Jump to content

boom


G-spotter

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 16
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

$1.2 billion up in smoke. It's hard to believe that the pilots were able to eject at that altitude without injuries.

 

I saw a B-2 flying around Mt. Baker up close a few years ago and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was very strange looking. It must have been in town for the Abbotsford air show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those things are totally unstable. The only reason they can fly is the computer compensation systems. Must have been a failure in the fly by wire.

 

I saw a documentary that discussed that design. During tests they shut down more than one control mechanism and the fly by wire was able to compensate such that the pilots didn't have to do anything special to fly it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It said that:

 

Water distorted preflight readings in three of the plane's 24 sensors, making the aircraft's control computer force the B-2 to pitch up on takeoff, resulting in a stall and subsequent crash." Luckily, "both pilots ejected safely just after the left wing made contact with the ground in the first crash since the maiden B-2 flights nearly 20 years ago."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps you mean "inherently" unstable? One crash in 20 years of flying doesn't indicate that they are "totally" unstable.
The Delta wing design is totally unstable without a properly functioning fly-by-wire system. :rolleyes:

 

The lack of crashes shows the robustness the fly-by-wire system. The pilot indicates what it wants the plane to do which the computer interprets and puts into action. The crash shows what happens when the computer gets confused.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...