What is all this pinging in my ears?
I want to go back a ways. If for some still unknown reason at the time of reaching the FIR boundary, everything went dark (on a moonless night to boot), what actual systems would the crew have available to them to work with?
And as far as all the ‘pings’ are concerned… does the RAT factor in here at all? Understand that it alone does not power Satcom, but what are the triggers for RAT auto activation /deployment?
Is it only fuel exhaustion (as seen in Gimpy Glider scenario)?
Also can the RAT be deployed manually… and is there a max airspeed/altitude either for initial deployment or continuous operation?