Originally Posted by
AndoniP
Loved that smoke on full power. Nice to see them hover and hear that sustained noise.
What was the time limit for hovering again? 2-3mins? I didn't notice any injection of water into the intake for cooling, or i may have missed it completely.
There wasn't strictly a time limit for hovering from memory (it's been a decade!) although there was a limit for having the RCS energised I think. Many used to think the 90seconds of water was the limit - that could certainly be true for the smaller engined jet on a warm day, but I guarantee it hovered just fine when you ran out of the wet stuff... just a bit warmer!
You wouldn't notice water injected into the intake as it went straight into the combustion chamber. The darker smoke tended to be an indicator of water injection as it disrupted the flame pattern a little whilst cooling the engine. Again, it's been a while and I am sure there's plenty I've forgotten over the years.