Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Jet Power. - Sometimes too much

 








12 comments:

  1. Failed experiment for short landing C-130 aircraft. They lost several aircraft before deciding it was not a good idea. JATO bottles work fairly well for takeoff, but not so well on the other end of the plane while landing.

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  2. Seen JATO packs used for short takeoff but NOT for short stops/landings. That last clip is FAR too likely for my taste.

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  3. These clips are of the Credible Sport C-130 modified to land in the Tehran soccer stadium and then take off with all the US embassy hostages from that same field.

    On the first clip you can see the additional rocket motor firing just aft of the ramp and door but below the empennage.

    JATO was not used for the braking rockets. They were real rocket motors and worked perfectly when activated manually by the crew. The last clip was when the crew was testing the automatic system and it fired early causing the hard landing.

    Dave

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    1. I could see that they had fired it early, and I was wondering if the abrupt deceleration just put it into an immediate stall, causing it to just drop those last few feet. Those impact-related stresses could be really something for an aircraft that heavy.

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  4. I've had some ideas that should have been left as just an idea.
    Someone is probably still walking around muttering
    It should have worked.

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    1. more like the socialist premise of "poor planning, this time it'll work". And sure enough, some Dimrods will suit up to try it!

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  5. I recall some nut putting a JATO on a car. Don't remember the outcome but it sounds like a good idea. Ha.

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  6. 2 outta 3 ain't THAT bad.


    Provided you're not riding in #3.

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  7. Their basic failure was not wiring the rocket firing circuit through the weight-on-wheels switch on the main gear strut. Doing so would have precluded firing prior to touchdown and the system could have been armed to fire as soon as the Herk did. Either way, that kind of massive stress doesreally bad things to outer wing spars and engine mounts….

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  8. Hey Gomer, can you check the brakes for me? They seem a little grabby.

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  9. When faced with a problem - such as deceleration, every engineer in the world says, "hold my beer"

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