From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #306 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Saturday, 17 June 1995 Volume 05 : Number 306 In this issue: Receipt: Skunk Works Digest V5 #305 Re: X-31 SR-71 vs TIER Re: SR-71 vs TIER See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: anonymous NFS user 16-Jun-1995 0912 <"bword::nobody"@xanadu.enet.dec.com> Date: Fri, 16 Jun 95 09:11:42 EDT Subject: Receipt: Skunk Works Digest V5 #305 This is a receipt notification for a message you submitted previously. The message <9506161310.AA03071@bword.zko.dec.com> was delivered to . The message was read and acknowledged by the recipient at Fri Jun 16 09:12:33 1995 Supplementary information: Subj: Skunk Works Digest V5 #305. ------------------------------ From: mangan@edac1.kodak.com (Paul Mangan) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 95 13:47:04 EDT Subject: Re: X-31 Is there a gif or a jpg file around anywhere of the X31? Paul mangan@kodak.com > > industry) > X-31 AIRCRAFT FLIES AT PARIS AIR SHOW > In another aviation first, the unique maneuvering > capabilities of the X-31 high-performance experimental fighter aircraft were > demonstrated Saturday to the international aerospace community in a performance > at the 1995 Paris Air Show. The X-31's performance is the first international > air show flight demonstration by an X-plane. > The X-31's demonstration included a series of unique > maneuvers in which the aircraft dramatically exceeded the aerodynamic stall > angle, a condition in which ordinary aircraft lose control. The X-31 is able to > exploit this high angle-of- attack "post stall" capability to turn and maneuver > more quickly and over shorter distances than can conventional aircraft. > The specific maneuver set demonstrated during the air show > included a post-stall loop after takeoff, followed immediately by a rapid, > so-called "helicopter turn" in the opposite direction; a low-altitude, > horizontal, post-stall break turn termed the "mongoose"; a slow-speed, high > angle-of-attack turn in the opposite direction called the "Herbst turn"; and, > finally, a climbing, high-speed entry into a post-stall loop, followed by rapid, > sequential repointing of the aircraft in opposite directions. > In preparation for the low-altitude air show demonstration, > the X-31 had conducted 34 flights in less than a month. This represents a record > for X-aircraft, bettering the previous achievement of 22 flights during one > month; the previous record was also held by the X-31. > Two X-31 experimental aircraft were built and flew during a > four-year exploration and test program to demonstrate the feasibility of thrust > vectoring control in the post-stall flight regime. The X-31 used maneuvers > similar to those in its air show repertoire in mock, close-in air combat > engagements against a variety of front-line fighter aircraft, dramatically > dominating many of these "adversaries." > -MORE- > The X-31's maneuvering achievements have also been > complemented by another significant aviation first when the aircraft > demonstrated that flight without a tail is possible at supersonic as well as > subsonic speeds. Designing aircraft without tails offers the potential for > reduced weight and increased performance, efficiency and stealth. The X-31 > demonstrated flight without a tail through a novel supersonic in-flight > experiment in which the flight control system was fooled into reacting as though > the aircraft had no tail. The thrust vectoring capability was then used to > provide necessary aircraft stability, trim and control. > One aircraft crashed during a test flight in January 1995, > after a departure from controlled flight not attributed to any of the aircraft's > unique systems or maneuvering capabilities. The remaining X-31 aircraft was > brought back to flight status in April. > The X-31 aircraft was developed jointly by Rockwell > International's North American Aircraft Division and Daimler-Benz Aerospace > (formerly Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm), under sponsorship by the U.S. Department > of Defense and the German Federal Ministry of Defense. The program has been > operating under the auspices of the X-31 International Test Organization (ITO) > from the NASA-Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. The ITO is > comprised of participants from the DoD's Advanced Research Projects Agency, > NASA, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, the German Government, German Air Force, > and the two prime contractors, Rockwell International and Daimler-Benz. > > -END- > > Note: Video footage of the X-31 performing maneuvers similar > to those performed at the air show is available from Ken Carter, Room 2E765, > Pentagon, at (703) 697-6161. > Stock photos of the X-31 are available on-line at the World > Wide Web site maintained by NASA-Dryden Flight Research Center at the following > URL: > http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/PhotoServer/photoServer.html > > > ------------------------------ From: jblue@gate.net (Jeff Blue) Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 22:32:55 -0400 Subject: SR-71 vs TIER I would like to see some discussion of the change in recon assets from the U-2, SR-71 days to what seems like the current shift to unmanned platforms. It seems to me that the TIER vehicles are great for Bosnia, Middle East and other relatively accessable areas. However what about large areas and/or technically sophisticated environs. Will TIER be able to penatrate across mainland China? I understand TIER 3 (or is it 3+) is supposed to be able to survive in hostile territory. Will it have the range/speed for deep penetration into China or Russia? in daylight? Also, what capability is lost by not having a pilot along? Do we have any history of pilots making on the scene changes or observations that would have been missed with unmanned vehicles. What kind of a recon platform would the F-117 or a derivative of it make? What is lost in the shift to relatively slow but stealthy vehicles? What is gained? Of course, a new generation of high speed manned recon may be in operation and this will all be moot. Jeff Blue / jblue@gate.net ------------------------------ From: neil@bedford.progress.COM (Neil Galarneau) Date: Sat, 17 Jun 95 00:32:08 EDT Subject: Re: SR-71 vs TIER > From: jblue@gate.net (Jeff Blue) [snip] > Also, what capability is lost by not having a pilot along? Do we have any > history of pilots making on the scene changes or observations that would > have been missed with unmanned vehicles. An on-board pilot would definitely bring the craft back more often than a remote one because the o-b pilot could tell what was wrong with the aircraft beter than the remote pilot could. The faster and higher the aircraft goes the less direct observing a human can do. The observer turns into a sensor operator. I don't know if this is possible, but if the sensor operator could see the "picture" that the sensors see, he could make some on-the-spot decisions. > What kind of a recon platform would the F-117 or a derivative of it make? I don't know, but the sensor pallet could go in the bomb bay and maybe use special bomb bay doors for the sensors. [snip] > Jeff Blue / jblue@gate.net Neil neil@progress.com ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #306 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@mail.orst.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. 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