amos@decwrl.dec.com (Amos Shapir) (10/13/89)
From: nsc!taux01.nsc.com!taux01.UUCP!amos@decwrl.dec.com (Amos Shapir) Last night there was an extensive coverage of the Syrian MiG23 that landed here yesterday. Among the inscriptions on it, I noticed the three-winged icon of a radioactivity warning. Does anybody know what radioactive materials may be carried aboard a MiG23, and what they are used for? Thanks, -- Amos Shapir amos@taux01.nsc.com or amos@nsc.nsc.com National Semiconductor (Israel) P.O.B. 3007, Herzlia 46104, Israel Tel. +972 52 522261 TWX: 33691, fax: +972-52-558322 34 48 E / 32 10 N (My other cpu is a NS32532)
gwh%typhoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) (10/14/89)
From: gwh%typhoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) In article <10183@cbnews.ATT.COM> nsc!taux01.nsc.com!taux01.UUCP!amos@decwrl.dec.com (Amos Shapir) writes: >Last night there was an extensive coverage of the Syrian MiG23 that >landed here yesterday. Among the inscriptions on it, I noticed >the three-winged icon of a radioactivity warning. Does anybody know >what radioactive materials may be carried aboard a MiG23, and what >they are used for? Aha! The famed 'radioactivity' symbol misunderstanding :) The symbol actually is defined (i'm assuming you mean the 'windmill' symbol) as meaning _Radiation_ hazard, not radioactivity hazard... Radar produces enough microwave RF to be a radiation hazard. As do some radio transmitters, etc. The windmill you saw was probably on a radar antenna (or radome covering it) or high-power radio antenna. Radioactives have the symbol because radio_active_ materials produce radiation. **************************************** George William Herbert UCB Naval Architecture Dpt. (my god, even on schedule!) maniac@garnet.berkeley.edu gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu ----------------------------------------
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (10/16/89)
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >From: nsc!taux01.nsc.com!taux01.UUCP!amos@decwrl.dec.com (Amos Shapir) >... Among the inscriptions on it, I noticed >the three-winged icon of a radioactivity warning. Does anybody know >what radioactive materials may be carried aboard a MiG23... The trefoil symbol tends to get used for any radiation hazard, including high-powered radars. If you look at a head-on photo of an A-6 Intruder, for example, you'll see a trefoil on its nose. (At least, some of them are/were marked this way.) I doubt that there are any significant radioactive materials aboard a MiG-23. Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
baldwin@cad.usna.mil (J.D. Baldwin) (10/16/89)
From: "J.D. Baldwin" <baldwin@cad.usna.mil> In article <10183@cbnews.ATT.COM> Amos Shapir writes: >Last night there was an extensive coverage of the Syrian MiG23 that >landed here yesterday. Among the inscriptions on it, I noticed >the three-winged icon of a radioactivity warning. Does anybody know >what radioactive materials may be carried aboard a MiG23, and what >they are used for? U.S. (at least Navy) aircraft have this symbol also, fairly often. Over here, it means "watch out for intense electromagnetic radiation from this aircraft (not necessarily just from the spot marked)." The USSR has been getting pretty good about marking its military aircraft with safety symbols lately, and I presume this is a result of that policy. Probably means the same thing. -- >From the catapult of: |+| "If anyone disagrees with anything I _, J. D. Baldwin, Comp Sci Dept |+| say, I am quite prepared not only to __||____..}-> US Naval Academy |+| retract it, but also to deny under \ / baldwin@cad.usna.navy.mil |+| oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mmm@apple.com (10/16/89)
From: portal!cup.portal.com!mmm@apple.com The projectiles for the cannon might contain uranium (higher mass density than lead).
baldwin@cad.usna.mil (J.D. Baldwin) (10/18/89)
From: "J.D. Baldwin" <baldwin@cad.usna.mil> In article <10272@cbnews.ATT.COM> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: >If you look at a head-on photo of an A-6 Intruder, >for example, you'll see a trefoil on its nose. (At least, some of them >are/were marked this way.) The "Intruders" that you have seen marked this way are actually EA-6B Prowlers. That is why only "some" of the "Intruders" were marked that way. The EA-6B of course, looks nearly identical to the A-6[x] from that angle. I guess that's one reason they mark it that way. I don't know whether an EA-6A Intruder has the trefoil or not. I don't think so. That's getting a little obscure, though . . . Interestingly enough, the two aircraft (Intruder/Prowler) have similar radars in the nose. They aren't identical, but there's nothing super- powerful or mystic about the AN/APQ-129 in the EA-6B's nose. The extra "radiation" hazard, if any, is from the jamming pods that the Prowler carries. And this, of course, is no hazard at all on the ground (unless the bird is facing into Hurricane Hugo to power its pods' turbines). -- >From the catapult of: |+| "If anyone disagrees with anything I _, J. D. Baldwin, Comp Sci Dept |+| say, I am quite prepared not only to __||____..}-> US Naval Academy |+| retract it, but also to deny under \ / baldwin@cad.usna.navy.mil |+| oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gwh%typhoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) (10/20/89)
From: gwh%typhoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) In article <10331@cbnews.ATT.COM> baldwin@cad.usna.mil (J.D. Baldwin) writes: :In article <10272@cbnews.ATT.COM> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: :>If you look at a head-on photo of an A-6 Intruder, :>for example, you'll see a trefoil on its nose. (At least, some of them :>are/were marked this way.) : :The "Intruders" that you have seen marked this way are actually EA-6B :Prowlers. That is why only "some" of the "Intruders" were marked that way. :The EA-6B of course, looks nearly identical to the A-6[x] from that angle. :I guess that's one reason they mark it that way. : :I don't know whether an EA-6A Intruder has the trefoil or not. I don't :think so. That's getting a little obscure, though . . . : :Interestingly enough, the two aircraft (Intruder/Prowler) have similar :radars in the nose. They aren't identical, but there's nothing super- :powerful or mystic about the AN/APQ-129 in the EA-6B's nose. The extra :"radiation" hazard, if any, is from the jamming pods that the Prowler :carries. And this, of course, is no hazard at all on the ground (unless :the bird is facing into Hurricane Hugo to power its pods' turbines). Those may well have been what he saw, but last time I looked everything with an A-6 airframe type (A-6E, not KA-6D, EA-6A,B) had trefoils on the radome. **************************************** George William Herbert UCB Naval Architecture Dpt. (my god, even on schedule!) maniac@garnet.berkeley.edu gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu ----------------------------------------