The cutting edge of Political debate

[ogre]

Tornado totty terrifies Taliban.....
ok, a cheesy headline, but you'll see what I mean if you check out the link.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246237/Shock-awe-Female-RAF-Top-Gun-pilot-tells-beat-Taliban-deafening-noise-instead-bombs.html
_________________
"You can share the truth, but you can't make anyone believe what you believe."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100827/D9HROVM00.html

[War Pig]

Damn, she's good looking and brave, too. Hubba-hubba!

Hopefully things like this will put the nail in the coffin of women in combat in some positions.

We used a similar tactic in Afghanistan, twice at least. We sent in a B-1 bomber, at 500 feet, at near Mach 1. It makes considerable more noise than a Tornado and forced people to flee their village. We then killed those carrying weapons as they fled. I heard that was used more than the one time I saw it i Afghanistan. Recently, I heard from an operator that we sent in another B-1 at a little over Mach one at 200 feet - and this time it took out the eardrums of the enemy fighters who fled in confusion, making them easy targets. They were attacking one of our Special Forces patrols who was inside a village and we didn't want to shell or bomb so close (300-500 meters) to what what was a friendly village. So we had the B-1 do the flight at Mach 1 plus, coming from behind the enemy position. Since it was over Mach 1, they did not hear it coming at all, and since they were shooting at the GIs in front of them they didn't see it coming, either. All of a sudden, an intercontinental bomber, with 4 massive engines roaring, came screaming over their heads at 200 feet. The first thing they heard was the double sonic boom, which broke most of their eardrums, and then the screaming and roaring of 4 massive jet engines at full afterburner propelling the 146 foot long, 76 foot wide, 300,000 pound jet at a little over Mach one. Supposedly the shock wave alone killed several; well, a few were found dead with no visible external wounds so the theory is the shock wave killed them.

But since bursting their eardrums and maybe their organs is too cruel for the &*^%$@# French, Obama forbid any more such Mach-1 overflights.

Sissy.

Good-on for your dazzler. A single-seat, lightweight fighter is notoriously hard to control down that low, and she could have suffered damage form lucky AK-47 hits.

Wonder if she's engaged, or wants to be?

-WP
_________________
"Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire
Firm hand and eagle eye
Must he acquire who would aspire
To see the gray boar die ."

[ogre]

I reckon she's got a lover; the RAF.
_________________
"You can share the truth, but you can't make anyone believe what you believe."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100827/D9HROVM00.html

[War Pig]

Yeah, but I know tricks the flyboys haven't heard of yet.

Still, a brave lady.

-WP
_________________
"Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire
Firm hand and eagle eye
Must he acquire who would aspire
To see the gray boar die ."

[Untermensch1]

[Untermensch1]

Another thing, I find it very hard to believe you'd fly B1 at mach 1 that low, where the air is thicker - it would shake the plane too much.

Another thing, this story sniffs a bit, as you mention the sonic boom OVER the Taliban, but say it was already doing mach1+ in which case the sonic boom would've occurred miles behind them.

Or do your planes do sonic boom-boom-boom boom...

You're saying in effect, that it timed the boom right over their heads, first attempt. Sorry, me smells too much fertilizer......

"I'm flying high like a rocket in the sky, sonic boom, boom boy"
Who did that song in the 1980's then Ogre????
A spiritual pint on me if you get it.
_________________
Stopping and then reducing the Islamization of our countries will require a discontinuity, a completely new dynamic that overpowers existing trends and that must therefore come from outside of the existing power structure, which is not capable of generating it.

[War Pig]

Excuse me, when an aircraft is operating in Afghanistan, it is NOT operating at SEA LEVEL. Got a map? USE IT!

When an aircraft is right at Mach 1, the sound and aircraft arrive pretty much the same time. Not "MILES" apart. Pulling up decreases the speed to just under subsonic, meaning the aircraft and the BOOM-BOOM (nose and wing/tail booms) arrive at the same time.

The B1B has a sprint capability of Mach 1.25, and the area of Afghanistan we were operating at was quite a bit above sea level. It did the sonic run as it was out of weapons and that was the only way it had to effect the battle.

Have you ever been in Afghanistan? Doubtful. The AVERAGE altitude in Afghanistan is some 1200 meters above sea level. Kabul itself is about 1800 meters. Where we were operating it was well above 2000 meters. The B1B can EASILY reach just over or at Mach 1 at that altitude.

Not much on math OR geography, are you?

If you take a big jet like the B1B (and it's bigger than the Vulcan by about 40 feet of length, I think) It makes a tremendous sonic double-boom. If the machine is traveling, as I said, right at Mach1 the sound and aircraft arrive almost simultaneously. As the aircraft lifted its nose (and the B1B can yank and bank like an over-sized fighter) it went subsonic, but there was still a sonic boom just barely behind it. So the roar of the jets as it went subsonic arrived at just about the same time as did the double-boom of the shock wave. Timing is relatively easy. Pull up the nose as you overfly the position (actually just before it) which any high-performance pilot can do in their sleep, and which the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels do with great precision at just under Mach 1 and at about 100 feet at every airshow they do, with another jet coming in from the other direction. No problemo. Given, the B1B is not an F-16 or F/A-18, but it is still very nimble for a bomber. Anyway, pull up the nose and your massive, after-burning jets are pointing pretty much down at the Bad Guys. Just then, the sonic booms catch up, because they don't just disappear when the jet goes subsonic. Remember, the sonic booms are going at exactly Mach 1 for that altitude and temperature. They have to - physics, you know. So the effect is that everything arrives pretty much at once.

The B1B was operating at about 200 or so feet above GROUND level, not SEAL LEVEL. I don't think there is a single spot in the whole of Afghanistan that is within 600 meters of sea level. Oops, excuse me, I checked, and the lowest altitude in Afghanistan is 258 meters.

Now do you understand? If not, ask an aeronautics prof.

As a teaching aid, here is a pic of a B1B juuust breaking Mach 1. Notice the two condensations areas. One around the wings and one just above the cockpit bump. Hence, the double BOOM of the sonic wave.



http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/8/8/0252881.jpg

-WP
_________________
"Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire
Firm hand and eagle eye
Must he acquire who would aspire
To see the gray boar die ."

[Untermensch1]

Yes, yes, I know about the double boom and no I haven't been to Crapghanistan and yes I know it's above sea level,, and I also know that the speed at which the sonic boom occurs varies slightly at different altitudes and conditions and the loudness of it is related to altitude BUT I find it hard to believe the Taliban would be sited in a position so open that this manouver would be available for any plane.

And of course the B1 is longer than the Vulcan as the Vulcan was a delta-wing plane - it's like comparing the length of a sports car with a limousine.

If the Vulcan was that long it'd cover the area of a baseball field.
_________________
Stopping and then reducing the Islamization of our countries will require a discontinuity, a completely new dynamic that overpowers existing trends and that must therefore come from outside of the existing power structure, which is not capable of generating it.

[War Pig]

You got that right. But the Vulcan was a damned pretty airplane. Hated to see it go and I was disappointed that the UK didn't develop a replacement. With your proud aeronautical/aerospace credits it's a shame.

The enemy occupied a modest mound/ridge/petrified sand dune overlooking the village with a desert plateau to their back. Tailor made for this sort of approach. What amazed me was that the silly bastards didn't bother to look behind them for the run up time. You have to ALWAYS keep your head on a swivel if you do not have someone to cover the flanks and rear. And apparently they didn't.

But since you doubt my veracity, here's another account of almost the same thing happening, except at night. I found this today, looking to see if the incident I am speaking of made it on the news, but apparently it didn't.

[War Pig]

And here is a report of Bone (B-1) pilots using low-level flyovers as intimidation.

[ogre]

[quote="War Pig"]

[War Pig]

Bones and broads go together, you know.

Still, I give her her propers. Taking a big bomber down low is tough, but doing so multiple times over the same area with a fighter is gutsy. Fighters, naturally, are more "twitchy" than are the larger bombers, even with fly-by-wire software. Especially down near the hard stuff where they get ground-effect reactions as well. Easier to bring down a fighter with ground fire down low than a huge bomber, too.

She's got a cast iron set of balls, even if she is a woman.

-WP
_________________
"Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire
Firm hand and eagle eye
Must he acquire who would aspire
To see the gray boar die ."