A64Pilot

Yeah the system got a lot of guys, especially the older more experienced ones. When you got out of the aircraft at night you were pretty much blind, your right eye wasn’t night adapted and because you had been ignoring your left for the last couple of hours often the brain just wouldn’t use it, you had to learn to close your right eye to force the brain to look out of the night adapted left eye. For me what was hard was that if you looked to the right your right eye was 10 ft forward and three ft lower than your left and lights especially would show in the combiner lens in a completely different spot than the thermal image. As you gained experience your brain would automatically switch from one eye to the other, left for inside the cockpit, right for outside, but until you got more experience with it it would make mistakes. I was riding in the front seat which used the TADS for night flying, TADS could look straight down. Anyway I dropped my pencil and looked down to get it, but saw trees very close rushing by at high speed, scared the stew out of me, thought we were crashing or something, brain had switched back to right eye. It screwed up some people so bad that if you turned the light out in a room they would fall down, that was temporary though it seemed.

We could probably do it using FLIR, our HMD had all the symbology necessary to fly IMC, but our mission just in truth had no use for IMC, in Wx a helicopter is nothing but a slow moving very easy target for ADA. Our only real use for IMC was for recovery if you inadvertently went IMC which could happen easily at night, but as we had no real range and nothing close to a Combat area is going to have an approach our only real hope was to have Terp’d out a recovery approach using GPS, but even then if you go inadvertent IMC in a helicopter the likelyhood of having Wx that you could break out in an approach is almost zero. I did once hover down thru a ceiling using Symbology generated off of the HARS and doppler RADAR, essentially we could come to a hover “drop” an eight sided symbol in symbology and if you stayed in the box slowly descend, slowly to avoid settling with power. But hovering IMC is difficult, you couldn’t do it without a computer assisting in stability

Normally if you heat a fluid it becomes more reactive, that is it accelerates corrosion significantly when hot. So if car antifreeze was corrosive surely given a couple of decades it would destroy modern aluminum Auto engines and especially radiators as they are thin walled? Last Summer my 2005 Mazda Speed Miata radiator started leaking, the seals on the plastic tanks were why, it’s common on old Miata’s. Anyway I looked inside the aluminum radiator, the metal was just as bright and clean as the new radiator was, so no corrosion at all in 19 years. I do flush and change coolant every three years, probably excessive, but cheap and easy to do. But it seems that at least the old Prestone green isn’t corrosive to aluminum?

There is a small Pratt PT-6 that I think would be better. The Baby Allison was designed for the US Army to be used in either a fixed wing or Rotary wing scout. PT6-21, Bill Hatfield does a C-206 conversion with one, plus there are shed loads of used -21’s available, which is the most important part of a turbine conversion (affordable engines) Old King Air engine, I think 550 SHP, but you derate it, derating keeps power way up high and adds mucho life to an engine too https://turbineconversions.com/conversions/turbine-206-cessna/ So far in our history it takes Government bucks to fund engine development, I believe the small jets only exist because they essentially use cruise missile engines? Maybe the Government will pay for a baby turbo prop to be developed for drones, just based on the Ukraine war it’s my belief that the future will see way more drones than we see now, way more, the Terminator is closer than we think. It’s been my belief that the day of the manned fighter ended last Century just too many in the AirForce don’t want to see the end of it. I base that on conversations I had at the Edwards O club with pilots that were doing Air to Air testing against a very rudimentary remotely piloted vehicle. They said you got two turns, the first at the merge when “fights on” and you got killed in the second turn every time. An unmanned aircraft has an unbelievable maneuverability whereas any manned modern fighter I believe the pilot is what drives the maneuverability limit. This is what they were flying against, it was just essentially an FPV drone, it wasn’t very advanced, yet it ate manned fighters lunch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_X-36

I seriously doubt any post WWII era test pilot would dive until flutter onset, reason is sometimes flutter can completely destroy an aircraft almost instantly. The WWII era guys were very brave or very foolish, many didn’t survive. When Rockwell Commander was doing a VD test flight of the 112 the aircraft disintegrated, they recreated the event in NASA’s wind tunnel and the time frame from flutter onset to complete disintegration was less than 1 sec. I really wouldn’t want an aircraft to disintegrate on me https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/2731

Flutter is just one driver of VNE, there are many others, hopefully if well designed flutter isn’t even remotely close to VNE. Crop duster I built had an over 100 kt flutter margin, reason is that over the years flight control surfaces gain weight from painting and repairs and even insect nests and as the majority of the surface is behind the hinge line over the years if not rebalanced you lose flutter margin, therefore in my opinion while not required a responsible manufacturer designs for a large flutter margin. Engine failure concerned me, flutter scares me. Crop Dusters are I believe much worse with owner repairs than most GA aircraft so it was prudent to take that consideration into the design. I even had owners changing the wing angle of incidence of both the wing and tail. I know this because several told me they did and were trying to get me to incorporate their “improvements” Some other drivers are gust loading and even windshield structure, several others that don’t come immediately to mind as I am no Engineer, but structure and aerodynamics both drive VNE, but in a Velocity Dive test it’s flutter in most cases that your validating, and on light aircraft that VD test is the most hazardous requiring a parachute, boots being worn and a chase plane etc. I had a door quick release installed when I did one. I misspoke about flutter being IAS, but point is without any analysis I believe the Mooney tail has enough margins for a Turbine installation. I base that on my belief that if it didn’t then over the years there would be several accidents of Mooney’s losing their tails and I don’t believe there has been. You can test forever but the actual acid test is a fleet with years of operation. I agree that having the whole empennage being hinged like it is, is weaker than if it were one piece, but apparently it’s strong enough. Mooney’s of course have their issues, all aircraft are compromises, just structure doesn't seem to be one of Mooney’s weak links. I just don’t think the market exists for a small four pax non pressurized turbine myself, in truth it seems the market doesn’t exist for a 4 pax piston complex aircraft.

Re Cirrus, I would be afraid that paint is the least of their worries. What made the Cirrus leak? They don’t have bladders do they? I assumed the tanks were integral? More often than not anything that dissolves Jet-Glo will also dissolve composites, although I don’t know with what or how a Cirrus is made. I would assume prepeg and an Autoclave, but as they don’t interest me I haven’t looked. I know only some paint remover can be used to remove paint on boats, some will dissolve even Epoxy boats, so fiberglass safe remover has to be used or way more common mechanical removal Epoxy boats are ALL painted, you can’t Gelcoat epoxy, not sure why

I don’t know of a less than 300 HP turbine, the old Allison now Rolls baby turbine was 317 SHP, but very quickly grew to 420 SHP and now is much higher We got 2.5 hours with reserve from them in the OH-58 helicopters that held 71.5 gls of fuel The best use of turbines in airplanes is to hugely derate them, the TBM’s for example have cores capable of 1700 SHP but are derated to about half that, that means they can make rated power way up high which of course means speed. It also means smaller and lighter gearboxes etc. From a flutter margin etc that’s indicated airspeed, so if we can assume a Mooney would be good for 250 kts, then that has to be over 400 up high, but I have not done that math I do agree that an unpressurized turbine is likely to not be very desirable. A bigger problem as I see it is cost a turbine STC would likely cost way more than even a newer Mooney is worth.

Tones would be obnoxious as you would be listening to them for half the time you were spraying, depending on length of the field your turning about half the time.

I know very little about TKS myself, but these guys claim that unlike ground de-icings, TKS isn’t corrosive. I didn’t think the ground stuff was either https://www.cav-systems.com/tks/

I didn’t think it logical myself, but more than one inspector told me it, it even got one of my inspectors worried at the plant. I finally told him that not trying to be ugly but he’s not getting sued, he doesn’t have enough assets to even whet a Lawyers appetite, he still worried though

I think maybe the best use of a concentrator is to use it well before you’re required to be on O2. If your older you might want to use it even under 10K, and if flying at night 6K. I think if you do you will find your less fatigued and at night it really improves night vision substantially

Army Aviators as a general rule don’t do IMC well, only legal Nav we had for IMC was an ADF, and helicopters are negatively stable in all three axis. We trained in actual IMC in Huey’s in school but Attack anyway usually lost the skill over time. We had an IMC break up plan, we never flew formation IMC in truth I don’t see how it’s possible, I’ve been IMC where I couldn’t see my own wing tips. They usually pushed Wx harder than they should. I got in the habit at Ft Hood of just committing to IMC and getting down via the GCA approach Nowhere else I was stationed had a GCA approach though

If there are tanks, they alodined, and the pic of the tail is clearly alodined. We had I think 5 tanks at Thrush each probably 4x8x30 feet. Going from memory first tank was an acid that cleaned and degreased as in finger prints etc Second tank was to neutralize the acid Third tank was a rinse tank fourth tank was Alodine Fifth tank was another rinse tank. That’s from memory so I may not be exact but to alodine the metal needs to be very clean. Being in a dry area I didn’t expect Mooney to alodine. I flew an AH-64 to the plant in maybe 89 and toured it and don’t remember tanks, but then in 89 I probably wouldn’t have known what they were unless I was told as I had no experience with manufacturing then. Being alodined Mooney’s shouldn’t have nearly as much of an issue with aluminum part corrosion that they seem to.

While I have never been an Airline driver I have been a Professional pilot for 30+ years and over 10,000 hours. If you believe there is ZERO pressure to push limits and therefore make decisions that do in fact reduce the level of safety your exceedingly Nieve or perhaps don’t understand that in almost every case the safest course of action is don’t go, but as most often you must go your reducing the level of safety. That's where risk assessment comes into play, as there is always risk if you go it’s prudent to determine the level of risk going incurs and decide if the risk outweighs the reward. So yes there IS pressure I’m sure to deliver the pax to the correct location and on time, there should be. Issue is or can be is this perceived pressure excessive? A junior pilot wanting the perfect record so they can move up, make more money, live a better life etc. may weight the getting there stronger than they should, or the senior pilot wanting that next jump or if they believe their position is in jeopardy etc could too. These types of considerations is to a great extend why NTSB investigation take so long, you would think that with all the data available in this accident would mean the investigation would be over in a week, but it will take months because I bet every part of the Crews life will be investigated, financial, personal as in relationships, drinking habits etc. and I guess it should be

Yes, but the Facebook video doesn’t show as hard an impact that the grainy one seemed to, on this one it looks like it shouldn’t have failed the wing. Aircraft does touch down right wheel first though and that’s the side that broke? Think maybe something could be wrong with the Oleo strut? Blown, collapsed Oleo has no shock absorption?

Because of the accident though correct? I’m talking before I’ll ask during fri morning coffee as we have too many senior airline drivers here but I do believe the Airline drivers are under pressure to deliver the pax to the scheduled airport just from cost incurred if they don’t. I also believe that there is a belief that if the airports open, Wx may be bad but it’s doable, or they would close it. So in my opinion the Airport does have some share of the blame if in fact the Wx conditions were the primary cause of the accident. However having said that, to a man those senior airline drivers all are all saying that the quality of the new hires is the worst they have ever seen, some from DEI, but DEI according to them is worst in the cabin crew. The younger least experienced ones are who fly the Regionals I’m sure, it’s I think always been that way. I’m going to make a prediction, I think we are going to be surprised at how inexperienced this crew actually was. But old men have been complaining for Centuries about the younger generation so who knows.

Hard landing, Ya think? Good lord it looked to me like he was coming down like a rock even a little nose low and just never flared. It looked to me that the impact was so hard that may be what tore the wing off, it broke from overload. It was coming down so fast I’d say it was stalled but the nose was down, think maybe they got too slow up higher and the slight nose down was from trying to accelerate and break the impending stall but the ground got in the way? Pure speculation, I have zero jet experience Yeah if it was that bad the airport should have closed

I just looked her up on your link. Apparently her technical expertise is that she has completed Private Pilot ground school and has logged hours in a C-172, I guess that makes her an expert and the one who should be briefing a Commercial accident and answering questions on National TV? Or maybe it just puts her in the limelight which is good for the Career?

I know, but the NTSB briefer who I question her knowledge said Radio over and over. Arguably the R in RADAR is radio. Now I’ve been Retired since 03, but I have never heard of a “Gold Top” I believe it is a special VIP Blackhawk with very different equipment, like “black boxes” as in CVR and FDR. No Army aircraft when I was in had such a thing, the Longbow did, but it was the Maintenance Data Recorder that recorded everything that was on the Bus, and trust me Everything was on the Bus, but whike it had way more data than any FDR, it wasn’t fireproof, could survive crashes into concrete etc, may not even have been waterproof. Apparently these “Gold Tops” have black boxes and who knows what else.

I believe what’s different with Beech “paint” may have nothing to do with paint. I believe Mooney never alodined their aircraft, but Beech did, Cessna only alodined aircraft that were built as float planes, one of the real benefits of alodine is that it’s an excellent paint prep, paint adheres much better to alodined aluminum. ‘Or it could be that the small samples tested aren’t enough to draw a conclusion from too, but I’m betting alodine

Yep, they intentionally do something similar in most FAR’s and I believe are often intentionally vague, requiring the mechanics or IA to form an opinion. That’s the Catch 22. I don’t think it’s as much to hold a Mechanic responsible as it is to absolve FAA responsibility, truthfully it’s exceedingly rare that they go after a mechanic. It’s also why I believe there are so many AC’s, being advisory only and not a regulation absolves the FAA, but also gives them the power to in effect hold you to an AC without having to go through the hassle of making a regulation, many AC’s in my opinion wouldn’t make it through the regulation process. Years ago someone higher up in the FAA told all the inspectors that they could be personally held responsible for their actions as in sued and lose property etc., that when field approvals went to essentially forget about it. They also very often in an attempt to close loop holes sometimes get very specific, which at least as often as not opens more loop holes, opens the door for “Well it doesn’t say I can’t do this or that” FAA is one of the largest and most deeply rooted Bureaucracies, and once you a accept that the purpose of a Bureaucracy isn’t what it’s mission statement is, it’s to foster growth of and to protect the Bureaucracy. If you accept that then a lot of their actions begin to make sense.

I’m thinking there may be a significant number of aircraft like that, that have paint over that if I’m seeing what I think I am I think this is the corrosion? I’d circle it in red if I knew how, but instead I just blew it up

At night flying with FLIR we would often step down depending on terrain and altitude of lead, reason is it’s far easier to see them in FLIR with the cool sky background. But as the night hard deck was 50 ft it didn’t leave much room to step down sometimes We didn’t fly tactical formation close under the thought that one ADA gun could get several of us if we did, but if we had significant separation if lead came under fire his wing could roll in on the ADA asset. Night system formation was always staggered right because the Helmet Display Unit was over the right eye, and looking left the right eye was to the right of the left eye. That may sound strange but as the right eye was seeing out of the sensor on the nose if you looked right, your right eye was about 10’ to the left of the left eye and that took awhile to get used to, you had a parallax with closer objects

Hidden damage is most often the gotcha in things like this, you open it up to replace something and all the additional stuff you find has to be fixed too and on an old airplane it can be substantial. When we first reopened Thrush many wanted the new 29,000 hour spar cap installed in their wings instead or just replacing them with the originals that would time out in 5400 hours so we developed a custom kit and started doing them, after 8 or 10 wings I stopped, the reason why was by the time I fixed all the cracked ribs, replaced the corrosion in 30 year or older wings and did the work to install the 29,000 hour cap the cost was approaching the price of a new set of wings, it just wasn’t smart, for a little more instead of a repaired 30 plus year old wings you could get a brand new set, plus the downtime was substantial, where I could put a new set on in a couple of days. Sometimes repairing just doesn’t make sense unfortunately.