HOME | DD

BlacktailFA In reply to zeraful [2015-04-19 06:04:03 +0000 UTC]

LoL

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

BlacktailFA In reply to toby4700 [2015-04-19 06:06:10 +0000 UTC]

It might have been the Ba 349 Natter. It's first flight didn't go very well --- though it had more to do with a canopy hinge failure, than high G forces.  XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

BlacktailFA In reply to S7alker117 [2015-04-21 02:42:28 +0000 UTC]

I'm not surprised. That fuel is vicious stuff. This isn't the *only* aircraft we'll see in this series with excessively dangerous fuel, either --- also, in Warship Disasters, we'll eventually look into some Submarines powered by HTP (High Test Peroxide, which is very pure, and EXTREMELY flammable). 

As for the F-22, there are only two solutions to this dilemma;
1- Change the adhesives used in the RAM (Radar Absorbent Material) paint adhesive.
2- Delete the OBOGS, and convert every F-22 to use bottled oxygen instead.

Neither will be pursued, because doing so would be a de-facto admission that the USAF was lying to the public and it's pilots, putting many lives at risk on the process. Don't expect the USAF to fess-up for decades, if ever.

As for the F-35, it's advocates claim it wouldn't have the same problem, because it's stealth materials are "baked in" with the skin of the airframe itself. However, that doesn't guarantee that it doesn't use the same adhesives.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

S7alker117 In reply to BlacktailFA [2015-04-23 15:14:55 +0000 UTC]

Extremely flammable fuel in a submarine? That ought to go well!

The Raptor Cough is chilling for several reasons. For once, is this the due payment to the USAF's best? Second, regardless of the aircrafts capabilities, are pilots just a second thought to aircraft design? Because even with the advent of drones, we won't get rid of piloted aircraft anytime soon. Just sayin'. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

BlacktailFA In reply to S7alker117 [2015-04-19 06:34:22 +0000 UTC]

Even worse, there's another book titled "The World's Worst Aircraft" (this one was published in 1974) that prominently featured the Me 163 Komet, and it has even more horror stories than I'd already read.

As for the F-22 ventilation problems, it's been noted that the only likely culprit is polyurethane adhesives used in the aircraft's radar-absorbent paint;
defensetech.org/2012/06/21/f-1…

The USAF's first cover story was that the F-22's OBOGS (On-Board Oxygen Generation System) was malfunctioning, but that wasn't going to fly (pun unintended) --- many fighters use an OBOGS system (including the F-15, F-16, F-18, Su-27, Rafale, Typhoon, Gripen, J-10, and so on), but failure of that system is very rare.

The USAF's current story is that the vest worn by the pilots is to blame. Yet, equivalent vests are worn by pilots flying many types of fighters introduced since 1970, and only F-22 pilots have this problem.

The most twisted aspect of this affair is that almost all F-22 pilots are experiencing health problems known as "Raptor Cough", which are consistent with long-term exposure to fumed from polyurethane-based adhesives; that also includes the potential to pass out. Not only are these symptoms completely unrelated to hypoxia (oxygen starvation), but they have also been reported with alarming regularity among F-22 ground crews, who don't breath through either the OBOGS or the vest --- but they ARE exposed to fumes from the paint, which is re-applied after almost every flight.

Three years later, F-22 pilots are still breathing that crap.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0