Originally Posted by
BEagle
Thanks very much for the link, West Coast! An excellent lecture; he is candid about the cause of the mishap and the lessons learned. CG 21% aft of the configuration limit must have been eye-watering.
The B-1B is an astonishing jet; M0.9+ at low level and able to carry 84 x Mk-82 500lb bombs is quite something. I was allowed to have a look around one at Griffiss AFB whilst there for an airshow once as it was parked behind us. The cockpit and the visibility through the curved windshield windows were superb. Only snag according to the rather grumpy crew chief was that "Captain Fantastic overstressed the goddam thing" with his over ambitious arrival!
If only the RAF had bought the B-1B to replace the Vulcan....
Be curious to know if on the B if wing swing rate could also cause an out of limits situation. One would hope a fatality and airframe loss would cause change. Then again, the A and the B are quite different aircraft.