NEWS: Engineers Suspect Foam Hit Shuttle Wing During Liftoff - ABC News

Derek Lyons wrote:

Pat Flannery wrote:

Jeffrey Bell has weighed in on the Shuttle. Surprisingly, he wants
to
permanently ground it ;-) :
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-05zq.html
I've still got to check up on that B-17 math of his.

It's seriously wrong.

It's about as wrong as its possible to get.
I'll dig out my copy of the USAAF Statistical Digest a bit later, &
see what that comes up with.

--
Pete Stickney
Java Man knew nothing about coffee.

Peter Stickney wrote:

I've still got to check up on that B-17 math of his.


It's seriously wrong.



It's about as wrong as its possible to get.
I'll dig out my copy of the USAAF Statistical Digest a bit later, &
see what that comes up with.



As far as the B-17 being the "most dangerous aircraft" in our
inventory...he never met the Brewster Buffalo, did he?

Pat

On 2005-07-30, Derek Lyons wrote:

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-05zq.html
I've still got to check up on that B-17 math of his.

It's seriously wrong.

I was very impressed by him describing it as "the most dangerous
aircraft in the most intense air war ever fought.", then quoting figures
to support it which showed a three-times higher loss rate of Bomber
Command Manchesters... smart cookie, that one.

--
-Andrew Gray

Andrew Gray wrote:

I was very impressed by him describing it as "the most dangerous
aircraft in the most intense air war ever fought.", then quoting figures
to support it which showed a three-times higher loss rate of Bomber
Command Manchesters... smart cookie, that one.



He may have meant American aircraft; but I still think you are going to
have a far better chance in a B-17 than in a Douglas Devastator or a
Brewster Buffalo.

Pat

Pat Flannery wrote:

He may have meant American aircraft; but I still think you are
going to have a far better chance in a B-17 than in a Douglas
Devastator or a Brewster Buffalo.

Much depends on circumstances. In a USMC F2A defending Midway against
Japanese carrier strikes you're in way over your head; in a Finnish
F2A against the Soviets you can hold your own. If you're in a TBD
squadron in a carrier sailing to oppose the Japanese at Midway better
not start reading any magazine serials; against Japanese merchant
shipping in the Gilberts and Marshalls earlier in 1942 you'll
probably have no reason to curse your aircraft.

Jim Davis

The Ghost of General Lee wrote:

... ding on the tile up by the nose gear would be a
perfect one to test their orbital repair capability out on

Unless the repair attempt caused even more damage.

Or has an unknown failure mode that aggravates the situation,
such as (in this case) resulting in a NLG door not opening.

Had there been a tile damaged beyond safe-reentry
criteria, an unplanned repair would have been indicated.

I suspect that this mission has rather enlarged the
scope of possible on-orbit repairs that must be contemplated
for future missions.

But I agree, if we instead launch Brewster Buffaloes on
these missions, these issues simply don't arise.

--
Regards, Bob Niland
http://www.access-one.com/rjn email4rjn AT yahoo DOT com
NOT speaking for any employer, client or Internet Service Provider.

Jim Davis wrote:

in a Finnish
F2A against the Soviets you can hold your own.



Now I'm having this image of a Buffalo fighting a I-16 Rata- sort of the
"battle of the second rate fighters".
If we could get a Swedish P-35 in there, we'd have all the bases covered.
I'd hate to be in a Buffalo and meet one of those lend-lease P-47s though.

Pat

Pat Flannery wrote:


Jim Davis wrote:

in a Finnish F2A against the Soviets you can hold your own.


Now I'm having this image of a Buffalo fighting a I-16 Rata- sort of the
"battle of the second rate fighters".
If we could get a Swedish P-35 in there, we'd have all the bases covered.
I'd hate to be in a Buffalo and meet one of those lend-lease P-47s though.

Airacomet'd whup all their asses good

--
Terrell Miller


"Suddenly, after nearly 30 years of scorn, Prog is cool again".
-Entertainment Weekly

Terrell Miller wrote:


Now I'm having this image of a Buffalo fighting a I-16 Rata- sort of
the "battle of the second rate fighters".
If we could get a Swedish P-35 in there, we'd have all the bases
covered.
I'd hate to be in a Buffalo and meet one of those lend-lease P-47s
though.


Airacomet'd whup all their asses good

Hell, even an _Airacobra_ might be able to take that bunch on. :-D

Pat