DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
All Boeing 314s were crashed or scrapped in the 40s so probably pixels.
General aviation/airplane news and chat
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Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
There's a faithful (non-flying) replica in the west of Ireland at a flying boat museum.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
The page I found it on dated the picture from 1938.
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
The airbus wins the style race. Much more classy looking overall.
Thesaint
Active Member
All three look good from that angle
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
I once had a fascinating day at Ellington Field with the head of NASA’s maintenance department (who I rowed with at the time) crawling over the guppy and the 747
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
There was nothing in the 747 roof rack at the time
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
You in Toulouse? Arriving or departing?
Thesaint
Active Member
Presumably that b747 didn't take many passengers but I do wonder with that extra weight and drag how much fuel or range it had?
strung out
💩 🤣 🍆 💦 🧐 👻 🐝 🐈⬛
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
NASA used two modified Boeing 747 jetliners, originally manufactured for commercial use, as Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
1000 nm with the shuttle apparently
Thesaint
Active Member
Wow so only a few hours endurance. Whenever I see the shuttle piggybacking I think of the film moonraker and how it can go wrong.NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
NASA used two modified Boeing 747 jetliners, originally manufactured for commercial use, as Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.www.nasa.gov
1000 nm with the shuttle apparently
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2hats
Dust.
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.
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)
T & P
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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?
2hats
Dust.
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).
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Thanks for that, most interesting
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
What are those A320s doing there?
spitfire
Walty McWaltface
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?
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
A lot of people are asking that. Have to wait for the AAIB probably…
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Maybe lined up for a landing on the taxiway. They would not be the first...
gosub
~#
For Sale: A Martin JRM Mars WWII-Era Flying Boat
The Martin JRM Mars was designed and built for the US Navy during WWII as a long-range ocean patrol flying boat. It would be the largest Allied flying
silodrome.com
spitfire
Walty McWaltface
For Sale: A Martin JRM Mars WWII-Era Flying Boat
The Martin JRM Mars was designed and built for the US Navy during WWII as a long-range ocean patrol flying boat. It would be the largest Allied flying
Want.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
This thing is bigger than I imagined...
