Stuff you'd like to know..

Hahaha! That's pretty much how I think about it.

 

The cost of de-icing just seems completely insane. Of course if it's between de-icing or turning a ice laden aircraft into a fireball at the end of the runway I guess it's a good deal. I think my record is three de-ice sessions before taking off.

 

The double boom off of the Space Shuttle was due to the high angle of attack on re-entry. One shock off of the nose and one off of the wing/body. By the time the waves got to the ground, there was a measurable distance between them. Heard them in SoCal, which usually meant weather forced a west coast landing and an expensive piggyback ride to Florida.

 

Here's another story that I saw in Wiki, about SS Booms:

"On 31 May 1968, a dedication ceremony took place at the United States Air Force Academy to honor graduates who had served in Vietnam. A (Republic) F-105, which had been assembled using parts from ten different F-105s that had seen service in Vietnam,...

To conclude the ceremony, a flight of four F-105s ... were to fly over in formation at 1,000 feet above the ground and then fly over singly at 250 feet. The formation portion happened as planned. But the flight leader, Lt Col James "Black Matt" Matthews, came back for the single-file pass and exceeded the speed of sound at less than 100 feet. The ensuing sonic boom broke hundreds of windows and fifteen people sustained cuts..."

If you're familiar with the AFA, all the buildings are glass and aluminum frames.

 

Mythbusters had an episode (Season 7, Episode 10)

Here you can watch Adam pass out while riding with the Blues.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlBMHFdCEY[/ame]

 

Can you feel any ice on the wing with your hand? Is it snowing or freezing rain and snow or ice are accumulating on the airframe?

If the answer to EITHER question is "yes" then deice. If it's "no" then don't.

In the case of freezing rain, if ice is accumulating on the ramp or anywhere that you can see, I'd deice.

And honestly, in the case of freezing rain, I'd give some hard thought to whether I wanted to go at all.

 

If you can feel it, De ice or dont go. I had a $10k bill once from Signature from Superbowl in Detroit. Didnt care, signed it and came home. Turns out they flew in support personnel from KPBI, hahahah. Poor guy just tried to drill holes in the ice, emptied the entire truck.

They cut the bill down to $2k.

 

The edges of the F104 wings are so thin that when on the ground, they have covers placed over them so ground crew don't hurt (cut) themselves bumping into sharp edges.

They glide as if there are no wings at all (brick).


Several years ago, I remember reading about the Israeli AF F-15 that flew and landed with only one wing after a collision.

I immediately thought of the F-104... no wings.

 

I saw the Canadians fly their CF-104's at the Abottsford show for several years and they were undoubtedly the wildest jets ever. I mentioned this before about having the thrust at 80% on approach to produce enough bleed air for the flaps. I believe that the wings were made of bolted planks of aluminum plates and they were about 7 feet from the fuselage to the tip. Also if you had a flameout an approach speed of 245mph had to be maintained or you punched out if it was lower. Incredible airplane to watch when the Canadians did touch and goes with them and then make passes at something just below M 1.

 

2 scenarios (answer separately please):

1. You're at FL 390 and ATC says "descend and maintain 17000". How do you set your descent rate?

2. You're at FL 390 and ATC says "descend at PD to 17000". For this one assume you have a sweet tailwind up high and sipping Jet A. How do you set your descent rate?

 

The Fokker Dr.I Triplane (and F.I prototypes) only had one set of ailerons because that is all she really needed. The extra area of the aerodynamic balances all the way out on the wing tips helped give fairly good roll response and the ailerons were actually downsized on later Dr.Is. Roll response was not nearly as good as pitch and yaw response, though, and rolling with the rudder was possible, as were flat yaw turns with no bank. The Sopwith Triplane, on the other hand, had ailerons on all three wings, so their designers saw it differently. They had a vertical stabilizer, too, instead of the all-moving rudder on the F.I/Dr.I. Note, too, that the Dr.I was the first cantilver fighter introduced in WW-I, and only one set of ailerons simplified rigging, especially on an aircraft that was frequently rail transported with the wings removed.

Dr.I 198/17 just after delivery to Jasta 14 for Ltn Werner in January 1918.
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The first Fokker triplane actually had no interplane struts between the wings, but they were added because the pilots were uneasy. But like the later D.VII, no wires between the wings.

 

Affirmative, the Fokker V.4, WN 1661 (often mistakenly called the V.3) did not have interplane struts and was shipped to the Austro-Hungarian air force as built with no interplane struts. The next Triplane prototype, V.5 WN 1697, eventually given the designator F.I 101/17, had the large aileron balances fitted, larger wings, and the upper wing twisted enough to need the interplane struts.
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I've noticed that the Beech Staggerwing (biplane) originally had ailerons and flaps on the lower wing only.

But later versions moved the ailerons to the upper wing (almost the whole wing) and had flaps only on the lower wing.

 

Interesting questions... any answers?