PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - RAF buys spy planes to monitor enemies from the sky
Old 28th Aug 2008, 22:00
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TheInquisitor
 
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I have flown them in Algeria at 45C ground temperature - sweaty but ok on the ground.
Sweaty - exactly. I just checked - RH in Algiers today is 88%. Try it 10 deg hotter, with RH less than 10%. It makes a big difference, I assure you. Any extended period of time in that cockpit on the ground will kill you in those conditions. And I'm willing to bet you weren't wearing military flying kit, complete with ballistic protection, were you?

I am not claiming that you only need 100 hours to fly to the level of a military aviator, I am just pointing out that you don't need highly trained military aviators to fly DA42s. The two issues are wholly different.
So you'd be quite happy to let a 100hr PPL loose in a light aircraft in VERY busy, VERY dynamic operational airspace, would you? I'd love to see the thinks-bubble that would appear above the canopy when he calls the CRC on R/T and they reel of a list of active killboxes and ROZs......

You DO need highly trained military aviators to fly MILITARY operations in MILITARY controlled operational airspace. Anything less is putting all the other platforms that have to share the airspace at risk. Unless, of course, you are suggesting they are only operated in segregated airspace (itself a pain in the arse for other players). Where then the advantage of a manned platform (even a cheap one) Vs RPA?

It's not about 'turning our nose up' at anything - it's about some pushy company man trying to hawk a product that is totally unsuitable for it's advertised role in the environment we would need to use it. I guess this has nothing to do with the fact that the company has pretty much gone bust over it's crap engines, is it? Desperate for new customers?

Last edited by TheInquisitor; 28th Aug 2008 at 22:12.
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