>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Curt Vendel" <curt_at_atari-history.com>
> To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 6:36 AM
> Subject: Re: OT somewhat. China, our aircraft, delays.
>
>
> > The catch 22 here is the "Black Box" in the plane, which would
> > basically tell exactly what happened up there and whether or not the
> plane
> > made the supposed sudden turn or if the Chinese fighter jockey was
> playing
> > it a little too close to the cuff and crashed into the plane.
>
> Military aircraft do not normally carry flight data recorders. This
> would be a Bad Thing if the aircraft were shot down
> and had details of it's course and speed, not to mention cockpit
> conversations and radio traffic prior to being shot down.
> Any GPS or other positioning data would have been flushed prior to
> landing, since it would have been on the destruction list.
>
> There are several variants to the scenario (this is part of the reason
> the crew are still being held) but the most likely, and eliminating as
> much rhetoric as possible, is that the Finback was either holding
> formation way too close and they contacted during the course of normal
> flight and manouvering, or the Finback was doing a 'thump' pass and
> misjudged and they hit.
> Some reports indicate that the Finback hit the prop on the way past, let
> me tell you that a 16' diameter prop on a 7,500 SHP gas turbine will
> ruin your whole day. (Another account is that the Finback pilot ejected
> ok, but into one of the props. Ick.)
I've flown back and forth between Canada nd Hong Kong for the past
decade, and I'm current living in Hong Kong, so I'm somewhat
familiar with that patch of air space. At this time of year there
is a lot of turbulence in that region, and I suspect it played
a role in the accident. This is somewhat consistent with the
reports on the accident. Since the US plane is larger and slower
than the Chinese fighters it would be effected more by the
turbulence. This would explain the report of its sudden movement
into the Chinese fighter. If this is the case, it truely was an
accident, and neither side is to blame, just a case of mis-judging
distances and weather.
>
> In either case, if the matter is not resolved within a reasonable time
> frame, it is reasonable to assume the US will take action against China
> in some form, (though I doubt if they will do anything before the crew
> are returned, realistically, they are less worried about the aircraft
> itself) probably this action will take the form of commissioning a new,
> well armed, aircraft carrier off the coast of China.
> USS Taiwan by name. (Basically, I expect the US to give Taiwan anything
> on it's shopping list) China's entry to the WTO would now be seriously
> in doubt, and I'd say they can forget the 2008 Olympics.
The Chinese side of the story has changed somewhat today. The other
Chinese pilot has been somewhat dis-credited by the Chinese media for
not telling the complete story. It could be that there will be a
solution sometime in the next few days.
>
> My 02c worth.
> Now back to our regularly scheduled Classic Computers.
>
> FLGOFF (AIRTC) Geoff Roberts
> FLTCDR
> No. 14 (City of Port Pirie) Flight
> S.A. Squadron
> Air Training Corps
> geoffrob_at_stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
>
>
>
--
Dr. Mark Green mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca
McCalla Professor (780) 492-4584
Department of Computing Science (780) 492-1071 (FAX)
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
Received on Sun Apr 08 2001 - 22:46:43 BST