Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: bcadoo on November 07, 2009, 05:56:53 PM

Title: Very Tight
Post by: bcadoo on November 07, 2009, 05:56:53 PM
From the Wings Over Houston Airshow last weekend.

Blue Angels are always excellent, but they were exceptional this day.


Take note of the wingtips of #2 and #3.....




(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5130/bluehx.jpg)
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: MachFly on November 07, 2009, 06:20:58 PM
 :O

where you there?
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: ebfd11 on November 07, 2009, 06:43:36 PM
Take note when the Blue Angels start training the standard distancr from wing tip to wing tip is aprox 48 inches. As they progress and trust each other they get closer. I have personally seen them on a later show where the were aprox 18" from wingtip to wingtip. Now that's what you call trust in your fellow flier.   
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: skidoo33 on November 07, 2009, 06:52:12 PM
That's just amazing. :aok
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: Bosco123 on November 07, 2009, 08:43:14 PM
There not close enough!  :mad:
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: batch on November 07, 2009, 08:59:34 PM
what if they lose calibration midflight like in AH?
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: boomerlu on November 07, 2009, 09:10:19 PM
what if they lose calibration midflight like in AH?
Better hope the USN doesn't purchase their joysticks from Saitek or Logitech.
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: Kermit de frog on November 07, 2009, 09:11:18 PM
what if they lose calibration midflight like in AH?

I hear their sticks have extra springs for added tension with less abrupt movements.  Also they do their performance without anti-G suits to avoid being distrubed by it causing them to have involuntary movements in their controls, which would be bad.   :O
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: eagl on November 07, 2009, 10:01:12 PM
When I read the thread title, I thought this was going to be another babe of the week sort of thread :(

As for the blue angels looking that close in the photo, they cheated of course.  The guy on the high wing has actually dropped down a couple of ft to make it look like the wingtips are almost touching.  The guy in the slot also isn't directly behind lead either, because if he was then the formation would look assymetrical.  They do that on a bunch of their photo passes, altering their positions just a tiny bit to make the formation look closer or more symmetrical.  It's pretty cool how they do that IMHO, but they still have "reasonable" wingtip clearance.

Reasonable for them is of course not terribly reasonable for most other pilots :)
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: bcadoo on November 07, 2009, 11:25:23 PM
When I read the thread title, I thought this was going to be another babe of the week sort of thread :(

As for the blue angels looking that close in the photo, they cheated of course.  The guy on the high wing has actually dropped down a couple of ft to make it look like the wingtips are almost touching.  The guy in the slot also isn't directly behind lead either, because if he was then the formation would look assymetrical.  They do that on a bunch of their photo passes, altering their positions just a tiny bit to make the formation look closer or more symmetrical.  It's pretty cool how they do that IMHO, but they still have "reasonable" wingtip clearance.

Reasonable for them is of course not terribly reasonable for most other pilots :)


Possibly....here is a closer view


I did not attend this year, but got the photo from a buddy who did.

(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4788/blue2l.jpg)
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: eagl on November 07, 2009, 11:32:04 PM
From the audience perspective, it's almost impossible to tell that the high wing guy has dropped down.  I've seen the same formation photo pass, but from a completely different location, and from head-on you can tell very clearly that the high wing guy isn't symmetrical.  It makes it look a lot better for the airshow audience and if they were in the usual perfectly symmetrical positions, it would really look like someone was out of position.

Take a micrometer and measure the lengths of the wingtip rails...  In the photo it looks like they're almost touching so they should be pretty much the exact same length.  If you measure them however and the high wing guy's rail is shorter than the low wing one, then that means the high wing guy is actually farther away.  The only way to get the rails lined up but still be farther away, is to have the high wing guy drop "down" and "out" from his normal position.

I've seen this effect from inside the cockpit flying in all 4 of those positions, as flight lead and wingman in 4-ship formations.  It's all a matter of perspective, and some of the airshow formations rely on simple visual illusions to change the appearance of the formation.
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: Masherbrum on November 07, 2009, 11:45:24 PM
Saw them at Thunder Over Michigan this July.   They did the same.   Bottom line, you know if they're involved, you're getting a Top Notch Demonstration.   
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: Strip on November 07, 2009, 11:56:03 PM
You ever listen to the flight lead talk....talk about verbal communication skill.
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: Jayhawk on November 08, 2009, 01:01:48 AM
but they still have "reasonable" wingtip clearance.

Reasonable clearance for the blue angels is still too close for me standing in line at the bank.
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: Buzzard7 on November 08, 2009, 01:24:32 AM
I have heard from a good source that 18 inches is good unless the day has some stiff wind. Eagl is also correct about adjusting for pretty pictures. The stick is heavy and so is the throttle.  Thunderbirds don't have the g-suit bumping the stick problem. They also use throttle friction to make it easier. I am not sure you can limit the side-stick in the Falcon seeing as it doesn't move much anyway.
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: john9001 on November 08, 2009, 03:12:35 PM
that's crazy, someone is going to get hurt.
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: redman555 on November 08, 2009, 07:42:31 PM
wow, there within like 6 inches of each other, one screw up and all go down.


-BigBOBCH
Title: Re: Very Tight
Post by: eagl on November 08, 2009, 07:51:04 PM
wow, there within like 6 inches of each other, one screw up and all go down.

You see, right there is why it's obvious you're not a fighter pilot...  "6 inches", "screw up", "go down", and not a single "so to speak".  You'd be buying rounds or singing to atone for your sins if you said any of that in a fighter bar.

Appropriate responses would of course include sage observations such as "if that's your definition of 6 inches, your wife is either a very lucky or very gullible lady".