And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Years ago, I read somewhere that the reason American Airlines commercial airliners were shiny was to eliminate the extra weight of a combined painted surface, allowing the aircraft to save on fuel costs.
If true, I can see the same logic having been applied to Air Force fighter jets, plus, I'm guessing it might also have allowed them to travel and maneuver at higher speeds.
However, the surfaces of contemporary fighter jets are completely painted, so maybe the type of paint being used now provides a tactical advantage.
Also, American Airlines now operates aircraft that are painted on all surfaces, so are they now being employed as top secret military aircraft in disguise, fully loaded with paratroopers, nuclear bombs, and air-to-air missiles?
Would civilian passengers on an American Airlines flight suddenly find themselves drafted mid-flight, issued weapons and parachutes, and dropped into an unknown destination on an undetermined mission, with no way home?
(That's recalling a song we sang in the Army as we ran in formation, i.e., "C-130 rolling down the strip. Airborne daddy gonna take a little trip. Mission undetermined, destination unknown. Don't even know if I'll be coming home. Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door. Jump right out and count to four. If my 'chute don't open wide, I've got another 'chute by my side. If that 'chute don't open too, Look out, Boys, I'm a comin' through. I want to be an Airborne Ranger Livin' a life of blood and danger. Airborne! Ranger! Raaaaugh!")
I wonder how many millions of dollars were saved by not having to buy paint and special preparation products to paint the planes in those days?.....of course, who worries about that these days.....the more spent, the better....
Actually, the 8th Air Force came to the same conclusion during WWII. All that OD paint was just extra weight. Color did not matter. Everybody for a ten mile radius knew who those contrails belonged to and where they were headed. Now airlines paint their aircraft to protect against corrosion, UV, and advertise their brand.
only reason to not paint aircraft is the weight. we paint aluminum to prevent corrosion, camouflage the aircraft, reduce "glint effects", protect the structure from "nuclear flash heating", absorb RF energy, and reduce or increase recognition. there are many different types of paint and my favorite ones are "iron ball paint" and "flash paint". Ironball basically has small spheres of iron in the paint that absorbs RADAR energy and turns it into heat. the coating finds use on special mission aircraft. flash paint protects structure by bubbling up into a foam like consistency when exposed to heat flash and acts like an insulator. 1100 grade aluminum corrodes its surface to an oxide which then protects the interior of the aluminum. 2024 alloy has a coating of 1100 aluminum to prevent the 2024 alloy from corroding. the worst thing you can do to 2024 is polish it. if you don't want a dull aluminum oxide finish, paint is a lot better than polish as corrosion protection. epoxy and polyester paints are excellent finishes and retain their looks for years.
Years ago, I read somewhere that the reason American Airlines commercial airliners were shiny was to eliminate the extra weight of a combined painted surface, allowing the aircraft to save on fuel costs.
ReplyDeleteIf true, I can see the same logic having been applied to Air Force fighter jets, plus, I'm guessing it might also have allowed them to travel and maneuver at higher speeds.
However, the surfaces of contemporary fighter jets are completely painted, so maybe the type of paint being used now provides a tactical advantage.
Also, American Airlines now operates aircraft that are painted on all surfaces, so are they now being employed as top secret military aircraft in disguise, fully loaded with paratroopers, nuclear bombs, and air-to-air missiles?
Would civilian passengers on an American Airlines flight suddenly find themselves drafted mid-flight, issued weapons and parachutes, and dropped into an unknown destination on an undetermined mission, with no way home?
(That's recalling a song we sang in the Army as we ran in formation, i.e., "C-130 rolling down the strip.
Airborne daddy gonna take a little trip.
Mission undetermined, destination unknown.
Don't even know if I'll be coming home.
Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door.
Jump right out and count to four.
If my 'chute don't open wide,
I've got another 'chute by my side.
If that 'chute don't open too,
Look out, Boys, I'm a comin' through.
I want to be an Airborne Ranger
Livin' a life of blood and danger.
Airborne!
Ranger!
Raaaaugh!")
John,
DeleteYou a conspiracy theory guy or just ever so slightly paranoid covering it up with sarcasm?
Fun! Fun! Fun!
DeleteI wonder how many millions of dollars were saved by not having to buy paint and special preparation products to paint the planes in those days?.....of course, who worries about that these days.....the more spent, the better....
ReplyDeleteActually, the 8th Air Force came to the same conclusion during WWII. All that OD paint was just extra weight. Color did not matter. Everybody for a ten mile radius knew who those contrails belonged to and where they were headed. Now airlines paint their aircraft to protect against corrosion, UV, and advertise their brand.
ReplyDeleteonly reason to not paint aircraft is the weight. we paint aluminum to prevent corrosion, camouflage the aircraft, reduce "glint effects", protect the structure from "nuclear flash heating", absorb RF energy, and reduce or increase recognition.
ReplyDeletethere are many different types of paint and my favorite ones are "iron ball paint" and "flash paint". Ironball basically has small spheres of iron in the paint that absorbs RADAR energy and turns it into heat. the coating finds use on special mission aircraft. flash paint protects structure by bubbling up into a foam like consistency when exposed to heat flash and acts like an insulator.
1100 grade aluminum corrodes its surface to an oxide which then protects the interior of the aluminum. 2024 alloy has a coating of 1100 aluminum to prevent the 2024 alloy from corroding. the worst thing you can do to 2024 is polish it. if you don't want a dull aluminum oxide finish, paint is a lot better than polish as corrosion protection.
epoxy and polyester paints are excellent finishes and retain their looks for years.