Best Fighters: Su 35

The Su 35 has been added to the “Best Fighters” page! Have a look!

Click HERE to go to the Best Fighters Page.

New- What Plane Is It?

There is a new plane to recognise on the “What Plane Is It?” page!
Have a go! Try and improve your score by answering the next planes that will appear correctly afterwards. Every time a new one appears, I will try and remember to write a post like this one about it.

Click HERE to go to the “What Plane Is It?” page!

Also, you can tell everyone about your favourite plane on the “Your Favourite Planes” page! If your favourite plane is already there, you can vote for it.

Click HERE to go to the “Your Favourite Planes” page!

Battle RC helicopters

I have recently found out that you can buy a pair of tiny 2 channel remote control helicopters which you can battle.

The helicopters are about the size of a hand and are meant only for indoors (outside the smallest bit of wind would blow them away). They are great fun and very simple to fly. On the remote control, you have a throttle which makes you go higher or lower (more throttle makes you go higher, less makes you go lower), a control which turns the helicopter left or right and a button which fires the infrared “laser gun”. The laser gun makes a sound effect.

Not only are the helicopters great fun to fly on their own, but they are even better when flying with a friend. You can have battles to see who can shoot the other person’s helicopter down first. (If the helicopters are good quality, which most are, they are built of something which resists crashes, so it doesn’t matter if they crash).

There are many different versions, but all are fairly similar. On most, it is something like this:
First direct hit on the opponent’s helicopter makes it spin around, the second makes it lose altitude and the third makes it crash.

Some versions are based on real helicopters (e.g. some look like Apaches- I will soon do a post on these, perhaps there will be a whole page on helicopters), others don’t look like any real helicopter in particular. Looks aren’t everything though, good quality is needed.

Anyway, whatever they look like, they are great fun and I now have some! They are great!

Picture of an example of battle helicopters below is from http://www.hotcraze.co.uk
The explosion in the middle is fake by the way.

B-2 Spirit crash

Sadly, a USAF (United States Air Force) Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has crashed at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, a Pacific island.

Guam is a US territory, 3,700 miles south-west of Hawaii. Its capital is Hagatna.

The B-2 came down shortly after take-off. Both pilots ejected safely. After the crash the wreckage could be seen giving out thick black smoke. This is the first time a B-2 has crashed.

The following up to *** is from http://news.bbc.co.uk :

Lieutenant Colonel Doug Smith from the USAF told the BBC that the crash would be investigated.

“The two pilots… ejected prior to the crash. One of them was medically evaluated and released and the other is in a stable condition at a naval hospital,” he said.

***

For more information, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7260231.stm

Information on the B-2 Spirit:

The B-2 Spirit is a large bomber, capable of holding 152 635 kg of weight. It can deliver nuclear weapons as well as conventional weapons. Its wing span is 52.12 metres.

The B-2 is an extremely effective bomber. It can fly to any point on earth in a short time and remain undetected. Enemies do not even know that the B-2 is there and if they do, they can only use some types of weapons against it (they cannot use radar guided weapons), making it very hard to shoot down, which is why one has never been shot down. The B-2 can do this because of stealth technology. It is built of material which absorbs radar signals, instead of reflecting them back to the enemy radar, like most planes do, making them easily detectable. Any remaining radar signals are deflected away because of the B-2’s very strange shape. Weapons are carried inside the plane, as weapons are a shape that reflects radar signals very well. Stealth enables the B-2 to fly wherever it wants which is what makes the it such a great bomber. It looks cool aswell. It looks like one wing flying on its own. It is definitely one of my favourite planes and it is sad that one has been lost.

Picture of B-2 Spirit below comes from http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org

More posts are coming!

More posts are coming soon… Unfortuantely homework takes up 90% of my time! But I will write more posts very shortly, don’t worry! Keep checking for more!

Don’t forget to tell everyone about your favourite plane on the “Your Favourite Planes” page and also see if you can recognise what the plane is on the “What Plane Is It?” page!

Giants

Hughes H-4 Hercules

The biggest plane in the world ever to have flown is the Hughes H-4 Hercules (also know as the Spruce Goose). It was meant to be a heavy transport aircraft which could land on water. Only one has ever existed and it made its first flight on 2 November 1947. This first flight was also its last, as the project was cancelled. It really is HUGE, as you will see in the pictures below.

Here is a picture of a H-4 Hercules compared with a Douglas DC-3, from http://en.wikipedia.org

Picture below is a H-4 from http://www.combatreform2.com

This is some information on the H-4 from http://en.wikipedia.org

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 218 ft 8 in (66.65 m)
• Wingspan: 319 ft 11 in (97.54 m)
• Height: 79 ft 4 in (24.18 m)

• Fuselage height: 30 ft (9.1 m)

• Loaded weight: 400,000 lb (180,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 8× Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines, 3,000 hp (2,240 kW) each

• Propellers: 8 x four-bladed Hamilton Standard, diameter 17 ft 2 in (5.23 m) each

Performance

• Cruise speed: 220 mph (353.98 km/h)
• Range: 3,000 mi (4,800 km)
• Service ceiling 20,900 ft (6,370 m)

• Projected endurance (cruise): 20.9 hrs

Antonov An-225 Mriya

The biggest plane in the world flying today is the Antonov An-225 Mriya. This too is HUGE and it is actually longer than the H-4 Hercules. Its horizontal tail is wider than the wingspan of a Boeing 737. It is powered by six jet engines. It is Russian, built to carry the Russian version of the space shuttle, the Buran, on its back. In reality it is used more for other large transport jobs. It also sometimes flys at airshows. Only one has ever been completely built, another was half built but I think that the Russians gave up on that one. The half finished aircraft still exists… somewhere…
When the An-225 takes off, other aircraft at the airport waiting to depart have to wait 15 minutes afterwards before they can do so, as its huge jet engines create violent vortices in the air, making take off after it dangerous.

Bono, from the popular Irish rock band U2, once said after having seen an An-225 take off, “It’s bigger than a rock star’s ego”.

Both pictures below are of the An-225 with the Buran on its back, from http://en.wikipedia.org

Picture below is not of the An-225, but of the Buran. As I have talked about it, I decided to include a picture of it. (In the background, you can see a MiG 25 Foxbat).

Below is some information on the An-225 from http://en.wikipedia.org

General characteristics

• Crew: 6
• Payload: 250,000 kg (550,000 lb)
• Door dimensions: 440 x 640 cm (14.4 x 21.0 ft)
• Length: 84 m (275.6 ft)
• Wingspan: 88.40 m (290 ft 2 in)
• Height: 18.1 m (59.3 ft)
• Wing area: 905.0 m² (9,743.7 ft²)
• Empty weight: 175,000 kg (385,800 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 600,000 kg (1,322,773 lb)
• Powerplant: 6× ZMKB Progress D-18 turbofans, 229 kN (51,600 lbf) each
• Takeoff run: 3,500 m (11,500 ft) with maximum payload

Performance

• Maximum speed: 850 km/h (460 knots, 530 mph)
• Cruise speed: 750 km/h (400 knots, 465 mph)
• Range:
  • With maximum fuel: 14,000 km (8,700 mi)
  • With maximum payload: 4,000 km (2,500 mi)
• Service ceiling 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
• Wing loading: 662.9 kg/m² (135.5 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.234

Below is a picture comparing the H-4, An-225, Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747. (I will definitely do a post soon about the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747, two passenger jets which are extremely big, so keep checking for it).

Just a picture

Hey everyone! I found this picture recently and decided to show you it. The Eurofighter happens to be one of my favourite planes and so is the Harrier.

Top: Harrier GR7, Middle: Eurofighter Typhoon, Bottom: Harrier GR7

Picture from http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com

Harrier and F-35

BAE Harrier (modern variants include AV-8B; GR7; GR9)

Above: A Harrier Jump Jet takes off (or lands) vertically. Picture from http://www.richard-seaman.com

The Harrier Jump Jet is a truly remarkable aircraft, famous for being the first operational fighter jet which can take off and land vertically. We say it has V/STOL (for Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing) capabilities. It is not a helicopter, but a plane with fixed wings and no rotors. So how does it do it? The answer is: thrust vectoring, or TVC (Thrust Vector Control). This means that the Harrier can direct the nozzles at the rear of its jet engines, pointing the thrust coming out in different directions. If the Harrier points the nozzles at the ground, the thrust pushes it upwards, if it points the nozzles straight behind, it will go forwards… etc. This means that the Harrier is very agile. Most jets have static nozzles- the nozzles do not move, so the Harrier really is very unusual. But unfortunately, sometimes Harriers go wrong and they are tremendously difficult to fly. This is where the F-35 comes in.

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (variants include F-35A for USAF; F-35B for US Marines, RAF and Royal Navy; F-35C for US Navy).

Above: A Marines F-35B takes off (or lands) vertically. Notice the nozzle at the rear is pointing downwards, pushing the aircraft upwards, either to allow it to take off or to slow down landing. Picture from http://www.aviapedia.com

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is built in conjunction by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Pratt and Whitney and Rolls Royce. There had been a competition between Lockheed Martin and Boeing (with the Boeing X-32) for the contract to build a Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin won.

There are three types of F-35: F-35A (Airforce), F-35B (Marines) and F-35C (Navy). The F-35B is the only one that can take off and land vertically. So it, like the Harrier, has VTOL capabilities. The others are equipped with other special features which are useful for their roles (such as the F-35C has bigger landing gear for carrier landings). The F-35B is equipped with a lift fan which is engaged during vertical take-offs and landings.

In many ways the F-35B is very similar to the Harrier. It can take off and land vertically using thrust vectoring. But it is much newer, much more advanced, much safer and much faster. It is also more effective in more types of missions. It is even stealthy, not quite as stealthy as the F-22, but more so than the Eurofighter and Rafale (see Best Fighters page). The only problem with the F-35 is cost. It is the most expensive military aircraft project ever undertaken. The F-35 should replace a good number of British Harriers.
The RAF refers to the F-35 as the Joint Combat Aircraft.

Post dedicated to Greg

Google Earth Flight Simulator

If you can’t be bothered to go out and buy a proper Flight Simulator such as Microsoft Flight Simulator X (a very good flight simulator which I will describe in detail in the “Flight Sims” page) and you like flight simulators, then this might be the thing for you.

Download Google Earth (completely free and presents the whole world to you in photographs. Just click or search where you want to go and… you’re there, looking at photographs of that area- amazing). Inside google earth, there is a hidden flight simulator. You can fly two different planes, an F-16 Fighting Falcon and another much slower plane, an SR22. The SR22 is much easier to fly by the way so you might want to start with that. You can fly anywhere in the world, over Google Earth’s amazing scenery. To use the flight simulator, open Google Earth and press ctrl+alt+A with windows or command+option+A in Mac OS. Then select what plane you want, where you want to start and fly! You can use a mouse to control the plane or configure a joystick for it.

Picture above from http://www.appscout.com

For more information on the Google Earth Flight Simulator, see: http://sebgray.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/google-earth-secret/

A cool plane

A very cool plane in my opinion is the Learjet 45. OK, it isn’t a really fancy fighter jet with loads of computers and missiles and guns. But that doesn’t stop it being cool. Its cooler than the Dassault Super Etendard anyway. The Learjet 45 is the ultimate private jet. Fast, comfortable, not too big but not too small and above all cool looking. Another cool thing about it is that it was the first jet I ever flew on Microsoft Flight Simulator (that was FS98. I now have FSX Deluxe addition with the Acceleration expansion pack. I skipped from 98 to 2004 then to X… I’m a bit crazy about Flight Simulators). It makes a nice sound aswell. And it feels like a proper jet. Its also not too hard to fly either (at least, in Microsoft FS it isn’t). It’s also something different from all the fighter planes that I always talk about.

Here is a picture of the Learjet 45:

Picture of Learjet comes from http://www.chaparyan.com