A close encouter

[Filonian]

Pilot flies up to the back door of a C-130 for a photo op.

He radios and asks "How close do you want me?"

Bless all those who serve!












Close enough?

Graham

[Chris Sykes]

Im sure he could have put the nose inside...

[Garry Russell]

A lot of that is telephoto compression.....look at the size of the clouds, they are closer too

Still impressive though

Garry

[cstorey]

What is interesting is how crude a device the Eurofighter looks in close-up. It never fails to amaze me that , even 100+ years on from the first heavier than air flights, a lot of our most sophisiticated aircraft still look homemade by comparison with modern automotive efforts, where if panel gaps vary by as little as 1mm, we all sneer!

[Chris Trott]

It looks crude, but many times those "flowing lines" actually make more drag than the "simple" designs. It's one of those deals where (especially on the intakes) looks are deceiving.

[AlexP]

Wow, those are some really impressive shots. One can only imagine the noise for those stood on the ramp (although I guess they all wore headsets or ear defenders, but even so).

Alex

[cstorey]

Ah, Tonks et al... it wasn't so much the design which looks crude, as the execution ... but then so many of the aeroplanes we know and love, when you did the walk round, actually were rather crude , because by and large they were hand made. I have only a nodding acquaintance with a modern robotic made aeroplane such as a 777 , ( from a walk-round point of view) but I anticipate that they are more refined and accurate in manufacture

[basys]

Hi Folks

a lot of our most sophisiticated aircraft still look homemade
by comparison with modern automotive efforts,
where if panel gaps vary by as little as 1mm, we all sneer!

Please indicate where you see any such 'gap'.
(Black marks do not indicate such.)

You may possibly be mistaking sensors & their shadows, for panel lines.



e.g.
The book Tonks refers to might reference -
The plates above and below the intake
which act as compression funnels, improving the intake's efficiencies.
The extended and S-shaped trunking narrows & removes potential detection angle from compressor blade reflections.

The plate above the intake,
guarantees laminar flow, & improves compression, to the intakes,
and specifcally separates the undisturbed air path,
from any turbulent flow induced by the a/c nose.



BAE Systems stated that the Typhoon's RCS is bettered only by the F-22 in the frontal hemisphere and betters the F-22 at some angles.



Don't know if this has already been posted - Typhoon - Interactive Overview



EDIT -
Ooops
Offline composing & dealing with other issues.
Again looking visually, particularly at photographs,
does not nescessarily match physical airflow,
or infer reduced RCS performance.


HTH
ATB
Paul

[SkippyBing]

I have only a nodding acquaintance with a modern robotic made aeroplane such as a 777 , ( from a walk-round point of view) but I anticipate that they are more refined and accurate in manufacture

The Typhoon is also a modern hand made by robots aircraft with I believe laser aligned jigs used in it's assembly. Any gaps are there on purpose.