of an airplane change significantly after you fire a missile? What if you fire such that one side of the plane has more missiles than the other?

As far as I know no measurable change will occur. Assuming you are talking about sides that means sidewinder missiles then such missiles relatively have less mass than the aircraft body so it doesnt mean much to aerodynamic profile**. However; there occurs some very bulky missiles which mostly are resided within the fuselage e.g if a Bear Bomber ejects all of its 16 Raduga cruise missile (16*2.5=40ton) it will drastically lighten up the airframe which may positively affect the fuel economy but still strictly nothing be of much variation in aerodynamics ~mostly drag aspects.

** I am not talking about those [now rare] bulky missiles fitted under wings; such as B-52 carrying a HoundDog missile [though it was a missile it can be used as an additional takeoff engine for B-52 & then re-fuelled in air through fuel channels embeded in B-52 wings]

There will always be some measure of asymmetric drag but even with the old analog computer assisted mechanical FLCS, and we are talking about decades old, that asymmetry will be transparently compensated by the FLCS computer.

 

[below_freezing]

Do you have the mathematical description of some of these flight control laws?

 

[gambit]

Do you have the mathematical description of some of these flight control laws?

The flight controls laws are proprietary. Not only that, each set are usually highly customized because, for this asymmetric drag example, the degree of compensating surface deflection is governed by the aircraft's own aerodynamic characteristics. Another example is the F-16's off centerline cannon. When it is fired, it will create a yaw-ing effect and the rudder deflects appropriately to keep the aircraft straight. The F-15 also has an off centerline cannon but its location is further from center than the F-16, so there will be different compensating algorithms.

 

[ynmian]

is that thread dead

 

[John Doe]

To bring it back to life, here's my question:

In WW 2, there have been instances of POW pilots stealing fighters and escaping. Is something like that possible today, to just jump in a never-seen cockpit and take off ( and land)?

If a PAF pilot who has been flying Mirages and J-7's gets his hands on an Israeli F-15, can he fly out with it? ( please PAK members, this is an example only, don't start with the jingoistic and religious stuff here)

 

[silko]

ohh, and since no one has asked!

- have you participated in any war

- have you ever shot down an enemy aircraft, if so how many and what type of aircraft

- have you been to incirlik air base, or anything related to the turkish air force

theese are my questions!

hope you can take the time to answer

 

[SQ8]

To bring it back to life, here's my question:

In WW 2, there have been instances of POW pilots stealing fighters and escaping. Is something like that possible today, to just jump in a never-seen cockpit and take off ( and land)?

If a PAF pilot who has been flying Mirages and J-7's gets his hands on an Israeli F-15, can he fly out with it? ( please PAK members, this is an example only, don't start with the jingoistic and religious stuff here)

Probably not..
A F-16 pilot may have an ounce of a chance if he can figure out some cohesive thought on how to get the engines going without a ground support unit.
But chances are say 1/100000000 against.
In case.. by fluke he manages to find a jet started up and no pilot there(right.. like that is ever going to happen)..
he then has to taxi it out , avoid gunfire.. and then take off into hostile airspace.

Now.. if the question is simply about getting into a started jet.. taking off and landing..
Western jets like the F-15 are pretty well labled.. and follow a common switchology pattern... so you will probably find the basic stuff quickly.
and relatively easy to fly.. although the F-15 is a little touchy.. it is possible to take it up.. and bring it down safely even if you have never flown the type.



WWII fighters were still fuel,button stick and pedals..
The F-15.. is a very complex machine.
It may however.. be possible to get a mig-15 or mig-21 going.. from scratch.. take it up.. and land it on the local farm road..

 

[baqai]

love this thread ... my share of questions

1. Why the HUD and other instrumentation are mostly in green color? is it possible to change the color of the HUD? it was possible in the game Falcon 4.0 which was supposed to be closest to reality flight simulator of its time but at the end of the day it was a "game", so just curious ...

2. Did you ever had to eject?

3. In a flight sim one counters the flat spin by applying opposite rudder and putting the throttle to idle, does that works in real life too?

4. How much control does HOTAS gives a pilot? I am sure there are functions for which pilot have to move the hand away from throttle/stick, what happens in such situation do they (stick/throttle) stay in place or move back (throttle) or move around (stick) about?

5. How do pilots know about their surrounding if they are stuck in heavy clouds? I mean is there any ground collision radar or something to tell them if they are some distance away from ramming into a mountain? Does it only warns about a collision or informs which direction is the ground proximity and how far? How hard is to maintain situational awareness in such circumstances?

6. What is the advantage of having a color MFD over a traditional green one?

and last question of the day

Why the hell the only worth watching airforce movie is still TOPGUN and secretly every arm chair or real pilot wants to be Maverick or Iceman ......

 

[John Doe]

Bring back this thread to life !

Can a fighter jet fire missiles while flying inverted? Some missiles seem to drop down for a bit and then it ignites forward. So will that work when the jet is upside down?

Can a jet flying at Mach 2 fire its guns? Or will it overtake the bullets and perhaps get shot down by itself?

 

[Last Hope]

Bring back this thread to life !

Can a fighter jet fire missiles while flying inverted? Some missiles seem to drop down for a bit and then it ignites forward. So will that work when the jet is upside down?

Not in all cases, but many Air-to-Air missiles can be fired.

Can a jet flying at Mach 2 fire its guns? Or will it overtake the bullets and perhaps get shot down by itself?

Most guns are 30mm caliber. A jet flying at 2 Mach has speed of about 680-700 m/s. The muzzle velocity of 30mm is 1,385 m/s, which is about 4 mach, twice as faster as the jet.