Way OT (was RE: OT somewhat. China, our aircraft, delays.)

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Mon Apr 9 14:35:42 2001

At 11:33 PM 4/8/01 -0700, you wrote:
>On Sun, 8 Apr 2001, Chris Kennedy wrote:
>> - The radome is missing. I'm at a loss to explain how the radome
>> got ripped off the aircraft by contact on the wing -- especially
>> given that the fuselage forward of the wing root doesn't appear
>> damaged.
>
>Was the missing radome collision damage?
>Or would jettisoning the radome be standard procedure?

  Jettision the radome? Surely you jest???


   How do you propose to jettision something that's on the FRONT of the
aircraft when there are four LARGE whirling propellors behind it? Obviously
you never seen what happens to a propellor when it strikes a solid object.
It's one thing to stike a soft object like a person when idling on the
ground but the results are VERY different when it hits metal debris.
Especially at flight speed and engine cruise RPM. Any damage to the blades
throws the whole engine/gearbox/propellor assembly badly out of balance.
Then the blades break off and fly around like huge knives. If one hits the
fuselage it WILL go completely through it and it can cut it completely in
two. Even if the fuselage survives, the blade will usually cut all the
flight controls and the aircraft go completely out of control. And let's
not even talk about what it can do to the other engines, propellors and
fuel tanks! This isn't speculation. This is exactly what happened to a
similar aircraft (EC-121) flying out of Otis AFB. We lost the entire crew
of 23 people. All in all, the crew of the US plane is very lucky to be
alive. The pilots had to have been very good just to get the plane on the
ground in one piece. Flying back to their carrier or a US base would have
been absolutely out of the question.

    Joe
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Received on Mon Apr 09 2001 - 14:35:42 BST