We then proceeded with some high alpha handling. Entry into this regime involved pulling back the power, while I tracked the control movements hands on, Dave progressively increased the amount of aft stick to maintain a constant airspeed around 90 KIAS. Power is concurrently added to maintain altitude and airspeed, and the aircraft was stable at 43 degrees alpha. Dave then demonstrated a full 360 degree aileron roll while maintaining over 40 alpha and close to full aft stick. Having worked through several manoeuvres, we took at break to explore further radar modes. Dave selected the high resolution spot SAR mode and slewed the patch map over Colac. After several sweeps the image sharpened up and we could resolve individual buildings and streets in the town, clearly contrasted against Lake Colac. The difference in groundmap quality against the sixties technology real-beam mapping APQ-161 truly reflects the 4 decades of intervening technological evolution. Having explored main street Colac for several minutes, we turned our attention to the Avalon airfield.
At about Mach 0.6 at FL200 Dave selected SAR spot mapping and slewed the radar over the Avalon parking area. With the nose pointing to Avalon, a few miles east of Colac, we had very little lateral Doppler and at Dave's prompting I slewed the nose about 30 degrees to the right to get a larger angle off the nose. Within several seconds the picture began to sharpen up, and Dave adjusted the patch position so we could observe the corral and pilot's hut from whence we had departed less than an hour ago. It took little effort to resolve the parked aircraft and the hut, the fence posts along the runway resonated nicely and we got a clean row of dots across the picture. Exploring the image, the fields full of parked cars were easily resolved, as were the row of chalets, the control tower and taxiways. Picture contrast was excellent and the synthetic image was highly stable.
An attack with a glide weapon like an AGM-154 JSOW or winged GBU-31/32 variant would be very easy to execute with a delivery accuracy of mere feet, in zero visibility conditions, using this mode.
Dave handed the aircraft over and I flew several gentle 1.5G turns, while we discussed the control forces and required inputs per G. Dave switched the radar into real beam mapping mode and pushed the throttles to mil while I pulled the nose up to climb back up to FL280.
I was invited to fly the aircraft into a high alpha regime. I pulled off the power at Dave's instruction and applied aft stick to bleed off airspeed while holding altitude. At about 30 degrees alpha a distinct rumbling sound developed, as the airflow over the aircraft began to break up into turbulent flow, yet the handling did not perceptibly change. Stick force however did increase noticeably, as I approached 3/4 aft stick deflection I needed both hands to comfortably pull the stick back further. Holding 90 KIAS I pulled the aircraft gradually back to 48 degrees alpha, while Dave worked the throttles.
The aircraft was very stable throughout entry and the progressive increase in AoA, there was no perceptible rolling sensitivity in lateral stick inputs, the knife edge balance preceding a wing drop which one would intuitively expect as a result of the aircraft's speed and angle of attack was absent. From the pilot's perspective, the feel is very solid and smooth.
Small lateral stick inputs yielded a proportionate response, there was no perceptible reduction in control input sensitivity in this regime. To exit from the manoeuvre, I released the aft stick pressure, and as the aircraft unloaded Dave pulled back the power.
2.4 Flying the Pirouette
The pirouette manoeuvre was developed at the request of operational pilots, as a high alpha low speed reversal, akin in its purpose to the classical yo-yo. In a high yo-yo, the pilot unloads in a tight turn, climbing and decelerating, then rolls 90 degrees and pulls through 180 degrees to reverse direction, leaving the aircraft pointing at the target with an altitude advantage. The pirouette is an in-plane reversal manoeuvre which resembles a conventional stall turn or hammerhead in a piston aircraft.
To execute the pirouette at low speed, the aircraft is placed into a high alpha attitude, and as airspeed drops to around 100-200 KIAS and full back-stick is held in, full lateral stick and rudder are applied into the direction of the reversal.
The stick and rudder force for the pirouette entry are light, compared to the aft stick force, and the aircraft very smoothly slices around in-plane, wings level, to point in the opposite direction. The stick and pedal inputs are in effect the same as for a snap roll, but the FCS software senses the attitude and control inputs and executes the pirouette. Without the FCS code designed to do this, most fighters would depart and possibly do so in a direction other than that intended by the pilot.
To demonstrate the pirouette, Dave asked me to take the controls and apply progressively more aft stick to bleed off airspeed. As we hit 155 KIAS, 20 degrees alpha at 1.9G load factor, I followed his instructions and applied full right rudder and stick. The aircraft pivoted around, slowing to 80 KIAS over the top and with controls neutralised accelerated quickly to 215 KIAS coming out of the manoeuvre.
The pirouette is almost ridiculously easy to fly, and the aircraft does so very smoothly, at no point does the pilot feel an impending departure or other loss of controllability.
Having played through the key radar modes and worked through the basic high alpha manoeuvres, Dave was unable to tempt me into the inverted stall and pull through manoeuvre which I had a mere one hour ago looked forward to trying. My lack of currency had been catching up with me, and we agreed it was time to exercise the aircraft through a couple of touch and goes and then call it a day. We departed at a leisurely pace from the Hornet box for some circuits at Avalon.
