The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

When the U.S. Navy commissioned the first aircraft carrier, the U.S. S. Langley in 1922, they had a lot to learn. How many aircraft and of what types would the Langley operate? What was the mission?

The battleship admirals had a mission firmly in mind for the Langley and her aircraft: Scouting out an enemy fleet so that the big guns of the battle force could sink them.

The first few years involved lots of experimentation. The Langley operated large torpedo bombers on a test basis, but the small carrier was really not large enough for that task.

The earliest aircraft were a squadron of a dozen single-seat fighters and a half dozen two-seat observation aircraft. The first carrier fighters were Vought VE-7s, a trainer converted to combat use. The VE-7 was powered by a liquid-cooled V-8 engine of 180 hp and had a single .30 machine gun. Unimpressive performance, too. The observation aircraft were Voughts as well.

Before long, the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia designed and produced the first purpose-built carrier fighter, the TS-1. The TS-1 had a 200 hp air-cooled radial and had two .30 machine guns.

The next step saw a major increase in power and performance. There were two competitors: Boeing and Curtiss. The initial models had liquid-cooled V-12s of 400 or more horsepower. But the numbers that the Navy bought were small -- starting in late 1926, 18 Curtiss F6C-3 fighters were delivered. There were also small numbers of similar F6Cs ordered with air-cooled radial engines as well. The Navy was developing a preference for radials and future orders concentrated on radial-powered designs.

Boeing got an order for 27 FB-5s which were delivered from mid 1927. These had big Packard liquid-cooled V-12s of 525 hp. They also built a single FB-6 with a much lighter R-1340 radial from newcomer manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

That did the trick -- Boeing got an order for 30 F2Bs, which were similar to the FB-5 and were delivered in 1928.

Vought still got contracts but more for observation aircraft such as the O2U.

[vreihen16]

On October 30th, a JetBlue A320 flying from Mexico to Newark made an emergency landing in Tampa, after an uncommanded descent that caused injuries. Airbus just finished its investigation, and both the FAA and their European counterpart announced this evening that they are grounding several A320-series variants *immediately* as an emergency action until a software update is applied to each plane. Talk about disruptions to Thanksgiving holiday travel!

Their investigation determined that radiation from a solar flare injected bogus data into the on-board control systems, which apparently commanded an unwanted elevator movement.

The update is expected to take less than an hour to apply for each plane.....

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

On October 30th, a JetBlue A320 flying from Mexico to Newark made an emergency landing in Tampa, after an uncommanded descent that caused injuries. Airbus just finished its investigation, and both the FAA and their European counterpart announced this evening that they are grounding several A320-series variants *immediately* as an emergency action until a software update is applied to each plane. Talk about disruptions to Thanksgiving holiday travel!

Their investigation determined that radiation from a solar flare injected bogus data into the on-board control systems, which apparently commanded an unwanted elevator movement.

The update is expected to take less than an hour to apply for each plane.....

Precisely why, were I to fly, I would never ride on an airbus. If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Precisely why, were I to fly, I would never ride on an airbus. If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going.

I had to take a trip to Florida on extremely short notice back in the summer. Since homey don't fly unless there is no other option and my mean doctors won't let me drive any distance, I wound up taking Amtrak both ways. Every Amtrak train but the Acela was late by an hour or more, and I feel *real* bad for the hard-working crew who manage to keep a smile on at all times while apologizing for things beyond their and Amtrak's control.....

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I had to take a trip to Florida on extremely short notice back in the summer. Since homey don't fly unless there is no other option and my mean doctors won't let me drive any distance, I wound up taking Amtrak both ways. Every Amtrak train but the Acela was late by an hour or more, and I feel *real* bad for the hard-working crew who manage to keep a smile on at all times while apologizing for things beyond their and Amtrak's control.....

We took a short for fun trip a few miles up the coast; Oceanside to San Clemente. The train was about an hour late going north and the crew member we talked to said that was normal.

[Llarry]

Boeing Australia has developed the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, an uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft that could fly as a wingman to a manned fighter. The Ghost Bat has been flying for several years and recently carried and test-fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile.

This could be a real game-changer but will require safeguards to prevent shooting down friendly aircraft.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Precisely why, were I to fly, I would never ride on an airbus. If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going.

Both Boeing and Airbus have software that affects critical things. I’m not
sure either brand is immune to glitches or failures. I’m thinking MCAS…

[vreihen16]

A classic from Bob Newhart:

.

[M-technik-3]

XB-70's baby brother the XF-108 Rapier, Lot's of the technology was used on down the road when project was cancelled in 1960.

Here's a AFMC flashback article. https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article...-f-108-yf-12a/

Photo of a B-58 Hustler with a GE YJ-93 center mounted for testing.

[Llarry]

The Indian Navy has become the latest customer for the Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multi-role naval helicopter. India is buying 24 MH-60Rs to replace long-serving H-3 Sea Kings.

[M-technik-3]

Boeing gets the B52H re engine contract for 2.04B
https://defence-blog.com/boeing-secu...ngine-upgrade/

[M-technik-3]

USAF in the news last week bought two more 747-8's from Lufthansa.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...rt-2025-12-17/

[flybigjet]

The Minister and I are up visiting my father for Christmas.

He found one of his old (printed on wood) business cards he had made when he was a (very young) C-7 Caribou pilot in Viet Nam in 1969.

R.

[flybigjet]

Jepp actually published this plate. One of my coworkers had a hand in it.

R.

[flybigjet]

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good flight!

R.

[vreihen16]

.

[Llarry]

Despite the USAF markings, these F-104Gs at Luke AFB back in the day belonged to West Germany's Luftwaffe. The plentiful airspace for training in the USA (and the limited airspace in Germany) made training in the U.S. attractive.

While these F-104Gs have long since been turned into beer cans or BMWs, foreign air forces continue to train in the USA. For example, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, is home to a training unit for Singapore's F-15SGs.

[M-technik-3]

Mountain Home is also soon to have a Saudi F-15SA training detachment with new facilities that they are funding.

[flybigjet]

Worth watching/listening to.

R.

[M-technik-3]

[QUOTE=flybigjet;32549780]Worth watching/listening to.

R.

I just watched that yesterday at work. Must have similar algorithms for you tube.

[vreihen16]

You can't make this stuff up! Germany actually had a proposed ramjet interceptor plane that was powered by COAL and could potentially go supersonic!

Lippisch P.13a

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippisch_P.13a






.

[Llarry]

Pilot