normb@tekred.UUCP (Norm Babcock ) (01/04/85)
Seen on net.lan: "There are only two kinds of planes:
fighters and targets."
Question: What is the speed of the air flow just behind the prop?
There is an ad for "U-build-it" jet engines appearing in the
aviation mags. Anyone know what kind they are and how they work?
(Let's see, 500 lb a/c built along the lines of a F-16 with
two baby jets producing 300-350 lbs of thrust... Wow!)
If you get a chance to look at a copy of "The Treasures of Silver
Hill", do so. Lots of info about little known aircraft. As an
example: there was a rocket plane built in late WW II which had
a climb rate of 36,000 feet per min. It only had fuel for 5 min,
and after it fired 24 air-to-air rockets, the whole thing came
apart, and returned to earth with chutes. Flew like a dream,
but had a nasty habit of rolling up into a fire ball if all the
fuel had not been used. Ever hear of a channel wing? The premise
is that it doesn't matter how you get the airflow. This guy
(Watson, I think) used the props to create the airflow, wrapping
the wing part way around the prop radius. According to the book
it was scary to watch fly because of the super slow speed
required, even for steep turns.
Didn't send very many cards out this year, but I do wish everyone
on the net a great year, and safe flying.
Norm
tektronix!tekred!normb