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grigolosi

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About grigolosi

  • Birthday 02/13/1971

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Overseas
  • Interests
    Drawing, building models, and aircraft (fighters mainly, spent 20+ yrs working on F-16's)

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  1. grigolosi
    The Newest Eagles are either equipped with the PW 229 or GE 129, depending on the contract and what the customer prefers. The USAF has kept its Eagles restricted to PW 220's and 229's. The 229 being in the 29-30k thrust rating. In a conversation I had with my pilot when I was stationed in Japan. He told me that when engaged at visual range by F-16's the Eagles would go completely DACM. They would try to run for altitude since the Eagle operates far better at higher altitudes than the Viper. These were the Charlie and Delta models he was referring too. I would say that the munitions dropped were SDB's most likely (GBU-53's) The newest version uses a tri seeker system for targeting giving the pilot more options in attacking their targets. It is also capable of carrying 8 of them internally. Not too sure about the targeting. I would ask some of the guys I know but that would be stepping into the realm of classified info more than likely. With the use of IDM systems in the aircraft now I would say it was target info passed from other aircraft to him.
  2. grigolosi
    A tad bit late for this thread but here is some of Talos's Line art I colored in USAF 8th FW markings under UN Spacy control..........I did post these to his DA account for him to look at and his line art is very accurate. I added a few more details such as panel screws and fasteners. Thanks Talos for allowing us to color your line art!
  3. grigolosi
    Very true Chronocidal, with the upgrade to the AESA radar alone in the Blk 60 F-16 two additional heat exchangers and a PAO system had to be installed on the frame to provide adequate cooling with the engine running . The heat output from the one on the right side is so much that getting into the right wheel well during summer operations is almost impossible. Plus anytime we performed maintenance with any electrical power running we had to use cooling air period, when runnig the radar you had to use the PAO cart also, The difference is that in the older F-16's you could run external power for up to 30 mins before requiring cooling air.
  4. grigolosi
    No the engine won't fit. The 135 is longer but slightly smaller in diameter than the GE which is the larger of the 2 engines currently used in the F-16. It would require re positioning a lot of the major connections between the engine and frame IE PLA shaft. ECS bleed air ducts, PTO shaft/gearbox placement and thrust pins. One thing to remember about the F-15 frame. The frame was built before any of its current systems went into it. They essentially crammed everything in after they proved the shape would fly. It would take some doing to re route hydraulics, wiring and bleed air systems. You would drop weight by replacing the flight controls with FBW and maybe be able to reduce the hydraulic systems to 2 and make them far simpler ( the hydro system on an Eagle is a nightmare to bleed, so much so that only the 7 level mechanics are qualified to do it). Also I AM NOT SOME DAMNED public relations salesman trying to sell a product for my employer. The info I have learned about the F-35 has come from other crew chiefs who I work with on a daily basis. and are not giving some stupid press conference to push a product. We spend our time like this discussing various aircraft. They have the actual knowledge of the aircraft first hand not from some damned media outlet. So I tend to believe them not some reporter who only see's what the USAF and LM allows them to see.
  5. grigolosi
    LOL....well the media would try to tell us that anyway F-ZeroOne. The energy recovery out of those maneuvers is damn good. I work with quite a few guys who came off the 35's. They told me that LM had to dumbdown some of the Avionics suite because it worked too well. Especially the camera's targeting system. They said it was able too zoom in too close......like the registration stickers on cars on the freeways. But that 135 is definitely putting out power. Now just imagine if they had gone with the GE engine instead...........
  6. grigolosi
    It does have adverse affects on the engine in tweaking its DEC or DEEC up to higher thrust ratings like that. The GE 132 is essentially an "uptweaked " GE 129. All the components on the engine are the same except one or two minor things. In the past few years they have run into issues with cracks forming between the aeration holes int he turbine blades due to the increase in both heat and pressure from the increased thrust. When I was stationed in Japan back in the 90's they had us trim up the DEC's on 2 of our Blk 50's to 31K and monitor them. The jets were restricted to local flying only because of it since the GE reps weren't sure what would actually happen to the engines. PW ran into issues with the burner cans on the early 229's. The flame holders were falling apart since they were the same design used in the 220. The Increase in thrust was tearing them apart.
  7. grigolosi
    Yeah I found it. Good eye TehPW! It is from his book "Tenjin Hidetaka artworks of Macross, Valkyries". Hope this helps Ikaruss! http://gbmshop.blogspot.com/2018/01/valkyries-tenjin-hidetaka-art-works-of.html
  8. grigolosi
    This is a work by another artist on DA, He goes by Lazark. This is one of the best paintings of the ASS-1 after the crash I have seen.......
  9. grigolosi
    I have messaged with him on several occasions. He lives in the Philipines and works as a concept artist. He has an account on Deviantart if you want to see more of his work (https://www.deviantart.com/atomicgenjin). His Dimensional fortress drawings are incredible. Here is another one he created based on the Supervsion Army. This one is titled "Supervision Fleet, 996th Squadron, Trauzen group"
  10. grigolosi

    Untitled Album

    Images added to a gallery album owned by grigolosi in Macross Fan Art

  11. grigolosi
    I know for a fact that the South Korean Strike eagles have GE's in them. But the Koreans have run into issues obtaining parts for them since the GE is the primary engine for the USAF F-16 fleet. The USAF essentially has top priority for the parts. At Edwards when i was stationed there they tested the GE 129 in some of the F-15's. The USAF F-15 crew chiefs hate them. They stated they are "too oil dependent". They are definitely more sensitive to correct oil servicing but not as bad they made them out to be. Yeah I have been away for quite a while. I am now working for a new employer (LM) in another overseas assignment........Anyway I know the information I saw said the F-15X was reported by non official sources. The USAF doe inquire at times about this stuff. I would bet whoever gave out this info saw some form of cost analysis somewhere on it. But only time will tell.
  12. grigolosi
    The F-35 isn't in the same size class as an F-16. The plane is huge compared to an F-16. I got to look at one up close back in 11' before I retired from AD. But in comparison yes it is supposed to take over the F-16's role in the AF. As I was looking at the picture of the new Russian toy. I noticed a couple of things. First of all no notching on the inboard edge next to the LEF's, F-22's have this to deter this sizable radar return surface ( I also noticed this on the Chinese monstrosity of a fighter). Second I noticed the Russians as in typical fashion only dog toothed certain panels, i.E. the landing gear doors. The rest of the surface has noticeable straight edge panel lines across the surface. If it has a negligible RCS I am curious as to how they did it without either coating the surface or panel lines with RAM or angling edges. Been away awhile, was changing employers. Also here is a video shot this week by the IQAF MOD and posted to their FB page. Showing a walk around and launch of one of their F-16 training missions.......
  13. grigolosi
    Nice video NZEOD. It looked like a local area fam flight. The visiting units at RF-Alaska would do the same on the first day of flying. Mainly to get the lay of the land and local area navigation landmarks for low level missions. Cruising through valley's like that is fun as hell. On my ride back in 93' my pilot took us through the local valley's in northern Japan and simulated bombing bridges that spanned the valleys.
  14. grigolosi
    Yeah the Charlie models were equipped with the 220's along with a lot of the A's. The Strike Eagles are currently using either 220's or 229's.. If I remember right the older Echoes are using the 220. Replacing the older boost systems would be a major job. The older cables and hydraulic components would have to come out and then the Flt control harnesses would have to be routed. Then a FLCS computer would also have to be installed. In the Eagles case it would also have to tie in with the vari-ramps. On another note since it is Veterans Day, Here is a video honoring the unsung folks who keep them flying...... https://www.dvidshub.net/video/492050/maintainers-driving-force
  15. grigolosi
    I know for the past 20 yrs most of us F-16 guy's have always asked why they haven't upgraded the Eagles to fly by wire systems. In actuality they could eliminate part of the hydraulic system by integating a fly by wire system. The newest ISA's (Integrated Servo Actuators) have their own self contained hydraulic reservoirs. The only other systems that would require hydraulics would be the landing gear, start system and gun. The ISA's also react faster than boost cable systems and would eliminate the issue the F-15's had with the flight control cable connection rods which cost the pilot at Spanghalem AB his life. Currently F-15's have 4 hydraulic systems. They could probably reduce that down to 2 maybe less with FBW systems. Hell the Koreans got smart and had their new Strike Eagles equipped with GE engines instead of PW's. I think its a good idea to finally upgrade that frame with newer systems and see how much teh frame can possibly improve.
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