Ed Anderson
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 475
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 Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 9:30 am Post subject: There was a time when 488,000 pound airplanes were pretty |
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Bob, I really can not recall for certain the reliability/reliance on those early terrain avoidance systems - best I recall they were acceptable - but at that time don't know too many pilots that actually trusted any "gadget" to keep them out of a hillside.
I do know we had the terrain avoidance systems - however, for peace time exercising/training - the routine required for one of the pilots to exercise "eyeball terrain clearance" through the wind screen at all times.
As best I recall, if we had ever gotten the "GO CODE", the thermal curtains would be pulled around the cockpit windshield - and flash goggles would be worn by the pilots. However, I do recall there were some situations where one pilot (the co-pilot naturally {:>)) was to pull away the goggle from one eyeball, pull back a portion of the curtains and keep one (presumably sacrificial) eye ball on the outside world.
But, its clear that terrain avoidance has come a long ways since those days as have all things electronic.
Ed
From: Robert L. Nuckolls, III (nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelectric.com)
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 11:40 AM
To: aeroelectric-list(at)matronics.com (aeroelectric-list(at)matronics.com)
Subject: Re: There was a time when 488,000 pound airplanes were pretty amazing. . .
At 08:43 AM 5/6/2011, you wrote:
| Quote: | | Many years ago, I flew as a Electronic Warfare Officer crew member aboard the B-52E on the first exploration of the B-52 in a low-level mission role as well as many hours on "Chrome Dome" nuclear airborne alert - at the time, it was the most massive airframe to leave the ground - now seems like a light weight {:>). |
Hmmmm . . . low level stuff . . . did your pilots
have the pleasure of flying that so-called terrain
avoidance radar?
I worked on a crew tasked with aligning the radar's
display processor (lots of vacuum tubes) on E and
F models being recycled through Wichita for
upgrades. It took 3 shifts to run the alignment
procedure during which it was not uncommon to take
3 or more modules up to the lab for "repairs or
adjustment".
Those might have been infant mortality issues. It
was a brand-new-out-of-the-box processor
from Raytheon. I often wondered what the failure
rate was for these things in the field. I hope that
nobody ever had to fly head-down with one of those
things in anger . . . it didn't take much drift
to use up those 200' margins for clearing the hilltops
and/or keeping your wing tips off the canyon walls!
Bob . . . [quote]
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[b]
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_________________
Ed Anderson
Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered
Matthews, NC
eanderson@carolina.rr.com |
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