eli@PWS.BULL.COM (Steve Elias) (02/07/91)
From: eli@PWS.BULL.COM (Steve Elias) In news footage, i've noticed that B52s seem to land rather strangely. The nose stays pointed down until the last minute, when the plane apparently levels off. (The news footage i've seen never shows the actual touchdown.) One of my bro-in-laws goes to Parks College and I called him to find out what the deal was. I spoke to his roomate and he told me that one of their instructors was an ex-B52 pilot. Apparently, the B52 somehow gets more relative lift on the tail end than do most planes. If the pilot doesn't get the nose up fast enough, the plane actually will take off tail first, riding the nose wheel! -- /* Salaam, not Saddam. */ /* eli@spdcc.com eli@pws.bull.com 617 932 5598 508 294 7556 */
jabishop@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Jonathan A Bishop) (02/09/91)
From: jabishop@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Jonathan A Bishop) eli@PWS.BULL.COM (Steve Elias) writes: >Apparently, >the B52 somehow gets more relative lift on the tail end than do >most planes. If the pilot doesn't get the nose up fast enough, >the plane actually will take off tail first, riding the nose wheel! Also, they barely rotate when taking off. The aft landing gear is far aft of the CG in order to accomodate the bomb bay, and the wings don't generate enough moment for a normal rotation. -------- jabishop@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) (02/20/91)
From: leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) In article <1991Feb7.012450.29693@cbnews.att.com> eli@PWS.BULL.COM (Steve Elias) writes: :In news footage, i've noticed that B52s seem to land rather strangely. :The nose stays pointed down until the last minute, when the plane :apparently :the actual touchdown.) :One of their instructors was an ex-B52 pilot. Apparently, :the B52 somehow gets more relative lift on the tail end than do :most planes. If the pilot doesn't get the nose up fast enough, :the plane actually will take off tail first, riding the nose wheel! The attitude has nothing to do with the relative lift of the wings versus the tail. The B-52 was designed to fly with a three degree nose down attitude. I was told by a Boeing engineer at the modification facility on our base (Fairchild AFB, 92nd SAW) that the plane flew more efficiently in this attitude. After 3 years and more than 200 air hours, I sort of got used to it. BTW, there is no nose wheel, per se, there is one set of tandem main gear fore and aft on the fuselage and one tip wheel on each wing. Lee "Mit Pulver und Blei, die Gedanken sind frei." |Lee F. Mellinger Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA |4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 818/393-0516 FTS 977-0516 |leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV