From: Spike Jones (spike66@attglobal.net)
Date: Thu Dec 28 2000 - 17:11:32 MST
> Spike Jones wrote: I find this remarkable that
> > such an important story went largely unnoticed. spike
>
> Doug Jones wrote: Only coverage I saw was in AvLeak and the Aerotech News
> & Review- and underplayed even there....
Hey Doug, Im glad you weighed in on this one. Every time I look
at the Osprey I think how cool it would be if that concept could
be made to work. Since you are aerodynamics cluey, help me
out here. It always looked to me like if the pilot rotates the props
to horizontal with too much forward speed they would lose lift
the craft could go auger helplessly into the ground with both
engines screaming. Wouldn't ya have flow separations all over
the place? So then there would be a craft that could only be
operated safely by computer, eh?
There was a scene in Contact which was set about 10 yrs
future where they had a tilt-turbine VTOL craft. That was
pretty wicked cool too.
I thought of a maneuver that might make it safer to land, altho
it might not be so comfortable to the passengers: as the pilot
approaches the landing, she would pull it up vertical and hold
it until the upward velocity reached zero, with the nose straight
up. Then keeping the props horizontal, the pilot rotates the
fuselage to horizontal, and gradually settles to the deck, thereby
avoiding the risk of what has evidently crunched two ospreys:
lost lift because of rotating with too much forward velocity.
Wouldnt that work? spike
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:32:35 MST