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Post by billsamuels on Feb 20, 2015 10:27:45 GMT
Hi Guys,
Was just sent this youtube clip, only take 4 minutes but well worth a look... Naval Aviation of the future!!!
Enjoy.
Cheers.
Bill
Edit:
Sorry should have added this commentary....
The Navy successfully conducted take-offs and landings from a fairly new nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, with a new stealth jet called the X-47B. This video is completely cleared by the U.S, Navy. What is so different about this plane is the fact that it is a 'drone'. It is completely unmanned. Drones come in all sizes, and the X-47B is likely one of the larger ones.
What is so amazing about all this is the enemy cannot detect a plane like this in the first place. And, in the unlikely event they get lucky at shooting one down, there will be no human loss of life or captivity.
X-47B UCAS Aviation History Under Way - YouTube
As you view the flight deck crew signaling the plane, realize they are simply signaling the on-board cameras, who in turn are being manned by staff on the deck and inside the command intelligence center (CIC) on-board the ship! INCREDIBLE‼
Bill
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Post by graham on Feb 20, 2015 13:21:54 GMT
Amazing stuff for sure Bill, it didn't need much to get airborne either did it? The GWB is just short of 1100 ft long and it looked like the X-47B used less than a third of the flight deck to get up.
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Post by KyleG on Mar 10, 2015 1:03:55 GMT
Amazing stuff for sure Bill, it didn't need much to get airborne either did it? The GWB is just short of 1100 ft long and it looked like the X-47B used less than a third of the flight deck to get up. All carrier based aircraft take off in that distance, as they use a catapult system rather than just their own thrust to launch from the deck. This allows the aircraft to take off in about 300ft  The long part of the deck that resembles a runway is for landings, where they will land at near full power in case they miss an arresting wire which slows down and stops them. The fact that this part of the deck is angled allows for simultaneous launching and recovery and in the case of an aircraft missing the wire (or 'bolting') will mean the aircraft will always have a clear deck in front allowing it to safely go around. Here's quite a good GIF which shows the standard US carrier operation style.  |
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