Fighters don't go anywhere single-ship and air combat today is not very much about close-in turning and burning. But, the agility to do those things is still very basic to the success of an aircraft. This video simply makes my hair hurt!
What you see is control in all flight regimes, engine reliability at extreme angles of attack, stability in what should be out-of-control situations, and the greatest carnival ride on the planet!
3 comments:
Best video ever, no? A friend works on the project and I just envy her the contact with the very skin of the beast.
I love about 1:40 where he pivots the damned thing on the nose...what it must feel like...
I do wonder who was flying, though, because that was absolutely phenomenal work.
It reminds me of when I was working at Pittsburgh Intl. (PIT) during the controller’s strike in ’82. We had an Air Force F-15 come in for a visit to the AF Reserve squadron located there. At that time F-15’s were rarely seen in the wild.
When the Eagle was departing, myself and an Air Force controller were working the tower and asked the pilot if he would like a max climb departure. He said, “sure, I’d love to”, so we got clearance to 18,000 feet from Center.
When we cleared him, he rolled out to about midfield on 28L then went vertical. Less than 30 seconds later he leveled off at 18,000 feet doing about 450 knots. That was when he was acquired on Center’s radar – they were a little freaked out.
Civilian controllers at major airports don’t get much of a chance to see military aircraft do what they were capable of. They loved it!
TheOtherLarry
It's really something to see those big paddle elevons working the big deflections needed to control the Raptor at slow speeds. Canards? We don't need no stinkin' canards.
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