Aviation BS and Photo Thread

It’s all relative I suppose. I learned to fly in the Midwest so there was a healthy mix of dark and lighted areas. I think I enjoyed having the airspace and, often times, the airport to myself more than anything. Seeing city lights was a bonus.

 

Night flying is a catch-22. You might think you found a nice emergency landing field and then realize it’s the roof of a giant warehouse a moment too late!

 

The two competing thoughts were, barring you weren’t close to an airport:

1. Aim for the dark unknown since chances are its row crop, but risk landing perpendicular to a terrace

2. Aim for a road, with most being straight-ish, but chance striking power lines

No matter how you slice it, there is risk involved. Do your best to mitigate, know your surroundings, and make the best educated guess you can with the facts you know. I’d be curious to know if nav displays or electronic flight bags (are they called that anymore?) have satellite imagery. That would be super helpful in situations like this, if you can manage handling the emergency and navigating.

 

3. Have two engines and be able to maintain flight with just one.

 

Key words right there!

 

Sooooooo, F-47 huh?!? https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...-fighter-jet-contract-sources-say-2025-03-21/

Well you could say it was Boeing's "turn". The last 4 USAF "F" jets have been Lockheed, F-16, F-117, F-22, F-35.

 

That is a big part of the problem - different companies' "turn".

We were so much better off when we had 6 major companies designing/competing/building our defense systems. This consolidation has hurt our readiness. 12 years to design/build the F-35? And it has issues, aside from being overly complex and hard to maintain.

Also, the idea of 1 plane for all missions is a bad idea. Sure, it was supposed to be less expensive ("cheaper") - but when has a gov't program ever saved money?

 

In reality, these contracts are shared across the competitors anyway. One supplier just gets chosen to lead the effort with the design they submitted, but they sub things out to each other. They all end up building one component or another.

 

To a point, yes. But, the consolidation has hurt the independent ideas of more competitors.

 

Several years ago I visited the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and snapped this beauty.

 

Why did you let that black thing block the view of the beauty you were photgraphing?

 

She got special attention.

 

Black is beautiful. So are variable geometry intakes.

 

I thought that was vertical the last time I was there. hmmm.

 

Yeah, Boeing is currently bungling the KC-46, T-7, and VC-25B projects, plus several commercial projects, they certainly haven’t earned a turn.

 

Never look close up at a shuttle ... man they were some rickety beasts, that TPS ... ain't the best.

 

All of which are over budget/behind schedule...

 

I’m sure another big project thrown on the pile is just what they need to turn it around

 

Just a little ironic...

 

Show me defense project that isn't over budget and behind schedule...