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Yes. IAS is measured by measuring a pressure and "calculating" speed by assuming sea level density. At sea level, std day TAS and IAS are equal; 100 knots true air speed gives about 33.8 psf pressure. At 20,000 ft, to get the same dynamic pressure, the true airspeed is 136.5 kts.let me see if I have this straight, It appears you "fly" the plane using IAS but you navigate (find next airport?) using TAS?
The Tinian Air Group was formed in October 1941 (originally attached to the 25th Air Flotilla) and was restructured in November 1942, with several more changes, the Tinian Air Group continued operations until the Island was attacked and captured by Allied forces in July of 1944.Neither Robbins nor Bong made claims against the Tainan Air Group; it was disbanded months before their first aerial victories were made. And from what I can tell Bong never served in the 80th Fighter Squadron. Can you clarify?
The Tinian Air Group was formed in October 1941 (originally attached to the 25th Air Flotilla) and was restructured in November 1942, with several more changes, the Tinian Air Group continued operations until the Island was attacked and captured by Allied forces in July of 1944.
Olds and Bong had scored quite a few victories prior to June of 1944...
Because victory tallies played a role in building and retaining morale, both in the fighting units and back home. It is a measure of the pilot's stature. A quantitative measure of qualitative skill. A pilot's claims were his measure of success. Vetting the records and discovering that a majority of claims were unsubstantiated does not take away from the esteem these pilots had at the time. Most claims were made in good faith, I would not use the term "blatant", because that implies the pilot was knowingly making a false claim.If Yoshino's aerial victories don't really matter to you, why bring them up then?
According to the 80th FS history page he did.
http://80fsheadhunters.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Headhunter-Headlines-1-Apr-92.pdf
Records show in Feb., 1944 Bong was assigned to the V Fighter Command HQ, so he was allowed to attach himself to any unit.
Records show in Feb., 1944 Bong was assigned to the V Fighter Command HQ, so he was allowed to attach himself to any unit.
Understand, "going solo" in the context of primary flight instruction does not imply authority to go hop in the plane at will and blast off into the wild blue. The first 3 - 5 solo flights are supervised solos that start off as dual instruction and then have a solo session incorporated under the strict observation and supervision of the instructor. Five hour solos were not routine or common, but an exceptionally adept student could achieve it if they could absorb all the requisite skills in that amount of time. And if you're operating from a low traffic rural airport with enough different runways to handle a variety of wind conditions the occasional talented student could do it, if old man weather cooperated. YOU wouldn't have soloed in five hours, even if the skill set was in place, because you wouldn't have been mentally ready and I wouldn't have made that call. I've had students that were "ready" skillwise to solo in seven or eight hours, but didn't have the confidence to be mentally ready until they were up to twelve or more. These were often of the perfectionist persuasion, and made some of the best pilots in the end.No one, no matter how gifted, or how benign the conditions, has the skill and knowledge to handle the eventualities that can happen in flight in five hours.
Because victory tallies played a role in building and retaining morale, both in the fighting units and back home. It is a measure of the pilot's stature. A quantitative measure of qualitative skill. A pilot's claims were his measure of success. Vetting the records and discovering that a majority of claims were unsubstantiated does not take away from the esteem these pilots had at the time. Most claims were made in good faith, I would not use the term "blatant", because that implies the pilot was knowingly making a false claim.
All true and agree, my point was Bong flew with the 80th (as well as many other units) after his appointment to V Fighter Command HQ. I have no dog in the fight with regards to the comments about the Tainan AGBut up to that time all his claims were while serving with 9th FS, first claims on 27 Dec 42, by which time the Tainan AG was already history.
What do you mean "stupid maneuver"? He was kind of boxed in, harrying the B-26s at low altitude his options were limited. The B-26 was a speed demon bomber, so if he had overtake speed on them, he was up in the speed range where the Zero was pretty stiff in roll, so he wasn't going to win a turning fight if he lived to get into it, but he had speed, so up was the viable option. This is a situation where control harmony at speed is the deciding factor. Heavy high speed stick forces in the Zero, vs light and responsive in the ("twitchy" aft engine) P-39 allowed the Cobra to stay with him in the pull-up. His goose was pretty much cooked from the onset. His only other survival option might have been a (muscular!) roll to the left into the tightest turn he could manage at that speed and hope the American misjudges his deflection as he gets in a quick snap shot before popping up into his zoom climb. This might have achieved survival, but no victory, an unattractive prospect for any self-respecting Samurai. The zoom into a loop onto the opponent's tail is much more attractive. He just didn't expect the clunky, slow climbing Cobra to commit suicide by trying to go vertical with him.Maybe that's why he was eventually waxed while performing such a stupid maneuver???
My experience was in gliders with twenty years experience on and off with about eight as an instructor in the 70's and 80's. We will simply have to agree to disagree as there are a number of fundamental differences, namely:-Understand, "going solo" in the context of primary flight instruction does not imply authority to go hop in the plane at will and blast off into the wild blue. The first 3 - 5 solo flights are supervised solos that start off as dual instruction and then have a solo session incorporated under the strict observation and supervision of the instructor. Five hour solos were not routine or common, but an exceptionally adept student could achieve it if they could absorb all the requisite skills in that amount of time. And if you're operating from a low traffic rural airport with enough different runways to handle a variety of wind conditions the occasional talented student could do it, if old man weather cooperated. YOU wouldn't have soloed in five hours, even if the skill set was in place, because you wouldn't have been mentally ready and I wouldn't have made that call. I've had students that were "ready" skillwise to solo in seven or eight hours, but didn't have the confidence to be mentally ready until they were up to twelve or more. These were often of the perfectionist persuasion, and made some of the best pilots in the end.
The FARs delineate what a student must be trained before they can solo, and I always threw in a few "extra" emergency procedures. They best be on their toes, as every .7 or .8 hour lesson would have at least one emergency of some kind.
Before takeoff checklist complete, pattern clear, position and hold, think, "This is the time the engine will quit 200 feet over the departure end; what am I going to do?", before every takeoff.
"Oswego traffic, Cessna seven five seven Bravo Yankee, left crosswind one six, departing east to the practice area." Now if the engine quits right here, where am I going to park this bird?
Bear in mind, my instructing days were in the 70s and 80s, when tort law was not so all-pervasive as it is today. Today I would probably be a little more restrained with the talented super student. Even then, none of mine soloed without first demonstrating a spin recovery, which was above and beyond the FARs.
Cheers,
Wes
I also instructed in Schweitzer 2-33s and a 2-32, Lark IS-28Bs, Grob 103, and ASK-21. Glider training is a different animal altogether. We had a particularly difficult mountain airfield to fly from, so student proficiency had to be top-notch, but the lift was fabulous, including mountain wave that could sometimes be accessed right over the field with a 3000 ft tow. No winch launches here! In fact winch launches seem to be pretty rare in the US.A good student would take about eighty flights to go solo, an exceptional one less but all would be more than five hour
Throttle back and slow down into the Zero's optimum speed range only works if you have time enough to accomplish it before your attacker is in firing range. Like any aggressive fighter pilot, Yoshino quite likely would have been focusing on his prey with an occasional glance over his shoulder to check six. Head on silhouette of a P-39 is pretty slim, and on a collision course would be a stationary image, easy to miss in the heat of battle. Many an accomplished fighter pilot has died this way.He could have quickly throttled back and rolled out, then immediately revert to defensive turning. This would have forced the American to turn too, in order to keep him in his sights. This would have put the American at a disadvantage if he continued turning with the more maneuverable Zeke.
My experience was in gliders with twenty years experience on and off with about eight as an instructor in the 70's and 80's. We will simply have to agree to disagree as there are a number of fundamental differences, namely:-
A good student would take about eighty flights to go solo, an exceptional one less but all would be more than five hours
- The gliders we used didn't have radios and I wouldn't have used one if they had, as that would be a distraction. I would want the student to be totally focused on the task in hand and not listening to a radio if things start to go wrong. If there going to go wrong it's probably on the circuit and approach where using a radio would be useless as seconds count.
- You have to have total confidence in a student as there are no second chances on landing, if the student messes it up, they have to sort it out on their own, going around isn't an option.
- The rules are very strict about what a student has to do before going solo including a number of spins including initiating a full spin starting at 2000ft
and obviously recovering from it- Cable breaks were not unknown and these had to be done from a variety of heights
- Cross wind landings had to be taught as the wind can change at any time
- High speed stalls not just normal stalls had to be covered
- How to handle a slow, variable or fast cable launch
- and so on
I rode through three winch launches in an ancient Schweizer TG-2 with a CG hook when I was a 14 yr old CAP cadet. Closest thing to a catshot you can get on dry land! The clmbout was spectacular, and with the zero downward visibility from the back seat all you could see was sky. Felt like vertical!We were limited to winch launches which get you to about 1,800 - 2,000 ft so you had to find lift within 4-5 minutes or you came straight down. So a lot of those launches will be 10 minute flights. Good for take off and landing practice but you need longer flights to teach a lot of the skills needed. Also as mentioned earlier we had to cover a lot of things before anyone is allowed to go solo.
Don't knock cable launches though, they are very exhilarating things to do. 0 - 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and 30 seconds from a standing start to 2,000 ft, balancing the whole thing on one wheel and dealing with crosswinds, does tend to keep you on your toes. You don't have time to think about a problem you just have to react.
What did you learn on your checkride? My Private Pilot Examiner said "Sweat thyself not, this is just another lesson. We're going to educate each other: you're going to show me how safe a pilot you are, and I'm going to show you a thing or two your instructors never did. So after he put me through my paces, he said "You'll do", then asked: "Have you ever been in a fully developed spin in one of these things?"Amazing experience, and probably the only thing more amazing in time as a pilot so far, was my check ride.