How do they do this??

[RJM]

I thought I'd ask here: Is this Hornet taking off? If so, has the undercarriage been retracted extremely quickly, or can the aircraft maintain that attitude for a while? If it's not taking off, what is it doing?

http://tinypic.com/ehy6xl.jpg

[Logistics Loader]

Could be a classic spoof photo...

Or maybe he bottomed out of a loop

[Onan the Clumsy]

I see he's activated the Blenkinson Steam Drive. That's another Top Secret British invention btw.

[RJM]

I knew I'd get a sensible answer here! :p

I don't know about spoof - that's actually why I ask, though.

The pic is one of a series from a reputable source, and the Blue Angels' airmanship does seem superb, at least to this layman.

I remember seeing a pic of a Su-27, I think, sort of hanging at an angle like that, but nowhere near as close to the ground. Not the same thing, perhaps.

[Taffer]

From the looks of it, he was performing a (very) low pass, and is now pitching rather violently upwards, hence the vapour condensing over the LERXs (Leading Edge Root eXtensions). The tail is dropping as the point of rotation is further along the aircraft, but the aircraft is not dropping, so there (hopefully) won't be a tail strike.


In your reply to 'can the aircraft maintain that attitude for a while'. Yes, it can - the Hornet is capable of controlled flight at extremely high angles of attack, mainly thanks to the LERXs, some extremely clever whizz-bang FBW avionics, and the aforementioned Blenkinson Steam Drive..

[RJM]

Thanks Taffer. Amazing.

With that sort of control possible, you'd think they would use F/A 18's to dry out soccer pitches etc instead of helicopters. The airflow would be a lot warmer, and you'd probably only need about four at once for an average pitch. It would be quite a spectacle, specially with a bit of music to go with it, and safe enough, you'd think. :8

[baffy boy]

'Standard' show take off for one of the 'synchro pair' Angels.
Don't know whether he does a weight off wheels undercarriage up selection but the gear comes up pretty smartish! In this picture he has just taken off and he is pulling into a (near) vertical climb following the fifth aircraft. It's even more impressive when he waits until he's just off the end of the runway and pulls up over a dusty area. Looks like a bomb has gone off when the exhaust hits the deck. The moisture over the LERX is due to the humidity of the day.

http://www.navy.com/blueangels

If you go to this site photos 10 and 13 illustrate the opposition solo doing his thing on take off.

[Jackonicko]

Onan and Taffer.

Fools!

Everyone knows that it's Blenkinsop.

[pigfist]

You know what, I bet the Typhoon buffoon saw that and thought "Hey that will liven up Friday at RIAT". Or am I being cynical....again.

[Onan the Clumsy]

Jackoniko Of course we know that, but dash it all, it's still Top Secret and walls have ears you know :cool:

[ACW568]

Hello, as an engineer my best estimated idea would be that he has pressed the weight on wheels over ride switch whilst having the gear selected up then simply pulled through into the near vertical climb out. Whichever way he did it, looks bloody impressive doesn't it?!?

[mystic_meg]

Hello, as an engineer my best estimated idea would be that he has pressed the weight on wheels over ride switch whilst having the gear selected up then simply pulled through into the near vertical climb out.

Nah, that's b*llocks - any fool can see that it's done with smoke 'n mirrors...easy :ok:

[The Rocket]

Ah, of course, the cockpit mounted WOW override switch!!

Now, whereabouts in the cockpit did they leave that.....:}


Surely, on thinking about it though, if he HAD operated the override switch, the gear would have bypassed the safety circuit that actually stops the U/C from retracting on the ground, and there would have been a few F-18 shaped channels ground into the runway?

Edited after reading Baffy Boy's link to the Blue Angels

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Rocket,

Surely that would be the next trick the thunderbirds are hoping to pull off!;)

[BEagle]

Well, the Buccaneer had a weight-off-wheels selector p/b in the cockpit. If you selected it in and then pressed the undercarriage UP selector button in, it meant that as soon as the a/c was airborne the gear would retract automatically.

Only for use on carriers, of course!

Perhaps the F-18 has something similar?

[Hilife]

Of course the weak spot of the Blenkinson Steam Drive was uncommanded opening of the Diametric Sump De-abulation Valve (DSDV) causing a loss in steam pressure - not sure if the guys at QinetiQ ever fixed this though.

[nick0021]

Just out of interest, which in your opinion, is the best flying display team in the world at the present? Is the quality of the display team influenced by the quality of the a/c flown? Par exemple, the Reds fly a jet which is 30 years old, as opposed to the Blue angels, whom have a much younger more sohpisticated jet.

Nick

Not trying to Hijack the thread or anything!:E

[caspertheghost]

Most aircraft I've flown have a WOW override switch in the cockpit.
What people are probably talking about is selecting the gear up during the ground roll: it stays down til the WOW switch is un-made and the gear comes up. Can be risky and is very much frowned upon as the gear can come up when going over a bumpy runway, as more than one unfortunate pilot has found over the years!

[Jackonicko]

Hilife,

"Of course the weak spot of the Blenkinson Steam Drive was uncommanded opening of the Diametric Sump De-abulation Valve (DSDV) causing a loss in steam pressure - not sure if the guys at QinetiQ ever fixed this though."

Good point! In the picture it looks as though the DSDV is working pretty well, but I'm concerned that the lower, high pressure steam valves seem to have failed, and I'm surprised that the glow of the boiler fire can't be discerned in the variable chimneys.

Perhaps Tarnished or one of the other TPs will give a fuller briefing on the characteristics of the Blenkinsop Steam Drive....

[Duncan D'Sorderlee]

How do they do this?


Accidentally? :confused:

[L Peacock]

Override the gear on a Tonka, on the ground or not, the gear's coming up. Try it.

[Runaway Gun]

It's simply a rapid rotation during takeoff, well after lifting the gear.

It's more impressive after the threshold - on a dusty surface.

[flipflopman RB199]

But not always down eh Mr Peacock? A La ZH555:eek:

However, as you, Casper and The Rocket imply, you can select U/C up on a take off roll, and as soon as the WOW switch contacts are broken, the gear will travel, however overriding this will cause the gear to bypass the circuit and retract regardless.

As has been said previously however, it is obvious that the photo has been taken long after the gear has been retracted, and is a rapid rotation

[bwallis]

Whats more, the pilot is facing backwards looking at the starboard fin !!

[L Peacock]

Flipflop

Nope. On the ground the gear will not select up without o/ride. With o/ride it will retract regardless. Can't 'pre-arm'.
(Tonka certainly)

[timilton]

Many years ago I, and a few others from my sqn, were invited out to NAS Pensacola by OC Blue Angels for their end of season piss up. We'd entertained them when they visited Finningly in '92, so we got an invite back. We were there for a couple of weeks and although we didn't get to fly in their fast pointy ac, at least we sat in the back for their Fat Albert C130 display and did a rocket assisted take-off...but that's another story!

The photo is a normal display take-off:

All 6 line up on the threshold and start blowing smoke.

Blue 1-4 take off in finger four, move to diamond 4 then immediately loop to 4000' and depart.

Blue 5 takes off and 'dirty' barrel rolls (gear and flaps still extended) then departs.

Blue 6 (see photo) gets airborne but holds height at 20 feet, cleans up gear and flaps whilst accelerating, then sinks down to height he was at before (approx 12 feet). Photo taken just as he rotates, pulls and climbs to approx 8000feet in vertical.

Am I a spotter or what?!!