Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (408190)	8/19/2008 5:10:30 PM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574199

"There you go. Different times, different standards" Huh? You are the one who said the planes were unreliable. A prop plane in the late 1950s was not unreliable. It was, in fact, antiquated technology for the military. His other crashes were in trainers. Which, by their nature, tend to be very reliable. Even for jets in that time frame.

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (408190)	8/19/2008 5:12:42 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574199

Vietnam wasn't the dark ages........McCain was a hot dog pilot: First-generation jet fighters (1944-1953) Main article: First generation jet fighter The first generation represents the first attempts at using turbojets for propulsion, providing greatly increased speed (the efficiency of piston-driven propellers drops off considerably at transsonic speeds). Many of these early jets resembled their piston-driven counterparts in several ways. Many were straight-winged aircraft armed primarily with heavy machine-guns; radar was not yet in common usage except on specialized night fighters. The first jets were developed during World War II and saw combat in its last year. Messerschmitt developed the first operational jet fighter, the Me 262. It was considerably faster than piston-driven aircraft, and in the hands of a competent pilot, was quite difficult for Allied pilots to defeat. The design was never deployed in numbers sufficient to stop the Allied air campaign, and a combination of fuel shortages and technical difficulties with the engines kept the number of sorties low. Nevertheless the plane indicated the obsolescence of piston-driven aircraft. Spurred by reports of the German jets, Britain's Gloster Meteor entered production soon after and the two entered service around the same time in 1944. Meteors were commonly used to intercept the V-1 "buzz bomb", as they were faster than piston-engined contemporaries. By the end of the war almost all work on piston powered fighters had ended. Mixed-propulsion designs such as the Ryan FR Fireball saw brief use, but by the end of the 1940s virtually all new combat aircraft were jet-powered. Despite the advantages, the early jet fighters were far from perfect, particularly in the opening years of the generation. Their operational lifespans could be measured primarily in hours; the engines themselves were fragile and bulky, and power could be adjusted only slowly. Many squadrons of piston-engined fighters were retained until the early-to-mid 1950s, even in the US and Soviet Air Forces (though the types retained were the best of the WW2 designs -- such as the F-4U Corsair). Innovations such as swept wings, ejector seats, and all-moving tailplanes were introduced in this period. The Americans were one of the first to begin using jet fighters post-war. The P-80 (soon re-designated F-80) was less elegant than the swept-wing Messerschimitt, but had a cruise speed (410 mph / 660 km) as high as the combat maximum of many piston-engined fighters. The British designed several new jets, including the iconic de Havilland Vampire which was sold to the air forces of many nations. Ironically, the British transferred the technology of the Rolls-Royce Nene jet engine technology to the Soviets, who soon put it to use in their advanced MiG-15 fighters. These proved quite a shock to the American F-80 pilots who encountered them over Korea. Where the American jets were armed with a "traditional" load of six .50 cal (12.7mm) heavy machine-guns, the MiGs used two 23mm cannons and a single 37mm cannon (good against bombers). A few hits from the MiG could knock an American fighter out of the sky. The response to this was to rush F-86 squadrons to battle against the MiGs. While carrying the same armament as the F-80, the F-86 was a true swept-wing transonic fighter, as was the MiG-15. The two aircraft had different strengths, but were similar enough that only the superior skills of the veteran United States Air Force pilots allowed them to prevail. The cockpit of an early jet fighter - the de Havilland VampireThe world's navies also went for jets during this period, despite the need for catapult-launching of the new aircraft. The F9F Panther was adopted by the US Navy as their primary jet fighter in the Korean War period. The Vampire was commonly used in this role for the Royal Navy. Notable aircraft: Second generation (1953-1960) A "second-generation" North American F-100 Super Sabre F-105 Thunderchief fighter Second-generation Mikoyan MiG-21 'Fishbed' Second-generation Saab 32 Lansen fighter Second-generation Hawker Hunter The second generation describes the integration of many new technologies to greatly improve the fighting capability of the jet fighter. The introduction of guided missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow moved combat to beyond visual range (though it often devolved into dogfights in visual range), necessitating the standardization of radar to acquire targets. Designers experimented with a variety of aeronautical innovations, such as the swept wing, delta wing, variable-geometry wings, and area ruled fuselages. With the aid of swept wing, these were the first production aircraft to break the sound barrier. The primary specializations of this era were the fighter-bomber (such as the F-105 and the Sukhoi Su-7), and the interceptor (English Electric Lightning and F-104 Starfighter). The interceptor was an outgrowth of the vision that guided missiles would completely replace guns and combat would take place at beyond visual range. As a result, interceptors were designed with a large missile payload and a powerful radar, sacrificing agility in favor of speed and rate of climb. Third generation (1960-1970) A third-generation F-4 Phantom II A Soviet third-generation MiG-25 A Chinese third-generation J-8II Third-generation Mirage IIIO of the Australian Air Force A third-generation Kfir The third generation is marked by maturity in the innovations introduced in the first generation. As this aeronautical development approached maturity, growth in combat capability grew via the introduction of improved missiles, radar, and other avionics. Most significantly, as a result of combat experience with guided missiles, designers deduced that combat could and would degenerate into close dogfights. New automatic-fire weapons, primarily chain-guns that use an electric engine to drive the mechanism of a cannon -- allowed a single multi-barrel weapon (such as the 20mm Vulcan) to be carried -- with greater rate-of-fire and accuracy. Third generation designs also put a new emphasis on maneuverability for many aircraft. These innovations, while greatly improving the capabilities of fighters (the F-4 could carry a payload greater than the B-24 Liberator, a World War II heavy bomber), also came at a considerable increase at cost. Whereas militaries had previously specialized fighters for specific roles, such as night fighter, heavy fighter and strike fighter, in order to counter the growing cost of fighters, militaries began to consolidate missions. The McDonnell F-4 Phantom II was designed as a pure interceptor for the United States Navy, but became a highly successful multi-role aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps as well as many other nations. It is the only combat aircraft to be simultaneously flown by the Navy, Air Force and Marines. en.wikipedia.org