Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

General aviation/airplane news and chat

The SCA had a ceiling of 15kft at 250kts with 1000nm range when loaded with an operational orbiter (and no in-flight refueling), so had to regularly gas-and-go in order to travel any significant distance. That got complicated further due to environmental constraints on the orbiters (thermal protection system, TPS, aka 'the tiles', though latterly some parts were woven blankets), often necessitating a narrow range of altitudes at certain times of the year. Then on top of that flights might not be, often were not direct - a pathfinder aircraft (a DC-9) would fly ahead and advise on routing around any weather that could have damaged the TPS and other systems, so a further reduction in range was required to make allowances for that.

For the Paris Air Show, 1983, that involved leapfrogging Goose Bay, Keflavik and Fairford on the way out and Stansted, Keflavik and Goose Bay on the way back. Note that with Enterprise the range was extended because it weighed significantly less than an operational orbiter (at least 15 tonnes less - no engines, RCS and associated plumbing, less avionics). If an operational orbiter had had to TAL it would have had to have been stripped for the ferry flight back to the US (engines removed, for starters)
SCA NASA 905 outbound routing to the Paris Air Show, 1983. SCA NASA 905 inbound routing from the Paris Air Show, 1983.​
The airframe that went to the Paris Air Show (905) also had IR missile countermeasures fitted shortly before it left and quickly stripped of them when it got back to US soil (the same kit Rivet Joint were fitted with at the time).
SCA NASA 905 sporting QRC 81-01 'Ten High' IRCM, 1983.​
Updated versions of which are fitted to AF1 (part of a suite of anti-missile measures) and various other military airframes.
 
2hats said:
The SCA had a ceiling of 15kft at 250kts with 1000nm range when loaded with an operational orbiter (and no in-flight refueling), so had to regularly gas-and-go in order to travel any significant distance. That got complicated further due to environmental constraints on the orbiters (thermal protection system, TPS, aka 'the tiles', though latterly some parts were woven blankets), often necessitating a narrow range of altitudes at certain times of the year. Then on top of that flights might not be, often were not direct - a pathfinder aircraft (a DC-9) would fly ahead and advise on routing around any weather that could have damaged the TPS and other systems, so a further reduction in range was required to make allowances for that.

For the Paris Air Show, 1983, that involved leapfrogging Goose Bay, Keflavik and Fairford on the way out and Stansted, Keflavik and Goose Bay on the way back. Note that with Enterprise the range was extended because it weighed significantly less than an operational orbiter (at least 15 tonnes less - no engines, RCS and associated plumbing, less avionics). If an operational orbiter had had to TAL it would have had to have been stripped for the ferry flight back to the US (engines removed, for starters)
The airframe that went to the Paris Air Show (905) also had IR missile countermeasures fitted shortly before it left and quickly stripped of them when it got back to US soil (the same kit Rivet Joint were fitted with at the time).
Updated versions of which are fitted to AF1 (part of a suite of anti-missile measures) and various other military airframes.
Click to expand...
What I find the most intriguing about your post is that the altitude range of those flights was severely restricted due to environmental constraints of the orbiter’s tiles. Wasn’t the tiles’ only job to, er, be highly resliliant to extreme temperatures?
 
T & P said:
What I find the most intriguing about your post is that the altitude range of those flights was severely restricted due to environmental constraints of the orbiter’s tiles. Wasn’t the tiles’ only job to, er, be highly resliliant to extreme temperatures?
Click to expand...
The TPS was designed to provide insulation and thermal rejection from hot plasma in the high hypersonic regime at 100km altitude. The material properties that satisfied that weren't amenable to impacts in the lower atmosphere, even at low subsonic velocity. The pathfinder aircraft went ahead so they could avoid rain and hail on transfer flights; launches were delayed to avoid ascent through rain. SCA altitude restrictions were also as much about the modified 747 performance limitations when flying with an orbiter (not just rain but temperature could greatly influence the return path and timing when returning an orbiter from Edwards to Kennedy).
 
2hats said:
The TPS was designed to provide insulation and thermal rejection from hot plasma in the high hypersonic regime at 100km altitude. The material properties that satisfied that weren't amenable to impacts in the lower atmosphere, even at low subsonic velocity. The pathfinder aircraft went ahead so they could avoid rain and hail on transfer flights; launches were delayed to avoid ascent through rain. SCA altitude restrictions were also as much about the modified 747 performance limitations when flying with an orbiter (not just rain but temperature could greatly influence the return path and timing when returning an orbiter from Edwards to Kennedy).
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, most interesting :)
 
A380 said:




Kemble 4 August 2022. Not really a crash…
Click to expand...


What I dont understand how the pilot managed this, in the past the big aircraft to be scrapped are at the sided of the runway. Even if the pilot over shoots the runway, they still shouldn't hit the big aircraft?

1660077642444.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

danny la rouge
Traffic news apps for travelling in cars
2 3
Replies
73
Views
2K
eightball
E
PR1Berske
Railway adjacent chat thread.
Replies
5
Views
474
PR1Berske
PR1Berske
I
Motorcycles you have owned, loved and used down the years.
Replies
4
Views
137
Nivag
Nivag
tim
Ferry land - which ferries have you taken and which do you wish to take before Charon rows you across the Styx.
2 3 4 5
Replies
129
Views
2K
ID47
I
nick
Win cool Aviation related stuff (Charity raffle)
Replies
12
Views
769
nick
nick
Back
Top Bottom