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

From: Gene Buckle <geneb_at_deltasoft.com>
Date: Mon Apr 9 16:06:43 2001

> There is some disagreement about jettisoning the radome. Not sure what
> made it fall off, but it is only a fiberglass bubble over a radar
> transceiver. Not terribly sturdy because it has to be transparent to
> radar waves. It is only there to protect the antennae and for aerodynamic
> purposes.

I think what bugs me the most about that missing radome is that the radar
emitter and hydraulic actuator(or fixed mount if the emitter is for a
phased array system) seems to be missing as well. The picture I
saw (admittedly on TV) didn't show much if any damage to that first
station that the emitter assembly gets bolted to. This makes me think
that it was removed post-landing...

g.
Received on Mon Apr 09 2001 - 16:06:43 BST