Phoney T, Leon J, Beagle et al
Whilst I concede that my comments re 'bull****' do indeed come across as churlish, as betty well knows, they were brought about through a certain level of exasperation. The problems with the MRA4 project, whilst well documented on this site and others, are, on occasion, incorrectly 'reported and/or factually incorrect.
I have no agenda, axe to grind, or a myopic view on the need for, or even the platform required for a UK LRMPA. I, however, do feel the need to correct factual mistakes.
As said above, I concur that my professional demeanour was lacking, but the message re handling qualities is one that I have 'defended' in the past. Never underestimate the power of PPRUNE; during my time on the project, a stray line or 3 written on here resulted in phone calls and questions from the senior leadership trying and ascertain if the information written by an anonymous poster, based on what the cleaner told his sister, was indeed fact or fiction.
As people have said, more than once, the MRA4 is dead; my belief was the project should have been buried in 2005, but that's another story. I'll do my best to be a little less aggressive if I stick my head above the parapets in the future and maintain a healthy discussion rather than slinging mud.
To finish, I do need to argue again that Vmca and Vmcg do not define the 'handling qualities' of an aircraft. There are no handling qualities assigned to the ability to complete the test point to 'define' Vmca/Vmcl; they are just numbers that are defined based upon a set of criteria (5 degrees angle of bank, steady heading etc).
To try and explain: the MRA4 initially had dual aileron cables, however the increased friction in the cable runs resulted in poor harmonisation between the pitch and roll forces required to complete normal flying tasks. The handling qualities of the aircraft suffered as the pilot had to overly compensate for high friction forces resulting in poor fine tracking tasks and an increase in fatigue levels too; overall poor lateral flying qualities.
To improve the handling qualities, one of the cables was removed. This reduced the friction levels in the roll circuit and pitch and roll harmonisation was far better. Fine lateral tracking tasks were achieved with ease, fatigue was reduced and the overall feel of the aircraft was improved; good lateral flying qualities.
However, Vmca was exactly the same for both configurations. The amount of aileron authority, rudder authority, engine power etc was not changed, therefore the steady state at which the criteria was reached to define Vmca remained the same. Therefore you should not use Vmca as an indication of the handling qualities of the aircraft. Clear as mud I am sure, but I'm sure John F could give a far better explanation.
Last edited by MOA; 20th Jul 2015 at 11:36.