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grigolosi

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Everything posted by grigolosi

  1. grigolosi
    Queadluun-Rau/Rhea, VF-25, VF-1, VF-19.
  2. grigolosi
    Oh lord our ignorance has inflamed someone. I am sorry I have never seen this article before nor am I an expert in wrapping aircraft for AMRG storage. A simple explanation would have sufficed without a condescending tone.
  3. grigolosi
    It looks like they were testing some form of stealth drone tech using an old hornet. I think that is the nose we are looking at. It isn't unusual for these companies to use existing frames to test newer frame concepts. For example the F-35 inlet was originally tested on an F-16 at Edwards back in 01-02. I wouldn't doubt they used it for wind tunnel testing of some form and used the frame for engine inlet/exhaust testing on the ground.
  4. grigolosi
    Swweeetttttt!
  5. grigolosi
    This pile of burning crap should be way at the top or potentially #1. It was lampooned big time by MST3K.
  6. grigolosi
    The new tanker program is suddenly running into issues now also. I was reading there are some "major" issues with the KC-46. What they are was not revealed in the article. All these programs are being run by people with something to gain in the long run.This was a lesson learned from the generation of officers who were involved in the systems and weapons development for the AF during Vietnam. All those officers retired into the program or companies that developed the systems and haven't left yet. You can spot them on the test bases. At Eglin they are the old 60 yr old men driving a brand new Corvette ever year. Funny when I applied for jobs with Lockheed on the F-35, one item you had to answer was whether you were ever part of contracting with them while in the AF or if you were related to anyone who was in a position that would lead to a "conflict of interest". Too much money being thrown around with no real oversight anymore. But then on the other end you have guys like Sprey who believe we should be fighting in jets the way we did in Korea, inertial gunsights and machine guns/cannons. There doesn't seem to be anyone with the sense to establish a good median in all this new tech/ new tech.
  7. grigolosi
    That helmet display is awesome. I was able to read the article thanks to the translation program on windows. I was reading a post on facebook the other day. Someone was ranting how the lack of a HUD is going to be a shortcoming. They were quoting Pierre Sprey while talking about it. I don't think he actually keeps up on tech advances in the fighter world. The F-15 and F-16 both use JHMCS for targeting and the pilots really like it. Now I do believe we have spent way too much on the program and we should not be rushing to get rid of aircraft but it has brought some very practical and high tech advancements to fighter aircraft. Being able to see through the aircraft would be one of a fighter pilots greatest assets in a fight. I know not having to wear the night goggles is also a plus. It cuts down on more crap being brought into the cockpit and makes the helmet less cumbersome.
  8. grigolosi
    Pretty much Schizo but the engine in the Blk 50 has a higher thrust rating (29K). Here is one being run in the evening at Balad AB Iraq. Notice the difference in the burner flame. Here is a burner run on a Blk 60 with the 32K thrust rated engine. These are the birds I work on here in the UAE and I have worked on this tail number also. Sorry about the damn music some people just don't appreciate engine noise. This was recorded while the aircraft were at Tuscon for the first few yrs of the program.
  9. grigolosi
    Hornets are very loud in full burner, even at a distance for such a small diameter engine like the 404. It is way worse when you are standing next to the jet in full burner. I remember running ground on burner runs in the hush house at Misawa on the Blk 50 F-16's. You couldn't stand in one spot for very long. The vibrations were so strong you could feel yourself inching around along the floor. Then on top of it you can't even hear the run man in the cockpit even with a headset on.
  10. grigolosi
    Here is a little something to get you going in the morning. This is the SU-35 demo from the 2013 Paris Airshow!
  11. grigolosi
    Most fighters take off in afterburner Frothy. Especially when they are loaded with external fuels tanks and are on smaller airfields. Also Paine Field is home to Boeing, they bought out McDonnell Douglas and now produce the F-18. The Hornets were probably passing through and landed for gas. There is no restriction on afterburner use though. Fortunately there are probably only a few of them at any time taking off during the week. If you can one of these days try to see if there are any markings on the tails. If there aren't any then they are probably aircraft form the St. Louis Plant transiting through on their way to delivery.
  12. grigolosi
    Don't forget our own PT uniform had LOTS of reflective print on it also and they started making people wear their disco belts with them also. Now I have seen some horrible images of "bad decisions" made by folks in the maintenance field. Those alone are enough to make you think before you do something stupid or should make you think. The worst of the group was the Airman who was blown in half by an exploding tire. He attempted to "hot shot" a tire on an F-15. That is service it with pressurized gaseous nitrogen without a tire servicing adapter. He hooked the nitrogen hose directly to the tire and opened the valve and then boom one leg was under a hydraulic stand and the rest of him went somewhere else. That stuff as gruesome as it is makes a better statement and en grains safety in the mind.
  13. grigolosi
    The biggest problem is that it has become so overly prevalent that it can actually impede the mission at hand. There has to be a point where common sense prevails. Before I retired if we didn't have the blue Nitrile gloves on hand almost all work on the flightline would come to a halt. Because you are required to wear those gloves on all servicing procedures on aircraft. That is where safety becomes overly useless. Most military safety procedures are in place because of stupid people not using their common sense. That poor kid in the video was forced to wear ALL the IPE including earplugs (there were no aircraft engines running anywhere near them and he is supposed to be listening to his trainer) for the entire tire change even though he only needed them for specific instances in the procedure. Believe me I work on F-16's everyday and I follow a lot of safety procedures because like you said getting hurt or even killed sucks. But the stronger side of safety is common sense which is lacking severely nowadays. Now the USAF does use the QR codes on tools in the tool support sections for quick check in. That does help with the friday night end of work week inventory.
  14. grigolosi
    Actually we use all types of tires. Michelins, Goodyears and BF Goodriches. The Michelins and Goodyears hold up very well. Actually that part of the tire isn't serially controlled ironically enough. The wheel assemblies are. So when we pull a tire we have to remove the old wheel S/N and load the new one in the maintenance database. The Wheel is then sent to the back shop for rebuild. When we order parts we still fill out the information by hand on an order request form and then the supply folks that work in the unit have to type in the number by hand to order the part. They have the QR codes but the only folks who use them are the main supply warehouse folks for delivery acceptance and inventory.
  15. grigolosi
    Speaking of brakes and tires...here is a video a few may find a little interesting....it also demonstrates how insane the USAF has gotten with safety...check out the young airman who is learning and what all he has to wear....Driver I know you may get a kick out of this!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MukcRzbmNiU
  16. grigolosi
    One thing to remember about the re-imagined BSG (which I am a fan of) is that the cockpit of the Viper MkII represents a design meant to fight an enemy who had the capability to hack in to more advance computer systems. So its systems were designed to minimize use of computers whenever possible, if you remember the pilot episode/movie the MK VII Vipers were hacked and shutdown by the Cylons before they could fire a shot. Now SW I do agree with you about, I have always thought the cockpits for the starfighters and even the Millennium Falcon were definitely backwards looking. I am not really harshly criticizing Macross for that. This was something that I noticed and I was wondering if anyone else had noticed it. I know they show the stick movement for drama and to also demonstrate that the pilot is commanding the VF's movements. One of the things I loved in Macross especially DYRL was the sound of the VF engines starting and operating. They used the sound of a F-15 JFS starting up its engine. I wish they had used that more often in the other series of Macross. That was one of the most realistic sound affects I have heard in Sci Fi in my book, next to the sound of the gunpods used by the VF's in DYRL.
  17. grigolosi
    Actually during testing of any combat aircraft the required ordnance load weight in the specification is loaded and flown to ensure it meets that requirement. Now in actual combat whether they fly a load that big is another question. Weapons loadout is determined by the mission type. I couldn't imagine what type of CAS mission would require a 16K load. You are planning on putting some hurt on someone with that load. The whole thing with the A-10 is that it is designed to takeoff with that load weight. Most F-105's had issues getting off the ground with the loadout they carried in Vietnam due to the high air temperatures in Thailand so they used a large amount of fuel on takeoff using a P&W J-75. The A-10 uses what is essentially a high bypass engine which has a far higher fuel efficiency and also reduces its noise and it uses 2 of the TF 34's which produce as much thrust together as the J-75. This means it would have the fuel to use after take off with that load out. The wing on the A-10 is designed for high lift and maneuverability, compared to most high speed aircraft which have smaller wings designed to balance lift, speed and maneuverability.
  18. grigolosi
    We lost 395 of the total 833 F-105 run, a vast majority in combat. The main reason for this is that the Thud carried out a majority of the bombing missions over the North so they went in to the heaviest defended airspaces on Earth at the time. Now most 105's carried an extra fuel tank in the bomb bay. The outside of the bay doors were reinforced and they carried a MER on the centerline. So its bomb bay was never used for carrying a weapons load.
  19. grigolosi
    One thing to remember, In flight with the airflow moving over the fuselage that door won't be bouncing around. The airflow will keep it open. More than likely which is common with any vulcan gun, the barrels begin to rotate before the first round is fired. The small door actuators used now are extremely reliable though. I think on the F-16 I have only replaced 1 JFS door actuator in the 23 yrs I have worked on them. That actuator gets used consistently and is also exposed to far higher heat due to its proximity to both the JFS and engine. But they will eventually find out how well this door system holds up. Here is another video showing the gun firing with the cover panel off the barrels. I now believe that the muzzle door uses a pneumatic actuator to open. The actuator pneumatic reservoir is probably recharged off engine bleed air. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om8kl3Pinqc
  20. grigolosi
    Frothy that looks like an intake door for the gun gas bleed system for when it fires in flight. F-16's have something similar located on the bottom of the strake under the gun. In flight the airflow will cause the gun gases in the frame to build up in the frame area around the gun drive. That door allows airflow to move the gas aft and then out through the gas bleed door on top and to the rear of the bulge. That is what the large red hose is hooked to for the test firing. Driver the door sensor switch sends an "open" signal to the gun drive. If the drive doesn't get a signal from the switch in the open position it won't rotate nor electrically prime the cartridges. If you notice you will see that the gun doesn't fire until the door is full open. I recognize that boresight area. That was recorded at Edwards. That is also where the fuels shop services the F-16 hydrazine tank after they have activated the EPU in flight.
  21. grigolosi
    There is one thing that has bugged me the past few days since I thought about it. The VF series are supposed to use fly by wire systems and for all intents a purposes they use side stick controllers like the F-16, F-22 and F-35. I noticed that when they show the pilots flying them in the series that when they move the stick the whole stick moves. Knowing what I know about these type of control systems if the stick were to actuate that far while in fighter mode the pilot would over control and possibly crash it. The current sidestick controllers have very little movement in them for this reason. It is just enough movement to allow the pilot to know which direction he is pushing it. General Dynamics originally had no movement at all in the sidestick before the prototype F-16 flew, they found the pilots had difficulty because there was no feed back from the stick to aid their SA, so a small amount of movement was allowed in the stick. Now I could see some form of locking system to restrict the controller of a VF while in fighter mode and then it would unlock to allow greater movement in both GERWALK and Battroid. But then you would run into the issue of over control in GERWALK since it is a hybrid mode that can operated like an aircraft. Any thoughts?
  22. grigolosi
    Yeah it sounded to me from the description that it was series of "brushfire wars" in various regions. Certain countries backing their interest in either supporting the unification or preventing it. Knowing human nature there was some form political agenda being pushed on both sides. I have seen some sources saying it lasted roughly until 06-07 where it became kind of a luke warm war until the Birdman Incident of Macross Zero caused it to flare up again. Then after that incident the AU alliance apparently completely dissolved.
  23. grigolosi
    Driver I definitely agree with you on HG. I would also go as far as to burn their building, troll cave, shack of evil, or whatever you want to call it to the ground. Then sweep the ashes into a pit, fill the pit and then build an industrial size parking garage over it. Now in regards to Basara I couldn't really appreciate his character in M7 either. Yes there are differences in the music and that is understandable considering how music in the real world changes. You have to keep in mind the musical influences of the time it was made influenced what went into M-7 at the time. But to me there was something missing from his character. The most common emotion expressed from him was his yelling to make people listen to his music. Driver is right in my view also that he just jumped into things without any fore thought to consequences. After how many attempts to calm everyone with his music and those damn speaker pods you would think he would have gone about formulating a new approach. Personality wise he didn't seem to have a lot of appeal, to me he acted like a moody, boring, sober version of Jim Morrison with a pilots license.
  24. grigolosi
    Again why bother..........................................
  25. grigolosi
    Also what was up with the dark overlord of the vampires hair style? He kinda looked like a young grandpa Munster!
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