The Battle of Palmdale
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GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Unlike a V-1, the F6F-5 drone was not gyro-guided, so you couldn't "tip" it.
ThomasP
Senior Master Sergeant
Would the F6F-5 drone have been able to right itself if it had been possible to flip its wing? I am curious.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
The Hellcat's control system was remote control and when RF contact was lost, it's controls were "frozen".
A V-1's controls were via a gyroscopic control/guidance system, so an aircraft that was able to "tap" it's wing would overload the gyro-system and send it out of control.
The Hellcat on the otherhand was not dynamic (controls frozen) so a "tap" would not create a reaction.
A V-1's controls were via a gyroscopic control/guidance system, so an aircraft that was able to "tap" it's wing would overload the gyro-system and send it out of control.
The Hellcat on the otherhand was not dynamic (controls frozen) so a "tap" would not create a reaction.
TheMadPenguin
Senior Airman
Leading edge of jet wing into rudder of F6F should put the drone into a flat spin.
You want to fly that jet, with its tip tank full of JP4 and solid fuel rockets a few feet away from point of impact, and your wing full of fuel? You can explain to the CO the loss of your aircraft and the fatalities on the ground, not me.
If the controls are in fact frozen, then a gentle but firm nudge from under a wingtip should put it into a bank, which without correction, will gradually steepen into a spiral. (Don't try this at home, kids, with your F89, F94, T33, or any other tip tanked airplane!)
I used to use a similar trick all the time when doing recovery from unusual attitudes with students under the hood, smoothly nudging the plane into a gentle bank and letting it gradually steepen on its own. Fools them every time. Best antidote to graveyard spiral there is. When they can reliably master that, the first unusual attitudes lesson is over. Then we get into the more challenging stuff, and finally, partial panel recoveries. They don't go for their Private checkride until they can do partial panel recoveries reliably. Lessons from my T34 adventure.
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TheMadPenguin
Senior Airman
You're asserting that the leading edge of the jet's wing is so fragile, that hitting the trailing edge of the rudder of the F6F enough to put the F6F out of "controlled flight" will cause unsurvivable damage to the Jet ...
I'm asserting that I don't relish contacting another flying machine in midair halfway between my engine intake and my explosive laden tip tank with my clumsy, overweight UPS truck, especially with my wing structure full of fuel. Where's the Hellcat's nearside wingtip going to be while you're playing bumper cars with its rudder? Do you think it'll react predictably once you've poked it in the rudder? Or do you think your piloting skills are sharp enough to guarantee a gentle contact with your clumsy, overweight UPS truck? More power to you. The trailing edge of the rudder is a sharp edge with stiffening corrugations, not unlike a sawblade. Your leading edge is a simple aluminum D tube. The air over southern California is hot and bumpy. You think you're going to get a smooth controlled contact? Good luck!
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ThomasP
Senior Master Sergeant
re:". . . clumsy, overweight UPS truck . . ."
Good one.
Good one.
