BINGO!!! On <a href="http://www.airliners.net">airliners.net</a> I found this very rare shot of a Raptor (00-4012) with lowered arresting hook: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1171720/L/
Anybody who can/will provide us close-up shots of the Raptorīs arresting gear? The F-16.net team would be very grateful!
Sponsor
Posted: Jul 09, 2008 - 1:59 PM
F-16.net Sponsor
This message from our sponsor will disappear if you log on as a member.
sferrin
Posted: Jul 09, 2007 - 01:38 AM
Elite
Joined: Jul 22, 2005
Posts: 895
Status: Offline
If you've got acces to Jay Miller's excellent book on the F-22 by Aerofax there are a lot of closeups of the tail hook. It's amazing the attention to detail Lockheed spent. Even the edges of all of those doors, narrow as they are, are edge-aligned.
Joined: Sep 29, 2006
Posts: 177
Location: Philadelphia
Status: Offline
I always thought it was there for RCS purposes, I mean, besides separating the two TVC engine nozzles and channeling their thrust it also reduced the RCS. A pointed out edge is better than a blunt and flat surface for stealth.
_________________ "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
Raptor_One
Posted: Jul 09, 2007 - 11:46 PM
Elite
Joined: Aug 19, 2004
Posts: 1086
Location: New York, NY
PhillyGuy wrote:
I always thought it was there for RCS purposes, I mean, besides separating the two TVC engine nozzles and channeling their thrust it also reduced the RCS. A pointed out edge is better than a blunt and flat surface for stealth.
No doubt it's shaped the way it is for stealth purposes. As for whether it houses any super secret avionics, I don't know. If it's meant to house something inside there, it could easily have been made "non stealthy" yet aerodynamic. Look at the tail pods between the engines on the Su-27/30/35/etc. There's obviously something back there. I'm not so sure if there's much avionics gear in the F-22's tail extension. It might just be there to improve aerodynamic performance and stealth properties. And by aerodynamic performance, I mean aerodynamic performance of the exhaust gases in addition to the main airflow mass coming off the top and bottom portions of the fuselage. One more thing to consider... wake turbulence. The F-22's aerodynamic design supposedly aims to reduce wake turbulence which can be detected by pulse-doppler radar (what does your local weather man use to detect storms, clouds, etc.?). You want smooth flow off the back end of the aircraft when it's cruising along at high altitude.
In conclusion, I'd guess that anything housed in the F-22's tail fairing is more of an afterthought. The primarily purpose for this design feature is likely increased aerodynamic & propulsion performance and, as you suggested, stealth.
Search
Register
Log in to check your private messages
Forum Guidelines
Welcome To The Twilight Zone 