tjh%bu-pub.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (Tim Hall) (06/21/89)
From: tjh%bu-pub.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (Tim Hall) The term VIFF used by Harrier pilots stands for "vectoring in forward flight". This makes me think of the AFTI (advanced fighter technology integration - i think) F-16 that was built. I imagine a Harrier pilot could VIFF and climb with out changing the aircraft's pitch. The AFTI F-16 was built to do this and turn without changing roll. So does anybody know how this helped the AFTI in dogfights? Any other interesting things about AFTI? -Tim
jkmedcal@uunet.UU.NET (Jeff K Medcalf) (06/23/89)
From: Jeff K Medcalf <sun!Central!uokmax!jkmedcal@uunet.UU.NET> >From: tjh%bu-pub.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (Tim Hall) >i think) F-16 that was built. I imagine a Harrier pilot could VIFF and >climb with out changing the aircraft's pitch. The AFTI F-16 was built >to do this and turn without changing roll. So does anybody know how this >helped the AFTI in dogfights? The basic goal of AFTI is to improve the plane's chance of getting off a shot by improving "pointability." For example, assume that you, the pilot of an F-16A, are chasing a MiG. You are in his 6, and he is pulling a high-G port turn. Your nose points 5 degrees behind him. IF you are more maneuverable under the prevailing altitude, speed, energy, and so on, you will probably eventually catch up to him...if he doesn't reverse and spoil your partial solution. Now assume that you are in an AFTI F-16 under the same conditions. Even though your direction of flight would not allow you to get a shot off, you could point your nose, and therefore your cannon, at the enemy... and probably end up with a quick victory. There is a great revolution in maneuverability going on in the world right now. Highly unstable aircraft can slew more quickly than a stable aircraft, thanks to redundant computers which correct the aircraft's stability by actively moving the control surfaces (in fact, in the F-18, the pilot tells the computer what he wants to do, and the computer accounts for the position of the surfaces, the limits of the airframe, and other factors to actually move the fighter, so that in effect the pilot is merely suggesting to the computers what they should do). The foreward swept wing promises better turning and easier climb. There are programs entering the prototyping stage which use vectored thrust to force a plane beyond normal flight characteristics, and indeed post-stall maneuver capability seems only 5 to 8 years from full-scale use in production airframes. -- I dream I'm safe jkmedcal@uokmax.UUCP In my hotel womb Jeff Medcalf Soft and so nice It's a wonderful womb <-The Church, "Hotel Womb"